It's been awhile since I last posted an update so I figured I'd share one with you since the kids are crashed out. I can't remember what all I've posted so far so hopefully I don't repeat too much. Paul is still in the hospital and had surgery last week and again today. Last week was the big one though. He had severed some tendons so they tied those back together. He also missing an 8-10cm section of his nerve so they took a nerve in his leg and in the back of his hand and transplanted it into his arm to hopefully get some of the movement back. Then they did what's called a groin flap (a little TMI here) and took skin and tissue from his side and groin area and put that into the areas that were missing and his arm is sewn to his side for three weeks while the new skin grows and heals. It really did look like a shark had bit him deeply but after seeing the pictures of his arm with the new skin I think it's going to heal really nicely. Prior to that surgery their prognosis was that he'd regain roughly 10% of the use in his hand and arm and after the surgery their estimate was closer to 80% which is wonderful.
He had surgery again today because he developed an infection in the incision in his side. I think he over did things because as soon as he was cleared to sit in a chair or briefly walk around he wouldn't get back into bed until he had to at night. He's hoping to be discharged to outpatient status soon which means I'll be changing the bandages for him but I know he's just wanting to be home again. Well that and he wants to oversee our move.
We decided to PCS here because this is a great hospital and the Warrior Transition Unit is awesome. It wasn't an easy decison and we argued a bit because he kept trying to do what he thought would be easiest for me and the kids rather than what was best for his well being. We went over every pro and con and finally came to the conclusion that this is where he needed to be. Fortunately it's only about 2.5 hours from Hood so no cross country move. I've found so much support here which I needed because I hadn't heard from the FRG this entire time until recently and by then I didn't even care. Plus it's kind of nice to already know someone here!
I've been so busy since I brought the kids here that I haven't been able to get online as often. Once I get them to bed I'm usually ready to crash right afterwards. If anything new comes up just check the blog or my status. I'm posting a kind of blurry picture of Paul with his new zippo lighter that the unit had engraved and sent to him. His had been blown off him when he was hit and they never did recover it. :(
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