We’re in the double digits for months now. It’s been a crazy month with some difficult times and some really great times. On March 11, Justin went in for his big skin flap surgery. It was about 12 hours long. When he came out of it, he woke up with a migraine – likely from a combination of anesthesia, no caffeine, and no food. He spent the next couple days in ICU. His lower legs had to remain covered with a heated tent/blanket thing to promote good blood flow. This made him feel overheated and he was pretty miserable for a bit. Once he was back on the 4th floor, they were able to find him a small fan which helped so much. While he was in the hospital his parents, sister, both grandmothers, one of his cousins, his cousin’s son, and one of his brothers came up to visit. He also received a brief visit from President Obama.
Justin’s surgeon was pleased with how Justin’s leg was doing and released him from the hospital almost 2 weeks after his surgery. The weekend after he was released, we decided to head to Sharptown, MD for a couple days. They were holding a fundraiser for the 2014 Heroes Haven event and we wanted to help out with it. I made some fudge for the cake wheel, and Corey had a blast spinning the wheel. It was fun catching up with our friends and just getting away for a little bit. I hope that the wounded warriors who participate this year are as blessed by both the event and the community as we have been.
During the next week, all of Justin’s staples were removed. Wound care removed the ones from the right leg (donor site) and the plastic surgeon removed the ones on the left leg. A week after Justin was discharged from the hospital, his convalescent leave was approved…with a start date of the day he was discharged. Awesome how that works, huh? Regardless, we were thankful for the opportunity to get away for a bit. We packed up our bags, loaded up the truck, and headed down to Georgia for a couple days before heading to Florida.
While we were in Georgia, we went down to the company so that Justin could see his guys. It’s always interesting watching him interact with them and hearing the stories. The new guys that don’t know him look at him with a mix of curiosity, respect and a look that seems to wonder if the stories they’ve heard about crazy Sgt. Burdette are true. Then they see him in action and realize that the stories are probably understatements…he’s likely crazier. The last time he was down there, it was during PT time and he decided to give the new guys a little competition in pull ups. After doing more than they did, he asked his guys to help him down from the bar and back into his wheelchair. This time Justin got to see his platoon’s medic for the first time since June 9th. I was thankful to finally meet him. In hearing Doc’s story, Justin realized that Doc had downplayed the full seriousness of Justin’s condition on the mountain and how close he was to bleeding out. Doc had injured three discs in his back while carrying Justin down the mountain, yet he would not let any of the other guys take his spot in carrying Justin. He may be small in stature, but he played a huge role in saving Justin’s life and I will always be thankful for him.
We had some dinner with friends that evening which ended with an unexpected trip to Winn, but it was good to catch up with them and Corey had a blast playing with their kids. Saturday morning, we were able to go to the Easter egg hunt at our church in Georgia. We enjoyed seeing the friends who were there and Corey had fun collecting eggs and holding the baby chickens. After having lunch with one of Justin’s guys, we hit the road again and drove down to Florida to spend some time with family.
We’ve been on the go every day since arriving, but it’s the good kind of busy where at the end of the day you’re content having enjoyed the day rather than rushing from one appointment to the next and feeling like you spent the entire day busy but accomplished nothing that needed to get done. This convalescent leave was much needed for all of us. Justin’s gotten to spend time with his family and catch up with childhood friends…and of course, do some fishing (hunting will have to wait until his leg heals a bit more). I’ve gotten to relax, and Corey’s gotten to play with his cousins and even got to take a trip to Chuck E. Cheese with Granny. This evening Justin, Corey, and I had some family pictures taken for the first time since before the deployment. I’m looking forward to seeing how they turned out. Tomorrow we’re meeting with the city guy and will be seeing what will be our new house in person. It will be having a bit of a makeover, so it’ll be fun to see the “before” for ourselves. Later this week, we’ll be celebrating Justin’s grandfather’s birthday. So glad that we’ll be in town for the occasion. Being in the military, Justin has had to miss a lot of birthdays and holidays, so it’s always nice when he doesn’t have to miss one.
