Whoever Said No New Is Good News Should Be Smacked

Apparently, according to some friends and family, I’ve been neglecting my duty as press secretary and disappointing the new fan base my brother recently garnered. On the contrary, I was very aware of the five days this blog has gone without update. Unfortunately, that lack of information for you fine people was not a result of my own sloth, but rather my brother’s noncommittal doctors. Simply put, there’s been nothing on the blog, because there’s been nothing to tell. Andrew has had a handful of doctor’s appointments and therapy sessions, but none that lead to any clarification of his future physically, militarily, or otherwise. The dragging out of this whole process is starting to wear thin. I’m at home getting grouchier by the day, and I’m certain my family isn’t doing much better in San Antonio. However, Andrew meets with his orthopedic specialist tomorrow, and if there is an appointment that has real significance, it is this one (although we said that about the day he got to San Antonio, too). So, hopefully, I’ll get some news tomorrow afternoon, and if I do, I’ll be sure to pass it on to the rest of you here.

As of This Morning...

Ok boys and girls, here’s the most significant update on Andrew’s status, even as we must continue to stomach the absence of detailed information we’ve come to expect from the military thus far. My brother left Iraq in serious condition before improving to stable condition by the time he reached Andrews Air Force Base. As of this morning he has been upgraded once more to “not seriously injured.” One must look at that description in the proper context before the jigs commence. Andrew is a soldier who is no longer seriously injured; the military scale for normalcy is drastically different from our civilian scale. A civilian with extensive nerve damage would be considered seriously injured; a soldier is not. As far as his life goes, Andrew is not in any immediate, grave danger.

“Not seriously injured” really means two things of significance. First, Andrew will not undergo any surgical operations to improve his condition. The shrapnel appears to be there to stay. His path of healing now includes therapy, therapy, and more therapy. He has essentially reached “walk it off” on the Army‘s treatment meter. The second aspect of “not seriously injured” that is worth mentioning is the Army will no longer foot the bill for my parents to go see my brother. Of course, that hasn’t stopped them from going. They left at 9:00 this morning for San Antonio.

Despite the upgrade in Andrew’s status, we still know very little about the condition of his leg. The tests at Sam Houston were unable to determine whether the nerve in his leg was severed, cut, or bruised, and they can’t set a plan for his recovery until they do. So, while Andrew’s arrival in San Antonio was supposed to answer many of our lingering questions, it looks like we will have to wait another week for Andrew’s next appointment. As of now, Andrew has had no improvement in feeling returning to his leg, but he’s as active and mobile as he can possibly be (it seems that is what the doctor is recommending for the time being). But as far as questions about Andrew’s rehab, or even his military future, we’ll have to wait another week.

So, mom and dad are gone for now. They have no idea when they will be back. They’ll be with Andrew until he gets settled wherever he will be doing his therapy. If that means they have to drive up to Fort Carson, then that’s what they’ll be doing. I’ll be manning the phones and the blog here. I don’t imagine I’ll have much to update until my empty nest syndrome kicks in and I start begging for companionship. However, if I do get some news on Andrew, or even some new speculation regarding his future, I will be sure to pass it along.

He's Still Ugly. And 10 Other Things I Learned From Yesterday's Visit With Andrew

1. Brothers don’t shake hands. Brothers gotta hug. And whimper a little. Perhaps sniffle.

2. It’s clear that there were two types of soldiers in Iraq. Those who were prepared for what they would see, and those who were not. Sadly, those who were not prepared far outnumber those who were. Just listen to my brother’s story about the attack in which he got injured and the difference between his reaction and his gunner's.

3. A part of Andrew wants to get back to his guys, but the further he gets from Iraq the harder it is to find the motivation to return.

4. For a family as active in the community as ours, it’s sort of remarkable to see how private and protective we are when it comes to the people we love.

5. The “exploding pound” may have to be retired as the Rockwell brothers’ high-five of choice.

6. From a purely aesthetic perspective, Andrew’s wound is unimpressive. Blasted nerve damage. It just doesn’t even provide you with cool scars.

7. Any conversation, regardless of how seemingly unrelated, can turn back to the Cubs in a heartbeat.

8. Though I’m sure their medical expertise is exceptional, the most impressive thing to me about the way the Army treats its injured soldiers was the hidden room with the magical filing cabinet filled with every candy bar you can imagine. My diet when to hell with a quickness last night thanks to the US Military's Willy Wonka bureau.

9. Everything about Andrew’s physical condition was a relief to us. He still looks like himself -- no severe burns of note. His broken nose was kids' stuff (he still has a Deines nose, and not a Rockwell one. Bastard.) He was surprisingly mobile (though I can’t say how much of that movement was doctor recommended). If it weren’t from the deep hole on the back of his left thigh, you’d be hard pressed to find something out of whack.

10. And finally, my brother and I have now have a very important story to tell, and we intend on telling it together.


Photo provided by Phil Rockwell and cannot be duplicated without permission.

The Longest Year Continues...

