dr_pretentious | Practical, Immediate Ways To Help Wounded Soldiers At Walter Reed

The first reply I got when I posted the links to the Washington Post articles that broke the Walter Reed story was from

sligoe, who asked what people could do right now, beyond contacting their congresspeople, to help soldiers and their families cope.

So I called my mom, who does a little volunteer work at Walter Reed and Bethesda Naval Hospital. She goes in for physical therapy for her arthritis a couple times a week, so she's part of the ad hoc community that arises in the PT gym. Most of the people she meets there are kids who got blown up in Iraq.

The party line, she says, is to donate time and money to the Red Cross and the Army Relief Fund. The number for the Red Cross Volunteer Line for Walter Reed is (202) 782-6362. You can find out more about the Army Relief Fund here.

Her next suggestion was to call the Office of the Chaplain. Their main number is (202) 782-6306.

Later this afternoon, she emailed me more information. Here's what she had to say:

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Dr. P had a really rotten experience at Walter Reed when she was very young. I've had almost all good ones since then, as do most patients, as long as they don’t have to live in Building 18 or do any paperwork (joke). When I'm there (twice a week), I encounter lots of wounded soldiers, almost all with very positive attitudes. This past week I met one of the guys the Washington Post wrote about, the self-described "only guy who had his whole ear blown off in Iraq." That is not his only serious wound, but it's the first one you notice. Many of the men and women I see are missing arms and/or legs. When they chat and gesticulate, it’s hard not to be distracted by the lace of scarring on faces and hands. By the time they leave, plastic surgery will have cleaned most of that up, but that can’t happen till all the problems underneath are fixed with sequential surgeries. And all that cosmetic repair work requires skin grafts from parts that weren’t wounded. If they weren’t heroes before, they are after their stay at Walter Reed, Bethesda Naval Hospital, or any of the other military hospitals across the country.

Dr. P tells me that many of her friends and readers have seen media coverage on the infamous Building 18 and the Mologne House – and they want to DO something.

For people who live near the hospital, the logical urge is to drive the kids from one appointment to the next. Alas, not so easy for civilians, because their cars, insurance papers, and identification have to be checked at the gate, and the campus is a labyrinth with almost no parking. However, taking trips outside for shopping, a movie, or a sports event may be possible. I’ve got feelers out on how that works, and should have information to share soon.

Meanwhile, consider a more pressing need. Many of the wounded wear "fixators." These devices are used to set bones that have been so badly broken that lots of pulverized bits have had to be removed from the middle, leaving a gap. "Haloes" (like little steering wheels) are placed around the limb, one on either side of the break, and connected to the bone with metal rods. That is, the rods are embedded in the bone and bristle through the skin to attach to the haloes on the outside, so there’s one of these things on either side of the gap. Then the two sections are aligned with some magic stuff in between to help the bone grow back together, and the haloes are connected to one another at several points around the circumference so the bone will heal to the correct length and angles. If you want to see pictures, try http://www.ilizarov.org.uk/others1.htm; however, the thousand words are better for the squeamish. Any pictures on the web will be out of date, because this is constantly improving technology – wars have historically benefited the medicine the rest of us receive.

These kids naturally hate wearing hospital gowns. They want to wear pants (imagine how the cold travels to the bones), but few trouser legs are large enough to go around the fixator. There’s a lady named Ginger who’s helping out. You can visit her website at http://www.sewmuchcomfort.org to see how you can contribute with money and/or (very minimal) sewing skills. Don’t be put off by the photo of the President (I’d rather look at fixators) – click on “the need” or “seamstress info” to get to information on how you can help. And consider that each garment gives a wounded soldier some dignity as she or he walks down the hall or to the dining room. This is a real organization. I’ve corresponded with Ginger many times, and she’s not making a cent off of this.

The Fisher Houses (like Ronald McDonald Houses at civilian hospitals) are heavily endowed and well staffed, but they need help nonetheless. It’s a wonderful organization – clean, comfortable, and cheerful Bed-and-Breakfast-lunch-and-dinner sorts of houses for the woundeds' visiting families. Visit http://www.fisherhouse.org/ to see what you can do for them.

There are funds for soldiers in financial straits. I’ll research those, too.

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So, I'll be posting more from Mom as information comes in. She's The Woman In The Know.