It seems to be a hot min since we updated everyone!

Hmmmmm... where to start???

Eye's: Cory had surgery to remove the oil from both eyes and it went very well. The Retina's are staying attached and that is simply amazing. However since the oil is toxic to the Cornea's it clouded over once the oil was removed due to it working so hard now, which makes it harder to see. He also has a air bubble that will go away on its own in a week or so. The Cornea may or may not clear up. If not its probable he will need a Cornea transplant on that side as well. His Left eye he has NO vision in the top half, think censor bar. This will not go away because it is scar tissue on the ocular nerve. There isn't anything they can do to fix that. The next procedure will be the Hughes eye lid repair on the left eye. It will continue to stay closed for another 4-6 weeks. Then he shouldn't have to have his lid sutured shut anymore! Next after that heals will be his Cornea transplant/s. After that heals he will then have lens transplants. Once healed from that he can then get contacts! Isn't it funny how his right eye went from the one with the least amount of hope to the best amount of hope! Crazy how things change around here.

Ear's: Cory ended up missing his right ear surgery because he woke up at 3am with uncontrollable shaking and a fever of 102.5 so I took him to the ER instead. Guys with these kinds of injuries can't play around with things like temperatures. They ended up saying he had some sort of infection somewhere but couldn't pin point it. They gave him IV antibiotics and the best they could find was a little fluid in his lungs so they called it pneumonia and kept him overnight, sending him home with oral antibiotics the next day. His right ear surgery has been rescheduled for August 8th. They have full faith that once healed he will regain 80% of his hearing. While the right side is healing he will have a hearing aid for his left. Once its finished healing they will then do surgery on his left ear. 

That round building is the CFI. the Fisher house where we stay is to the right.

Arm: Is completely healed and gaining back strength nicely!

Left Nub: He is doing well with his left prosthetic. They have him learning crutches which he says is REALLY hard. 

Right Stump: Is almost healed completely its really taking its sweet ass time! graphed skin is no joke man its so delicate and can rip so easily. He also has another blue suture coming up in a spot so I know that one wont heal till that guy comes out. since he is so close to being healed up they went ahead and got him into a liner on that side and will be casting him for his prosthetic on Tuesday! He should have it by the end of the week!!! WE are so ecstatic about this! First time he will have 2 legs since Feb!

Meds/Psych: They are weening him off of his pain drugs slowly and to our surprise it hasn't been to terrible yet. Now he only has to take med's 3 times a day instead of 5. He still gets 3 diff eye drops 4 times a day tho along with some goop on his left suture. We have been seeing Dr. George together and Cory will start to see him on his own here soon, we talked about a few stuff  between ourselves that he thinks Dr. George can help him with mentally and emotional which makes me so proud. If you knew this man before you knew he didn't believe in talking to people for help. Id like to thank Dr. Wilson & Dr. Escamilla at Polytrauma for changing his mind of that. I will also start seeing Dr. Turner for one on ones myself. It is good to take advantage of these options we have while we can and get help now before we run into problems down the road. Better to be safe then sorry! 

*Parties*

September we are going home on leave for 19 days!!!

There will be 2 parties! The 20th is a Welcome Home party thrown by our family at his parents house, bring a chair, side dish, and your own booze! The 28th is the Thank You party! We want everyone to stop by and meet us if you haven't, we want to show our appreciation for all your love and support! There will be Music, Food, Games, Prizes, and a Slide Bounce House! Don't miss out if you can't make it to one make it to the other please! :) Check the events posted on FB for more details!

NY Trip: The trip was simply amazing and we learned so very much. The trip was also a lot of stuff jam packed into 5 days so we were very tired. I learned that traveling is really going to suck if you don't have help. We had to figure out how to pull/push our luggage while I am pushing him. Its so not fun and time consuming. Its also quiet difficult for him to get down the aisle to his seat. If we could afford it we would fly first class in the front every time it was such a huge difference when we got one of those seats on one of the planes back compared to seat 40. It takes a lot of energy to hop the seats or use his walker side ways. They do offer the aisle chair that is this tiny chair they roll you down in which barely fits by the way. So your the first one on and last one off. I am very nervous for future endeavors where we aren't with a group of wounded warriors because I know it wont be as easy as they made it for our trip. Thank you CFI, Wounded Warrior Project, and Rockaway NY for the memories we had a beautiful time!

Just couldn't resist taking a picture of that smile!

On a boat fishing!

Cory caught 1 fish and 1 net! lol

being silly on the charter bus!

Cory riding in the fire depts zodiac boat! (He was the only one who got to do this and 2x!)

Cory gave rock climbing a try in the special harness 2x.

Then he wanted to do the regular harness! way harder and still finished!

Can you tell someone is wore out!

