http://www.military.com/features/0,15240,171562,00.html
Please read this article and write your Senators so this bill will pass. Bryan was stop lossed and was injured 6 weeks before coming home. Had it not been for the stop loss his legs would be great today, instead he lives a life of pain. The money would help compensate for being extended and living in one of the most expensive cities in the US. It would be great also for other soldiers that were stop lossed too.
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Sunday, August 24, 2008
White Water Rafting
D, Bryan, and I met up with one of my friends from work to go white water rafting down the Ocoee. I was a bit nervous about Bryan's legs being able to keep him in the boat and D falling in and his prothestics being taking off by the rapids. It was cold out and very overcast. The water was freezing but we were excited to hit the waves. We had a blast! D almost fell in once but I grabbed him and jerked him back into the boat. We all came back with all our parts, and me without a paddle for part of the trip because I lost it when I grabbed D.
It was a blast and I think D wants to come back so we can raft the upper and lower part of the Ocoee. I can't wait!
It was a blast and I think D wants to come back so we can raft the upper and lower part of the Ocoee. I can't wait!
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Old Friend Coming Into Town
Today our friend D is coming in from Walter Reed. We spent almost everyday with him while we were at WR and we miss hanging out with him. We are heading to the Ocoee tomorrow to go white water rafting. I am a tad bit worried that he might fall in with his prothethics. I don't think the rapids will be that big because we have had a drought around here. He was supposed to be here this afternoon but it looks like it will be more like tonight. It is so nice to see old friends and to catch up on what is going on in his rehab.
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Cinchouse
I was interviewed and had an article published about us. Check it out!
http://www.cinchouse.com/article.asp?articleid=1306
http://www.cinchouse.com/article.asp?articleid=1306
Monday, August 18, 2008
I miss my Karie and doc appt
My friend Karie has only been gone 1 day. Her hubby is a wounded Marine that is back at Walter Reed to amputate his leg and get rehabbed. We talk every night on IM about our frustrations, happy times, and benefits. She is in Aspen skiing and kayaking and I am so happy for her...but I miss her. I hope she is having a blast!
Today Bryan had a doctors appointment with the lovely VA. I sent him with a list of things that is going wrong with his body, he will forget if I don't. The list contained, check out Heterotropic Ossification, knee keeps clicking out and then limps for hours, left heel plate causing pain, need counseling appointment, possible skin cancer site on back and eye, and blood work. Bryan had been to the VA a couple weeks ago to get some new meds. They changed upped his welbutrin to offset the lovely side effects of the zoloft. They also prescribed him lower levels of pain meds. Morphine is like a level 6 and they ordered level 1 and 2. Hope they work and hopefully they come soon.
Basically the appointment turned out to be a bunch of referrals to new docs. They aren't sure they can do the scanning and mold of his leg for the H.O. here so she had to check into where he would have to go for that. I am seeing another surgery in the future but we will probably have to wait another month or two to even see the proper doc.
Today Bryan had a doctors appointment with the lovely VA. I sent him with a list of things that is going wrong with his body, he will forget if I don't. The list contained, check out Heterotropic Ossification, knee keeps clicking out and then limps for hours, left heel plate causing pain, need counseling appointment, possible skin cancer site on back and eye, and blood work. Bryan had been to the VA a couple weeks ago to get some new meds. They changed upped his welbutrin to offset the lovely side effects of the zoloft. They also prescribed him lower levels of pain meds. Morphine is like a level 6 and they ordered level 1 and 2. Hope they work and hopefully they come soon.
Basically the appointment turned out to be a bunch of referrals to new docs. They aren't sure they can do the scanning and mold of his leg for the H.O. here so she had to check into where he would have to go for that. I am seeing another surgery in the future but we will probably have to wait another month or two to even see the proper doc.
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Kindness
Today I logged onto myspace which is where I spend some of my free time when I got a message from a nurse that Bryan had, that we loved, at Walter Reed when he was inpatient. The day before Bryan was discharged I wrote thank you cards from us to all our favorite nurses that took care of him. I felt it was important to let them know how much they were needed and appreciated. They made the time so much better. I had written one to LT. M and apparently she kept it for a long time. I got this message from her today and it touched my heart.
