We were extremely thrilled this morning when we received a phone call from Jake's nurse case manager telling us that she got an appointment (this morning) for Jake with the Colonel to receive his PT evaluation. :) After formation, we headed over to the hospital for the appointment and for me to cancel my NMA orders and arrange a flight home.
While I took care of that business, Jake went to PT. We met up in the PT waiting room before he was called back. When he came back out of the evaluation, he was pushing his wheelchair while walking with his cane!! :) I was soooooo thrilled to see him with his cane! That's what he's been waiting for. He had a huge grin on his face and proceeded to tell me that the Colonel joked around with him, did the evaluation, had Jake walk around the PT room with a walker and then again with a cane. The Colonel was so surprised at how well Jake did. He told Jake that he couldn't believe his stamina and that it's the best he's seen from a lot of these warriors. :) Usually these warriors get worn out with just walking around the room once--Jake did it twice. :) The rest of the day Jake walked as much as he could until his legs started to hurt or he just got worn out--then he got back into his wheelchair. You can just picture in your mind Jake walking with his cane while I am walking behind him with his empty wheelchair close to him just in case--that's a funny sight! Well, at least I think so. We got a few stares. :)
The afternoon was spent trying to get Jake's paperwork done for the CBWTU. I can't believe how much paperwork is involved with this! It really is ridiculous! We started out with 4 pieces of paper in a manila folder and by the end of the afternoon, we had a stack of papers that the folder was starting to bulge. :( And, Jake isn't done yet. There are a few more forms that he has to go get signed--more papers! We are making sure that everything is done--all the T's are crossed and the I's dotted because he was told by the CBWTU that if anything isn't complete that he will have to return back down here to get it done. We DON'T want that!! We met a very nice woman today at one of the stops--she helped with one part of the paperwork process. She told Jake that she now knows who he is and that she is going to be like a big sister to him and make sure that everything gets taken care of so that he doesn't have to come back here. :) That was comforting to me, as his mom. He's got a few days that are going to be consumed with getting the rest of the paperwork done on time. The hospital/base is going to be closed next Thursday (Veteran's Day) and Friday (Training Day), so he has to get everything done by Monday so that they can start working on his travel arrangements. He will definitely be worn out each day.
I canceled my NMA orders and am going home tomorrow morning. :) I am very excited to go back home to be with Mike and the family, but my heart is breaking that I have to leave Jake. It's just who I am. I am a worry wort. :( I know that he will be okay and that he's a man, not a little child anymore. Guess a mama bear just doesn't stop worrying about her cubs, huh? :)
No comments:
Post a Comment