His First Full Day

Yesterday Jay finally got to walk out of the hospital. It was a really sunny day and his face was just glowing. I could see that he was scared to death though. One of the things that terrifies him is being on the interstate. It used to never phase him but now it paralyzes him. Naturally, there was absolutely no way to get home (within a decent amount of time) without getting on two different freeways. Lucky for us since it was just after 9am the traffic was pretty light. He did really well on the way home and I was so proud of him.

We had some therapy related errands to run and I could tell that he was anxious to get everything in line. He started outpatient today and he needed to clear with his command whether or not he could even go and whether or not he would have to go to formation every morning before being at the hospital at 7:15am to catch the van that takes him to outpatient in the city. It's hard to believe that someone who is NOT a doctor--not a medically trained individual in any capacity, can decide whether or not a REAL doctor's orders should stick. Luckily, Jay was free to go. However, he still has to show up at formation every morning at 6am. Which means that Rush and I get to sit in the parking lot every morning for formation since Jay is still not ready to drive. Then we'll make a mad dash to get Jay changed out of his uniform (street clothes are encouraged at the hospital) and over to catch his ride.

His unit is going on block leave for several weeks starting this weekend. We are still unsure whether or not Jay will be using his leave or not. He will be going to outpatient every day regardless. Since he won't get back until after 1pm every day from the hospital it is unclear right now how the rest of his day will go. And that means I don't know how the rest of my own day will go. This could end up being the 'Summer of Waiting in Parking Lots'. Which sucks because it's also the 'Summer The Air Conditioning Went Out in the Car'.