My wife is also an active duty soldier in the military with me. That’s where we met and later married. She didn’t get to come and play with us in Iraq because she had some health issues that needed to be resolved first. That does not sit well with a lot of soldiers, but has little to do with this story. She finally had her health record reviewed at Ft Lewis last March. She went to several different doctors. First she went to a mental health specialist because some colonel said she was nuts. Turns out, she’s normal. Next she went to an internal health specialist, again, normal. Then a gynecologist, again, normal. Then she went to an ear, nose and throat specialist. Her ears were not normal. She exhibited symptoms of a degenerative ear disease called Meniere’s Disease. “But just to be certain that we’re not missing something else, lets get some MRI results.†The MRI displayed a ‘shadow’. “Mmm, not good.†Now, a full C-T scan. Results: Tumor. “I believe this tumor is benign (non-cancerous), but I also believe that it is growing and causing all of your earaches, headaches, dizzy spells, nausea, etc. It should be removed sooner, not later. I wouldn’t wait for your husband to come home from Iraq.â€
After the “spin and puke room†test, she had surgery scheduled in April. Her doctor initiated an Emergency Red Cross message stating that I should be brought home to be with my wife. I got the message and proceeded to fill out the proper forms to go on emergency leave. It went up the chain of command to the general and back down again and came back with, DENIED: NOT LIFE THREATENING.
I was enraged. I went to the chaplain, calmed down, and we prayed.
My wife’s surgery date came up and I was still in Iraq. Her mother was tasked with ‘every little thing’ because I couldn’t be there. Her parents understood being former Navy and all. I’m current military, but I still didn’t understand. Her surgery started well. But then, the doctor’s couldn’t excise all of the tumor because all at once her sinus cavity filled with blood and her blood pressure spiked. They stopped the procedure, closed up her head and sent her to recovery in the ICU. The medical staff spent ‘three of the longest most agonizing hours’ trying to revive her. Then, she opened her eyes, and spoke coherently, but very groggy. Thank God we didn’t lose her! Thank God she’s getting better, even still.
I was still quite angry until…
A couple of weeks later… I discovered at lunchtime that I neglected to take my wallet and key with me when I left for work. Normally I always check for those items as I have since arriving in Iraq last year. Why was today so different? I'm not entirely certain but it could be that I changed uniforms that morning in the dark so as to not awaken my roommate. Anyway, I had to come back to the room. But if it were locked, I would have to go to the Chaplain's office to get a key from my roommate because that’s where he worked. I decided to check my room first to see if it were unlocked as it was on the way to the Chaplain's office. What luck. It was open. The light was turned off so I turned it on. There was my roommate sitting in his chair with tears in his eyes and a loaded weapon close by. I hadn’t noticed anything amiss and proceeded to procure my wallet and key. I then told my roommate that I was going to lunch and had invited him to go along. He told me that he really needed to talk just then. I told him that I was hungry but that I could spare a few minutes. During the next few moments he told me that he was having a really bad day and that he had just prayed to God telling God to send someone to his room to talk to or that he was going to end his life. Just before he ended his prayer, I entered the room. So I talked to him about his current situation and I told him that really he was too scared to end his life anyway and that there were about 10,000 reasons why he shouldn't do it and then I reminded him of his lovely wife and his darling little girls. Then I told him what I thought of the counseling statements that he was getting (that caused his emotional state) and what he could do about it. He told me that he really appreciated me coming into the room at that moment. He still had tears in his eyes so I asked him if he needed a hug. W e hugged and he composed himself and came to lunch with me. During the walk he thanked me for being a friend and to keep this between us. I told him I would.
That day I felt like a hero. That day I finally understood why the answer to my prayer was no.
