Thursday, May 28, 2009

I know it's been a while, but there hasn't been a lot to write about. I guess that's a good thing when the situation is status quo.

Mark continues to do therapy but is getting some more down time which is also good. He has been practicing transferring, etc. on one leg in preparation for the surgery on his Achilles tendon. He says he has it mastered pretty well. The surgery will be on Friday, June 5th and he will not be able to put any, and I stress any weight on his right foot for 8-10 weeks. He knows this will likely set him back a little, but in the long run we all feel it will be worth the extended hospital stay if he can walk with just a cane at the worst.

I will be there with him for the surgery and then Jess arrives a few days after. I am certain that will do wonders to aid in his recovery. It will be great to see her and spend time with her before I head back to Ohio.

In the meantime, Mark has been going on some outings and doing ordinary things like laundry, cleaning, and shopping. It may sound trite, but it is wonderful to have him be able to do things for himself, especially when the original prognosis was so bleak. He had a wonderful visit with my cousin Anthony and his wife, Mary who were in Tampa from Philadelphia. They had seen Mark at Walter Reed and were absolutely amazed by the difference. He thoroughly enjoyed their visit and apologized for not remembering the last one.

Please continue to keep Mark in your prayers especially the day of the surgery. I will be sure to post the outcome as soon as we have it. Thanks for all the continued support.

Monday, May 18, 2009

Phew!! It's been a busy few days for Mark and us. Friday, Rich and I drove to Washington to be with my family for my twin nephews' graduation from Georgetown University. It was a good break for me to do something entirely different and visit with my brother Robert and his wife Vi-Ella, her family, and my cousin Anthony who drove down from New York. Rich and I had not seen Anthony in years, although we keep in touch regularly. The boys really enjoyed having everyone there and it was great to see my sister-in-law's brothers who came from California and Hawaii. The weather cooperated and even though it rained early in the day, the Business School graduation was moved indoors, so we were able to enjoy the ceremony and be cool and dry!

Mark was originally going to go with us, but when his leave was approved we had to change the dates around and we were not able to have him be part of his buddy's first salute and his cousins' graduation.

Mark had an exciting day on Friday. His physical therapist took him to the YMCA and their rock climbing wall. He anxiously waited all week to finally get back to the thing he loves most (next to Jess, of course) and he had a ball. We were all waiting in Washington to hear about this adventure and when he called he was just estatic! When we asked him how he did, he said not too bad for not having done any climbing in the last eighteen months. I asked him if he factored in all he's been through in those eighteen months, and he said "No. In that case I did fantastic!"

It was very important for Mark and us that Rich and I go to Arlington to visit the two pilots who were killed in the crash. On Sunday morning we made our way there and paid our respects to CW2 Davidangelo Alvarez and CPT Christian Skoglund. It was not something we could do without extreme emotion. These young men were very, very special to Mark and we feel such a close connection to them, even though we never met. It was a very moving experience.

On a lighter note, we hope you enjoy the photos below of our nephews, our family, and Mark making his way up the climbing wall.

Thursday, May 14, 2009

It was a productive few days in Florida with Mark's team and the Army. I met with Mark's captain and his promotion is still up in the air. When they promoted him to sergeant while he was in Iraq, they did not have him take a required leadership class. They decided to send him to this class nearly a year later in Germany. He was supposed to leave Italy for Germany the Tuesday after the crash to take the course. Needless to say that never happened. Now there is some issue about whether or not they can waive it. I thought they were in the process of doing that but there is some talk that they want him to take it on line. We are trying to fight that if possible. He certainly showed leadership skills while he was a sergeant and training new crew chiefs, but it's the Army, what can I say.

