2008 Year in Review

I am a little late this year with my review, no fault but mine on this one. So without further ado:

January we came back from Iraq. There was many delays and lots of cluster fucks but by the 31st we were on American soil. I had come back with a lime green cast on my left arm due to an injury I incurred while performing my duties. I was surprised to find my Mom waiting for me with all the other families as we stepped off the buses. This significant since this was a first in thirteen years.

February stated with a few days with my Mom, we had received pedicures and I took many showers. I also started renting a room from some people that I wish now that I hadn't. At the end of the month I went on leave and took a more scenic route to Wisconsin. I had visited three other bloggers in their homes on the way. Very exciting and very fun. Definitely a major highlight of my vacation.

The beginning of March I ended my leave by visiting a few more blogger friends and had a blast. Which came to the end by going back to work shortly there after. By the time April came around "we" found out my original diagnosis was wrong and my treatments and future surgeries would be taking a different turn. The problems in my wrist ended up being worse than original expected at this point.

May ended up being a pinnacle month since I settled on the home I was to buy and started vigorous negotiations. By the end on June, I purchased a home in the middle of Jacksonville, NC. It has a travel time equal to both Camp Lejeune and MCAS New River, so going to work and going to see the doctor is not an evil evolution. Plus the bennies is that everything else is no more than a fifteen minute drive away either. This wasn't the major factor in buying this home, but it was something I carefully considered.

When entering July it was crunch time since moving in and fixing the little things like the shower had to be done before I had surgery. This was my third major surgery since being hurt in Iraq and was going to be laid up for a few weeks afterward. I did okay, the shower did not get completely done until a few days after the surgery, but it did get done.

For the months of August and September I spent mostly in Occupational Therapy and spent a weekly sessions with a head doctor. I was also gearing up for the fourth surgery that everyone knew had to happen. Basically after the third, the doctor discovered that I had three ligaments that were completely destroyed and needed to be replaced.

October was the month that my forth (hopefully the last) surgery took place. I had several major complications after the ligament replacement surgery. One of the big ones was my tolerance to the drugs that I have been taking since the injury. So within the first days of my surgery I had a Pain pump and a needle two feet long sticking out of my chest. I used the pump for about a week and then started taking lesser drugs like morphine and percocet. All of November was spent in the house except for one Friday. I just decided I had to get out and interact with someone, so I went down to a Marine bar close to my home(fifteen minute walk). I was thinking that if nothing else I could get a cold glass of soda and a conversation in. That was the day I met Kim.

December I was back to work. I started seeing Pain Management. I had Kim and her son Alec move into my home. I should really say "we' moved them in since my lifting capacity is till sucking greatly at this point. We spent Christmas in Mississippi and Arkansas. I met her parents,her sibling, and a few other relatives and she met my brother and his family. Other than the driving, I would say the holidays was a complete success. After all I did receive her father's blessing.