First off, on behalf of my family, I want to thank everyone who has called or stopped by to offer their sympathies, condolences, and most importantly, food. This has been a whirlwind four days (oh lord it’s only been four days) and the limitless generosity of our family and friends has been a tremendous balm for our rattled nerves.

In the coming days, likely tomorrow, my parents will be off to Andrew’s bedside, leaving me to housesit as well as distribute any new information we gather. As of 8:00 he is at Andrew’s (apropos) Air Force Base waiting for word on the next leg of his journey. He called to let us know that he will most likely be headed to San Antonio after all. We’re now awaiting word on when my parents can leave to meet him. My father and I spent the day answering phones and, much to my father’s chagrin, dealing with the press. I’d imagine most of you caught Andrew on the front page of the Argus, but Dad and I will also be on KWQC’s 10 o’clock news embarrassing my brother incessantly with our unabashed praise. KWQC may also be linking to this site from their website, so let’s try and behave people. We may have visitors.

Finally, after a day of fielding phone calls, I wanted to let Andrew’s legions of fans know that this will likely be your main source of news during the coming weeks. Mom and Dad are going to filter all of their info through me, and I will get it to you fine people as soon as I possibly can. And though I never imagined this blog would go longer than Andrew’s tour, it’s clear that The Longest Year will be running indefinitely through Andrew’s rehab process. So, check back in the coming days for new information. And don’t be shy about stopping by. I’ll be all by my lonesome here at the homestead, and company is always appreciated.

Updates from Germany

We talked with Andrew this morning, and he sounded better than the last time. His voice was lighter, perhaps his spirits higher, of course that might have been because he was moments away from morphine. There’s been a lot of information bounced about in the past several days, so some of this information may be old news, but I’m too burnt out to double check. Here is the information we have now:

-- Andrew is currently in Germany. Our phone call didn’t have the usual Desert Delay. As I said, he sounded like he was in much better spirits than the last time we spoke on Friday.

-- Based on our conversation and the call my parents got from an official at Fort Carson, the nerve damage to Andrew’s leg is extensive. He may or may not regain full mobility; it’s too early to tell.

-- He will be headed back to the States in the next couple days, and the most recent itinerary has him going to a base in San Antonio. The Army is supplying my parents with airfare there, or wherever he does end up.

-- Andrew‘s next trip to Wrigley Field will be indefinitely delayed. With the state of Andrew’s health and the Army’s rigid rehab scheduling, it’s just not possible for Andrew to come home for the time being. We have very little information regarding the long term timeline of his recovery, but naturally we want him as strong as possible before he starts jetting all over the country. It’s unclear, as of now, when he will be able to make it back home to the Quad Cities. Dad thinks I should still go to the Cubs games on the 29th and 30th, but I'm conflicted about going without Andrew. My parents will not be going, naturally, but it may not be a bad idea to spend some time with friends and family on the North Side. We’ll see how interested my Chitown blood is in attending without Andrew.

Those are the basics as of this morning. We’ll likely know more once he lands stateside. Until then, keep Andrew in your hearts, and we’ll have further updates as information becomes available.

Major Update on Andrew

Yesterday, while many of us were in the midst of a muted celebration of the death of Abu Musab Al-Zarkawi, my brothers hummer was hit by an IED. He sustained minor burns to his face (sorry ladies), a broken nose, and some shrapnel in his leg. His driver suffered a compound fracture, and they were both taken to a hospital in Baghdad for treatment. After the preliminary work was done on Andrew this morning, it appears that there was some nerve damage done and Andrew will have to live with the shrapnel in his leg for the rest of this life. As of now, he doesn't have use of his leg below the knee, but I can't speak to the long-term prognosis for him other than that there will be considerable rehabilitation needed. What we do know, with relative certainty, is that because of the nerve damage in his leg his first tour in Iraq is over.

I still have some hesitation actually writing those words, because with the whirlwind of this morning I can't believe what I just heard. But I asked Andrew twice (we talked to him on the phone), and he said that to the best of his knowledge it's the truth.

Tomorrow he will fly to Germany with his driver. From there he will make his way to Walter Reed hospital in Washington before finally ending up back in Fort Carson. The timeline for this is unclear, but we hope to have more information later. My brother did make it clear that he'll walk across the country on crutches if he has to in order to make the Cubs games at the end of June.

So, that's the basic outline as we currently understand it, and we will hopefully have more later.

One For the Good Guys

Unless visiting this website is the first thing you do every morning, you probably know that Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi -- the leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq -- was killed by a U.S. airstrike yesterday. Not only that, he was killed in Andrew’s backyard. My mom woke me up with the news at 6:45 this morning, and she was sobbing uncontrollably as she headed to work. Meanwhile I sat up and started to scour my sites to confirm the story. I never got back to bed. I haven’t spoken to him, so I have no idea if he had any involvement in the grand scheme of things (he did promise he would kill Zarqawi a while back), but whether he did or not this is a victory for the U.S. military. And lord knows they could use one of those every once in a while. I don’t necessarily think Andrew is going to write any more e-mails before he leaves Iraq, but if he does, hopefully he can give us more details then. If not, in a couple of weeks we can ask him when he gets home.