March 13, 2008
Hello to my extended military family!!
Yes, it's that time again.... I have had another surgery and thought I would let you know what is going on with us!! I had surgery on March 7, in which Dr. Rodriguez realigned my jaw, debulked some of the excess soft tissue in my mouth, and removed some bone and bone marrow from my hip bone and grafted it into my upper jaw just below my nose. I was in the hospital for a couple of days, and came home on Sunday, complete with a swollen face and sore hip. However, I am recovering quickly, and don't stray too far from my Percocet!! Dr. Rodriguez did a(nother) great job with my surgery, and Dahlia and I are excited about this big step forward in the recovery. Last week we also met with the oral surgeon who will be working on my dental implants, as well as the surgeon who will be performing the surgery to bring forward my left eye socket - two more steps in the right direction. I will be home for a couple of weeks, and then pick up again with work, NAMARA and the reserve Command and Staff course, all of which I am really enjoying.
Things are going great for Dahlia right now as well. Her classes are going great, and although she is in only the second semester of her PhD, she has a good idea of what her thesis will be in a couple of years. She will be able to incorporate her previous experience as a teacher (especially teaching ESL in California), as well as the research methods she is learning and all the challenges different school systems face in successfully and holistically integrating immigrants into their school systems. One of her professors asked her to teach a class for her, which went wonderfully, and she is already working on a project which may end up being published. Needless to say, she is very, very busy, but seems to excel in that environment.
So, that is where we are right now. I hope everyone on this email distribution list is doing great, and is excited about the rest of this year as we are.
v/r
Justin
