Stryker Brigade News

Some doctors came by to see the fragment spot on his thigh. They wanted another X-ray as the shots they had did not show any depth so they did not know exactly where the fragment might be. Our guess is that nobody wanted to do it on a weekend anyway.

We went to a little patient lounge area on the ward for lunch and Scott watched Footloose with his mother while I finished up Red Storm Rising (and donated it immediately after to their ward library). While we were there one of the rehab residents came in and discussed the requested passes with Scott. He asked about Alyson and Scott was able to say her name for the first time on his second try. Scott was pleased with this, of course.

After the doctor left, Julie got a call from our older son, Dan. He put his 20-month-old son, Kellan, on the phone. He told grandma ("Nannie") "I love you" on the phone and some other cute things. Julie cares for him on Mondays and alternate Tuesdays, but hasn't seen him since 9/20/04. She really misses him. We all do.

The pass for today was approved, as was a pass for tomorrow night, too. I picked up his evening meds at the outpatient pharmacy (the nurse thought this would be easier and it turned out he was right) and went back to the Fisher House. Julie followed later once Scott got settled in for an afternoon nap. Julie took a nap upstairs and I went to the living room downstairs to read another book on the First Minnesota that Jim Moffet loaned me. Of course, I fell asleep, too, but woke up in time to get ready for the evening.

The pass involved Jim Moffet and his wife, Audrey Johnson, picking us up at the hospital and then going to a German restaurant, The Black Forest. The beer (Coke for Scott) and food (we got the last of the rouladen and red cabbage--Yum!) were great, as was the German atmosphere. On the way out to the van, some shots or firecrackers (most likely the latter) rang out in the dark to our right. Scott immediately perked up and looked in the direction of the sound and then turned and fixed his gaze on a tall building in the area. He still knows how to find snipers, it seems. Jim and I commented on this to Scott who relaxed a bit and nodded his head.

After dinner, we went to Jim and Audrey's place to pass some time before going to the airport. We talked about the weather, home remodeling and making period garments. We also accepted their gracious offer to have Thanksgiving dinner with them. Scott played with two of their three dogs (one was a bit shy). Soon, it was time to pick up "my girls" at the airport. We got them and we all packed up in the van for the short trip to the Fisher House. We carried all the stuff upstairs and said our good-byes for the evening. Thanks again, Jim and Audrey!

After they left, Tiffany gave Scott pictures of Alyson, other family members and a very nice card signed by the men of the 1/14th Cavalry. Guys, we're sorry we couldn't all be there for your return, but we were certainly thinking of you then and continue to do so. If it's humanly possible, we'll get SGT(P) Thorne back to you, ASAP.

An addition to a previous update: Kathy Thompson is the nice person who took Julie out on Friday to the quilting show. Thanks again, Kathy!

I thought I would enclose another viewpoint of how Scott is doing, just so you won't think I'm making all this up. The following is Jim Moffet's description of our outing of last Thursday, taken from an e-mail he sent to one of the NCO's in Scott's squadron, used with his generous permission:

As you will see I spent all day with the Thornes today. Had a great time!
I really wish that we had all of the Stryker models (Recon, AT, C3,
Engineer, Ambulance, etc) so we could have a boxed Combat Command set of
them. Scott seemed particularly interested in the boxed sets, maybe because
the chair where he sat is in our big stock storage room, and the shelves
nearest him were covered with the boxed sets. He looked at all of them, one
at a time, and commented on the different vehicles. He clearly stated that
he preferred Strykers to Bradley, for several reasons, not the least of
which was the fact that the tires don't give out the way the tracks do on
the IFVs.

I was very happily surprised by SGT Thorne's current condition. I had only
met him once previously, about a week ago, and that was late in the day and
he was sitting up on his rack at the hospital. No other activity last week.
When I drove up this AM, Scott was outside with his folks, standing with his
cane. I really don't think that he likes, or normally needs the cane. He
walked pretty normally everywhere we went. He isn't walking as fast as he
will later, but no problems at all. He had no problem getting into the
front passenger seat of the car, taking the extra care required to not bonk
his noggin on the door frame (in the hated foam helmet, which he refers to a
the "gay bike helmet.") Note that the craniotomy is on the left side of his
head, and that is the side that would hit the door frame, and he is a
tall-drink-of-water - I had to move the sat back for his lanky legs to fit
in the mini-van.

