Stryker Brigade News

Now for today's update. I made it to the airport in time last night to get on a redeye flight to Baltimore via Chicago. I took Mr. Toad's Shuttle through downtown Washington and eventually ended up at Walter Reed. I got to Scott's room just as the PT crew was leaving. They were all smiles about his progress and told me he walked the parallel bars again, but this time with very little support. He walked by himself and turned around, too. He walked without the bars with the PT on one side to support him. "He's doing very good" was the report's bottom line.

I entered Scott's room about 11:20 a.m. and he was very surprised and pleased to see me. Got a big hug and a smile. I got his version of the PT session while I took his shoes off. His lunch arrived and Julie returned from the dining facility with her lunch. I suggested taking Tiffany to lunch while they ate. Tiffany brought me up to speed on the events listed above while we ate and then we went to see PFC Majors. His mother was present and we got to talk to her. I learned he had also been hit in the right thigh and that his right foot was the one hit. It seemed to me the pneumonia was either gone or under control as he looked much better than the last time I saw him. His mother explained that something had partially blocked his tracheotomy and caused him not to be able to speak. She was not sure if his pneumonia was cleared up or not. When he spoke and I heard the Georgia accent that went unnoticed with his previous whispers for the first time. We chatted a bit and then I suggested a visit from Scott later that afternoon. He agreed to this and we left.

When we got to Scott's room, I immediately suggested that we go see PFC Majors. Scott agreed, but wanted to be assured he really was better before going. We arrived and "gowned up." I rolled Scott into the room and they began to talk to each other. Scott was smiling at hearing his voice again. Scott talked about his frustration with sometimes not being able to get the right word out and Majors said, "You can carry me and I'll do the talking. We're a team." Well, there were some tears for Julie and me on that one, but Scott and Majors were only smiling. After we left Scott was not upset over the visit and agreed to go meet the ICU nurses for a moment. Julie got one of them who was very happy to see him in a wheelchair and getting around. Major Nerges, the Head Nurse of that ICU (and a great guy, by the way) came out and shook Scott's hand when he offered it. He talked about Scott eating more because he looks thin and suggested we take him outside to get some of that air outside. We thanked him again and left.

(Earlier, Tiffany and I met with Major Nerges and I suggested to him that if any of his nurses looked like they needed a break to send them to Scott's room so they could catch their breath and look at an example of what their work really accomplishes. I told him it's got to be tough to work that hard and not see any tangible results. He seemed grateful for the offer. We discussed finding a suitable location for any Purple Heart or other ceremonies involving Scott. He said a big deal is made of such ceremonies (and rightfully so) and I suggested that we do it there at the ICU in an effort to boost morale there. If it can be done there (patient needs and all), I think that would be as good a place as any here.)

We took Scott to meet the staff at the Medical Family Assistance Center. They remembered Scott, but Scott couldn't remember all of them. They were very pleased to see him, which Scott didn't quite get. We told him on the way out to the veranda (well, that's what they call it. It's hardly what comes to mind--mint julips and Gone with the Wind costumes--when you hear the word) that it was important for everyone involved here to feel they've been a part of his recovery and that he is inspiring others with his progress. This only served to irritate him, so we dropped it for the moment. We got out on the veranda and Scott got to breathe the outside air for about 20 minutes. It was a misty, cool afternoon in the District, a lot like Ft. Lewis is at times. Scott just drank it in and we didn't interrupt his thoughts. Eventually, I asked if he was ready to return to his room and he said he was. While we were in the elevator a Colonel entered and recognized Scott. "SGT Thorne? How are you today? I was with Mr. Wolfowitz yesterday when he came to visit you." He was only on for a floor, but I got the distinct impression that word of Scott is getting around.

