Sunday, June 18, 2006

Father's Day

Mick is in the hospital again.  He slipped on the stairs on Tuesday, and wouldn't bear weight on his left foot.  I took him to the Dr on Wednesday.  This  Dr "worked" his leg up and down, from foot and ankle, and Mick didn't show any signs of pain, so, since there was no bruising or swelling, the Dr suggested that maybe Mick just "remembered" the pain he felt when he fell.  He didn't want to x-ray his foot unless necessary, so he told me to bring Mick back on Friday if he still wasn't using his foot.  On Friday, his foot was swollen, and I brought him in for x-rays.  The x-rays showed no break, but the swelling was alarming to the Dr (a different one, this time), so they admitted him and put him on IV antibiotics and did blood work, looking for cellulitis, or possible osteomyletis (bone infection).  He has now been in the hospital for 3 days, and we still don't know what is wrong with his foot.  They will do a bone scan tomorrow to see if he does, indeed, have osteomyelitis.  Mick has been a trooper through it all.  Never once did he cry or fight the nurses when they were drawing blood!  He is getting a bit grumpy at having to be in the hospital, though, and he isn't happy about having his arm on a board to support his IV site.  It's itchy, I think.  Tim and I have been taking turns staying with Mick, and I am making dinner to bring up to the hospital so that we can have a Father's Day picnic in Mick's room.  I just wish we could bring Mick home, and return to the hospital when he needs his meds and tests.  But, I know they are being super cautious, and I can't complain about that.  I was reading about osteomyelitis on the Internet last night.  I also learned that people with Down Syndrome are more prone to infection, and I am sure that is why they are being extra vigilant about diagnosing him.  I just want him to get better and come home.  The kids are excited to be going up to see him, but I know it will be hard for Mick to see Tim and them go home.  Sigh.

Wednesday, June 7, 2006

Casualties of War....

This morning a friend of mine was telling me about helping a friend of hers pack up her things in her house to get ready to move.  Her husband was killed in Iraq in March, and she and her kids are moving out of base housing and out on their own.  Maybe back to her hometown.  My friend said how hard it was to take the pictures off the walls.  And, she told me that her friend's kids were following my friend's husband around all day Saturday, calling him "Daddy".  She told my friend that the money she is receiving isn't nearly as much as she had expected it to be, and wonders how she is going to support her kids.  Man.  I cannot even imagaine.

Then, this afternoon I ventured over to the Lemon Lot at the PX (where people park cars and RVs they want to sell).  I saw a Marine in a wheelchair, having had his lower right leg below the knee amputated (or maybe blown off by a roadside bomb?).  Two boys, about 6 and 9 years old, were following him around, looking at cars.  I assume they are his sons. 

My husband told me last week that he will be returning to Iraq in March, for 7 months.  He wants to go, so I want him to go.  We both believe in the cause. He needs to be where the action is, and I love him for that.  I know I can manage while he is gone.  I've done it before, I can do it again.  But, quite honestly, I'd rather be blissfully ignorant of the dangers he will face.  I don't want to think about him being injured or killed.  He is my whole life.  And, when I see these brave men who are now broken (hopefully only physically - with their spirits intact), or hear these heart wrenching stories of the families that are left behind, it only makes it all the more obvious how important it is to treasure the time we have together - as husband and wife, and as a family.  God Bless our fighting men and women, and God Bless the families who support their desire to fight for freedom, for all, not just for Americans.