[Sarah liveblogging here] This post keeps growing, so check back and make sure you get all the info!
Andi introduces panel. This will be a difficult panel. We are all aware about combat stress, wounded soldiers. Perhaps you can remember this panel if you ever find yourself in this situation.
Andi's dog didn't recognize her husband when he came home. And the look on her husband's face broke her heart. Life changes when they get home, in ways we can't predict.
Joan D'Arc uses this handle because her husband is Armor. Her husband was wounded in Iraq. We all have a story, things that have brought us to where we are, things that have brought us here. Had her husband not been wounded, she wouldn't be sitting here. She started blogging on her husband's blog when he was wounded to let his readers know what was going on, and it opened a whole world to her and gave her a new blog family. People often say that their life is not as hard as her life with a wounded soldier. But she thinks that you can't compare your life to hers and say that she trumps everything. She's been to Walter Reed and met phenomenal people and families, and she knows people who have been wounded worse than her husband. You can't compare it. We all go through things, even just "funks". You deal with your own life. So while she will talk about her husband's story, everyone here at SpouseBUZZ has his/her own story to tell. We are not alone.
A guest in audience: Her husband was injured by an IED but stayed in Iraq. She's pregnant and he's deployed again now, and her family's home was destroyed in Hurricane Katrina. And after her as injured, they were able to have a talk about what would happen if something more serious happened to him on this deployment, but they just take it one day at a time.
GBear: It's not well known in the general public what we go through. She's an Air Force wife and military brat, but she didn't really have a clue. Her son was diagnosed with a rare cancer at age three and is the only survivor of this type of cancer. All of our stories are so valuable to share because we give others hope and education and courage to go on. Her son has to have leg surgeries often, so she had to learn to sew him special clothing for her son while he had his leg brace on. At Walter Reed, her son met the wounded servicemembers and said that his mom needed to sew for them. GBear can't sew very well! But after she saw the look on the first recipient's face, she was hooked. They've made 15,000 items since then. She gets to see how much America loves and supports the military community because everything in Sew Much Comfort is on a volunteer and donation basis.
Martin Bonner, Family Advocacy: Was a tanker for 12 years and was in Desert Shield/Desert Storm. His wife stayed in Germany, and they didn't have email or phones. They were fortunate that no one in the unit was injured. But working here for the past 8 years at Hood, they've developed reintegration services and casualty assistance. He's not an expert in any field, but he can give information in classes they provide at Family Advocacy for anyone who needs it. Fort Hood is really set up to help families. There is one phone number you can call so they can direct you to the right office to help you with your needs, so you don't have to trek back and forth across post! And it's so important for you to register your children with Child and Youth Services (CYS).
On with the panel...
