Well, Anthony has been transferred to the Wounded Warrior Battalion finally. This new opportunity should be a very beneficial change since WW is able to help us in more ways with many different resources which are specific to our needs whenever needed.
Once he gets better and can run a PFT (Physical Fitness Test) or a MPFT (Modified PFT) he’ll be able to reenlist and do another 4, 8, 16, or 20+ years! We’re very anxious as you can imagine for when these series of events arrive but for now it’s Hurry Up and Wait! :)
The latest big news is that Anthony has been able to twitch his foot to the inner left a little bit and the nerve doc said the next step will probably be the curling of his toes in a month or so. The nerve only grows about an inch a month so it can be painfully slow but it is all promising and inspiring.
At the moment we’re waiting for our appointment for a 2nd opinion appointment at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN. I’ve found out very recently that this hospital is quite a bit like the television series House. When I called to schedule his appointment they asked for his records and once the specialist reviews his records then they may or may not offer him an appointment. Thankfully they want to see us so we’re preparing for that big event! The receptionist said at that moment they were having a warming trend and it would get up to 20* there. I laughed pretty loud but got nervous when I realized she was serious and then she followed it up with the low there would be about 5-10*. I was so pumped up on adrenaline from getting this appointment I didn’t realize the matter of fact in her voice until afterwards. So 10 minutes after I hung up with her I am on WeatherChannel.com and pacing my house with laptop in hand. We’ve never experienced the cold and snow like what I am researching about Minnesota! What are we going to do?!?! The lady said to bring hats and layer up. Okay well I can do the layers with the thermal underwear somewhere in storage but HATS?! As ya’ll know we’re from Texas, I have a multitude of sizes and shapes for baseball hats, cowboy hats, and maybe even a hard hat or two. Thank goodness for friends’ advice in helping with this and that are pitching in their winter gear to help us out and keep us WARM! I would be lost and frozen without these ladies! So I am thinking the pictures will be hilarious! I took a virtual tour of the Mayo Clinic and it says they have underground tunnels they call subways in order to get around over there without going outside so that makes me freak out even more! Thanks virtual tour! I’m assuming there will be much more snow than that small city on top of the Los Angeles Mountains or Big Bear Mountain. Oh goodness this will be an interesting adventure! LOL!
Anthony has a really awesome brace right now it goes up to his knee to support it and helps his walking ability. He got it during Thanksgiving and they told him to not worry about pushing it to its limits since he wouldn’t be able to break it. Well he has proven them wrong four times by breaking it in different places by running. The doctor who made it is one of the best in San Diego so I’m thankful for his ability to help Anthony get back to almost 100%. He actually sent in the joint to the last break Anthony did on the brace to show the manufacturer what happened and they said it hasn’t ever happened on a person and only once or twice on a compressor machine. Anthony had the biggest head that day and we now refer to him as the Terminator!
After the Minnesota trip we’ll head to San Antonio, Texas to get him a running brace. We aren’t sure what this brace will be able to do since it is a study the Army is doing. If all goes well he will have the other brace for daily wear and the new one specifically for running. Then maybe we won’t have the issue of him breaking his current brace. The doctor who made Anthony’s current brace said that the only thing he can think of is that the Army is trying to develop in their studies could be some sort of mechanical device or motor onto a brace so it can replace the two or three muscles his nerve signals aren’t connecting to. This will be motivating to see. The only catch for us is that the Army’s study is 2-4 weeks long so that would mean we would have to take the girls with us doing home study. Our family is only about 3 hours away from San Antonio in Houston so it will be just the best medicine for us to see familiar faces in familiar places. We get homesick from time to time so the BBQ, my mom’s potato salad and a highway full of Chevrolet trucks will make me a happy girl at this point. We also will get to see Jackie and Cody who have just gotten their contract orders out of the Marine Corps and don’t live too far away from San Antonio. It will be great to see them! After these two trips we’ll head back home to have the nerve surgery and begin recovery. We wish for the best but if it doesn’t work then at least we know with this brace he can still run and jump and work at getting back to being the best Marine I know he is! Let me say that for what we've been through Anthony has shown great composure and strength in the face of nothing but stress, frustration and red tape nonsense. It makes me more motivated in being his advocate to these doctors and specialists to help him get to where he wants to be. Get some Magneto!!!
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