On his way to Florida

We have recently encountered problems with Nic's retraining process in regards to him moving on to his phase two and essentially relocating. The clinic here has been careless with his case since the beginning and has made this entire process beyond difficult. When he was being med boarded there was a code that was put on his MPF (military personnel flight) profile that indicated that he was on a med hold. This code prevents you from being able to move about anywhere. You are not permitted to retrain or move, they cannot even generate orders for you while the code is still attached to your account. With that being said, once he was back from Texas the first time and he was returned to active duty status with no limitations he went to MPF and had the code lifted so that he could begin the retraining process and have orders generated to Texas for the tech school he is currently attending. Apparently once he was already in Texas the med group put the code back on his account. When I went to the office and asked why the only reason they gave me was carelessness. Seriously, this group of people here makes me cringe. I finally got the code lifted after a long week of back and forth and he has an assignment for his phase two everyone.



EGLIN AFB FLORIDA!!!!



Nic has always wanted to live on the beach and is thoroughly excited about this next assignment. It is only for six weeks but he is stoked! Too bad the beach will be full of oil but you can't have everything you want in life right? :) It is actually kind of weird because we always kind of figured he would go to Eglin and talked about him going to Florida since the beginning. It's almost like we wished it into existence. Hopefully that really works because we have been talking about going to Travis AFB for a while now. :)

This is a picture of the hospital where he is going to get to begin the more serious portion of his training. As you can see, it is very nice. I am so happy for him, but more than that I am proud of him. He is kicking some serious medic butt. The two of us are complainers in a jesting kind of way. We like to joke about everything but in all seriousness we don't like to seriously complain about our situation because that doesn't help. I always tell Nic, " be the change you want to see in the world" - Ghandi and I am glad that he is going to help med groups all over the world be better than the one that has caused him so much grief.

My little life saver!!!

This was Nic when he began his Air Force career as a member of the Air Force Honor Guard. It was roughly 5 years ago. My mom used to call him Fly Boy and while at a museum he took this picture just for her. Well a lot has changed since then. He became injured after one month of performing funerals at Arlington National Cemetery. He was facing medical discharge and he beat that. He was constantly under pressure for his position in the Honor Guard because he was unable to perform the mission of marching in funerals but he helped the Air Force immensely when he organized an entire peripheral. He created the Flag Support Center. He also wrote a book that showed how he organized this unit. This book is now being used in every other service as the standard for all Honor Guard units, base and service. I am so proud of him. He recently left for training on 2 April 2010 to train in Aerospace Medicine and become a Combat Medic. He has lead his class in test scores since the beginning and now he has officially passed his National Registry test. Today 25 May 2010 my husband, Nicolas Sylvester, is now officially an Air Force Medic! This is a picture of their coin for their job.



Here is a little description of what his job is all about.

Provides field medical care in contingency operations and disasters. Performs basic life support and triage in emergency situations. Serves as member of primary emergency medical response to in-flight emergencies and potential mass casualty scenarios from on- and off-base incidents. Operates emergency medical and other vehicles. Loads and unloads litter patients. Frontline preventionist who identifies potential health risks and provides preventive counseling. Participates in contingency or disaster field training, exercises, and deployments. Assists flight surgeon with aircraft mishap and physiological incident response, investigation, and reporting. Augments search and rescue flying squadrons. Performs critical care duties. Provides nursing care for patients in various intensive care units. Assists with patient examinations and special procedures including mechanical ventilation. Assists with cardiovascular and neurovascular procedures and hemodialysis. Prepares patients with special equipment transfers.

Can you believe it? Watch out everyone... this guy can now save your lives with much more than self aid buddy care. When we were first dating he would tell me stories about warrior week in basic training and how they gave him basic knowledge to save his battle buddy. Such as how to help someone if they have a pencil in the eye. He would explain the process in a very excited way and it made me laugh. To this day he is so pumped when he tells the process. I am happy to say that thankfully he is now able to bring much more than a pencil in the eye to the table.
This guy on the little car is now nationally certified to save your life. :) You go babe!!!

