Blessings of Thanksgiving

Today is very quiet. The floor with a census of 20 has 11, everyone who could go home has gone home. It will remain so until Monday. For PT Jason walked the square for about an hour-3 laps.
Dad held the butt vac, Dan walked along side on the right, Mom pushed the chair behind. Got a picture of "Jason walking the halls."

Visitors:
Scheduled "No show" Army Joint Chief of Staff Shoemaker; understood he visited the mess hall. Jason would like a visit from him next time he comes.

Col Andrew from Air Force and wife who somehow outranks him even though she is not in the service. (When the Col received his rank, in front of 400 guests, the officers called her up and pinned her! Maybe to Andrew's dismay?) Watch the Today Show on Dec. 1. Andrew is the first air force pilot amputee and now does liaison work here in the hospital. He will be talking about the advances in prosthesis. He enjoys Jason's humor and visits often. Jason enjoys Andrew's visits too.

The "Gov" we don't know his real name cause he won't tell. He volunteers with the Family Assistance Office. Somehow he knows everything about every family and their patient. He met me on the van when I first arrived at WR and helped whenever he could. Dow put him on the "Get a Jason sized chair" task as Dow and Jason forbid me to ask our visitor...

The Sec. of the VA system who visited Jason this morning along with an entourage including an armed guard and a soldier with so many pins/medals I didn't think the fabric could hold them all. (I thought the Sec of the VA could get Jason the chair he needs.)

Jason is disappointed today because the floor has only have one TV/DVD player set and a patient has a bunch of movies and has taken it over for the day. We have been playing musical chairs today as the patients have so many visitors, chairs have been moved from all over into A's room or B's room. We lost one of ours so I stole a chair from the RN's break room.

Fr. Pat Kenny's (chaplain, now 70) sister is visiting from Ireland, she is a Mercy nun stopped by for a brief visit. The "Gov" said he took her shopping and she spent a bundle on perfume because it is cheaper here (at PX). I don't know what Mercy nuns in Ireland would do with perfume. Anybody have a guess? She said she didn't like Guinness, didn't drink beer.

The Feast:

For about 2 weeks, everyone has been hyping the WR annual Thanksgiving dinner at a cost of $5 per person. I thought "Good Grief" it cannot be that good, WRAMC IS an hospital (and we in health care know hospitals). Folks, it IS that good!!!

Three chocolate fountains, about 4 feet high --white, milk and dark. Fresh fruit, pound cake and the famous rice krispie bars to dip. I went back for the second time because Jason wanted the white chocolate his favorite which we missed the first go.

1. Turkey, ham, beef-those famous green beans from the 60's, really good mashed potatoes, the recipe of sweet potatoes and marshmallows-we skipped the sweet potatoes.
2. Shrimp cocktail bar-ice sculpture of Army eagle
3. Bread table about 20 feet long,
4. Dessert table about the same length-pies, cakes, torts, cookies,...
5. Regular salad bar
6. Cheese table for appetizer we took a lot for Jason's taste buds. He liked one but I am not sure which one so I can't follow up.
7. Jason drank Zero coke and ate chocolate after chocolate dipped fondue. The guys got pretty decadent and were just eating spoonfuls of the fondue last time I looked.

As always we had leftovers and gave ours to the RN station for afternoon snacks on the evening shift.

This Thaksgiving Day we give thanks for the blessings of the 5 weeks since we arrived:

1. The blessing of Jason's life, again, first at birth then from Iraq.
2. The blessing of the medical technology, and the men in Jason's platoon who saved his life.
3. The blessings of the disciplines: surgeons, rehab, PT, OT, Psychiatry, Chaplains, RN's and aides on the floors. All the support and administrative staff who make WR run.
4. The blessing of all the volunteers from so many different organizations who stop by. For example there is a restaurant in the area that provides a steak dinner for the soldiers and caregiver every Friday night. The soldiers and family are provided transportation to and from the restaurant. Jason will go when his body agrees to a night out.
5. The blessing of all who have sent cards, letters, gifts, and prayers and good thoughts for Jason's recovery. For those who have most generously contributed to the travel fund.
6. The blessing of our new friends and support circles. The blessings of visits from family members. Thanks especially to Lisa, our daughter who has done a marvelous job in coordinating your visits. We could not and will not be able to support Jason without you.