Not A Blog™

The twenty sixth week of my deployment marks the passing of an important milestone. This past Tuesday was my 180th day on active duty—the six month mark. So much has happened that it feels like it’s been three times as long since I’ve left home. It seems like I should be doing or saying something poignant to mark the occasion.

In a sense, I did do something, although it was complete coincidence that it should happen around the six month mark. At the last minute (as is military custom), some of the guys from my unit were rerouted to a base very near to where I’m stationed in med hold. They ended up with a few days of layover there, so those who could took advantage of the small window to meet up.

It was awesome to see them again—those who could make it—and we swapped many stories about where our respective paths have taken us. And fortunately, although an event like that can easily lead to dwelling on “what could have been”, there really wasn’t much talk about that. Everyone is looking forward. Even me.

I had check-up with the physical therapy doctor last week as well. She was very impressed with everything: my range of motion, the amount of swelling in my ankle (almost none), and the progression of the scarring. My range of motion is limited by the big screw in my ankle in a very noticeable way. It doesn’t hurt, but it’s a nuisance (there’s a tendon that catches on it when I rotate my ankle—very disconcerting!) and a constant reminder that there is still work to be done. I’m in a holding pattern of limited PT and continued use of crutches until early December.

And it’s because I’m just waiting that I have less to say each week. My leg is getting incrementally better, but other than that, not much goes on. It’s slow—it’s been slow the whole six months—but it’s my goal to avoid marking the one year anniversary of my deployment time. If that happens, you can be sure something went terribly awry.


-Ted