I’m on vacation! Let me back track a little. Memorial Day was better than expected. Several of my friends came to support me, and others who didn’t know I was speaking were also there. I continued to make changes until I got up on the stage. There were no empty seats in the crowd and many people standing behind. I was a little nervous when I first went up to the podium, but realized that everyone was there for the same reason as me- to remember our fallen service members, and it instantly gave me composure. I’m not sure that I deserved it, but I got a standing ovation when I was done. The weirdest part was the number of people who approached me after the ceremony from all walks of life. Some to compliment me on the speech. Another asked if I would consider doing a podcast. I was also asked if I would provide a copy of my speech for a nearby museum. It was overwhelming considering how much I prefer my anonymity. I have a good friend who is rather well known and I’ve seen how gracious he is when people recognize him and go up to him while he is out and about. I don’t know how he has done it all these years.
I had my sinus follow up. My antibiotic was changed and it finally worked! I won’t go into any unpleasant details, but I am finally breathing easy and sinus pain free. I don’t need to see him again unless I develop another infection. He does want me to follow up with an allergist/immunologist to make sure there’s nothing to be done on that end.
I also had an orthodontist appointment. I had gone in the prior Friday to have my power chain color changed to something a bit more professional. After talking to the assistant, I took her suggestion and went with silver metallic. It does camouflage the braces a little, but gives a bit of sparkle to my teeth from a distance. Since the underlying purpose of our vacation involves a wedding, I kept the silver metallic for my vacation as well. I had some interproximal reduction done on my lower front teeth and my elastic pattern changed. Now I wear a class 2 pattern on the left to help align my midline, and the box pattern still on the right side. It feels weird being uneven. My ortho decided my next appointment would be for my preop, though I have no idea what that will entail.
We left on vacation just about 2 weeks ago. My kids have fallen in love with the south. Part of our trip included going to the base where I was once stationed. They got a personal tour of the Golden Knights’ museum by my friend’s son. I showed them where I used to work, even though they couldn’t go inside. Then I took them to the Airborne and Special Operations Museum. I was shocked that they were totally interested in it. From there we went to the wedding which was beautiful, then to DC. We had a great tour of the Capitol, visited multiple monuments, and made it through 5 museums. My foot has held up pretty well. I’ve been wearing my ankle braces on both feet and not had any pain where my stress fracture was. I have had some ankle joint pain, not sure if it’s an alignment thing from the high ankle ligament replacements or just stiffness from the stress fracture immobilization. It eases once I’m off my feet, so I’m not too concerned. I don’t think I’ll be doing as much walking in the coming days. If you’re familiar with this part of the country, you know how humid it gets. Fortunately, it hasn’t been terrible, though I’ve gotten back to our hotel each evening, and my brace undershirt has been soaked each time. I have to peel it off my skin, shower and put on a clean undershirt for the night. Here’s a picture of me at the National Art Gallery triple braced- even though you can’t see my feet.
https://dereferer.me/?https://imgur.com/a/C1hI622