Hello friends! I just wanted to send a quick note to thank you. You know I loved taking care of you when you were with us at WRAMC, but I don't know that patients and their families always realize the effect they have on us. You left me a thank you card the day you left (the first time:)) I kept it, and found it when I was packing my place to deploy to this horribly difficult mission. I have it taped in my green book and whenever I need a reminder of the good I have been able to do for those who deserve it, I open to the page its taped to and reread it. Thank you, thank you for being a great Army family. You have the qualities we need more of, and I feel privileged to know you both. I am so happy things are going so well. Take care and I'll be in touch.
Thanks again! *hugs* E.
She is an amazing nurse and soldier and I really got along with her well. I was hoping to work with her on a women's only fly fishing class but we let before I was able to help out. We think of her often and hopefully our paths will cross again some day.
Hello friends! I just wanted to send a quick note to thank you. You know I loved taking care of you when you were with us at WRAMC, but I don't know that patients and their families always realize the effect they have on us. You left me a thank you card the day you left (the first time:)) I kept it, and found it when I was packing my place to deploy to this horribly difficult mission. I have it taped in my green book and whenever I need a reminder of the good I have been able to do for those who deserve it, I open to the page its taped to and reread it. Thank you, thank you for being a great Army family. You have the qualities we need more of, and I feel privileged to know you both. I am so happy things are going so well. Take care and I'll be in touch.
Thanks again! *hugs* E.
She is an amazing nurse and soldier and I really got along with her well. I was hoping to work with her on a women's only fly fishing class but we let before I was able to help out. We think of her often and hopefully our paths will cross again some day.
Friday, August 15, 2008
The cost of drugs
On Friday I wass at the hospital on the post partum floor screening for first time parents for our program. I was discussing with the social workers how drug addicted moms are requesting and IV of morphine after delivery. Apparently this is the up in coming drug for abusers. I was explaining to them that my husband was on oral morphine SR for about a year and a half and morphine IR for almost 2 years. I stated that he used dialudid for 22 days while he was inpatient. They stated that most cancer patients use that for pain and it was really strong. I agreed.
When I got home I started thinking about the costs of my husbands medications for the past 2 years. The dialudid (we were told) costs 1,000 dollars a syringe, Bryan was on the strongest dose possible that kept him from going in a coma. The first 4 days he was going through a syringe every 12 hours or so. So if you do the math just for the 22 days of that medication he used over 25,000 dollars worth of tax dollar money to keep him comfortable. Not to mention he was on 15 other medications. Once he was off that he was taking a lot of morphine and several other meds, his medicine case didn't even hold all the meds he had to take. Not to mention the costs of that flight to WR for him and for me, the numerous surgeries, the endless amounts of gauze and sertile spray and medications that I put on his legs, the Mologne house bill for 5 months (that totaled to be around 15,000), if I had received my Non-Medical Pay for 12 months that would have been about 24,000, and the TSGLI. I just can't imagine what the total costs are. Times that by 500 soldiers that are at Walter Reed at any given time.
What is funny is that our friend N (one of his prothestic legs costs 50,000) received a letter from Tricare saying that his medical expenses were so high that they would like to know the name and the address of the person that caused his injuries so they could sue. I died laughing when I heard that, we would all love to know what Iraqi caused these injuries and make them pay for what they did.
It just blows my mind and when we saw all these men with missing limbs we often wondered was it really worth it?
When I got home I started thinking about the costs of my husbands medications for the past 2 years. The dialudid (we were told) costs 1,000 dollars a syringe, Bryan was on the strongest dose possible that kept him from going in a coma. The first 4 days he was going through a syringe every 12 hours or so. So if you do the math just for the 22 days of that medication he used over 25,000 dollars worth of tax dollar money to keep him comfortable. Not to mention he was on 15 other medications. Once he was off that he was taking a lot of morphine and several other meds, his medicine case didn't even hold all the meds he had to take. Not to mention the costs of that flight to WR for him and for me, the numerous surgeries, the endless amounts of gauze and sertile spray and medications that I put on his legs, the Mologne house bill for 5 months (that totaled to be around 15,000), if I had received my Non-Medical Pay for 12 months that would have been about 24,000, and the TSGLI. I just can't imagine what the total costs are. Times that by 500 soldiers that are at Walter Reed at any given time.