This was dinner cruise night!

Sun is setting!

She speaks of Freedom for all.

Love of my life!

Kissy Kiss face :)

Cory getting in a specially adaptive Kayak!

We had so much fun Kayaking for our first times ever!

Team Muzzy Proud!

Breezy Point, NY 911 memorial

Tony from Sopranos! 

Well I think I got everything!

Thanks for reading!

All content is owned and copy righted by Cory & Michelle Muzzy.

Viewer caution is advised on images.

Ah so much to update!

I am Tired...

is it bedtime yet?

Eyes: They are planing to do some stuff to his eyes in July. They plan to remove the oil from his right eye and do some lid repair work on the left eye. Wait a few months. Put a lens in the right eye and finish lid work, remove oil, and do a cornea transplant in the left. Wait a few months. put a lens in the left. Then he can have contacts. This is all if everything goes well and according to plan. This is the plan as of now. Also after rehab they want to send him to blind school either in Waco, TX or Chicago, IL. 

This picture was during his appointment when they undid the sutures on his left eye. You can see the flap over it that is protecting the cornea how neat! The sutures are put back at the end of every eye apt. 

Nubbies: They are doing great. I think another week or two and his right nub will be healed enough to get a liner and socket going on that side finally. Then I know Cory will really go to town doing rehab!

See how much this one has shrank too! 

Ears: Cory is having surgery on his right ear on the 7th. He will also be getting a hearing aid for his left while the right heals. Once its healed they will go and do surgery on his left one too. They expect him to get back at least 80% of his hearing. How awesome is that! I can't wait till be don't have to have things blasting loud cause I am pretty sure its turning me deaf as well. Hopefully the ringing/hum will go away too. At first we had to sleep with the TV on loud so that it would tune out his issues and he could sleep. Which meant no sleep for me but luckily we were able to find a common ground with a sleep machine app! Best invention ever!

Last weekend was our first wedding Anniversary and it was fantastic!

Thank you everyone for all the thoughts and wishes as well as goodies!

 Just a bunch of silly geese! 

We are going to try our hardest to come home for a visit in September.

We are actually seeing if we can get transferred back before being assigned here.

We want to take advantage of our time here but would like to finish care and MEB process back home.

Fingers crossed they will give us what we want.

but we all know how the Army can be...

Either way we are shooting for NC soil in September.

If we do get to, the Thank You Party will happen at that time. 

I will keep everyone updated when I can find out more and for sure details.

So just think Party in September for now!

Cory has been staying really busy as they have him seeing 3 PT's & OT's on top of all his other appointments. One for CFI, WTB, & TBI. 

ok that's all my tired brain can think of sorry!

All content is owned and copyrighted by Cory & Michelle Muzzy.

Howdy y'all sorry its been a quick minute since we have updated!

We are still in the process of transitioning over to the CFI and getting in-processed with the WTB as well.

So as one can assume its all shades of crazy over here.

We have been doing a lot of appointments and running around.

We are currently staying in the fisher house and have no real address.

If your wishing to send something please ship it to the Po Box.

Our parents will make sure we get it here in Texas by shipping it to my sister. 

We now do our stretches on our own time.

Cory only has PT at this second but we met with OT today and should start being on her roster.

We also have a bunch of different appointments/classes almost daily that is apart of in processing.

Hopefully things will slow down and we will have a more routine like schedule most days. 

I really think they should make in-processing easier and in one place instead of making families run around like chickens with their heads cut off. Not to mention if we didn't have one of his squad leaders with us we would have NEVER figured the junk out. No family needs this stress.

Cory is doing fantastic still, I say this in a bragging voice because I am proud of him.

During this in processing business they have laid out everything that happen to him and all I can say is wow.

Just 3 months ago... This is what his paperwork states.

He had a severe TBI with 2 hematomas, broken radial (right forearm), broken C6 neck spine, right above the knee amputation, left below knee amputation, loss of right quad muscle due to limp salvage, hearing loss and perforated ear drums in both ears, and blindness in both eyes.

How we have made it this far so fast just simply amazes me daily.

Thank you for all the thoughts and prayers we still need them.

We are still waiting on the right nub to heal... which seems to be taking forever. We cant really get started until it does. That nub was pretty tore up that's why its taking so long. 

He stands and walks(hops) with his walker in our room.

He has become a pro putting on his left prosthetic now.

July is when the big surgeries for his eyes are suppose to happen.

We are both a hot mess about it.

We are scared they could make worse then the little bit he has.

However we are trying to keep the faith in our doctors to make things better.

Keep on praying.

Now for some pictures in case you missed them!

our squirrel friends!

prezzies sent from our family!

his new carbon fiber prosthetic 

Thank you Polytrauma for all you have done!

using his long distance glasses

Hey!

