For the last 14 months, Dave and I have shared our home with our two oldest grandchildren. They lived with us temporarily when they were very small, and their mom was doing an internship at mid-coast hospital. It is very different to share your home with “almost adult” grandchildren. Last year, we flew to Sierra Vista, AZ to see our first grandson graduate from high school. Our daughter and son-in-law moved to AZ just before Thanksgiving in his junior year. He was not able to say goodbye to classmates, teachers or anyone else (even his grandparents) for fear he would bring covid home and expose us. We felt that we were in our 70’s and could make a decision about who we wanted to see, but our daughter did not view it as we did. finished the junior year of high school remotely. Ethan finally was able to meet his fellow graduates in his senior year.
It was no surprise that Ethan wanted to return to Maine to his native Maine. We saw our job as moving him down the road of adulting, hoping to avoid serious pitfalls yet let him make his own mistakes so he could learn from them. We discovered this boy loves cars of all types and all conditions. I think in 14 months he bought, traded or other obtained 5 cars and one motorcycle. He had to relearn the art of driving on snow and black ice. It was not easy, and he had one car, and we have one pick up that were sacrificed to that learning curve. The important thing was that cars can be fixed, but there are consequences, most importantly he survived. He explored going to school for automotive training. He also hoped that he and some friends would get together and rent an apartment. Apartment living since covid has changed dramatically. Most apartments cost more to rent than a regular mortgage payment., and even if you can afford it, landlords are not anxious to rent to four teenage boys, with questionable credit and pets. Quite a few of his friends realized this given that most of his friends still lived with their parents.
Ethan got a job at a supermarket, but full-time jobs are not available- supermarkets hire kids that will work 35 hours a week, and that provided Ethan with some walking around cash, some car buying cash and the flexibility of staying up half the night playing games on his PlayStation with his friends (some in Maine and some in Arizona). This was not setting well with us, as he was supposed to pay a little something to rent and there was always a car problem that needed cash. We had several discussions about finding full time work (there was a wealth of opportunities), and so he would talk about going to school and doing just enough to pacify us. He also paid a visit to a recruiter!
When he was in AZ he told me he could not join because he had seriously flat feet (and he is not kidding!) However, he met with a Navy recruiter who sent to an orthopedist, who passed him and felt the flatness of his feet were not sufficient to prevent service. He had a couple other issues to straighten out and after doing all of his required medical appointments, Ethan followed in the footsteps of his great-grandfathers, his grandfather, his mother, his father, and his uncles and who served honorably during WW2, Vietnam, and Operation Enduring Freedom.
So one fall afternoon he showed up ready to go to Great Lakes Training Center for basic training and most likely his AIT, his mother got one call to say he was there and give her his address. We all knew the drill and did not expect to hear from him for a while. The third day of his training, Ethan was sent to sick bay or whatever it is called in the Navy. They sent him on and the next doctor did blood work and had him pee in a cup. His bloodwork made the nurse or corpsman look askance at Ethan, told him to sit in a chair and not to do anything while they waited for an ambulance to take him to James Lovell Hospital, where he was diagnosed with rhabdomyolysis. Apparently doing PT used up all the sugar in his blood, and all the fat (of which he had 1% body fat) and then it started to break down the muscles to keep his body functioning. He kidneys were compromised as one might expect when one’s urine sample is brownish black. Turns out that when the muscles tear apart, (which explained his pain) heightened serum creatine kinase levels are present in the blood. When reading about this we saw all kinds of warning signs regarding the seriousness of this medical condition. A level of 5,000 is standard for hospitalization. Ethan’s SCK level was 42,000. While hospitalized he was visited by a Senior Chief, he was asked if he wanted to remain in the Navy. Ethan said yes. He has been discharged and was recycled to the group behind him. We are hoping that the hospital discharged him with recommendations of both diet, hydration and safe exercise levels.
We are holding our breath hoping he does not get a medical discharge. We know that the structure with do him a world of good and his head seems to be in a good place. Now if he could just put on a little weight, it would allow his family to breathe again.
Meanwhile we keep writing letters and I often find myself humming the tune of Eternal Father, Strong to Save. while we wait to see how it is going.
weftalone 