What is funny is that our friend N (one of his prothestic legs costs 50,000) received a letter from Tricare saying that his medical expenses were so high that they would like to know the name and the address of the person that caused his injuries so they could sue. I died laughing when I heard that, we would all love to know what Iraqi caused these injuries and make them pay for what they did.
It just blows my mind and when we saw all these men with missing limbs we often wondered was it really worth it?
Thursday, August 14, 2008
26 Conditions
So today I needed to send Bryan's DD 214, His VA rating, and his Army rating to someone. I do this usually once a month or more, someone always needs it. Today when I was waiting on the fax to go through I read all his conditions. It makes me very sad that he has 26 conditions at 30 years old when before he got blown up he had nothing wrong. Here they are:
1. Obstructive Sleep Apnea
2. PTSD with depression
3. Traumatic Brain Injury/Closed Concussion
4. Bilateral Calcaneous Fractures (Shattered Heels)
5. Right Navicular Fracture (Wrist fracture)
6. Right Open Malleolus Fracture (Ankle Fracture)
7. Right Wrist Scaphoid Fracture (Another Fracture in his wrist)
8. Right Perneal Nerve Damage
9. Residual Scars
10. Bilateral Knee Arthritis
11. Lumbar Arthritis
12. Tinnitus (Ringing in his ears)
13. TMJ
14. Esophageal Reflux
15. Osteopenia (Brittle Bones)
16. Post Operative Heterotopic Calcification (Bone replaced itself in the soft tissue of his knee and started growing new bones, it's grows randomly like coral and its jagged)
17. Multiple Staff and Bacterial Infections (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, untreatable staff infection)
18. Hyperlipidemia
19. Upper Back Injury
20. Fracture Left Shin
21. Bilateral Visual Field Defect
22. Eustachian Salpingitis Acute
23. Difficulty Breathing
24. Hypoglycemia
25. Bladder Outlet Obstruction (Thanks to a cathider for a month)
26. Headache Syndrome
Unbeliveable isn't it?
1. Obstructive Sleep Apnea
2. PTSD with depression
3. Traumatic Brain Injury/Closed Concussion
4. Bilateral Calcaneous Fractures (Shattered Heels)
5. Right Navicular Fracture (Wrist fracture)
6. Right Open Malleolus Fracture (Ankle Fracture)
7. Right Wrist Scaphoid Fracture (Another Fracture in his wrist)
8. Right Perneal Nerve Damage
9. Residual Scars
10. Bilateral Knee Arthritis
11. Lumbar Arthritis
12. Tinnitus (Ringing in his ears)
13. TMJ
14. Esophageal Reflux
15. Osteopenia (Brittle Bones)
16. Post Operative Heterotopic Calcification (Bone replaced itself in the soft tissue of his knee and started growing new bones, it's grows randomly like coral and its jagged)
17. Multiple Staff and Bacterial Infections (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, untreatable staff infection)
18. Hyperlipidemia
19. Upper Back Injury
20. Fracture Left Shin
21. Bilateral Visual Field Defect
22. Eustachian Salpingitis Acute
23. Difficulty Breathing
24. Hypoglycemia
25. Bladder Outlet Obstruction (Thanks to a cathider for a month)
26. Headache Syndrome
Unbeliveable isn't it?
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Social Security Backpay
We finally got it! Two years ago this month we filed the claim. He didn't start getting payments (thanks to the Wounded Warrior Project being his Power of Attorney) until April. They denied him twice and told him he needed a hearing. A week after signing a power of attorney to the wounded warrior project he got approved for payment. You can only start receiving payments 5 months after injury. He will only get payments for 9 months because he is working and they just now back paid, after lots of calling from me and Bryan. Insane. Glad we have it. That is more investments for our retirement. We will probably have to pay taxes the money but it is still good to have for investments and who knows how long Bryan will be able to work as he ages.
Thank God another prayer is answered!
Thank God another prayer is answered!
