Two days ago marked 7 months since Justin was injured. Yesterday marked 5 years since Justin and I got married. Even though injuries are nothing to celebrate, we can celebrate the fact he is alive and that we were able to celebrate our 5th wedding anniversary…though I was disappointed that the Cheesecake Factory up the road had closed so we weren’t able to go there for our anniversary dinner. lol I guess we’ll just have to have a post-anniversary dinner and go to the one that’s a little further away and hopefully still open. Though our second choice in dinner locations sure beat hospital room service!
Where are we now? Before we went on Christmas leave, Justin’s wound care team looked at his left leg and were concerned that the bone/tendon might be working its way too close to the surface again (same issue that sent him to inpatient in October/November). He met with his orthopedic surgeon who agreed and sent him to the plastic surgeon to see what could be done to give the leg some extra padding. The ortho and plastics doctors agreed that since they had tried twice to make do with what was there and it hadn’t worked, they needed to go for the more complex procedure that would require a longer hospital stay. They scheduled it for right after we were to get back after Christmas. I posted about it on my facebook and asked people to pray. We went down to Florida and had a great time. We were able to relax, spend time with family, see some friends, ate very well, bought a new truck, and enjoyed some fresh air and Florida sunshine. Christmas leave went by way too fast and neither of us wanted to go back to Maryland. Corey didn’t want to go back either, but fortunately for him, he didn’t have to. With Justin’s upcoming surgery, we decided to leave him in Florida a little longer since seeing Justin in the hospital upsets him. A family member would bring him back to us after Justin was released. We got back to Maryland on a Friday. Thought we would have Saturday to relax and take care of things, but instead ended up taking Justin to the ER due to the stomach crud and a bad migraine. On Sunday, he was readmitted into inpatient pending his surgery on Monday to open the leg back up and prepare it for the big procedure. Monday morning came and he was taken to the OR. He got out of surgery and ended up with a bad migraine. They gave him some medicine to help and he rested most of the day while we waited to talk to the surgeon about what they had done to his leg. I was cooking dinner when he finally came, but he told Justin that if he’d seen Justin’s leg before taking him to the OR, he wouldn’t have even admitted him into the hospital. It healed so much over Christmas that he, the wound care team, and the plastic surgeon agreed that it didn’t need the big procedure! The combination of different eating habits (Christmas ham multiple times), better rest, more relaxation, and most importantly – people praying – made his leg heal at a faster rate than it had been. Since it healed that well in two weeks away from Walter Reed, his ortho doctor recommended 3 weeks of convalescent leave to be spent away from here. Right now we’re waiting on approval from the Army side of things…always the holdup around here. The medical side wants him out of here for a bit with the hope that when he comes back his leg will be completely healed, and after seeing it yesterday in wound care, I think it’s definitely a possibility. After it’s healed, ortho has to clear him and then he can get casted and get his second leg and then things will really get moving in PT. During his brief time in the hospital, they took out the PICC line since he’s done with his IV antibiotics (it had been in for 99 days). Now that it’s out, he can do more with crutches and can resume his archery.
2013 was a rough year, but if the rest of 2014 is like the first 11 days, then I’m optimistic that it’s going to get better from here. Prayers have been answered above and beyond what I anticipated. I figured the big procedure would do what it was supposed to and that it would be what Justin’s leg needed to heal and then it would get better. God answered everyone’s prayers by healing Justin’s leg without the ordeal of more surgery. The weird bone growth that I’ve previously mentioned (H.O.) hasn’t been bothering him as much, so I’m hopeful that it won’t require surgery. It’s looking hopeful that Justin will finally get his convalescent leave. The colonel that made things difficult for the recreational therapy department has been given a new assignment and will be leaving Walter Reed very soon. Things are definitely looking up. Please pray that the Army side will approve Justin leave and that they’ll approve it for Justin to leave the area. Please also pray that Justin’s leg will finish healing so that he can get his new left leg. Hopefully by this time next month, I will have more good news to share regarding Justin’s progress. God is good. Thank you for your continued prayers. They really do make a difference.
Justin's new ride