He reads perfectly, as far as I could tell. Checked out the entire menu,
figured what he wanted, and really liked the food and the home-made root
beer. He ate the entire meal without any incident, despite the clear fact
that it was the greasiest food he'd had since that fateful day in Mosul!
Good appetite! After lunch, he climbed the steps about as fast as any of
the rest of us would have, one step at a time (that is to say not One foot on step A, 2nd foot on step A, repeat - but rather left foot on Step A, right
foot on step B, etc, right up to the top of 25 steps), Showed no signs of
fatigue at the top, just kept walking into our factory.

His small muscle coordination on the right hand is not where it was, or I
bet will be, in a little while. He did pick up some models with either left or right hands, but it will take more OT to get that right hand back up to speed. He is
learning to write things with his left hand, in the interim.

We didn't try to 'tip him over' in any way. I cannot personally say
anything about how well the process performed yesterday has affected his
dizziness situation. I saw no signs of it today, but he was 'upright.'

Talking with Scott is a bit tricky. Easier in person than on the phone.
This is the aphasia that Steve has related. Seems to my totally untrained
eye that his brain is working at the usual speed, but occasionally the wrong
word comes out of his mouth. I asked some questions about cav missions and
tactics used by the 1/14, and he replied very enthusiastically and talked
for a long time, describing formations and what I took to be the
squad/platoon TO&E. (At this time, Steve & Julie were both on their cell phones, talking w/ friends or relatives, so I was 1-on-1 with Scott). I followed most of what he said, but the occasional imposition of what was pretty obviously the totally wrong word made it a bit tricky. (example: "The 2 guys up front, and the 4 or 5 up above, ...." translated into the 2 driver types up front in the Stryker, and an E4 or E5 up above...) Steve tells me that this is getting better, and is perfectly normal for TBI cases. I know this to be the case, as a number of the men in my family have had strokes, and finding the right word is always one of
those things that takes a while to regain. Most of my relatives (all older
men - 50+) tend to stop when they cannot get the word out, and normally add
"dammit" after the long pause. In SGT Thorne's case, he seems to just keep
talking: maybe he doesn't yet realize that he didn't say the right thing.
Possibly this has to do with his youthful exuberance. I'm no speech
therapist, so I didn't slow him down, rather kept bobbing my head up and
down, hoping that I would figure out what he meant by replacing the odd word
with the correct word after understanding the rest of the sentence.

On Steve's recommendation, I did not ask what happened 9/14/2004 in the
alley in Mosul. Scott tells the tale sometimes, but I know way too many
PTSD guys (WWII, Nam, Beirut, GWI vets) to open a personal hell up on
somebody who doesn't WANT to talk about it. I didn't ask, and today, I
didn't hear the tale. Maybe after he gets to know me better.

As we were driving across the campus of the College of St. Thomas, we saw
what appeared to be a USAF ROTC cadet in his uniform. Scott noted him, and
talked for a while about good officers vs. those who were less good. He
acts, in every way, like a 100% combat vet NCO. That I found very
heartening.

From what I saw today, I am VERY glad that Scott's profile is temporary, and
not cast in stone. He is not whole, but how could he be? He has come a lot
farther than I would have figured possible - he has been out of the heavy
morphine and in rehab for less than 5 weeks, and is looking real good, all
things considered. How far the recovery will go, only time will tell. But
his goal is to be back, with his promotion, in Bronco Troop where he
earnestly believes he belongs. That is what drives him in his recovery
process. He seems to still be the same "High Speed" guy you knew.

Audrey ("Mrs. Jim") and I have invited the Thornes over for Thanksgiving
(I'll be damned if they have to eat hospital turkey in a communal dining
room!) and that will give me a good chance to see progress in another 2
weeks. If they are still in town for Christmas, we will do it again. I
will be taking Scott out for more "field trips" in the interim. I will keep
you informed of the progress that I see.

So, there you have it from another perspective. We'll see what improvements the next week brings.

ST