I want to apologize I know I promised an update last weekend and totally forgot!

Eyes: This Thursday Cory will be having another surgery. Since his last graft failed and has just kinda be floating on top of the damaged area of the cornea they are deciding to put a more permanent patch taken from his own eye. (the white part) apparently they last longer then donor patches because its part of your own eye. Then hopefully it will hold until the middle of July. In July they plan to try to do everything to his eyes at once. It is possible to take the oil out, do cornea transplants, and put new lenses in as well to both eyes. They will try anyway but there is no guarantee that they will be able to do all of it at once. So lets make some prayers they can and it all goes well please! I know I will be a hot mess during that operation that's for sure. His right eye is continuing to improve greatly on its own! The fact that he can make things out up close with his glasses gives me big hope for when they finish all the surgeries in that eye. Thank you Dr. L for saying what the heck and trying to save that eye even when most doctors would not have even tried and just removed it. That's his good eye now!

#BLESSED

Right Arm: He is gaining strength in it again and was cleared to bear weight. Which he was doing anyway because he is impatient! He has a lot of scaring from burns and shrapnel. Some of the debris in starting to come up and out and will continue to do so for the rest of his life.

Right Nubby: is still healing. There is one gooey spot where some random blue sutures are coming up and out. There is also one spot that is kinda torn that is healing as well as some various spots they call over growth that kinda blisters. For the “blister” spots they normally use silver nitrate to kinda cauterize the spot and they it ends up scabbing and healing. Once it finally heals they will be able to get a liner on it like the left one and cast it for a prosthetic. Until then we just continue to use shrinkers and go down in size.

Left Nubby: is doing FANTASTIC! It is shrinking in size the way it suppose to. He bears weight like a champ! He is able to stand for longer amounts of time and balance so well now. He can also do 2 laps using a rolling walker! He has shrinked so well that they ordered a new liner and once that gets in they will have to recast him and get him a new socket for his prosthetic. He also figured out and learned that his pesky knee pain he has had in his Military career for so many years is in fact runners knee however the way the Army deals with the care of it is improper. Instead of giving him Neproxin and telling him it will go away. They should have showed him how to massage and foam roll it out and various stretches. Eventually after a lot of hard work we will be able to get his knee back to good as new. So if you have been told you have runners knee please seek a professional away from base who actually cares about the well being on your body and will help it heal the right way!

Ears: He has perforated ear drums in both sides. Hearing loss in both ears but one is worse then the other. He has to have a CT done and a apt with the ENT, we were told more then likely he will need surgery on both of them.

C6 spine neck fracture: You would never know his neck was hurt if it wasn't for the scar on his neck. He doesn't feel any difference, he just can hold his head far back fro long amounts of time but then again who can? Lol

Brain Bleed/TBI: His head looks great and his hair has grown back for the most part. His scars are really neat looking though and he has a few dips and dents. He can be a little slow when thinking about what he wants to say sometimes but other then that seems to be pretty much the same as before.

Pain: Has been under control now thankfully. The phantom pain has gone WAY down from what it was but it is still there. He is off the Dilauded and Norco which were both of his “given when asked for” pain meds. They are even coming down off of his Methadone as well! So you could say he is doing pretty amazing! I am so very proud of him.

PT: In physical therapy that is when he stands and walks, but also when he does some exercises and stretching. Now the way one thinks when that is said is like oh no big deal that's normal stuff but really no its not. Its painful and not stuff you would do or even know how to do without proper knowledge. It is super important for him to do these exercises and stretches to keep from getting contractures. He will have to do them for the rest of his life if he doesn't want to get stuck in one position and be able to walk. Without doing them he wouldn't be able to walk. Very important stuff.

OT: occupational therapy is a lot of upper body stuff as well as electronics and like every day life kinds of things like cooking or getting ready or going to the restroom. He is upping his weight training almost every day in either set, reps, or weight. He pushes himself in every aspect. He has made pizza and tuna macaroni salad with little help. He can transfer to/from the potty on his own. Transfers in/out of the vehicle with ease. He has learned how to use his new Ipad and Iphone. The switch was easy considering how much nicer the voice over functions work and the ease of access for the visually impaired it is. It's really nice being able to text each other again when we are apart. Something I thought we would never do again. He still has some learning to do though he still has some trouble answering and ending phone calls but we will get there. Its hard listening to the voice over voice as well as someones voice mail at the same time when trying to end the call.

SLP: Is the speech lady but we go to her for more fine tuning and practice in the electronic department and use of special apps.

RT: is recreational therapy where he plays games like cards, dominions, Chinese marbles, head bandz, etc stuff like that as well as group meetings with other guys on the floor, same for field trips like the one we took to the zoo.