Sunday, August 10, 2008
6 Years Together
Today Bryan and I met 6 years ago in a bar in Nashville. Yes I am not proud that we met in a bar but that is what happened. His friend tried talking to me first and I was interested (it was girls night out) I told him my sister was in the bathroom and I know he would like her. Bryan came up to talk to his friend and started talking to me. When he told me he was in the Army I told him I wasn't interested. A couple shots of tequila and dancing through the night I thought he was a nice guy. I told him to call me the next day in between shifts at work. I told him to call at 3:00 no later no earlier. He called right at 3. The second time we talked he spilled his life story of being adopted to me. I guess he felt the need to tell me in case I would be scared away, little did he know that I wanted to be an adoption social worker.
A couple of nights after we met, Beth and I went up to Ft. Campbell to see Bryan and his friend that happened to be interested in Beth after all. We spent the entire night at Dunbar Cave in Clarksville star gazing and talking. We left just in time for him to go to work at 5 am.
Several months later Bryan came to my moms house and we spent the afternoon playing in the creek and flirting. He was holding me in his arms and was about to dunk me under water. Bryan asked me if I loved him....I said no =( He said well I love you and dunked me under water. I felt bad but I was afraid to fall for him, he was a soldier.
A couple nights later Bryan came up to spend my moms birthday with us by going to the Goo Goo Dolls concert. It was a great night. Bryan whispered in my ear the he loved me and I said it back. I was on cloud nine.
Bryan had a Valentine's Day dinner planned for me at my mom's house. On the way to my moms Bryan said he had bad news. He was getting deployed in a few weeks. This is what I was afraid of and I cried my eyes out. We ended up having a nice evening. We decided we were going to try to make this relationship work while he was gone. It was supposed to be a 6 month deployment. He left on March 2, 2003 and it was the worst day thus far in my life. It was so hard while he was gone. We barely had any communication. Letters took about a month to get to me and I was lucky if I got a phone call once a month. After 6 months we decided that we would move in together. I needed to complete college and I was on summer break when I met Bryan and never returned to Knoxville. I decided I could handle going to Austin Peay and my mom was looking for an investment property. She bought a house that we could live in and I moved in shortly before Bryan and I's 1 year anniversary. Shortly after I moved in his deployed got extended 6 more months. I will admit it was hard. Bryan was bored when he got moved positions and lived in Sadams Palace for the last 6 months. After you have been in the Army for 8 or so years they try to give you an easier assignment so he had been moved to G5.
Bryan home on midtour
Bryan going back:
Bryan finally home:
Bryan was compulsive spending and calling me all the time. I could tell he was down in the dumbs but I was going to school during the day and working at night. I didn't have much time to sit and talk on the phone.
We made it through the deployment and was looking forward to him being home for a while. Bryan had to complete a 3 month BNCOC school for his E6. He had been an E6 for several years but hadn't had the time to go to school.
We got engaged in Gatlinburg on December 18, 2004 and had planned on having a regular family wedding in Tennessee.
The night we got engaged:
Our engagement Photo:
The Army had other plans and he was scheduled to deploy again in September 2005. We decided we didn't have enough time to plan a big wedding before he left but this time we wanted to go through this deployment married. We decided to have just our immediate family come with us to Kauai, Hawaii. We spent 10 days here weddingmooning. It was perfect for us and very low stress. We knew we neeeded to keep it simple as we were about to endure another hard long deployment.
Our wedding May 20, 2005:
We spent our first year married mostly apart. I made the most of it. I had a good friend spend our anniversary with me and I had a great day. The comminication the second time around was better and we talked just enough. He was 6 weeks from coming home when he got blown up. We spent the 2nd year of our marriage at Walter Reed and our 3rd starting our new life in Knoxville.
I am thankful for my husband and that I still have him. I am blessed at how caring he is and how well he listens. He has been through a lot and I am thankful that we have made it this far. I pray that we are together 40 more years.
A couple of nights after we met, Beth and I went up to Ft. Campbell to see Bryan and his friend that happened to be interested in Beth after all. We spent the entire night at Dunbar Cave in Clarksville star gazing and talking. We left just in time for him to go to work at 5 am.
Several months later Bryan came to my moms house and we spent the afternoon playing in the creek and flirting. He was holding me in his arms and was about to dunk me under water. Bryan asked me if I loved him....I said no =( He said well I love you and dunked me under water. I felt bad but I was afraid to fall for him, he was a soldier.
