Homecoming

This past weekend was an amazing weekend. We had a long drive to get to Georgia and a long drive back, but it was worth it and I’d do it again in a heartbeat. Justin may have arrived in the States months ago, but he only arrived in Ft. Stewart a couple days ahead of his guys. It was a true homecoming all around.

We left Thursday morning after Justin saw the wound care people. We got about an hour down the road when Justin received a call saying he needed to go back to Walter Reed to see the pharmacist to “reconcile his medications”. This didn’t really make much sense since Justin had just talked to her the day before after his primary care appointment. We decided to get off the interstate and stop for an early lunch while Justin called the clinic and waited for them to call back. Thankfully he was able to take care of that over the phone and we were able to get back on the road. After a lot of hours in the car, we made it to our house. There was a welcome home sign on a tree in our yard from our neighbor and newly built ramp over the steps to get into the house (thank you, Pastor Steve and Ricky! – our music pastor and a fellow saxophone player in the orchestra at First Baptist of Hinesville went out to the house and build the ramp the day before we arrived so that Justin would have an easier time getting into the house). This was Justin’s first time in our house since the morning of the day he deployed back in February and it was so good for all of us to be home together again.

On Friday, the first thing Justin wanted to do was to go down to the 3-15 building on Ft. Stewart and see the guys who were already back/didn’t deploy. (You probably thought I was going to say go to Bass Pro in the Savannah Mall, didn’t you? lol) He got to see quite a few people and about gave a few of us a heart attack…until we realized he was okay and then laughed at him. Corey was acting up, so Justin was trying to scare him while popping a wheelie. Had Justin had his wheelie bars on the back of his chair, it would have been fine. Unfortunately, said wheelie bars were sitting in our closet in Maryland.  He misjudged how far back he’d gone, wasn’t able to recover, and flipped the chair over backward. It was quite an awkward landing, but nothing except his pride was hurt. I don’t think he’ll live it down any time soon given who was there to witness it. lol We hung around and visited with people until it was getting close to lunch time. Then we went to our friends’ house to hang out before going with them out to lunch. After lunch we ran errands and headed home. A couple of our neighbors brought over supper for us and we relaxed at home the rest of the evening. (Have I mentioned how much I love where we live in Georgia??? We have some of the nicest neighbors!)

Saturday was the big day. On Friday when we were down at the 3-15 building, they kind of strongly encouraged Justin to be in uniform, so he made sure he had all the patches he needed and he got dressed in his multicam uniform (only worn for deployments). We got there early to make sure we got a parking spot and headed over to the field for Justin to get instructions. While we were waiting, I got to meet some of the wives and put faces with the names and voices I’d only heard over the phone. Justin got a lot of hugs from people he didn’t know, many were the mothers of guys from his unit that had heard about him from their sons. Then the busses drove past the field and parked behind the trees. The families waited in the bleachers and in front of them to catch the first glimpse of their loved ones. The wounded soldiers (Justin being the only one in uniform) waited near the podium while their fellow soldiers marched out from behind the tree line. When they stopped marching and stood in formation, the wounded walked/wheeled out onto the field to join them. Justin’s platoon sergeant walked out, gave Justin a hug, and then helped wheel him to his place in the formation. There was a little talking (though I doubt anyone could tell you what was said lol), the National Anthem was played, the unit song and Army song were sung, then they released everyone to meet up with their soldiers. Most of Justin’s guys found him and it was so awesome to see them reunited. I’m not gonna lie, I think I was more emotional at this homecoming than at the two where Justin was one of the soldiers returning. Seeing him rejoin his platoon out on the field was a moment I won’t forget. After grabbing some lunch, we headed back home where we all crashed. For supper (and by supper, I mean over 3 hours long lol), we went out to eat with some of Justin’s guys and their families. By the time we got home, both boys went straight to bed pretty much. It was a great day!