BROS: is our eye guy who helps Cory with learning to navigate around and figure out where he is as well as trying to learn to do everyday things being blind. He also works on reading up close etc.

Psych: He talks about his personal stuff ad things that may bother him as well as ways to cope and deal with various things.

Family Psych: We both do the same together like above.

All the teams co-team with each other and work together to give him the best care.

We LOVE the Polytrauma.

We can never thank Dr. Eapen, Dr. Wilson, Dr. Escamilla, Julie, Estaban, Becky, Gabby, Veronica, Stephanie, and all the Nurses and staff here at Polytrauma enough for everything they have done for us!

Today in our 2^nd session in PT Cory is suppose to be getting his NEW wheelchair!

Can't wait!

We can take weekend passes now and will continue to do so!

He does amazing on them and the only problems we have is getting up and down a couple of small stairs at my sisters. The ramps I brought don't freaking work :( So I need to get something else.

Dr. G at the CFI is eager to get Cory over there and in outpatient status.

However we still have a bunch to learn I think and I am not very sure we are just ready for that.

Maybe in a month or two?

Not to mention if they can let us stay at the fisher house there or not.

It looks like we will be staying at my sisters which would mean lots of driving and struggling to get him into the bathroom and up n down the stairs.

You would think they could find us free lodging. I mean the Army did blow up my husband!

It's the least they could make sure they do is accommodate us.

It's not like we still don't have bills and a house to pay for back home.

Not to mention children and fur-kids to accommodate.

We just simply can not afford for them to snatch our BAH for their family barracks.

So I am stressed about that as well as things I can't/wont talk about online.

Just a bunch of things I shouldn't have to be stressed about.

We are ready to be home already but have so much more to go.

It feels like a never ending road.

I know that getting medically retired will take even more time to do then his actual rehab.

I am just wondering how long we will be here and if anyone could give us a time frame!

I am just going to assume it will be 2 years because that's how long he has left on his contract.

If its less then that then I will be pleasantly pleased!

We miss HOME.

All content is owned and copy righted by Cory & Michelle Muzzy.

Cory had a couple of appointments today, one for his lower extremities and the other his eyes.

Dr. G said Cory's nubbies are looking great and he doesn't think it will be too much longer before he can wear a liner on his right nub too. There are still a couple of oozy spots that need to heal up first. He is now allowed to weight bare on all extremities. He is beyond excited about that. 

Dr. G is eager to steal him away from polytrauma and said once he gets the pain under control with the IV stuff he will be ready to come to the CFI. He is thinking with the way things have been going it will be soon.

Today in PT Cory stayed at 60 degrees for16 mins! That is Awesome! 

30 more and that is standing upright!

Cory's eye apt was interesting.

They said the graph they did last week didn't take and was just kind of hovering over the not good part on the cornea, but that the cornea was actually healing. So they are just going to leave it there and it will either come out a the next apt or disintegrate but either way was ok. He removed some sutures too that seem to irritate the eye. They are crazy tiny n smaller then a hair! He showed me n let Cory keep one o a q-tip in a bag LOL Things look ok in his eyes right now. They said in maybe 2 weeks they can take the oil out. Which will make it a bit easier to see. Then we have to wait for a undetermined amount of time to then do the cornea transplants, and then wait again for another undetermined amount of time to do lens transplants. So lots n lots of waiting. He is very tired of having his eye sewn shut that's for sure! 

I also got my MMA paperwork done so I can regain some loss of my income and be paid to be his caretaker. This rubs me in the wrong way but I am grateful for the help. The reason it rubs me in the wrong way is because I am the type of person who one is independent, two doesn't need to be paid just to take care of the one I love, three I would do all the same stuff even not being paid. However the money does help so I will be grateful and suck it up. Thank you Army.

After all the walking/pushing Cory around today I was dog tired.

I guess I finally smacked into my emotional wall tonight and cracked just a bit.

I was cuddling in bed with that wonderful man of mine.

We were talking.

I made a mistake the other day and hurt people I love without meaning to and felt really bad about it.

Well I started crying and then I just couldn't stop.

A lot of things bother me but no one would ever know it.

I guess I don't realize how much I bottle up.

I guess I can't always be strong like I want to be.

I didn't talk much, just cried.

(which is crazy in itself because I am 100% a talker)

There are no words for all the feelings inside of me or the waves of phases I go through.

I didn't cry enough, I can still feel them back there waiting to escape.

They will have their time and place.

For now it's just time for sleep.

Tomorrow is another day to go "Hard".

I hope you all have a blessed night.

My Heart & Soul!

nubbies looking great!

This is the bird I call Dad who comes n checks in on us!

Blanket given to us from Soldiers Angels!

There is Dad again lol

All content is owned and copyrighted by Cory & Michelle Muzzy.