If You Still Had Your Funny Bone....

As many of you know, Kevin had to undergo a surgery on each arm at the end of 2009 from injuries sustained while deployed in 2007. Long story short, he was thrown from the turret while gunning and broke his elbow, has permanent TBI, had a gash on his head and has nerve damage. The surgeries that were performed were Bilateral Ulnar Nerve Replacement.  The Ulnar Nerve is a nerve that travels from the wrist the the shoulder. They had to cut and remove the nerve around the elbow to wrist area. He also has muscle atrophy from this, or as we know muscle deterioration. Kev had lost most all movement and feeling in both hands before the surgery. Now, he lacks strength in pushing, but has strength in pulling and grasping.

When it comes to to the kids, we tend to try to make things as easy as possible for the kids to understand. So, just as when Kev was set to deploy the first time, we explained to the little ones that he was going to Iraq to make the bad guys nice. Seems like a good way for the kids to understand what he was doing instead of outright telling them the exact truth. So, when the surgeries in 2009 occurred, Kevin told the girls that he broke his funny bone and had to have it removed.... I am sure many of you can already see where this is going...

The other day, Kevin and Breanna ended up having to drive to the store for something we needed and he was in one of "those" moods because it had been one of "those" type days. Out of nowhere, Bre looks at Kevin and says, "If you still had your funny bone maybe you wouldn't be so grumpy..." All he could do was laugh at that one. Straight from the mouth of a child.....