On Sunday morning, Justin wasn’t feeling the greatest (I think he overdid on Saturday), but we all still made it to church. I got to play in the orchestra and Corey got to hang out with his buddies in his class. It was great to be back even just for one weekend. After a little bit of relaxing, a couple of the single guys from Justin’s platoon, and our friends, Neil (deployed with Justin for his first deployment to Iraq) and Katie, came over for supper. While they were there, the guy delivered Justin’s track chair – given to him by a non-profit organization (I can’t remember the name at the moment). Let me tell ya, that thing is pretty awesome…except the horn which is kind of wimpy sounding. lol Justin can’t wait to take it hunting. It was a nice evening full of laughs…mostly at Justin’s expense, but he deserved it.

This morning, we were definitely not ready to leave. Aside from wanting to stay in Georgia longer, Justin woke up not feeling well again. Corey and I got up, ate breakfast, and I got things packed and ready to load in the Jeep while Justin got a little more rest. We finally hit the road, had a fairly uneventful drive with no wrecks or traffic jams, and made it back to Walter Reed around 8:30 this evening. Unpacking the suitcases can wait until tomorrow. I’m beat. Back to the normal routine tomorrow. Hopefully Justin will get casted this week and start bearing weight on his right leg. I never thought I’d be so happy to anticipate him hobbling around on crutches.

The wounded soldiers

Veterans' Day

Tomorrow marks 5 months since Justin was injured. Two days from now we will be celebrating Veterans’ Day. Memorial Day is to honor those who paid the ultimate sacrifice. Veterans’ Day is to honor all who have served in our military – most did not give their lives for our country, but they all made sacrifices of one kind or another. To all my friends who have served, THANK YOU!

Being here at Walter Reed, it’s very visible the extent of the sacrifices many have made. One group of people I want to thank specifically are the men and women who chose to be combat medics and the ones who assisted them so that the wounded warriors made it this far alive. If it wasn’t for the men in Justin’s platoon who didn’t even wait for the dust to settle before getting to him and stopping the bleeding, it’s doubtful that he even would have made it down from that mountain. They will forever have my gratitude and hopefully soon I will get to meet them and thank them in person. I am also thankful for the servicemen and women (and civilians, but it’s Veterans’ Day, so the main focus is on those who have served) who serve in the medical field in non-combat roles. The majority of Justin’s doctors, nurses, techs, and various other staff who have helped him are either current or former military including his orthopedic surgeon who splits his time between Walter Reed and various places overseas. Justin has received excellent care here. On the medical side, I have never once had to go above someone’s head to complain about the level of his care from the Army or Navy personnel. Many of them could probably make more money on the civilian side, but they have chosen to be in the military or work at Walter Reed after their time in the service helping other men and women in uniform. (And during the recent furloughs and government shutdown, that’s no easy choice for many who had to wait weeks to get paid and/or were forced to go home with no pay while the active duty members had to work more hours and shifts to make up for it.) THANK YOU!

On a personal note, where are we now?

Justin got released on Monday from another round of inpatient time to take care of the left leg which wasn’t closing. Same type thing that happened with the right leg in September. Hopefully this surgery took care of things and the leg will finally heal all the way. The right leg is looking pretty good. He had a minor setback while in the hospital. He was changing his dressings on the right leg and noticed an area that looked like it had opened back up. Wound care looked at it and determined that a stitch from his September surgery hadn’t been removed and caused the issue. They removed the stitch and now he has to wait for that little spot to heal before they can begin the casting process…hopefully this will take place in the next couple weeks. Another issue that’s still lingering is the staph infection (MRSA). When we was inpatient in September, they took cultures of the bone and tissue for testing and found that he had MRSA in his bones. They gave him a PICC line (basically, an IV that can stay in for a long period of time if needed and they can use it to draw blood – helpful especially for someone like Justin who isn’t an easy stick for IVs and blood draws) and showed him how to administer IV antibiotics himself to be taken twice a day for 8 weeks. He was almost to the end of that course of treatment when he had to be readmitted. When they opened up the left leg, they took cultures which came back positive for MRSA. Apparently, infection can hide in a “pocket” that antibiotics can’t reach. When they opened the left leg back up, the found one of these pockets and now the clock is reset and he’s got 8 more weeks of antibiotics. He was very unhappy about this as he’s tired of having to schedule his days around IVs and his weeks around the nurse coming to draw blood and waiting for his weeks’ worth of IV balls to be delivered. It’s a hassle and he’s tired of it, but what can you do other than deal with it. Hopefully after this round, he’ll be cleared and can move past this with no further need for the PICC line (though it did come in handy during his recent stay in the hospital so that his arms didn’t look like pincushions). Once the right leg heals, even if the left is still open, the can start the prosthetics process just with the one leg. The first step is to make a cast of it so that they can make sure the socket will fit him somewhat comfortably. They will likely have to make plenty of adjustments, but it’s a starting place. Then they’ll start working with him walking on one leg and crutches. What likely will happen before the walking is a thing they call a “tilt table” that they’ll put him on to gradually get his leg used to hold his weight without overdoing it. We’re hoping to start this in the coming weeks while he’s waiting for the left leg to close up all the way.

