~First, we are no longer in San Antonio. We have moved north a couple of hours to the Fort Hood, Killeen area.
~We bought a house and have had lots of fun working on making it our own!!
~I got a job as an aide working with 1st graders and I absolutely love it!
~Joey got deployed =(
2 weeks after we had been in Killeen, Joey got news that he would be deploying at the end of February. Even though I knew at some point this would happen, I was still a mess! It is like death, even if you know it is going to happen, it still knocks you down and literally takes the wind out of your sail. But after a couple days of allowing myself to be an emotional mess, I pulled myself together, not only for him but me as well.
The month and half before he left was just CRAZY! It was a lot of him scrabbling around to get everything done. Including some major dental work which I will go into more detail in minute. During this time though we were very lucky to be able to go home and surprise both of our families. I think it meant a lot to our families that they were able to see Joey before he left.
Exactly a week before he was to leave, Joey had to go to the dentist. It is one of the pre-deployment requirements for him to deploy. Well he needed to get some major dental work done, including getting one of his wisdom teeth out.
That final week together was completely crazy. I was able to take some days off of work, which was really great. I tried to just take in every moment we had together because I knew it would be awhile before we were back together again. It was hard though because he was in a lot of pain from all his dental work and as the week went on it progressively got worse. We went to the doctor early the morning he was to leave. He tested negative for strep and they wanted to do further testing, but because this was all taking so long, Joey had to leave. I feel as if the doctor should of stopped him and said you are not going anywhere until we figure out what is going on! But that of course did not happen.
After 2 days of traveling, he finally got to Kuwait and was feeling worse then when he left. He went to the doctor the next morning, who couldn't believe they sent him in the condition he was in. Give him some medicine told him to get some rest and come back if he wasn't feeling better the next day. Well the next day he felt worse, so they took him by ambulance to a Kuwait hospital where he met with an oral surgeon. The doctor said he was lucky he came in when he did because if he waited much longer his throat would have closed, possibly causing him to suffocate. In the end he had 3 large size ulcers on the back of his throat, taking 3 tube fulls of puss from the back of his throat and then cutting them to allow any puss that was not taken out to drain. He spent 2 days in the hospital so they could monitor him for infection. During this time I was a complete mess, especially when I didn't hear from. I eventually got the Kuwait hospitals number and called it, finding out he was just discharged!
So after spending almost 3 weeks in Kuwait, recovering and getting some more dental work done he finally made it to Iraq. He has been in Iraq now for about a week and a half. So far so good, well as good as can be considering where he is. It is completely different from when he was there the last time. He seems to be keeping busy with work, the gym, and reading. He has a room all to himself, which is really nice. He has internet in his room and now has a TV with cable. He is very excited because he will get to watch wrestle mania!! He is also going to be playing basketball a couple times a week in the morning.
For me knowing that he is keeping busy helps a lot. The first three weeks was absolutely terrible, I was completely stressed, barely eating, crying all the time, and just going through the motions of everyday life with no emotion. I got so worn down I ended up getting sick with a really yucky cold. But since he has gotten to Iraq and things seem to of settled down for him, I was able to start to work on getting into a new routine to help keep me busy.
Work has been a complete blessing for me, it keeps me busy and gets me out of the house during the day! If I didn't have work I can honestly say I would probably go crazy. It helps pass the time, as my days have been flying by.
Also, my parents and Katy came for a week, during my spring break. They came ready to work as we tore out the carpet and linoleum in the kitchen, living room, and study! It looks AMAZING. Looks like a completely different house! It was also so nice to have them here, Duke was so happy and it was such a nice distraction after everything that had happened! Thanks Dad, Mom, and Katy!
Well that is what has all happened since my last post! Amazing how fast life can change. The one thing I have learned in our short time of being in the Army is that I must get used to change. Definitely, a big challenge for me, but one I am sure I will get lots of practice getting used to! We are definitely on an adventure!
