Onward East!

Hello fans of my big brother!

This is Bill's sister, Ariela. Just wanted to update you on Bill's progress back to the States. As Bill's looking at Japan in the rear view mirror (ok, a slight exaggeration) we just watched their team pound Denmark with three amazing goals to progress to the next round of the World Cup.

Anyhow, here is an excerpt of a note from Maura received around midnight between Wed. and Thurs. EDT:

We are in Okinawa where we spent last night afteer arriving from Yokosuka. It was a difficult journey for Bill, because he has to be in a stretcher strapped onto a metal rack that can hold other stretchers above and below him. It was a 3 hour flight yesterday, and in 1 hour we go to the flight line to process for departure to Hawaii. This will be a 9 hour flight, and Bill is trying to think about when to take his pain meds so that he can be as comfortable as possible.

The CO here in Okinawa is a friend of mine from my BUMED days, and everyone has been so kind to me and Bill. Of course, everyone wants to know what not to do when climbing Mt. Fuji!

Looking forward to San Diego....Bill so wants to get onto surgery and out of bed. He has a long road ahead of him right now, but the surgery will be the first step.

Love to everyone, and thank you for writing on his blog. It is tough to be stuck in bed and he checks the blog and his email every hour when he can.

Looks like we, the people of the blog, are able to keep his spirits up! Let's keep writing, encouraging, and praying.

Ariela