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Okay...so yesterday's vague post is due to a lot of unexpected events that began on this day.

2:22 a.m. I hear my text tone go off. That means that Scott is in a wifi area, since I don't technically have texting on my phone, but iMessage. Since Scott brought his iPhone with him, we can use iMessage as long as he is in a wifi area.

He told me he had arrived in Afghanistan, had been assigned a B-hut (quarters, if you want to call them that) and had gotten his wifi/internet going. I was mostly asleep, though sleep has been really hard to come by, with all the deployment nerves and emotions. He told me it was noon there, and he had some stuff to take care of...I hoped to FaceTime (from this point forward, I will refer to this as FT) around the kids' wake-up time. I went back to sleep, knowing he'd finally made it to where he's been trying to be for all this time. It's finally happening. Scott expressed his feelings about actually coming into Afghanistan in full "battle rattle". I can't even begin to imagine.

6:20 a.m.

My FT tone rings...it's Scott. Yes! He was able to finish what he needed to do so that he could talk with us. I get the kids up and we chat. The kids head up to get dressed...then Scott tells me some very unexpected news.  While flying on Tuesday evening, he had been sleeping...when he woke he noticed his vision was blurry in his right eye. He attributed it to lack of sleep. (because how well can you really sleep on planes, wearing military uniforms and crammed in with so many others???) It didn't seem to go away, even after landing in Manas. When he got to Afghanistan, he went to see a doctor.

Central Serous Retinopathy. It means, loosely, that there's a tear in his eye and it's causing fluid to leak into his retina, causing the blurred vision.

When he called, he was packing up his gear to be medi-vac'd to Landstuhl. Where he had JUST been a few days ago...the ophthalmologist at BAF was confident that he'd return in no time. That was all I knew.

Of course, I had a plane ticket to fly to Nashville and head to Clarksville to pick up Scott's car. Should I go, I asked? Scott told me to get his car, that he was sure he'd be back at BAF soon. So...I did.

I got the kids off to school...made sure everything was taken care of in the house (had already arranged for the kids to stay at friends' houses for the night and all day Saturday). I went to lunch with a friend, and while there, I got a call from Scott's commander. He wanted to know what I knew and if I needed anything, to let them know. Of course, he himself is headed out soon, so I wouldn't have access to him for too long. Ugh. Of course, I was texting with Scott by then. He hadn't flown out yet, so he was checking on me.

My friend dropped me off at the Columbia Airport. I boarded without issue, having a great seat (bulkhead, aisle!). Got to Charlotte for my connection, and we landed 15 minutes early. Never had THAT happen before!  As I landed, Scott texted again. He was now at the hospital, waiting to go to the plane to head to Landstuhl. We texted back and forth, I think to keep our minds off everything. Once again, I had a decent seat from Charlotte to Nashville...exit row. No seat next to me!

When I landed, I let him know I was there...I was waiting for my friend Niki to pick me up. She got me, brought me to her house, and we went out to eat sushi. I worried and worried about when he would get to Germany. Not much I could do. After we ate, we headed back to her house. Both of us crashed early.

ILY24752