9 month update

9 months…wow. For some reason that sounds like a lot more than 8 even though it’s only a few weeks more. This past month has been a bit of a roller coaster. We had some really big highs which made the disappointments seem lower. This month started out with us just getting back from a much needed convalescent leave in Florida and Georgia. Justin got his stitches out and his left leg was looking great. He got casted and was walking on two legs pretty much as soon as he put the left leg on for the first time. It was amazing to watch! He got to start back in the archery program and was able to shoot his bow standing for the first time since before his deployment. He signed up to train and try out for a few Warrior Game events. He was walking everywhere as he felt up to it just because he could. On my birthday, Corey and I joined him for physical therapy and we all walked together around the track. Then came last week…Justin went to wound care since there was still a tiny spot at the end of his left leg that hadn’t healed up. They determined that the bone was too close to the surface and consulted with orthopedics and the plastic surgery team. I’m thankful that the wound care team is on top of things and keep a close eye to make sure things are how they should be and if they’re not, make sure Justin is taken care of, but that was not the news I wanted to hear. It was decided that Justin would need the skin flap after all. The doctors tried three times to make it work with less invasive procedures, but long term, none of them worked. Justin was readmitted the next day. They reopened the leg to clean things up, then vascular checked out the blood flow in what will be the donor site. They did cultures to check for infection and the results came back that he’s infection free! The last couple times they opened up his legs, they found staph infections in the bones and he was on twice daily IV antibiotics for months. So glad that he won’t have to deal with that this time around. Everything is looking good for him to have his surgery on Tuesday followed by a stay in ICU so they can closely monitor things. Please pray that the surgery will be a success and that the flap will do its intended job so that more surgery will not be necessary after this round of inpatient.

On the non-medical side of things, we got to do some really fun things as a family. Being Floridians, we’re not big on the whole winter season, but we’ve tried to make the best of it and have some fun in the snow. The last time Corey saw snow was when he was just a year old, so he’s really enjoyed playing in it now that he’s a little older. We’ve had some snowball fights, made a somewhat wimpy snowman, and even went skiing. I was amazed at how well Justin did with the seated skiing and how well Corey did for his first time on skis…I’m pretty sure they’re both better at it than I am! After months of saying we wanted to go, we finally took Corey to Medieval Times. We had a great time and enjoyed the show and the food…though Corey wasn’t so sure about the whole eating without utensils thing. Justin made the front page of our hometown newspaper. A few months back, a reporter from the Florida Today newspaper and a cameraman came up to Maryland to see what a day in the life of Justin at Walter Reed was like. We had talked to the reporter several times before on the phone, but this was the first time talking to him in person. He thought it would be good for people back home to see how things are up here and how much progress Justin has made. They happened to be here right after Justin got his first leg so they got to be here for some of his first post-injury steps. Justin and I were invited to attend a Trout Unlimited event. I ended up staying home with Corey, but Justin was able to go. He got all dressed up…first time I’ve ever seen him in a non-military suit. He got to meet some really cool people while he was there. A couple were even from our hometown/county, so he had fun talking to them about favorite fishing spots and such. One of them ended up winning a raffle and gave it to Justin. When he got home, he was like a kid at Christmas showing me everything! This was no fruit basket the guy won (though we still would have been appreciative if it was)…it was a full setup with a fly rod, reel, fly line, fishing shirts, and a bunch more. He can’t wait until he’s able to go out and use it.

We also got some news that if it works out, it will be a HUGE blessing for our family. I haven’t said anything about it to too many people because it almost seems too good to be true and I don’t want to jinx it, but it really looks like it might happen and I’m hoping and praying that it does. A couple weeks ago, Justin’s aunt called and said that a man who works with our local congressman wanted to talk to us and asked if she could give him our contact information. We agreed and he called later that afternoon. He was at a city council meeting for our hometown (a few days after the newspaper article) and the city acquired a few foreclosures and they decided that they wanted to give one to us. He asked if he could pass our contact information to the city representative so that we could talk directly with them if we were interested. The city guy called a couple days later with more information. We are unsure right now how long we’ll be in Maryland or what will happen next regarding Justin’s career in the Army, but our long-term plan is definitely to move back to our hometown and Justin even has a couple job opportunities already. The city guy, Bob, gave me a list of addresses for houses to choose from and asked if we had anyone in the area who could be our “eyes” and work directly with him in this whole process. My dad agreed and was excited to help us with this and he met up with Bob the next day to walk through the houses and give us his assessment as to which he thought would best meet our needs. Dad and Bob will be meeting on Monday with an architect to see how to renovate the interior of the house to make it wheelchair accessible. I’ve been working on our end to get all the necessarily paperwork and documentation together. Justin and I have been discussing paint colors and what things in a house will make his life easier rather than just making do. I’m afraid to get too excited about it for fear that it will fall through, but I just can’t help being excited about the possibility of having a place of our own…something I didn’t think we’d be even discussing this decade. Justin could finally get his man cave to hang his hunting trophies and have his Bass Pro camouflage recliner! We're hoping and praying that everything works out with this.

It hasn’t been an easy 9 months. In fact, some parts have been extremely difficult, but in spite of the difficulties, we have been blessed. Not just with the stuff people have given too us (though that has been a huge blessing), but in so many other ways. We’re blessed that Justin is alive and has such a determined spirit. Never once has he given up or said he can’t do something. Sure, he’s got physical limitations, but just because he can’t do something how he used to doesn’t mean he can’t do it at all. He can’t traipse through the woods and climb a tree to get away from a mean hog, but he’s got his track chair and that can get him just about anywhere he needs to go. We’re blessed with such good medical care here at Walter Reed. We don’t particularly like living up here in such a big city, but there’s probably nowhere else in the world where he could find the level of experience for his type of injuries as you’ll find here. From the time he arrived, he’s received exceptional care. We’re blessed with family who is willing and able to help out when we’ve needed it the most. We’re blessed with friends and neighbors who have helped take care of our house while we’re away and have brought us meals when we’re in town. We’re blessed to have friends and family who have prayed for us, encouraged us all along the way, sent us such kind messages through the mail and on facebook, and have shown us so much kindness in so many ways. We’re blessed at how well Corey has adapted to Justin’s injuries. He has a hard time knowing how to properly express himself when he’s upset about Justin being in the hospital, but he’s never once acted scared to be around Justin. He loves his daddy and in his own way has accepted Justin’s injuries and with his little sense of humor can even joke about it (his sense of humor is much like Justin’s…slightly warped lol). It’s not always easy to count your blessings when the difficult times get overwhelming. I had a few times like that in the past week where the frustration of it all just built up and I just wanted to scream and cry and throw things. Life in general can be hard even if you’re not having to deal with situations like ours, but life is never hopeless. Psalm 30:5b says “weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.” I’ve cried many tears over the past 9 months, but some of those tears have been tears of joy. Sometimes it feels like this “night” will never end, but one day we’ll look back and it will be a distant memory. We just have to keep holding on and waiting for the “morning” to come.

first time on 2 legs!