My friend, Mark, was an Army officer deployed to a highly volatile area in Iraq. While out on patrol, a suicide bomber set himself off right behind Mark. He suffered shrapnel damage to the right side of his cervical spine (ironically similar to the radiation damage I have on the left side of my cervical spine). As a result, he is weak on his right side from the neck down and has lost feeling on his left side. My symptoms are the exact opposite. Well, not quite exact. He has more strength in his weak arm than I have in mine (he plays piano beautifully). He can also swallow, so he's not a tubie like me. On the other hand, he is almost completely deaf from the bomb blast. He also has traumatic brain injury (TBI). Half of his skull had to be removed, along with a portion of his brain. He suffers from short-term memory loss and frequent seizures, so he can't drive himself.
Clearly, Mark is a Wounded Warrior Project "Alumni," right? He was in combat. He was injured while in combat. When I was in Afghanistan, I mostly sat at a computer or briefed the guys who were going into danger. I never left the Forward Operating Base, or FOB--folks like me are now affectionately (derisively?) known as "fobbits." My injuries came from radiation. There are millions of cancer survivors out there just like me--some better off, some worse. They are not WWP "Alumni." They don't get the benefits I get. Do I deserve all this?
I get stopped by people all the time thanking me for my service. People assume, because of my appearance, that I was wounded in combat. After I correct them, "No, it was just cancer." I always imagine there's a look of disappointment on their face. I assume they think, "I went out of my way to thank this man, thinking he's a hero, but it's only cancer?? My neighbor's kid has leukemia. His family doesn't get a special license plate, or discounts at restaurants!"
I feel guilty that people make the assumption that I'm a hero because I'm a disabled veteran. Yet, I still take advantage of veteran opportunities. I take comfort from the fact that Mark doesn't resent me at WWP or Disabled American Veteran (DAV) events (or he hides it really well). Also, there are many more veterans at these events who were not injured in combat. I don't know what the percentage is, but at the DAV Winter Sports Clinic in Aspen, Colorado, it seemed like half (or more) of the veterans were not injured in combat, but instead got their TBI, paralysis, blindness, or missing limb(s) from accidents or diseases.
So, one of those opportunities I took advantage of was the WWP offered me two box seat tickets to see the local college football team (University of Tennessee Volunteers; and that's American football, not that other football everybody else is crazy about) play a game. If you're not from Knoxville, or the US, then you may not fully appreciate the culture of college football around here. Let me just say that the last time UT won the national championship title, Peyton Manning was quarterback. He appears to be regarded as a minor deity in eastern Tennessee. We get regular progress reports in the local news on his health and performance in the NFL, even though he now plays for the Denver Broncos in Colorado. I've also noted that most of Denver's games are now televised here, even a game against San Diego a few weeks ago. Tennessee has no connection to Colorado or Southern California, but everyone is an automatic fan of wherever Peyton plays.
The media constantly highlights the damage football does to players' bodies. College professors lament how college football sucks money away from academics for lavish athletic facilities. At the air conditioned box suite above the fray of the commoners' seats at UT, I had flat screen TV monitors above every urinal in the bathroom, a huge catered lunch with plush, leather seats that had lovely views of the Tennessee River (why would I bother watching the game?). Meanwhile, across the street where I got my master's degree, the decrepit classrooms date back to the 60s. The 12-story humanities building was built in 1965 and recently had emergency maintenance because it was literally falling apart. But God forbid we have a losing football season or Peyton breaks a pinkie toe!!
Side note: I've been a rabid Denver Broncos fan since the days when John Elway was quarterback. I realize this is somewhat hypocritical to my somewhat anti-football establishment rant above, but if you try to deride my team or our players, I WILL CUT YOU!! Peyton Manning better not break a toe, either!!!!!
Anyway, I keep digressing from the main topic: tubefeeding at the football game. I wasn't sure what the food situation was going to be up in the suites, so I opted not to bring my Blendtec and use whatever food they offered at the game. After seeing the smorgasbord our hosts laid out, I will definitely bring my blender next time if I ever have the opportunity again.
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| "What football game? I'm just here for the food!" |
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| It seemed like there was an entire table devoted to donuts |
So I blended up a meal before the game, put it in a blender bottle, and packed it along with my tube, plunger, syringe holders, and towels in a backpack. The University's security has a thing about not bringing any backpacks or liquids into the stadium, but our liaison for the game, Mary Hughes, talked to them beforehand and they let Betsy and I through.
We got passes to stand on the sidelines before the game. Pretty cool!
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| Couldn't find an outlet for my Blendtec down here |
Up in our box seats, I was humbled to meet several other wounded veterans sitting with us. We had an excellent view of the action. Tennessee played Southern Alabama, which should have been an easy game for us, but our team isn't very good this year (they've been struggling since Peyton Manning left) so it turned out to be an exciting game. My seat had a convenient fold-out table I could hook my syringe holder to and I was able to eat without difficulty around halftime.
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| Could've brought alcohol in my blend, but alas I didn't |
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| Luckily, there was no tubie blowout and I didn't spray food on my fellow veterans |
Overall, it was a great experience. I really appreciate how much Mary, and everyone else, bent over backwards to accommodate all the wounded veterans in attendance!
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