SFC Norris Galatas Update!

Hi, all! Here's the latest update on Janis & Norris Galatas, up at Walter Reed Army Medical Hospital awaiting a big surgery for Norris. Janis actually emailed this to me over the weekend, but ditzy thing that I am, I kept forgetting to post it... must be the "Starting A New Semester Scatterbrained-ness" or something, haha! Anyway, THURSDAY 8/24 is Norris' big day... please keep him in your prayers.

Well, we're just waiting on surgery now. Norris is happily counting down the days. My sister Amy is off Thursday and she is going to come and be with me in the
waiting room. I can't believe she is moving here ....Mississippi won't be the same without her, but she already likes the dental hygienist work in Virginia much better than back home. She says up here, she gets treated like a person....after only two weeks of work, she has a paycheck, a NAME BADGE and was given Thursday off to be with me in the OR waiting room. That just never happened at home. I hope she makes it up here. She has a precious little cat named "Oreo" (black with white in the middle...LOL!) who needs a home..anyone need a kitty kat? She is an outside cat that has never been pregnant. Amy hopes to take her dog and other cat with her. Melia is excited about the schools up here...she has one more year of high school and she in interested in forensics...she has noticed a few forensics courses here in high schools! She says it is scary, but looks like they are going through with it.

Our buddy SFC Ellis Martin is headed home soon...probably in the next thirty days or so. He and Stephanie will both be glad he is out of the Army. (Especially Stephanie) SGT David Yancey is still here...he's been going out with us. We found a for real SOUTHERN Bar-B-Que place last Saturday night. It's called "OLD GLORY" and has an "Elvis" flavor....seven different sauces on the table and a huge bourbon bar....we stayed away from that! Poor Norris is suffering through without dipping snuff...he never complains, but chews a lot of gum. He just put down the snuff. After the surgery, we will have to wait until he is healed up really good before going back to the snuff...nicotine in the bloodstream constricts the blood vessels and restricts blood flow to the tissues that need a good blood flow to heal.

God has sent us angels along the way and things are going smoothly. we're ready for Thursday. It will be an 8-10 hour surgery if "all goes well" and if things get bumpy, they still have the OR for 20 hours if needed. They are ready, too. One of the surgeons, Dr. Comaday, served at FOB Dogwood in 2003......it was better then than when the 150th CEB hit town. But he said it was good to talk with people who knew what he was talking about when FOB Dogwood was mentioned. We felt the same way. We ran into a young soldier yesterday who was from Gulfport. His face was cut up and he limped, but was healing. Maybe I'll run into him later on and he can help me feed the fish. Thank you all for your prayers and support. Thursday is the big day. I'll let you all know as soon as I know something. Later. Janis