Friends and Family,
This Friday marks the one-month of Dan’s injury, and the progress he’s made over the course of this month has been truly remarkable. What was three weeks ago a mass of tubes and vacuums and fevers is once again the person so many of you know so well -- strong-willed, straightforward, funny, tough, sarcastic Dan. Dan -- whose overriding concern is for the men he left in Kandahar, who greets everyone who enters his hospital room with a “Hey, what’s up?”, who has charmed his nurses, and who quite frankly thinks we’re all a little nuts for caring about him so much -- is exactly the person you remember.
Medically, everything continues to revolve around Dan’s left arm. A surgery to graft a missing chuck of tissue and skin near his wrist was halted in mid-operation last week due to complications with an anesthetic. Today we heard that the operation to finish the job will have to wait at least another five or six days; more men -- many of whom come from Dan’s brigade and who, believe it or not, are in worse physical condition than he is -- arrived at Walter Reed today in need of urgent surgical care, pushing his surgery back a bit and reminding us once again though this particular soldier has come home, the fighting and dying and maiming continues there unabated.
Until his arm is fixed, Dan can’t start rehab on his legs in earnest, which keeps him in bed. Rest assured that he’s reading your letters, emails, and Facebook posts, even if he’s not responding -- it’s tough to type with only one hand. He thanks you for your letters of support -- letters that have come from seemingly every state in America, from friends and from strangers, from elementary schools classes and from what appears to be every canasta-playing senior citizen in the town of Anderson, SC.
And thanks once again to all the people out there in Fayette County and literally around the world who have taken time to support or honor Dan in some way. Our family continues to be amazed at the support and love we’ve been shown.
-Rob
Yes, we are some of the strangers who are praying every day for Dan. . .thank you for posting updates. . we will continue to stand in the Gap for him and your entire family. . .
ReplyDeleteMs. Berschniski,
ReplyDeleteHello.
My name is Commander Star Rhodes.
I am a cousin to a classmate of your son (Garrett Mann). I live in the National Capital Region and wanted to visit with your son. My work and family time keeps me busy so the earliest I could stop by is Sunday, 4 Oct...~10 am. With your permission, I'd like to stop by and visit with Dan and extend our love and concern to a fellow service member and friend of the family. Look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely,
Star Rhodes