What’s in the future medically? Hopefully no more MRSA and no more surgeries due to his leg(s) not closing! The one thing that we’re concerned about for potential future surgeries is something called Heterotopic Ossification (or HO). In non-medical terms, when the body suffers sever limb trauma, often bone starts growing in places it shouldn’t. It’s very common here at Walter Reed and almost every amputee has it to some degree. Justin is not exempt. They typically let it grow for about 6 months until it stabilizes, and then evaluate to see if it hinders the patient from walking or causes a great degree of pain for them. If needed, they perform a surgery to remove it. Justin has HO growing in both residual limbs and since he doesn’t have a lot of extra padding, it’s pretty close to the surface and hurts at times. We’ll know more, most likely in January as to whether or not it will require additional surgery.

On the non-medical side of things, we’ve had some ups and downs. We’ve gotten to do some really fun things and have met some amazing people and even a few famous ones (though the ones I’ll remember the most fondly are the ordinary, everyday people who have opened their hearts and gone out of their way to express their appreciation for Justin and men and women like him). Justin has gotten to get back into his pre-injury hobbies which have boosted his morale and helped him to relax. On the flip side, we’ve had some frustrating things to deal with. It isn’t the Army as a whole, but the warrior transition brigade (WTB) here is one big, messy ball of red tape…to put it nicely. I could say a lot more, but I’ll refrain for the time being. Cutting through said red tape isn’t always easy, has caused many headaches, but if it’s something important to Justin and his medical side clears him, we don’t take “no” for an answer. I was recently told that I had people fooled that I was a quiet, mild Army wife but after a recent incident, he saw the claws and teeth come out. lol Mess with me if you must, but you better not mess with people I love. Certain people here will learn what it means to end up on my “no fudge ever list” if they keep throwing red tape at Justin (and if you’ve tried my fudge, you know that that isn’t a list you want to be on lol). We’ve got our good days and our bad days both physically (for Justin), mentally and emotionally. Corey is growing like crazy and he has most of the women around here wrapped around his little fingers. He even won first prize in the kids category in the Halloween costume contest for his Duck Dynasty costume. Being up here is an adjustment for him and that can make for some unpleasant moments and days, but we’re glad he’s able to be here with us. Everything is an adventure with him whether it’s going fishing (and out-fishing most of the adults who were with us) or simply seeing a car that looks like Bumblebee from the Transformers movies in the parking garage and guessing which of the other cars are Decepticons, life is never dull with Corey around. When he’ll sit still, he’s put Justin to sleep multiple times while they’re cuddling (and sometimes Corey will doze off too). He is a joy to have around…even when he’s driving me nuts. All in all, we’re doing pretty good. The end of this journey isn’t in sight yet, but we have 5 months (and hopefully the worst) behind us. We have many things to look forward to in the coming weeks and months – hopefully Justin will start the process toward walking, a few trips, and Corey’s birthday to name a few.

Please continue to keep us in your thoughts and prayers. We appreciate each and every one. I don’t know why God put us in this situation, but it could have been (and could currently be) so much worse. God has answered many prayers on our behalf so far and I know He will continue to answer them. Specifics that need prayer are for Justin’s left leg to heal completely and for the small spot on the right leg. For the MRSA to go away completely and never come back. For safety in our upcoming travels, and for strength for us on a daily basis – physically, mentally and emotionally. Thank you so much!

Corey with two of the Washington Redskins cheerleaders

Got to meet Gary Sinise aka Lt. Dan

Halloween costume contest