Donnie update / care package update

Hi!  For those of you who are still planning to send a care package, please send to the attention of either Sgt. David Goodshield or 1st Lt. Joshua Waddell. At this point Donnie himself won't receive any packages due to the fact that he has moved around a lot and there isn't much time left to distribute, but sending to either name above will ensure his guys in the field will get the goods! The rest of the address is posted in a previous blog below.

Also, Donnie is still under observation at one of the main camps. He is doing okay and says he has gained some weight back due to the french fries and other yummy food available! We still don't know where he will spend the remainder of his deployment, but we hope his health will improve as each day passes!

The good with the bad

I finally heard from Donnie yesterday, August 13, after more than a month!  It was definitely an emotional and surreal experience to hear his voice after so long!  He called at around 9:45am, right when breakfast was on the stove and the maintenance man was trying to avoid being eaten by our vicious Cocker Spaniel.   After recovering from the shock of actually speaking with my husband (how weird does that sound to a normal person) the first thing I noticed was how happy he sounded..."friggin happy" in his own words!  A shower and real food, any food, after weeks and weeks of no bathing and 400 calories a day was a definite plus.  Apparently it was difficult at times to even get food and water delivered to the areas they were patrolling.  The not so fun news is the reason Donnie was back at the main camp.  He had been pulled from patrol after being involved in 2 IED (improvised explosive device) explosions and a truck accident that resulted in him being knocked unconscious for a period of time.  He is being evaluated over the next week and will know shortly what the rest of his deployment will entail.  We do know he has a grade 2 and grade 3 concussion and is on medication to help with the headaches.  As much as I know how badly Donnie wants to be back with his men, as his wife I can't help but be grateful he is in a less dangerous environment for the time being.  I'll keep everyone updated as I hear more!  And one last thing - during his downtime on patrol, he was able to construct a pair of flip flops and other Donnie-eque items from the natural resources around him.  That plus his bushy hair and beard probably made for some interesting photos!  I hope to post them once he returns so stay tuned!