Wednesday, 29 December 2010 @ 2147

I Hope You're Having A Great Night.

David just rolled into his bedroom to get a good nights rest. I asked him if he wanted me to say anything particular in the blog and he asked that you all think of John Hayes. John was David's team leader on his first tour and was just hit by an IED in Afghanistan. The initial report is that his injuries are very close to the injuries that David sustained. John is stable and the last word was that he was on his way to Germany. David is very anxious to fly to Washington and see his friend and give him some assurances, but is very much aware of the fact that he needs to wait until he is out of intensive care so he will remember the visit.

I am so blessed to be with David but it seems our whole family is being tested right now. As I am typing, Michael, David's older brother, is in surgery in Utah. He wasn't feeling well and went into an Instacare facility and was told to get straight to the hospital. Michael had to go the long way around to the hospital as there is a blizzard going on in Utah right now. He went into the hospital and told them he had to get his appendix looked at and now we found out that he has Diverticulitis and that he has a perforated bowel. So, he's under the knife right now.

In the last three weeks David's mother has been in the emergency room 3 times and has had her gall bladder removed. Other than that and other unmentionable family situations, all is calm and going well. You know, sometimes you can only laugh or cry with so much going on. Right now I'm smiling but 5 minutes ago that was far from the case.

Well, back to the situation at hand. David is doing well. He is really working on his strength. He now has the desire to do push-ups while holding his body parallel to the floor. He has done one push up that way. He has a set of these "Perfect Pushups" and he goes from a sitting position, lifts himself off the ground and rotates his torso so he is parallel to the floor - then he tries to do push ups. He did that about 20 times yesterday but was only able to do one of the push-ups. He was so dang sore today. He loves every second of it. I tried using the "Perfect Pushups" and did one push-up but my feet were on the floor. I tried a second one and face planted into the carpet. I'm feeling like a weakling in comparison to David.

Today was quite impressive. April, David's Physical Therapist, sat on a rolling stool and wrapped thick rubber straps around each of David's legs and then he towed her around the halls. He did it without using canes. I really think, as does April, that David is ready for the full legs with knees and I firmly believe he will be in them next week.

Today David took a couple wounded soldiers out to his Jeep and showed them how he transitions from his wheelchair into the car. One of the young men lost his left leg all the way into the hip socket so it was really painful for him to accomplish the transition. I know it is very difficult, but it is also a great blessing for David to see that he actually has it a little easier than some of the other wounded warriors. On Christmas day he spent his time visiting wounded soldiers and trying to lift their spirits.

All of the sudden I am at a complete loss of words, my mind is going all over the place and I guess that means I have written about as much as I need to for today.

If any of you have updates about John or would like to hear any updates from David, please don't hesitate to call.

Take Care,

Gordon