Let's "Talk Over" Phones

As you know from my previous entry, when persons call us from outside the WR system for about the last three weeks, they have not been able to hear us. As usual I have been telling everyone at every opportunity, "Listen up, we have phone problems in 316." My motto is "The squeaky wheel gets the grease" or "If decision makers don't know about a problem, how are they going to resolve it" or my favorite pastime, "How do I slay an unresponsive bureaucratic dragon?" (non-violently and metaphorically, please)

So...As you know I had talked to the Manager of the MHH and he had said, "We're working on it." This morning when I went to get Jason his morning bagel, there manager was standing at the lobby desk with a woman at his side. I thought "Good time for a reminder." I figured it was time for a small dose of public chastisement. "Hello there, hear anything about the phone problem? Still not working from the feedback on weekend calls I got" and for good measure, "You know when General Webster called he was upset that he couldn't hear my son." I have nothing to loose except continuing poor phone service; put it out there, run it up the flag and see if anyone salutes it.

9:30 AM the Facilities Manager at MHH and a representative from Sprint (no identifying name tag-which around here I assume means he's undercover something, after 6 months at WR I don't trust anything I see, hear or read till I verify it) were at my room door saying, "Can we help?" They both declared it was not in the system but in the room's phone. They tinkered, they listened, they called, they answered, took out the phone and took out the line. They got a new phone and got a new line. Took about an hour of two men tinkering and talking a lot. When they were done "transplanting" I was asked to call someone from outside and have them call me. My sister in Michigan obliged, line working just fine.

All of this begs the questions "Why couldn't this have been done when I first let MHH staff know about the phone problems?" Why did the MHH manager tell me "It is a Sprint problem," when it wasn't? I always feel that folks on this post will tell family members anything to "get them out the door." They know most of us leave after a short time enabling the administration to never address problems in the day to day management of the support system of folks under a tremendous amount of emotional and physical stress. For those of us who are "long term residents" it is truly a family member's nightmare.

I was feeling pretty good, we now having a working phone, when poor Jason comes in and relates his "nightmare episode" of the bureaucratic bombastic battles. Jason is leaving on a weekend pass to fly to Orlando Friday morning. Everything that could go wrong within Med Hold went wrong. At Ft. Stewart getting a pass meant going on line, filling out a form, printing and taking it to a CO to sign. Jason said, "Usually 10 minutes max." Here the creation of a bureaucratic process demanded that he speak to numerous persons, fill out numerous forms "when the regular Army has one form and one CO to approve." I strongly recommend the Army needs to create a "problem solving committee of soldier patients of Med Hold" and listen to their experiences and modify the Med Hold administration system. My humble opinion as a soldier patient's mother who in six months of recuperation from very serious injuries has not ever lifted his voice until today.

Later Jason said, "Where we going for dinner?" I said, "You choose something that you're not going to eat in Orlando." He said, "Let's do Lebanese." So off we went to Silver Spring for dinner.
At the end of the meal, Jason said, "I wanted to come because I really wanted to go to Ben and Jerry's for a mint chocolate milkshake." I laughed and said, "I would have chosen Panera's for their bread soup bowl." Jason got his milkshake for a treat before he heads to Florida tomorrow.

Let us pray that Jason has a nice first weekend away from Walter Reed since his arrival.
Let us pray for blessings for Jonathan First Communion this weekend. I will be away till late next Tuesday. Jason and I will travel to Reagan National together early tomorrow; he to Orlando and Jodi, myself to Tampa and a long weekend with grandchildren.

May you have a wonderful spring weekend in sun with family and friends. Blessings to you all.