MRI Day...

Went today to get an MRI of my spine to see if any tumor cells trickled down. Hopefully not, the explination of the craniotomy was bad enough.

I was in the MRI machine for about an hour and a half. I fell asleep, sang in my head, snored, and even tried mastering wiggling my pinky toes(very tricky skill). Afterwards we went to the Olive Garden and had a waiter that I am pretty sure was either mentally handicapped or a registered sex offender, weirdo.

Earlier to pass some time we stopped by a Kia dealership and checked out the new Kia's. Not too shabby. For about 23k you get an extremely nice car with leather, sunroof, even a turbocharged engine. And guess what, even made in the USA, well mostly. The sticker said 45 percent Korea and 55 percent USA. Anywho, maybe a movie tomorrow. Cars 2 or, if we can talk Kayla into it, Thor or Transformers 3.

Saturday...

Lets see here, yesterday we went to the Warrior and Family Transition Center (WFTC) and competed in a Rice Krispies Treat build challenge. Shane came up with the idea of making sea turtles on the beach playing with beach balls. Sounded like a good idea. So with Kayla's patience, my knowledge of the beach, Shane's ideas and attentiveness, and Carli's ability to eat building materials we built a beach complete with sea turtles, beach balls, a palm tree, the ocean, and a sun/starfish. And of course we took first place! The prize, a 35 dollar gift card to Toys-R-Us! Afterwards we went to the pool and tried giving Shane swim lessons, that lasted about 1/8 of a second before he was drowning. He can swim awesome underwater, he just cant grasp the concept of keeping his head above water to breath. I think its because he does so many pushups... Anywho, we came back to the room for the afternoon to rest before dinner. We went to Papadeux (sp).
TASTY!!!! Some of the best seafood I've had in a long time! We had a great time with Cathy and Nathan and some other chick who I cant remember her name.

Today, we had breakfast at the WFTC. It was some good eats. The Sergeant Major of the Army was making omelets for everybody. Crazy. But good to see him supporting his troops. I didnt have one, I dont see it in anybodys interest  for me to get involved in conversation with the SMA. So we came back to the house and saw Cathy and Nathan off and went shopping. And boy did we go shopping, San Marcos Outlets is officially an off limits place for us.  Not that we spent too much money, but we all felt like we hiked a mountain by the time we were done. From now on for me it is Wal Mart or buy it online. Later.

Ugh...

So today we were told it could take up to 4 months to get permanent orders to be stationed here.  They can attach us here but it could take up to 4 months to actually assign us, WTF? This apparently happens more often than not when soldiers and families come from OCONUS locations, yet they still dont have a plan of action in place to take care of it. And when we asked what we are supposed to do, the guy literally said, "I dont know." Well, someone has to know, and that is who we are going to look for tomorrow. The person who knows.

We ate at the Red Lobster tonight, mmm mmm good.

Appointment Day!

Appointment went pretty good today. Finally got a surgery date, 21st of July. At least we got that. We also got a more detailed explination of whats going to happen. They will go through the back of the skull, pulling it apart and unfolding the back of the brain. Then they will reach in and "simply" take it out. We'll see what happens. After the surgery they will test the tumorto see what type and possible causes. The doc here said it looks benign to him since its not fast growing. But it is growing, so it has to come out. 

Also I got horrible news today about one of my best friends and partner Agbar. I havent cried in a long time. He was the best partner anyone could have ever asked for and I was fortunate enough to have him in my life. He brought a smile to everyones face we met.  He was always there to listen to whatever I had to say and never judged me. We went through hard times and more importantly lots of fun times. He was always there when I needed a shoulder to cry on and never said a word to anyone.  He will always have a big place in my heart.  I will always love my Big Sexy, Agbar.

Another day in BBQ heaven!

We went to Rudy's BBQ for lunch today. IMHO it's the best BBQ in town. They don't do plates, they just give you a piece of wax paper and slap a big slab of brisket or turkey or whatever you want on there and let you go to town. Also the cream corn is so good, in my professional overweight opinion it is the best creamed corn known to man. Also they have a military discount.

I have an appt tomorrow with Neurosurgery, it's gonna be a step forward. Better than sitting around and waiting.

Independence Day!

It's a beautiful hot day here in San Antonio! No fireworks, blah.

Let Me Explain...

For those of you who know me, you know the deal. If you don't know me here's the quick run down I've been in the Army for around 10 years. Out of those 10 years I've only been home for about 5 years. I've had 3 vacations to Iraq, 1 vacation to Afghanistan, 1 vacation to Kuwait, and a few vacations to California and Louisiana. So as you can see I've been a busy guy. Well at a recent checkup I complained about some headaches. I got an MRI and got a call about the results, a brain tumor. What!?!? Do you know who I am?! Do you know what I've done! Lots of stuff went through my head. Stupid terrorists finally got me!!! That's the only thing that makes sense to me. So we packed up what we could and flew out here to San Antonio and are now waiting on surgery. I am gonna try to keep this updated as much as I can, that way if people have questions they can hopefully get their answers and not call me or ask me a bunch of crazy questions. Later.