A couple nights later Bryan came up to spend my moms birthday with us by going to the Goo Goo Dolls concert. It was a great night. Bryan whispered in my ear the he loved me and I said it back. I was on cloud nine.
Bryan had a Valentine's Day dinner planned for me at my mom's house. On the way to my moms Bryan said he had bad news. He was getting deployed in a few weeks. This is what I was afraid of and I cried my eyes out. We ended up having a nice evening. We decided we were going to try to make this relationship work while he was gone. It was supposed to be a 6 month deployment. He left on March 2, 2003 and it was the worst day thus far in my life. It was so hard while he was gone. We barely had any communication. Letters took about a month to get to me and I was lucky if I got a phone call once a month. After 6 months we decided that we would move in together. I needed to complete college and I was on summer break when I met Bryan and never returned to Knoxville. I decided I could handle going to Austin Peay and my mom was looking for an investment property. She bought a house that we could live in and I moved in shortly before Bryan and I's 1 year anniversary. Shortly after I moved in his deployed got extended 6 more months. I will admit it was hard. Bryan was bored when he got moved positions and lived in Sadams Palace for the last 6 months. After you have been in the Army for 8 or so years they try to give you an easier assignment so he had been moved to G5.
Bryan home on midtour
Bryan going back:
Bryan finally home:
Bryan was compulsive spending and calling me all the time. I could tell he was down in the dumbs but I was going to school during the day and working at night. I didn't have much time to sit and talk on the phone.
We made it through the deployment and was looking forward to him being home for a while. Bryan had to complete a 3 month BNCOC school for his E6. He had been an E6 for several years but hadn't had the time to go to school.
We got engaged in Gatlinburg on December 18, 2004 and had planned on having a regular family wedding in Tennessee.
The night we got engaged:
Our engagement Photo:
The Army had other plans and he was scheduled to deploy again in September 2005. We decided we didn't have enough time to plan a big wedding before he left but this time we wanted to go through this deployment married. We decided to have just our immediate family come with us to Kauai, Hawaii. We spent 10 days here weddingmooning. It was perfect for us and very low stress. We knew we neeeded to keep it simple as we were about to endure another hard long deployment.
Our wedding May 20, 2005:
We spent our first year married mostly apart. I made the most of it. I had a good friend spend our anniversary with me and I had a great day. The comminication the second time around was better and we talked just enough. He was 6 weeks from coming home when he got blown up. We spent the 2nd year of our marriage at Walter Reed and our 3rd starting our new life in Knoxville.
I am thankful for my husband and that I still have him. I am blessed at how caring he is and how well he listens. He has been through a lot and I am thankful that we have made it this far. I pray that we are together 40 more years.
Monday, August 4, 2008
Adaptive Sports Foundation Weekend
I have no idea where to begin on this blog because this weekend was a weekend that will impact my life forever. We went to Albany, New York so that Bryan could participate in an adaptive skiing and water sports clinic. We flew in on Friday night and was picked up by a lovely member of the adaptive sports foundation. We had met another wounded soldier and his son when they arrived off the plane. This gentleman was a Retired US Marshall and also a Retired 1SGT. He and his son were so kind and friendly. He has mutiple injuries but seemed to deal with what life gave him very well.
We arrived in our room on Friday night and they had a cooler packed with Panera Bread goodies for dinner. They also had lovely beach bags with towels, sunscreen, jackets, golf shirts, candy, and other various goodies. We were thrilled to have all of these things so gracioulsy given to us. We rested up for the long and adventerous day ahead.
Saturday morning we ate breakfast and saw a woman that we met at Walter Reed. Bryan and kayaked with her several times at WRAMC and it was nice to see her there. Her daughter came along with her. We also saw a couple that we met in Vail. They got engaged on that trip and now were married with a 3 month old baby girl. We enjoyed breakfast and headed to the lake. This lake was about 15 minutes away on a private lake called Burden Lake. We had the entire lake to ourselves as the people that live there choose not to use their lake while we are using it. We met a lovely couple (Ken and Linda) from New Jersey that were going to paddle with us. We got our kayaks ready and toured the lake. It was so relaxing and the setting was amazing.
