"Difficulties increase the nearer we get to the goal" Goethe

Today started out with my husband calling me at 7 am to say that they schedule pre-op for Wednesday and surgery for next Friday. He said he was overwhelmed and couldn't write everything down cause he was working on a robot. He said he isn't sure the dates are even right but could I call and see what was going on. When you want things to happen, they happen too fast and this has not been our experience in the past. I called Bryan's VA case manager and left a message. We have been trying to get this knee looked at for a year and could have been fixed at WR. By 11 I hadn't heard back from his case manager. I called the Surgery Appointment line and left a message saying that we needed to re-schedule surgery.

Usually this efficiency would be great but Bryan doesn't get short term disability with his work until he has been there a year, which is the end of April. He doesn't know how long he would need to rehab after this surgery, it could be minor or it could be really involved we don't know until they get in there and see.

The surgery scheduler called me back. She stated that the doc was insisent on getting Bryan in early and that is why it was so soon. I explained that he would need to use his short term disability and work and that didn't start till April. I asked if the surgeon could do it at the end of April. She stated that no he only does surgery on the 1st Friday of every month. I guess we have no choice but to push it back to May. I told her I would check with my husband to see if he could keep his current appointment. She said that she would have to mark in the chart that the patient requested the change because if something got really bad with his knee it wouldn't come back on her. I told her that it was fine and that I would get back to her about the 1st of May.She asked when I would get back to her and I told her today. I left a message that it would be May and that I would appreciate if she called back with the details of times and locations. I didn't hear back.

I then started looking through some of Bryan's documents as I needed to scan in his DD214 for his AW2 case manager. I found a travel voucher that he was supposed to fill out for travel when he retired from DC to here. This is a big chunk of money and it has to be done within the 1 year mark of the retirement date which is a month away. God was looking out for me on this one as we could use a little bit of extra money.

My Perfect Valentine

My husband really overdid himself this Valentine's Day. Our marriage has been nothing but challenging so I think he wanted to make this day special and reconnect. It started off with Bryan making me a yummy breakfast sandwich. Then he said he needed to run out and get more things for our day. I have to admit I was a little disappointed that he would be out of pocket for a few hours on our day. He texted me and asked what I was doing at 1:30 I said nothing that I know of. He said I needed to be ready and meet him where he was getting hair cut to give him a kiss. He told me that I was going to my favorite spa to get a massage with my favorite therapist. He said he had already paid and tipped so I had nothing to worry about it. When I arrived I was greeted with this:



A box of chocolate covered strawberries and a rose. Everyone that worked at the spa stopped by and commented on how sweet my husband is. I was definitely embarrassed but felt very special.

The massage was amazing and he went a little bit over time so it made it even better. He worked out all my knots and sore spots and I was relaxed when I left. I called Bryan and told him he was the best husband ever. I had no idea what was in store for the rest of day but I knew it was only going to get better.

I got home home and there were two bouquets of flowers and two more boxes of chocolates waiting on me.

I was surprised and undeniably impressed, even through I think he wanted the chocolate more than I did. We then had a beer cheese fondue for an appetizer. After that I relaxed on the couch while he was working on the bathroom. He asked me to come in and I saw that he had installed pendent lights on a dimmer switch over the tub. That is exactly what I wanted while taking a relaxing bubble bath.

Bryan cooked tuna steaks on a smoked plank with grilled veggies. Dinner was delicious and the champagne was sweet and bubbly. Bryan made a desert of shortcake, strawberries, blueberries, and shaved chocolate. It was good but I was stuffed and could hardly eat anymore. Bryan then asked me to open my present and card. Inside there was the silver box that Bryan used to propose to me back in December of 2005. The box was heart shaped and he had my old initials engraved on it and on the side was the date that we had gotten engaged.

He said there was nothing inside but he was wondering if I would marry him all over again and if I still loved him. Of course I said yes. Bryan always picks out very nice cards but rarely writes anything inside. He uses their words to say what he feels. This time he wrote a very nice paragraph inside that really touched my heart.

After dinner was done we had a hot bath that included rose petals, candlelight, and champagne. It was perfect and so romantic. I was shocked that he came up with this all by himself.



Once the bubble bath was complete he told me to check under the bed for my present. He had gotten me two outfits from the Victoria Secrets Vintage line. They were beautiful. He then asked me to check under my book and there was a huge card underneath. It was a perfect day and definately what we needed. I feel so lucky to have married this man.

"Friendship is delicate as a glass, once broken it can be fixed but there will always be cracks"

Today has been a day from hell. I don't know what to say so all I will say is that I don't know who to trust in my work place and it is disheartending. I know now that I will keep my distance, my lesson has been learned.

Today Bryan had his doctors appointment with his specialist, I unfortunately I couldn't go. They said they can do surgery to fix it, this will be his 15th. They will do a scope outpatient and hopefully fix it while they are inside his knee. If it can't be fixed then they will schedule inpatient surgery later. We are hoping for this to be in April so I am hoping he can accrue some more sick days by then. He has taken so much time off since his re-evals that it makes it hard to find time for another surgery. I am glad to hear the doc thinks he can fix it and I am greatful for that.

Back to Ft. Campbell and VSGLI

Bryan got his TDRL paperwork on Saturday for more rating appointments at Ft. Campbell. He has a 7:30 appointment with Physical Therapy for mobilitly, 9:00 with DBSE (I have no idea what that is) and 11:15 Orthopedics. Then he got a schedule in the mail that said TBI testing now with the VA on March 5. I am so annoyed and frustrated at the fact that the Army and VA can't share test results so he has to do these tests over and over. This now makes the 14th doctor appointment in 3 months.

The good news is that I had applied for VSLGI insurance for Bryan a while back. I got a letter in the mail stating that he has a free extension of his Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance (SGLI) because of his disability. It will continue without premiums for two years from the date of seperation or until he no longer meet the disability requirements. So he might have it idenfinately if they continue to deem his injuries bad enough. I am very happy about this. It was something I wanted to raise to Congress because no one will accept his for life insurance his his injuries.