Stryker Brigade News

Eventually, someone from surgery came up and Scott got in a wheelchair for the trip. Scott was dressed in the usual hospital gown and he wasn't especially thrilled to be back in one. We got to the waiting area about 12:15 p.m. where I was told to wait until Scott was done. I waited until 2:50 p.m. when the surgeon came out and described the procedure. He said the object was encapsulated pretty well and was being worked out by his body. He said, "I can see how it could be bothering him." He told me there were no real concerns about the surgery and he would be able to leave recovery in about a half hour.

Some time later I noticed Scott on a gurney with two nurses pulling him along. Scott saw me and had them stop. I joined them for the trip up to his room. When we arrived on the ward, nurses were moving things in his room so as to get the gurney next to his bed. Once in his room, Scott told them he would rather just get up and walk to his bed. They moved him a little closer and then he crawled off the gurney to stand on the floor and climbed onto his bed. He was very hungry so I offered to get him a grilled cheese sandwich at the cafeteria. But alas! No grilled cheese could be found, so pizza by the slice had to substitute.

When I got back to the room with the pizza, Scott scarfed it down with the assistance of some Mountain Dew Tiffany had thoughtfully left behind. I asked his nurse about whether our proposed pass would still be able to occur this evening, despite the surgery. The answer was that he could go with no restrictions, but his doctor wanted to see him first.

When Dr. Champagne came in she said she wanted to see how the surgery went. She put on some examination gloves while Scott pulled the sheet off his leg and the gown up to uncover the bandage on his leg. As the doctor started to peel the bandage off his leg to take a look at the wound, Scott acted like she had suddenly caused him great pain. She almost jumped back and then caught herself when she saw Scott laughing. He really faked her out good.

We discussed many issues during the short visit. I asked about how much longer Scott would be in the program (4 or 5 weeks from yesterday). We talked about finding realistic goals for Scott that he would find challenging. I learned that one person on the team takes responsibility for passing on the goals for the week (which explained why his Occupational Therapist was doing this). We talked about trying to get Scott on pass or convalescent leave for the December holidays. She said the local social worker would have to discuss this with the social worker from Walter Reed. I told her about some of the difficulties we had at Walter Reed (at times) and how some of the information we got there may have led Scott to think the cranioplasty would resolve many of his problems. We discussed recovery rates between those persons injured by bullet wounds as compared with closed head injuries such as blast wounds. The doctor said that Scott showed no judgment or insight problems, two areas of major concern with brain injuries. I mentioned Alyson and how Scott doesn't want to do something that might cause her harm accidentally and therefore avoids some things he wants to do with her.

After the doctor left, Scott got dressed (and yes, he picked out his own clothes for those of you keeping score) while I went for his pass meds at the outpatient pharmacy. He's only taking a few medications now and is completely off the morphine. When I returned, Scott was ready to go. We walked to the Fisher House. It was about 28 degrees out, but Scott enjoyed the still, cold air. He said his leg hurt, but he could walk (yes, I offered him a wheelchair). Julie made some spaghetti which we ate as a family meal. During dinner, I brought the ladies up to date about the conversation with the doctor. Scott expressed the opinion that he wanted to leave on December 17th and return on January 4th, no matter what. So, the rest of us now have our "marching orders," I guess. After a bit, Julie and I left for our hotel.

ST