Luke Schmitz Survived Iraq

Well today is one year. hard to believe, I know! Through the chaos, ups and downs, it all turned out in the end. I've enjoyed over a month of having Luke home and having a boyfriend once again in the same state. The year has been filled with more downs than ups when you look at the huge events. Three deaths have taken patriotic Americans including Cory Orvik who will be missed terribly by many. However, when you look at other events such as Luke walking again, learning to run, coming home, Fourth of July, and of course the troops coming HOME, the year could be considered a big step. It definitely has been the most interesting year of my life. Horrible at times, and triumphant at others.
The homecoming for the troops was amazing. Yellow ribbons, billboard and signs littered the highway from New York Mills to Detroit lakes, and our troops deserved nothing less. An emotional day for many, but I didn't think I would be so choked up. Luke rode the bus from Clearwater to DL with the guys and was able to catch up and chill out for the final trip. Seeing him in uniform was wonderful, but the most emotional part was seeing him out there with his guys again, and receiving his bronze star. At this point, I was crying pretty good, even brings tears now. I cant ever describe how proud I am of him.
Welcome home troops, and rest in peace Cory.

LUKE FLIES IN ON SATURDAY AROUND 2....FINALLY HES HOME!

The buzzer sounds as lukes enlistment comes to an end. As of June 15th, Luke will no longer be enlisted in the mn national guard. and that means...HES COMING HOME! yes that weekend luke will be flying home for good. feels great to write that
a couple notes
luke celebrated his 23rd birthday on the 3rd,
he received his running leg and computer leg
just a few more little things...then all is good!

this chick is super excited!

Things are finally starting to wrap up and Luke will be home by the 16th of June. WAHOO! He is getting the final fittings of his running leg and computerized leg and hopefully that gets going. he is quite upset about this taking so long and expressing it to everyone including the therapists and prothetics guys. i would expect that, i would too! hes also having a hard time because his air conditioning went out, i cant imagine in this heat. I am hopefully traveling down there on the 22 for my last visit to texas. i'm going to miss having the option of visiting there, but definately glad to have him home and only traveling and hour and half to see him instead of all day.
im kinda considering this trip my little mini-vacation and gift to myself for finally graduating college, yes this friday i walk in the heat to move my tassel and receive a blank booklet. i'm not actually getting my diploma until august. thats all i have to those who read. AND A BIG CONGRATS TO DERRICK FOR THE ENGAGEMENT!!!

well the fluid bump thing has been looked at and hopefully it will go away for good. they drained it, and put some steriods into the pocket to break down the scar tissue it created and hopefully that will decrease the chance of the fluid rebuilding. if that was all that is needed, not a big set back at all. however we will find out more during the next week as the swelling goes down and such. his new leg had caused the rubbing on his HO bone growth (a bump on his leg that happens after some amputations) and this caused the body to react and protect itself by creating a pocket of fluid to keep the muscles and bones safe. tomorrow he will be refit for a new socket for his leg that hopefully wont cause rubbing. i also told him to get going on the running leg that was suppose to happen around feb!. seaworld didnt happen, i didnt really want to go when he would be restricted to a wheelchair, or more likely, the crutches. we did however take in a symphony orchestra concert that was wonderful! the theatre itself was old and a work of art, murals and moldings and just everything beautiful. the second half of the show feature a guy named tito and his band. most of the band members were from south america and they played awesome rumba and latin sounding music. people in the audience were dancing on the main floor and everyone seemed to move to the music. we, of course, were one of the youngest of the crowd, but enjoyed it just the same.
san antonio is celebrating a two week festival called Fiesta...big stuff down there and almost every night there is something going on. do to my uncanning driving skills, wink, we decided to kinda skip out on the festivities and avoid the traffic and me not knowing where to go. although i think i've mastered the main exits to places we like to go. have a great day.

OK, so no one probably checks this anymore, but heck I'm keeping the posts for my history.
Luke has been having some problems with his HO bone growth when using his new leg. However, he found out today that it is not his socket that is the problem, he has developed fluid around his HO bone growth that will need treatment. SO this weekend, when I visit, will be a whole weekend with out walking. kind of a bummer, but no big deal. Right now he has a patch to try to reduce the fluid retention by medication on the skin. If this does not work, they have two options. Either pierce the fluid sac with a suringe (you think I could spell that by now), or have the bone growth removed all together, by a surgical procedure. Painfull I'm sure, and it will delay the homecoming even further. Bummer news, but we take it as we can :) Friday we will be going over to the VA clinic in TX to get Luke fitted for his own custom wheelchair..wahoo! AND I FINALLY GET TO GO TO SEAWORLD! YEA!
Good Day.

A week full of events is about to start. Tim and Nancy will be flying down to San An on Tuesday for Lukes surgery. Luke's thumb is finally getting fixed on wednesday, he had an appointment today to figure out whats going on, but of course i havent heard anything from him. Also this week is Greg Riewer's funeral, a very hard ceremony indeed that will be.
Lukes friends Ryan Puttbrese and Kuboy are still in Germany with various injuries and hopefully will be flying into the states some time soon. Keep thinking of them and of course the Riewer family. Take Care!