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Hendrika Winn 56 Mother
Albuquerque, NM United States
After my son, Sgt. David Schaaf, returned from his tour in Iraq in Feb. 2008 he noticed severe hearing loss in his left ear. He had it checked out and his doctor discovered a brain tumor pushing against the brain stem. It was very large and needed to be removed for his safety. He went to Walter Reed Army Hospital for further assessment. They performed two 16 hour surgeries, two days apart. After the surgery my son had some paralysis on the left side. He had weakness in his left leg and arm, and the left side of his face. He had difficulty swallowing and his left eye would not close. He received excellent care from everyone at Walter Reed. They stitched his eye partially closed to prevent damage to the eye and he received physical therapy. David was transferred to San Antonio, TX to be nearer family for his recovery. Again he received excellent care. During this recovery he was provided with a special contact lens for soldiers with similar eye disorders. This made it possible for him to have his eye reopened and he can see well and no longer has problems with his eye while using the contact. The paralysis is improving thru care by the physical therapy team. He also underwent retraining of the brain to aide with the loss of balance that had developed. Again a special program for wounded soldiers. He has done so well that he is back with his unit at Ft. Bragg in the airborne infantry after 14 months of recovery. I am very pleased with the excellent care he received and am so proud of how hard he worked to get back to his normal self. It is still a work in progress but moving forward every day. Thanks to everyone who supports our wounded warriors.