They had probably around 75 volunteers for 10 wounded soldiers and their families. The volunteer were amazing. They kept some of the smaller children so the parents could enjoy skiing and lunch with friends. After paddling Bryan got fitted for his mono water ski. This is like a large board with a bucket in it and a strap in the front for his feet. He was afraid of hurting his knee anymore that it already was so he chose to sit ski. During lunch the locals that live on the lake dressed up their boats in all red, white, and blue gear and had a boat parade for us to show their appreciation. It warmed my heart and soul to see them. Also one of the volunteers that was working with us got a grant from UPS for 25,000 dollars to help these events continue on. What a wonderful person for getting this grant started and we are so thankful to UPS for giving the money to help these soldiers get on with their lives in new ways.
After lunch it was time for some action. Bryan was hesitant about how fun adaptive water skiing was going to be. He was way wrong. He had a blast. He got up on the 2nd try and was jumping the wakes in no time. I was thrilled and was screaming for him non-stop. I got amazing video and pictures. I was so proud. I slalom skiied after him and had a blast. I hadn't skiied in a couple of years but it didn't take long to knock the rust off.
After skiing we headed back to the hotel to get cleaned up for a baseball game. It ended up being cancelled because of rain so we went to Applebee's and enjoyed the company of an amazing volunteer and the gentleman we met at the airport. We shared our information about benefits with each other and told some funny stories along the way. We had a blast.
Sunday morning it was the same game plan; paddling then skiing. We had a couple additional crew with us on the lake and we enjoyed their company. The lady that started this program over 20 years ago joined us and one of the volunteers husbands. We paddled several miles. I think Bryan thought he was in a race as he was zipping down the river ahead of all of us. He loved being out on the water and being active. Then he got fitted for a wakeboard mono ski before lunch. At lunch the instructors did a ski show for us. They skiied with the flag, mono skiied, and a below the knee amputee barefoot skiied on his one leg. It was amazing!
After lunch back to the water skiing. Bryan was ready to try out the wakeboard and get some air off the wake. Again he did an amazing job. This time the professional photographer was on there with us and got some pheonominal pictures of him. I can't wait to see them. While we were getting all packed up one of the soldier that literally has no legs got on the ski. He got up right away. This warrior can't walk as his amputations are too high but he can ski. He was breathtaking. I started to get all teareyed watching this unfold. Words can't describe the nervousness that I felt for him and the overwhelming joy and pride. Everyone was cheering as loudly as possible for him. It gave me chills up my spine.
As we were wrapping up the day we got word that the local Air Force Reserve unit was out flying the C130 and was going to swing by and say hi. This wasn't on their route but they were breaking a few rules to make us feel special. It came hauling ass over the water and I couldn't get my camera out fast enough. He swung by one more time and I got two amazing pictures of that huge plane. We all cheered.
We got back to the hotel and got cleaned up for dinner at the boat house. The company was great and we shared more stories of past experiences. Every time someone wants to know our story different times come into mind. I guess you never forget, the pain gets less intense but the stories remain fresh. It's amazing that you find family in these people who have been through similar things, even if you never knew them before. It's a club that you are a part of that you never intended to be in but are glad that you have. Dinner was great but sad to say goodbye to our volunteers. I plan to keep in touch with them as once again these strangers have impacted our lives. Their hearts are huge with giving and selflessness.
We got back to the room and had to pack up. We were the first ones to leave in the morning. I looked on our desk and there was a little lunch box packed with snacks for the plan ride. I got a huge smile on my face and let out a huge awwwwwwww. Bryan asked me what it was and I told him. He said they always put those little touches on the trips that make it even more special. It was a kind gesture and much appreciated.
The people that made this possible were:
www.woundedwarriorproject.org
www.adaptiveadventures.org
www.dsusa.org
www.adaptivesportsfoundation.org
www.ups.com
And many local businesses.
We arrived in our room on Friday night and they had a cooler packed with Panera Bread goodies for dinner. They also had lovely beach bags with towels, sunscreen, jackets, golf shirts, candy, and other various goodies. We were thrilled to have all of these things so gracioulsy given to us. We rested up for the long and adventerous day ahead.
