Stryker Brigade News

After Scott was done with Speech Therapy, we went to Prosthetics to get the back of his helmet trimmed. This only took a few minutes and it now fits much better. He used to remove his helmet as soon as he sat down, but today he rarely took it off unless he was warm and wanted to wipe off his brow. This is a good sign.

We had one more task to accomplish while in the bowels of the hospital and this was to look for a lost quilt (It was not one given to us by a visitor, but a quilt "issued" sometime during the stay at Walter Reed). When Scott arrived here on 11/2/04, I screwed up and forgot he had the quilt under a Walter Reed blanket, so it disappeared. Our last chance to find it was in one of three bins full of carefully folded quilts and knitted items in the hospital laundry. They were very nice and apologetic, but I reminded them that I lost it and not to worry.

This done, we went back to Scott's room and began to talk. Somehow the discussion moved to the incident in Mosul. Scott gave some more details about how it happened and I was curious to know how conscious he really was after being hit (I've heard several different accounts). He gave some details as best he could, but suddenly became very upset and began to cry. This made it very difficult for us to understand him. I told him I was sorry he had to go through this and said I had been waiting until he was better able to make his feelings understood before bringing it up. It was painful to watch him and not be able to take that pain away. I held his hand and stood next to him until he was able to stop crying. I told him he could talk about this to me or anyone else he needed to any time he needed to.

About this time, Tiffany had to leave to take care of some things while lunch and Julie arrived. On the way to Occupational Therapy, I learned from Dr. Champagne that Scott should be here another six to eight weeks (we were told four to six was the program length, so were hoping for two to four more). She talked vaguely about the holidays and indicated something would have to be done about that time. She didn't know what, though, and agreed to think about it some more. She noted the helmet is now less hated since the modification. Scott told her it felt better on his head. She asked about his outing last night and we talked about his creativeness in covering his head up. She said that was a clever idea and told him he was doing well.

We arrived at Occupational Therapy at 2 p.m. Scott asked to get on the Internet to check his e-mail. We were in a different part of the lab and went to go to where the computer was. Scott picked up a chair and carried it over to the computer. Three pairs of eyes went to wide open and we all wondered aloud if he should have done that. Scott checked his e-mail and played some solitaire (it really is useful, Boss!) while the replacement therapist (Deb was sounding ill yesterday, so no surprise she called in sick today) set up for some more assessment testing. This testing measured times for turning over five cards and scooping up beans and putting them into a can. Scott did better with the card-flipping than I thought he would. One bean went flying instead of into the can, but once he figured out the task, he was much quicker.

The next appointment was for Physical Therapy. Scott's now doing some track-looking stretches with his legs as his first task. Next, the treadmill where he went at 2 MPH for .30 miles. The last tasks for the day involved various balance activities. Some did resemble a field sobriety test and I suppose that's appropriate under the circumstances.

Recreational Therapy, our last appointment for the day, had more Internet e-mail after getting to know the replacement therapist (his previous one delivered a healthy baby last Friday or Saturday). The therapist was interested in seeing some pictures of Scott so I put the browser over to www.strykernews.com and showed her the photos there of Scott. Scott saw the Roboscott photo his brother made and laughed this time (he didn't seem to like it the first time he saw it, so we've not shown it to him since). I pointed out to Scott how many "hits" some of the photos had. He did sort of a double-take and looked puzzled. I told him each hit was when a person clicked on the photo to enlarge it for viewing. He still didn't quite get it. I went over to www.google.com and typed his name on the search line. His name comes up first, which I've been told by an expert, is pretty remarkable. (Thanks to Todd at www.strykernews.com and Ernie at www.ehowa.com (which is not always "suitable for a family audience," but he supports the troops by getting plane tickets home for the holidays--you can help him at www.lbeh.org, which is family-friendly and appropriate for viewing at work. During your break, of course!)).

After Scott ate his dinner, Julie and I prepared to leave for the evening. Almost as an afterthought, I asked him what part of the day he felt was best or most helpful. I was surprised when he said, "Talking to you." He admitted his feelings about the incident and his men were right under the surface. I told him we all felt the same way about him and how difficult it has been to keep ourselves from being upset sometimes. He smiled and hugged us both before we left.

Julie and I returned to the Mall for dinner (Panda Express) and some birthday and grand-baby shopping. There's some interesting stores up here. Things you wouldn't see in Southern California--like a Green Bay Packers store (and in Minneapolis where the Vikings play, too! Is nothing sacred?!).

On the way back to the hotel, Julie and I talked about how surprised people who know about his injury seem to be when they see Scott getting better. It's almost like no one ever did this before. While he clearly has a way to go and still faces major surgery to repair his skull, he's got to be doing remarkably well overall. Julie said the doctor told her she was going to have to do some more research to see if skull replacement had any effect on recovery. My guess is the sample size is pretty small, making the research (if any) difficult to generalize from. By the way, we're still not Pollyanna-ish about this. We know things can go sideways or backwards, but things are still going in the correct direction for today. His pain meds are being reduced again and he hasn't requested anything for pain in days.

This evening I got an e-mail (thanks, George!) confirming that Scott made the points cut-off for Staff Sergeant (E-6) and should be promoted effective sometime in December! This is very good news and comes at a good time, too, as Scott's birthday is Friday (and boy, does he know that date).

If it's humanly possible to pull it off, one day we'll get him back to you guys at Ft. Lewis. You don't know how badly he misses you and wants to be with you. I know you feel the same way about him. I wish I could have served with him. I envy you all for that.

ST