Once we return to Walter Reed, things will probably be fairly busy. Justin has a fly fishing tournament coming up that he is very excited about. He also hopefully will be back on two legs before too long. The doctors said at least 6-8 weeks post-surgery and we’re at 4 weeks now. Please pray that the right leg continues to hold up and won’t need to have the same surgery that the left leg is healing from. He’s so tired of surgeries (and so am I). Though one good thing about this last one is that they took him off of the pain medication that he was previously taking and he went through the withdraws when he was out of it and had plenty of other meds to make it a non-issue. His pain is currently under control with very little medication, so this surgery didn’t give him any setbacks on the pain management after the first couple weeks. He’s hoping to be completely off the narcotics very soon. That is a huge praise! Each time he goes back in for surgery, a setback is always a concern, but each time he’s come out in the same place or better (after a short time) than he was before. The surgeries may be a bit of a setback with the healing, but thankfully not with the pain.
April is the month of the military child, so I’d like to bring attention to them and some of the special needs that they have that you all could keep in your prayers. Military life can be very rewarding and interesting, but it can also be difficult – especially on the kids. Of the first 6 months of Corey’s life, Justin was probably only around for half of them due to various trainings and such. From 6 months to 18 months, Justin was deployed and only say Corey for about 2 weeks. Corey has had to say good-bye to his daddy more times than I can remember and he’s only 4 years old. He’s been forced to understand things that most adults struggle with regarding Justin’s injuries. He hasn’t always responded perfectly, but I’m proud of how well he’s handled it for the most part especially considering how young he is.
Both of my parents were also military kids. My mom’s father spent a few years in the Army. My mom was young during his Army career, and doesn’t remember much, if any, of that time. My dad’s father spent 20 years in the Air Force. They moved quite a few times during Bubba’s career. As a result, school was difficult for my dad. He would start a school year at one school and then have to transfer. The new school would be ahead of the old school and my dad would have to play catch-up. My Grams spent a lot of time helping my dad and his brothers learn the lessons they needed to get them to the right place in their books.
In many ways, military moves are much easier with younger children. They are much more adaptable, and while there’s just no good explanation to a two year old as to why these strange men are putting all of his toys into boxes and taking them out to a big truck, it’s a lot easier than trying to tell your 17 year old that he will have to switch schools right before his senior year leaving his friends, teammates, and girlfriend behind (or so I would imagine as I’ve got 13 more years to go before Corey is that age). For Corey, leaving Georgia last summer meant missing all except the first game of his first t-ball season. For him, that one game was exciting and I don’t think he realizes how much he missed. For a teenager on a team that he/she had to try out to be on, worked hard in practices, and then had to move, that would be so much harder.
Life isn’t all bad for military kids. Corey has experienced a lot more in 4 short years than I did in quite a few more. I had never flown on an airplane until I was 18…Corey was 6 months old. I had never seen snow until I was 10 and hadn’t seen it falling until I was 25…Corey was a newborn and saw both. Corey and I built our first snowman at the same time. I had never been to a foreign country until I was 25…Corey was born in Germany and his passport picture was taken when he was 10 days old. Corey has traveled to many places and has met many people because of where the Army has sent his daddy. He may not have an answer when people ask where he’s from, but that just means he’s loved by people all over the country and even some outside the country, and that’s pretty awesome.
What are some specific things military kids could use prayer for? Comfort and grace when it’s time to say good-bye. Most good-byes are just good-bye for now, but they’re still difficult. Corey loves visiting family in Florida, our friends in Sharptown, and our church family and neighbors in Georgia, but he can never have them all together at once, so there’s always someone that he’s missing. For school aged children as they’re trying to fit in at new schools and for them to have help with academic struggles they may have. For the children who have daddies and mommies that have to be away due to trainings and deployments. For the kids who live at Walter Reed and similar situations at other military hospitals. They are expected to deal with so much and in many ways have to grow up faster while still needing to be kids and have fun in a less than fun environment. And a special prayer for those kids that have lost a parent during service for our country.
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