Monday, January 3, 2011 @ 2037

I hope this blog entry finds all of you healthy and looking forward to a great new year.

I know it's not all going to be easy. David's friend, John, in Bethesda is having a very difficult time. Unfortunately, as I sit here and try to formulate my thoughts and my words, I think of what John is going through, what his wife and his children must be feeling, what his parents must be feeling, and what then entire EOD community must be thinking and the tears just come right back to the surface. John has lost both legs, one leg very close to the hip and the fungus is really giving him a hard time. I'm not sure just how great my facts are at the present time but I've heard that he has been given Hepatitis B through a blood transfusion - that is complicating every other problem that came as part of the blast.

I'm sitting here listening to David playing war games on the X-box and I keep hearing a man screaming, "we've got a man down" or "man down" and I think of how many times these young men have heard those exact words. I feel devastated when my wife is hurting and yet these guys are yelling "man down" because their friend has just stepped on a bomb and lost body parts or has just been shot. Then I go to Costco to get some more grapes and some cheese for the next morning's omelet. Some days counting your blessings isn't as easy as it is on other days.

David worked very hard today. He walked on his stubbies and towed his Physical Therapist around the entire hallway while she sat on a rolling stool. Pete, from prosthetics, came and grabbed David's legs and attached a new little gizmo that acts as a shock absorber and also allows for a little bit of turning motion. The gizmo added weight but David really didn't notice the weight as much as he enjoyed the additional comfort that it gave him. The HO is still very much a problem and continues to present itself in different areas. I told David that he should just have to enter himself into the operating room and have them put him under and then take some rubber mallets and just smack him all over the place to break up the HO - I was really shocked when he didn't show absolute excitement for the idea.

After we had lunch - Subway, a 6" toasted cold cut combo on wheat with swiss cheese, olives, lettuce, yellow peppers, and mustard - I knew you wanted to know what lunch consisted of. As I was saying, after lunch we went to David's Orthopedic appointment. He is just not gaining any additional flexion in his right arm so they are going to manipulate it while his arm has a nerve block. Now, tell me how you think this sounds: they will put a nerve block in the shoulder so he feels nothing, he will be lying there on the table with his Ipod playing in his ears while they FORCE the arm go straight and they FORCE the arm to bend more. What that really means is that they will be essentially breaking his arm for him. Maybe the bones won't break or maybe they will but the tendons will be forced both ways, any HO that has intruded on the area will be broken and any scar tissue that has hindered the flexion will be broken up. So, keep your fingers crossed.

John and his wife really needs all of our prayers. They are both fighting a very hard battle right now and I personally know how powerful the prayers of friends and loved ones can be.

Have a great sleep and I'll write again soon.

Good Night,

Gordon