We got Scott in to bed and some time later Dr. French and his assistant from the Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) team came to perform some assessments with him. Julie and I left so as to reduce distractions. (Earlier in the day, we had discussed the TBI assessment and its importance and it seemed to me this was a fortuitous coincidence since they arrived for testing soon afterwards.) After the testing was over, Dr. French discussed his results with us. He said Scott scored above average on some tests, but still has variable abilities with verbal and memory tests, which was to be expected. He said he would likely re-test Scott after the rehabilitation in Minnesota and after the skull restoration work was completed. This is because the brain begins to improve more (sort of a second wave of recovery) after the skull is restored. We discussed Scott's ability to picture three dimensional images from two dimensional representations of those images, such as with military maps. We talked about Scott's learning disability and how he had learned to compensate for it. Sometime later, Julie remembered that she still had Scott's Individualized Education Plans (IEP's) from school and I went to find Dr. French again to relate this information. I ran into his assistant and she brought me to Dr. French. I told them what we had and he said that was excellent. He would need to see these before the re-test, post-Minnesota. We discussed the issue of Scott being Sergeant Thorne and Dr. French made it clear he understood the issue very well. I think we see eye-to-eye on this one. I went back to Scott's room and we discussed the need for a clear focus on the TBI issues in order to accomplish the goal of not being "done."

Later in the afternoon, Scott got a telephone call from a high school. I noticed Scott was gesturing with his right hand as he spoke on the phone. Very interesting, as I hadn't noticed this before.

A decision was made somewhere to reduce the nightly vital signs visits since he was off IV meds and was doing very well on orals. This may avert the need for some medication to help him sleep. We've made our objection to side effects very clear, so the search is on for something that will help him sleep better without screwing up the next day's work.

Julie and I came to the conclusion that having pizza for dinner might be a good way to increase Scott's caloric intake and this proved to be the case. He ate his peaches, macaroni and cheese and some other object from his regular dinner, and three slices of pizza (pepperoni for the Pizza Analysts in the audience). Since he's got zero percent body fat right now, we're thinking of giving him the leftovers for lunch tomorrow.

The speech therapist came by and gave us some more homework. We also discussed the case of a female soldier who was hit by an IED in July and had a similar brain injury. She got her skull fixed just recently and Scott saw "before and after" photos this morning while at PT, where he also met her. She appears to have been initially more seriously wounded than Scott, yet now appears not to have been injured at all, but for the short haircut (which reminds me, Scott's looks pretty good).

About four hours sleep in 63 hours. I hope this all made some sense.

ST

October 16, 2004

Dear Friends,

When I arrived this morning, Scott was asleep. This was a little surprising since he's almost always awake when we arrive. I woke him up in order to get him ready for his physical therapy appointment at 1030 hours. We arrived on time and Scott requested a stretch/warm up before beginning work. A soldier (also nicknamed Scooter during childhood) who arrived with Scott from Landstuhl and was next to Scott in the ICU that night, came in with one of the plastic helmets we'd seen around. I asked if Scott could try this on. Scott didn't like it at all, so I told him he was stuck with the one they issued him. Once the warm up was accomplished he worked on the arm cycle (for lack of a better term) and then went to the parallel bars. He had the belt around his waist, but gave the PT a stern look before he started to ensure she didn't touch it. She took the hint and kept a respectful distance while he walked. She encouraged him to lift his right knee higher so the foot would not catch while he walked. After a while of this, he indicated that he was a bit lightheaded and the PT sat him down to rest. He was unable to continue, so we took him out to the veranda again. He requested to go out further so we went to the flagpole. Scott enjoyed sitting in the sunlight very much.

When we returned to the room, I put the wheelchair next to his bed and when he stood up, I had him hug us all before letting him get back into bed. It felt great to hug him standing up again and the ladies enjoyed the surprise treat as well. We'll definitely do that again real soon.

Scott enjoyed his lunch (no cold pizza, though) and dinner. We watched one of the Harry Potter movies (a sure sign that Julie is in theater) and The Hunt for Red October. I left in-between rain storms and walked back to the hotel. Julie and Tiffany got him into the shower for the daily clean up. Julie reported that he walked very well back to the bed. When Tiffany left he was watching the UCLA game and hooting at a long run from scrimmage.

Just a quiet day with Scott with movies during intermittent rain and howling wind outside.

ST