Sgt Jesse was injured in a helicopter crash in Iraq on December 10th 2006. He has a shattered hip and 3rd degree burns, nasty concussion and shoulder injury which will be repaired after his hip shows improvement. He has had surgery & will be recovering at home. Sgt Jesse is married and has a little boy who are no doubt very happy to have him home.
Update Feb 2008: Sgt. Jesse has been promoted to Staff Sgt! He's hopefully had his last surgery (this time for his shoulder) and even though the recuperation is long he is progressing well. He is walking painfully, but walking, and he still has to be checked out because of the major concussion he received but that will come in due time. With the loving help of his family he can stand straight enough to alleviate some of his postural problems. His family is saving all the cards and thanks you very much for writing.
Update: 9/10/2008 from Mom:
I haven't posted in a long while and thought an update on Jesse would be good!
He is still connected to the hospital, has received the military medical board's decision, the papers are signed and he is waiting until his retirement date is decided, which he thinks will be in a month or so. He has asked for an extension but I don't know if anything there has been decided.
Jesse had his final surgery in Jan. 2008, on his shoulder and we were there for three weeks to help him. He had a pretty tough time, both physically and mentally, but is doing well now. Jesse does not have much range of motion in his shoulders. It upsets him that it hurts to throw a ball to his young son. He now walks exclusively with a cane except in his house. One side of his body is lower than the other side and it seems to have gotten worse from Jan. to July. We don't know why. He is still in lots of pain, but has taken himself off a lot of his pain meds.
Someday Jesse hopes to get a new hip when he's a little older (they say he's too young right now), but until then he is pieced together in 11 places and we hope he doesn't fall or suffer any serious injuries to the hip and pelvis area. I'll let you know when Jesse is actually retired! Thanks everyone.
Vicki
Update 11/5/08: From Mom. Jesse was retired from the USMC on October 30. It will be hard for him to get used to a civililan life after almost 10 years in the Corps. He plans to go back to school in Jan. taking classes in Human Resources Management or something to that effect. He attended college (prior to the Marine Corps) on a track scholarship. He said he tried to run the other day just to see if he could. He couldn't. He said extreme pain shot through his hip, into his back and down his leg. The doctor told him he would never be able to run again. I just don't want him to blow out the plates and 11 screws holding him together. He has had some luck with swimming, so I think he should stick to that.
Jesse and family are buying a house and we hope to be able to visit them this Spring.
Update: 5/19/2009 Jesse's Mom was able to visit Jesse and family and took a new photo of him reading his OperationPAL letters. She says he is doing better and will send us an update when she gets a chance. He looks good!
Update: 6/19/2009 from Mom:
"Jesse is doing fairly well. He has a part-time job and takes good care of his son. He and family have a nice home and Jesse is able to keep the yard up well.
He is in constant pain with his back, hip and leg. He was recently on his way to a doctor's appointment when he had a car accident and was hospitalized just for the day while tests were run. His car was totaled, but luckily he wasn't injured except for increased pain in his back.
He has seen a specialist about having a total hip replacement. This will probably help with the pain. The MRI and other scans have shown that Jesse has been walking with the ball of his patched up hip rubbing against bone (bone against bone).
If the surgery is scheduled for the first part of August, his dad and I will go for the surgery and stay for several weeks afterwards to make sure he is getting the care he needs. I'll keep you informed. Thanks for all the thoughts, prayers and cards."
Update: 3/20/2010
Jesse has not had his hip surgery. His parents spent 10 days with him and his son the first part of December. He was so glad to see them and didn't want them to leave. They enjoyed their time together and had an early Christmas. Jesse has a lovely home and takes good care of it.
He's not sure what he plans to do about the hip replacement. The doctor told him it would take care of a lot of the pain, but he would still have pain in his thigh and pelvis because there was nothing he could do to mend those areas. He is a single dad now and might be worried about going far away from home.
Please pray that Jesse can make the right decision concerning his hip and getting help so his pain is gone or at least greatly reduced. He loves hearing from you.
Update: 7/16/2010 from Mom: Jesse still has a long way to go before he's recovered, but he's doing the best he can. He has not had his hip replaced yet but still plans on doing that.
He wants you to write to those more in need but the family says the cards have been uplifting and a source of comfort over this long and tedious time of therapy and healing.
Jesse, even though we will stop writing, we will never stop the prayers for your recovery.
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Date added to program: 12/30/2006
Date removed from program: 7/16/2010
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