Saturday morning we ate breakfast and saw a woman that we met at Walter Reed. Bryan and kayaked with her several times at WRAMC and it was nice to see her there. Her daughter came along with her. We also saw a couple that we met in Vail. They got engaged on that trip and now were married with a 3 month old baby girl. We enjoyed breakfast and headed to the lake. This lake was about 15 minutes away on a private lake called Burden Lake. We had the entire lake to ourselves as the people that live there choose not to use their lake while we are using it. We met a lovely couple (Ken and Linda) from New Jersey that were going to paddle with us. We got our kayaks ready and toured the lake. It was so relaxing and the setting was amazing.
They had probably around 75 volunteers for 10 wounded soldiers and their families. The volunteer were amazing. They kept some of the smaller children so the parents could enjoy skiing and lunch with friends. After paddling Bryan got fitted for his mono water ski. This is like a large board with a bucket in it and a strap in the front for his feet. He was afraid of hurting his knee anymore that it already was so he chose to sit ski. During lunch the locals that live on the lake dressed up their boats in all red, white, and blue gear and had a boat parade for us to show their appreciation. It warmed my heart and soul to see them. Also one of the volunteers that was working with us got a grant from UPS for 25,000 dollars to help these events continue on. What a wonderful person for getting this grant started and we are so thankful to UPS for giving the money to help these soldiers get on with their lives in new ways.
After lunch it was time for some action. Bryan was hesitant about how fun adaptive water skiing was going to be. He was way wrong. He had a blast. He got up on the 2nd try and was jumping the wakes in no time. I was thrilled and was screaming for him non-stop. I got amazing video and pictures. I was so proud. I slalom skiied after him and had a blast. I hadn't skiied in a couple of years but it didn't take long to knock the rust off.
After skiing we headed back to the hotel to get cleaned up for a baseball game. It ended up being cancelled because of rain so we went to Applebee's and enjoyed the company of an amazing volunteer and the gentleman we met at the airport. We shared our information about benefits with each other and told some funny stories along the way. We had a blast.
Sunday morning it was the same game plan; paddling then skiing. We had a couple additional crew with us on the lake and we enjoyed their company. The lady that started this program over 20 years ago joined us and one of the volunteers husbands. We paddled several miles. I think Bryan thought he was in a race as he was zipping down the river ahead of all of us. He loved being out on the water and being active. Then he got fitted for a wakeboard mono ski before lunch. At lunch the instructors did a ski show for us. They skiied with the flag, mono skiied, and a below the knee amputee barefoot skiied on his one leg. It was amazing!
After lunch back to the water skiing. Bryan was ready to try out the wakeboard and get some air off the wake. Again he did an amazing job. This time the professional photographer was on there with us and got some pheonominal pictures of him. I can't wait to see them. While we were getting all packed up one of the soldier that literally has no legs got on the ski. He got up right away. This warrior can't walk as his amputations are too high but he can ski. He was breathtaking. I started to get all teareyed watching this unfold. Words can't describe the nervousness that I felt for him and the overwhelming joy and pride. Everyone was cheering as loudly as possible for him. It gave me chills up my spine.
As we were wrapping up the day we got word that the local Air Force Reserve unit was out flying the C130 and was going to swing by and say hi. This wasn't on their route but they were breaking a few rules to make us feel special. It came hauling ass over the water and I couldn't get my camera out fast enough. He swung by one more time and I got two amazing pictures of that huge plane. We all cheered.
We got back to the hotel and got cleaned up for dinner at the boat house. The company was great and we shared more stories of past experiences. Every time someone wants to know our story different times come into mind. I guess you never forget, the pain gets less intense but the stories remain fresh. It's amazing that you find family in these people who have been through similar things, even if you never knew them before. It's a club that you are a part of that you never intended to be in but are glad that you have. Dinner was great but sad to say goodbye to our volunteers. I plan to keep in touch with them as once again these strangers have impacted our lives. Their hearts are huge with giving and selflessness.
We got back to the room and had to pack up. We were the first ones to leave in the morning. I looked on our desk and there was a little lunch box packed with snacks for the plan ride. I got a huge smile on my face and let out a huge awwwwwwww. Bryan asked me what it was and I told him. He said they always put those little touches on the trips that make it even more special. It was a kind gesture and much appreciated.
The people that made this possible were:
www.woundedwarriorproject.org
www.adaptiveadventures.org
www.dsusa.org
www.adaptivesportsfoundation.org
www.ups.com
And many local businesses.
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