Stryker Brigade News

On to today! We arrived a little after 9 a.m. (two hours early for visiting hours) to find Scott shaving his face left-handed and complaining to the Occupational Therapist about the job he was doing. "Oh! Look at that!" with a frown. (We don't care what he looks like, he's doing it!) We told him we could have bled to death from cuts if we shaved ourselves left-handed, but he's still not happy. The three-headed electric didn't work well enough on the several day's growth he had so the razor was resorted to. Two small nicks on his neck (usual places, guys) was all the damage done.

She told us that the long-awaited helmet fitting had happened and the device should be up the next morning. (This means we can transport Scott around to appointments without teams of slaves pulling his bed by ropes toward the Pyramids where the clinics are and I'm only slightly exaggerating.)

The PT operatives then came in and gave us the ankle/foot/shoe brace thingy and we were all surprised by how simple a device it is. You slide one part under the laces and click it into a velcro deal you put around the ankle. Easy. While they worked Scott, we went to the PX (Post Exchange) and obtained the correct three-headed hydrashaver along with clothing for Scott. Some soldiers are given an allowance of $250 to purchase clothing. We spent less than that, but only because the Red Cross was so nice to him the previous day (Hint #2). Our thinking was to get him warm clothing in case Minnesota is in the cards. We got several hooded sweatshirts with zippered fronts so he wouldn't have to shove his head through narrow openings. Scott is obviously sensitive to how his head looks, so hooded sweats should help with this.

I learned the name of the dedicated speech pathologist today (Laura Battiata) but also learned the name of his new speech pathologist. Oh well... Not much on this front today since Scott was pretty wiped most of the afternoon and sleep on through dinner.

The social worker returned, as promised, with information about the VA centers. It seems there's cachement areas for these places and Scott's unit location (Ft. Lewis, WA) puts him in the Palo Alto area. She said exceptions have been made in the past and she would continue to explore Tiffany's options with respect to living near either center. I told the social worker that I could easily secure Scott a billet in the First Minnesota Volunteer Infantry (a Civil War re-enactment group there whose members are among the growing list of persons pulling for Scott) if that were necessary. She laughed and said she'd keep trying.

Sometime this afternoon, one of the staff came by to ask if there was anything about the room that needed repairs. Gee, why would anyone ask us about that?

This evening after dinner, Julie and I went to visit to PFC Majors. We got a message earlier in the day that he wanted to see Scott very badly. We wanted to stop by, explain Scott's situation and wish him well. We were greeted by a nurse in the Intermediate Care Unit who did not give us any information about his condition (prohibited, you know), but took in what information we had about him. We had to put gowns on for infection control reasons and wash our hands going in and out. The nurse said waking him would be appropriate under the circumstances so we did so. We discussed his situation and updated him on Scott's condition. He said (actually, he whispers or mouths the words) some very kind things about Scott's leadership in Iraq. I asked if he had any objection to my updating the guys in Iraq about his condition and he said no. I told him Scott asked what day it was so he could track when his unit will be back at Ft. Lewis. (We know, but won't tell) I expressed the opinion that Scott is still focused on the mission and would be until that date arrives. He nodded his head in agreement. We gave him what words of encouragement we could--don't give up hope because doing so doesn't solve the problem and makes it harder to cope with it. It's hard to see him, to meet one of Scott's men for the first time under these circumstances, but we owe it to him and Scott to make the effort.

Scott was very tired this afternoon from all the visits from staff and therapists. He was also suffering some pain from the skull opening and the medications weren't cutting it for him. He got some PRN doses this afternoon which caused him to drift in and out of sleep until we left about 8 p.m.

On the grandchild front, out granddaughter (Scott's baby girl) laughed out loud today. I know she hasn't been reading my material so it must be granny's fault.

ST