In and Out of the House

Kyle has been home for about three weeks now and he is improving in many ways that we can all witness.  With open wounds and in a somewhat fragile state for his leg, Kyle's nurses recommend he stay inside as much as possible and when outside he use a towel to cover his leg so not to expose it to excess germs.  We all believe it's healthy for Kyle to get out of the house when he feels able.  It's good to get some fresh air and exercise his mind outside of the walls on Hillview Drive.  But we don't want to compromise his physical health, so it's a careful balance. 

Kyle leaves the house rarely for anything other than therapy and doctor appointments, and it takes quite a toll on him.  His energy level just isn't the same as it was before he was shot.  A few hours out of the house and he is exhausted and needs a lot of rest.  His immune system needs to remain strong as does his mind, so the trips outside of the house aren't too frequent, but again, ones we feel are beneficial in their own way.

Currently, Kyle is in Bethesda for follow-up doctor appointments with his Orthopedic, Vascular and Plastic Surgeons.  The updates from his latest reports will be posted shortly, but for now, he and his parents are hanging in there and hoping for a good visit with Plastics tomorrow.  Returning to the hospital is no small task, for anyone.  The road ahead remains long and arduous, but one that Kyle can certainly overcome.

Kyle gets ready for his morning cleaning while his mom, Elsie, comes in for the latest update about his previous night's sleep and to check on the appearance of his wound on the inside of his right leg on Saturday morning, August 14.

Elsie and Bill stand-by to help Kyle as he hops into the back seat of the car - we were heading out to the mall to run a couple quick errands and enjoy time out of the house.

In the back seat checking out the neighborhood on our way out.

We stopped in Borders book store for a few minutes and Kyle perused the Military History section.  He didn't find anything here but did buy a new atlas to give to his parents as a gift.

Kyle wheels through JC Penny on Saturday afternoon.  He was looking for a good pair of shorts to buy that he could wear in attendance for a fellow pilot's funeral service next week in Arlington.  During these difficult times for military families, and recently those within the Pave Hawk community, we pray for those who remain in combat and for the families that have suffered unimaginable losses.  God Bless.

On our way out of the mall, we went by a pet store and Kyle stopped to check out this Iguana.  Even the Iguana seemed interested and perplexed by Kyle's set up in the wheel chair.

Kyle sits out on the porch at his house in Pittsburgh, talking with his mom, and relaxing after a tiring trip to the mall.  He got some clothes for Arlington and was in need of some down time after his afternoon out.

Kyle and his dad, Bill, enjoy watching some of a pre-season Steelers game together in the living room.

Elsie, Bill, Kyle and I played a game of Parchesi together in the kitchen on Saturday night.  We had a fun time with a lot of laughs - and we all tried to stop Elsie from winning, but she persisted and beat us all by a long shot.

Kyle cleans his leg with the wet/dry treatment for the lower part of his inside wound on his right leg.  He has to clean the wound thoroughly with saline, apply ointment to both graft sites and carefully clean the pins drilled through his skin and into his bones with a water and hydrogen peroxide mix every morning and evening so as to avoid infection and promote healthy healing.

The lower part of the inside wound remains yellow, which Kyle's nurses say is dead skin tissue.  It may need to be heavily cleaned out and repaired, depending upon what his Plastic Surgeon team at Bethesda determines this week.

The outside of Kyle's right leg with a large skin graft area, is healing very nicely.  While the graft site was large, it seems to have all taken very well and with regular ointment applied this side of the leg is fairly low maintenance compared to the other side.