Getting Ready to Party on Capital Hill
Today was a very busy day as Jason was to attend the State of the Union speech this evening.
We both spent time on the phones, Jason with the staff at WR and Rep Jan Shakowsky coordinating his travel to and from Capital Hill and my calling the PX's to see if we could purchase a shirt and shoes if necessary. By noon the only thing we needed were black dress socks to complete the uniform. Thanks again to Dow in Chicago, Steve in HInesville, Ga. and Lisa in Florida in getting all the "puzzle pieces of Jason's uniform" to WR in time!! I headed to Silver Springs to purchase the socks and to get Jason a Jamba Juice "to see him through the day." Travel times were changed and Jason was to leave WR at 3 PM and return after 11 PM. A very long day it was to be, indeed.
In PT Kyla kindly cut the scab still caught in Jason's hair from his scalp and reduced the remaining scab to about an inch. Jason proposed to OT that they use the pinning of badges and decorations to his uniform as his OT this morning. John Veldoni helped with hand sewing and machine sewing. John said he "won a ribbon for volley ball" in ROTC as he busily sewed on patches. A number of the staff participated in the final preparations of Jason's full dress greens. (I took pictures and hopefully will be soon on the blog. You will see the number of items that had to placed on Jason's uniform.) Some of these decorations Jason will only wear tonight as he will be relieved of his command and will no longer have the right to wear them on the uniform. I would like to thank all the staff today, in OT and PT especially who helped Jason prepare for "night out at the capital" He couldn't have done it without you. Blessings to all of Jason's friends in the therapeutic community.
Prior to coming back to the room, Jason stopped for a haircut. He said he told the barber, " a fade" Jason says the result should have been much longer than what he got. Shaved all around with some hair at the top of his head. Jason was happy with the length of his hair and was a little put out by the barber. His only consolation is that it will grow back! But John Veldoni who had been after Jason to get his hair cut for some time was ecstatic when he saw it! I was thinking that John was getting rather neurotic on the length of Jason's hair, it in no way being long in my thinking. (I do remember the '60's when long hair was long hair.)
After lunch it was time for a shower for Jason and to get dressed. Jason did fit a little quiet time in to read some of his novel. I felt proud and humbled as I helped Jason dress for this special evening. I can never remember helping him put on a tie before. I wish each of you could have been there to see him. I told Jason "You are a very important guest this evening." I hope the people of America who see him tonight will honor his courage and sacrifice for this country. America owes our veterans everything, they have given so much for this country. For me, Jason is the most important man in the room as he listens to the President.
As Jason walked the halls of WR in his full dress uniform all the staff smiled, a couple of soldiers recognizing the "tanker" insignia stopped and introduced themselves to Jason. Tankers are a special group of soldiers and very much identify with their unit. My heart is so torn, to see Jason in uniform knowing he is proud to serve his country in the army and knowing Jason will never be able to serve again as he has done. Another loss for Jason. I walked Jason to the front door, first floor of WR to catch the bus and headed to the room to take on the chores of the afternoon.
Jason on TV
I did watch the CBS evening news and there was Jason in his interview. CBS did an excellent job of showing PT at WR and Jason working out in OT. Jason was using his right arm to unload the dishwasher. CBS ended the clip with Jason working out on a machine, exercising his upper body. "Very well done" to Mary Walsh, Producer of CBS news who wrote in her email to me, "Jason is an amazing young man." It was so good to see Jason working hard in his therapy. I Hope a number of you were able to see him also.
Let us see if a camera finds Jason during the State of the Union tonight . I watched the President and switched channels. However, I found the same photo coverage on almost all the channels, maybe few cameras permitted in the hall. Very limited views of the gallery attendees so I did not see Jason. I hope he enjoyed the evening and will let us know his experiences.
Surgery:
Please pray that the free floating bone in Jason's tissues stops forming and dissolves. The ortho MD's are talking of surgery to remove the excess bone from his buttock region. they are creating a model from the cat scan that was done. The surgery has risks as the sciatica nerve runs down the right side of the body and could be injured during the "all day surgery." In your good thoughts and prayers visualize this excess bone dissolving and the "bridging bone" in Jason's left arm dissolving also.