On Tuesday morning Peter, Mark and I met with the podiatrist who was called in by the head of orthopedics to look at Mark's ankle and the issue of lengthening his Achilles tendon. We were very encouraged and delighted with her. Dr. Wagner would assist a Dr. Bernard in this procedure. She explained that in addition to the lengthening, they would most likely do a tendon transfer from his calf muscle to the foot to keep the Achilles from shortening again, and keep his foot from pronating (spelling??). Mark liked Dr. Wagner very much, and although Dr. Bernard had a surgery at the time of our appointment, Mark met him yesterday and was thoroughly happy and confident with him. He would be the doctor in charge. He phoned me yesterday afternoon while I was on route home to Cleveland and promised to call me this morning. I just got off the phone with him and feel extremely confident in his abilities. Mark's primary doctor, Dr. McCarthy has also called me and was excited about this new possiblity for Mark. It will mean 8-12 weeks of non-weight bearing casting and rehab, but Mark decided if it provides him with the ability to walk unaided, it would be worth every minute.

One of the most important things that led to our confidence was that Dr. Bernard and Dr. Wagner were the team that operated on one of Mark's former roommates at Haley. Some of you may remember me speaking about a young corporal by the name of Ariel who entered the hospital with many of the same issues as Mark since they had almost identical brain injuries. Ariel, however, had his lower legs and feet shattered from the bomb blast that he was a victim of. His mother fought like h*ll to save his legs from amputation at Walter Reed. These doctors not only saved his legs and feet, but actually did bone transplants to fashion heels on both feet. Ariel now walks unaided and without braces. Some of the work these two doctors did to reconstruct his feet had only been done once before in the U.S. I think we've found our team!!

Tuesday afternoon, we met with the doctor (civilian) who works for the Army medical review board who starts the whole discharge process, along with Mark's new care coordinator at Ft. Stewart. As soon as we met, she informed us that they would give us the particulars regarding the benefits, etc. but that they would not even consider starting the board process until after Mark has healed from his surgery. She was extremely understanding and the RN who is Mark's new case manager was a wonderful gentleman who, unknown to us, handled all the referral issues with the insurance company when we went to the Clinic while he was home. We were very much relieved since the benefits change some when you leave active duty status and the military stops paying the bills and the VA takes over. We want all Mark's major care to be done as an active duty member for this reason.

Please continue to keep Mark in your prayers. The surgery is scheduled for June 5th. Rich and I will be there. They have a number of tests and MRIs etc. to do before hand and that gives us time to get ready to get back to Florida. I will stay on for an indeterminate amount of time after just to see things are going smoothly. Thanks again for all the prayers and support. It is very appreciated.

Sunday, May 10, 2009

Hope this was a happy Mother's Day to everyone. Mine was great.

We left Cleveland on Friday afternoon along with my nephew Philip who was returning to Washington about an hour after our flight to Tampa. We were met by the TSA representative who wisked us to Continental, through our own security staton and on to Continental's President's Club where we could wait for our flights to board. Philip thought it was pretty nice not to have to wait in lines, etc. and Mark informed him that sometimes it pays to be a "gimp". When we were escorted from the President's Club to the gate we were informed that Continental had upgraded us to first class and we were given wonderful treatment on board. When we landed in Tampa and were waiting for the other passengers to get off, the pilot came out to chat with Mark. He had been an Army aviator and flew Hueys while he was in the service. He and Mark chatted at length about airframes and what had happened, etc. He was very nice and quite impressed with Mark's outlook on the whole thing.

We were met at Tampa airport by another TSA escort and Peter, who had flown in earlier on Friday, met us outside with the car. We enjoyed a nice dinner out with Pete and his friend Christy before heading back to the hospital. The nurses were glad to see Mark although I don't think he really wanted to be back completely.

Peter, Christy and I spent time at the grocery and a few other errands on Saturday morning and then went back to Mark's to find him with his buddy PJ who was vacationing for a few days in Clearwater. PJ joined us for lunch and just hanging around time. We had dinner at the Fisher House and just hung out some more.

Today we picked up my aunt and drove to my cousin's house for a Mother's Day Visit with my family here in Tampa. We really enjoyed ourselves and the "kids" were asking my cousin and I about stories and family when we were growing up. It amazed me that they were even interested. Peter, Mark, Christy and my cousin's son-in-law Rob were enjoying stories they had never heard before about relatives they had never met. My poor aunt Norma just sat there shaking her head. It was fun. Mark even showed off by walking for everyone.