We both spent time on the phones, Jason with the staff at WR and Rep Jan Shakowsky coordinating his travel to and from Capital Hill and my calling the PX's to see if we could purchase a shirt and shoes if necessary. By noon the only thing we needed were black dress socks to complete the uniform. Thanks again to Dow in Chicago, Steve in HInesville, Ga. and Lisa in Florida in getting all the "puzzle pieces of Jason's uniform" to WR in time!! I headed to Silver Springs to purchase the socks and to get Jason a Jamba Juice "to see him through the day." Travel times were changed and Jason was to leave WR at 3 PM and return after 11 PM. A very long day it was to be, indeed.
In PT Kyla kindly cut the scab still caught in Jason's hair from his scalp and reduced the remaining scab to about an inch. Jason proposed to OT that they use the pinning of badges and decorations to his uniform as his OT this morning. John Veldoni helped with hand sewing and machine sewing. John said he "won a ribbon for volley ball" in ROTC as he busily sewed on patches. A number of the staff participated in the final preparations of Jason's full dress greens. (I took pictures and hopefully will be soon on the blog. You will see the number of items that had to placed on Jason's uniform.) Some of these decorations Jason will only wear tonight as he will be relieved of his command and will no longer have the right to wear them on the uniform. I would like to thank all the staff today, in OT and PT especially who helped Jason prepare for "night out at the capital" He couldn't have done it without you. Blessings to all of Jason's friends in the therapeutic community.
Prior to coming back to the room, Jason stopped for a haircut. He said he told the barber, " a fade" Jason says the result should have been much longer than what he got. Shaved all around with some hair at the top of his head. Jason was happy with the length of his hair and was a little put out by the barber. His only consolation is that it will grow back! But John Veldoni who had been after Jason to get his hair cut for some time was ecstatic when he saw it! I was thinking that John was getting rather neurotic on the length of Jason's hair, it in no way being long in my thinking. (I do remember the '60's when long hair was long hair.)
After lunch it was time for a shower for Jason and to get dressed. Jason did fit a little quiet time in to read some of his novel. I felt proud and humbled as I helped Jason dress for this special evening. I can never remember helping him put on a tie before. I wish each of you could have been there to see him. I told Jason "You are a very important guest this evening." I hope the people of America who see him tonight will honor his courage and sacrifice for this country. America owes our veterans everything, they have given so much for this country. For me, Jason is the most important man in the room as he listens to the President.
As Jason walked the halls of WR in his full dress uniform all the staff smiled, a couple of soldiers recognizing the "tanker" insignia stopped and introduced themselves to Jason. Tankers are a special group of soldiers and very much identify with their unit. My heart is so torn, to see Jason in uniform knowing he is proud to serve his country in the army and knowing Jason will never be able to serve again as he has done. Another loss for Jason. I walked Jason to the front door, first floor of WR to catch the bus and headed to the room to take on the chores of the afternoon.
Jason on TV
I did watch the CBS evening news and there was Jason in his interview. CBS did an excellent job of showing PT at WR and Jason working out in OT. Jason was using his right arm to unload the dishwasher. CBS ended the clip with Jason working out on a machine, exercising his upper body. "Very well done" to Mary Walsh, Producer of CBS news who wrote in her email to me, "Jason is an amazing young man." It was so good to see Jason working hard in his therapy. I Hope a number of you were able to see him also.
Let us see if a camera finds Jason during the State of the Union tonight . I watched the President and switched channels. However, I found the same photo coverage on almost all the channels, maybe few cameras permitted in the hall. Very limited views of the gallery attendees so I did not see Jason. I hope he enjoyed the evening and will let us know his experiences.
Surgery:
Please pray that the free floating bone in Jason's tissues stops forming and dissolves. The ortho MD's are talking of surgery to remove the excess bone from his buttock region. they are creating a model from the cat scan that was done. The surgery has risks as the sciatica nerve runs down the right side of the body and could be injured during the "all day surgery." In your good thoughts and prayers visualize this excess bone dissolving and the "bridging bone" in Jason's left arm dissolving also.
posted by Katy (Scott) Zatsick | 1/31/2006 07:17:00 PM
1 Comments:
Katy - I just wanted you to know how much I appreciate and respect Jason's service to our country. My thoughts and prayers are with your entire family, and I wish Jason a speedy recovery.
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