We will be meeting with the doctor who may be doing Mark's surgery on Tuesday morning and then with the Army medical board representatives on Tuesday afternoon. Keep us in your prayers and I'll let everyone know what happens.

Wow!!! Mark just called me from his room. Jess had her appointment with the US Consulate in Sydney today -- it's Monday morning there as I write this. He said they granted her a five year visa, and I just tried to call her to get the details, but was not able to get through. I will post something after I talk to her about the details. Needless to say it is a big relief for all of us that this went through so well. Good job, Jess!!

Thursday, May 7, 2009

Well, two weeks have flown by quicker than we ever imagined. We are headed back to Florida tomorrow afternoon. Mark has really enjoyed his leave and we have enjoyed having him home.

Yesterday, my nephew Philip flew in from Washington to visit Case Western Reserve Law School which he is considering. Peter very nicely took him down there this morning and Mark and I drove down to Peter's lab at the Clinic to pick him up after he was done with his tour. We were able to meet Peter's boss and the other people he works with and we all enjoyed a great lunch at a local Lebanese restaurant. Tonight we went out to dinner with Rich and tomorrow we fly back to Tampa. Philip flies back to Washington about the same time, so it all worked out nicely.

Mark's doctor has consulted with the doctor in charge of orthopedics at the VA and they have a recommendation for a doctor who does the Achilles lengthening on a regular basis. We will meet with him Monday or Tuesday and go from there.

We also meet with the doctor in charge of the Army Medical Board on Tuesday, regarding Mark's medical review board and ultimate discharge from the Army. Hopefully, we will have some answers about his promotion when we go back as well. Keep your fingers crossed.

Please keep those prayers coming that the surgery will be soon and successful. We will, as always, keep you posted. Thanks from all of us.

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Things here have been going very well. Mark's appointment at the Clinic went extremely well and gave us the encouragement that we needed. The doctor there felt that if he had the Achilles' tendon lengthened, his walking would improve tremendously. He would likely need a lift on the bottom of that shoe because of the way his pelvis healed slightly higher on one side, but that's a minor consulation. The full recovery would take about 3 months in all, with about eight weeks in a cast and boot. Mark felt that, although it would set him back a bit, it would definitely be worth it in the long term. As he put it, "after all this time what's a couple of months more." I must admit the rest of us were in agreement.

One of the other interesting things to come out of our visit was the Clinic doctor's opinion of Mark's care. Frankly, he was amazed at how good Mark looks, the way his injuries healed and the advanced rehab techniques that were used by the VA. We knew that Mark had gotten excellent treatment, but it was nice to have our opinion reinforced by a doctor at one of the country's premier private hospitals.

Yesterday, Mark and PJ decided to go back to Strongsville High School for a short visit with some of their favorite teachers. Two teachers knew they would be coming by and they surprised several others including the band director. Everyone was amazed to see Mark looking so well.

Below is a short video, thanks to PJ, of the ceremonial "Silver Dollar First Salute". We thought you would all enjoy seeing it.

Sunday, May 3, 2009

We've had a great week with Mark home. We enjoyed Grandpa Pete's visit very much. He and Mark had a good time together with a lot of laughs and guy talk. It was good to see them interact.

We spent this weekend at the University of Dayton where Mark's best friend P.J. (Peter John) Sullivan was commissioned a second lieutenent in the Army. P.J. was a four year ROTC cadet and will be going on to Ft. Benning in Georgia for training and then on to assignment at Ft. Bragg, North Carolina with the 82nd Airborne. We are very proud of P.J. and all of his accomplishments.

We are also proud that he and Mark think of themselves as the brother P.J. never had and the other brother Pete as they like to call each other. He has been a loyal friend to Mark through his entire ordeal. He asked Mark to be part of the ceremony in the traditional "first salute". Unfortunately, the official photographer was in the line of view, so this photo is a little less than satisfactory, but when we get a copy of her shot, we will definitely post it. P.J.'s family have become friends of ours as well, and we were so happy for them. They are just wonderful people and we enjoyed meeting their extended families.

Tomorrow is our appointment at the Clinic so we are hoping all goes well. There is some issue about an insurance referral, so there may be some kinks to work out. We will let everyone know how it goes.