smooth skills

So yesterday was the second test of a series of three that will nationally certify him to be a medic. It is difficult waiting for results seeing as how he only has access to his phone for a small portion of the night. I raced home and grabbed the phone and called Nic as soon as I could. I figured he wouldn't be able to answer his phone but he did and the first thing out of my mouth was , "did you pass?!?!" and he thankfully said, "duh". :) I was so excited for him. He is doing such a great job. All of that excitement was cut short because he had a lot to do last night. He had to finish studying for his national test this morning and watch LOST of course. I personally, can't stand that show. I tried to watch it for him but I couldn't get in to it but he is obsessed with it. We chatted for a little bit, about half an hour and then he went to bed early.
Today is the day. I have been waiting for this moment for him for a long time, about three years. After he passes this test he will have a certifiable skill in case, god forbid, something like the medical board rears its ugly head our way once again. However, he has been waiting for this moment since he was in junior high. For as long as I have known him he has wanted to be an EMT. I am so happy for him.

Oh, and sidebar he would like all of us to answer "saves lives" when asked what he does for a living. And when asked what his job is in the Air Force I have been informed that either "combat medic", or "certified badass" will suffice, for now... :)
Good luck to you today Nic!!!

nic's skills

Since Nic got to Texas everyone has been telling him about the horrors of the block three stage of training. Well, he's been in the thick of it for about two weeks or so. This week he has the big test. Yesterday he had a block test, which he got a score of 85% on and today he has his skills test. While practicing for the skills test yesterday the only criticism he got was "Sylvester, that was great. But some advice, you are a big guy and you're just a little well, rough with them. You should be more gentle with your patients, especially when they have supposed spinal injuries." :) That made us both laugh pretty hard. Today he takes his skills test and tomorrow he takes the big test. The test that will national certify him to be an EMT. I am so proud of him and wish him the best of luck.
Prayers please everyone.

Another CLAYSON!!

When I first moved to Washington, DC I was very lonely. Nic went into the Education Center one day and saw that there was a job opening at Webster University. He spoke with a woman that was super friendly. She asked for me to stop by and bring my resume. I was hired shortly thereafter and Gretchen and I were pretty much instant friends. Her husband deployed to Afghanistan shortly after I began working there and Nic was always busy with his Honor Guard functions so we had a lot of girl time to ourselves. We went to Medeival Times for Nic's 22nd birthday and it was great!!!



We also spent a lot of time together through work, naturally. She taught me a lot about the world of Education and made sure that I had a fun working environment. A few times every year we go to a soup kitchen in downtown DC and feed the homeless. This was my very first time at S.O.M.E (So others might eat)





Eric and Gretchen moved to Alabama around this time last year. Right before she left she was at the point in her life where she was ready to stop working a be a mom. She and Erick were just waiting for their wishes and timing to align. Almost instantly after she moved to Alabama she became PREGNANT!!!!





She was hysterical with her phone conversations and her posts through her blog and on facebook about her irrational fears. I told her to throw out those creepy books and get a new doctor. :) Her husband Erick, also made for good conversation because he was constantly eating and complaining of sympathy pains. Yesterday at 1:01 pm little Elise Alexandria Clayson finally made her grand entrance. She is 7 lbs and 3oz (or 13 the posts on her fb are conflicting :)) and she is 20 in long.

We have all waited for you for such a long time Elise, but your mommy has been dreaming of you her whole life.

I am so happy for the Clayson family!!! another one to add to the brood!! :)




Now the fun begins... :)

A little Nic update

Well he has officially been gone for two weeks tomorrow and he has already accomplished so much. He has a rigorous course schedule which includes tons of homework but he is totally rocking it. He takes tests on a pretty consistent basis, about one every one to two days. He has yet to score anything less than a 93. Yesterday his spotlight was a little bit overshadowed by Nicholas' birthday. It's a little difficult when the two Nic(k)s you love have a big day, the same day. Nicholas turned 18 and Nic passed two tests in one day which completed his block one and two and is now in the dreaded block three and he is now officially CPR certified. So a little warning everyone don't even fake a choking attack around him. Before he would forcefully try to save me with his warrior week training and would make it exponentially worse so now with his actual certification there is going to be no way from keeping him away while he abruptly will try to "save your life".

Block three is notoriously the most difficult portion of his schooling. I believe that this entails his EMS certification as well as a deadly amount of textbook information. He is proud of himself for consistently passing his tests which build his confidence. This is just what he needs to help him through his block three portion of school.

If anyone would like to send him anything I have his address and would be happy to share it. It would mean a lot to him for him to get anything to remind him of family. He is doing well but it is still rough for us both. So anything, a phone call or card would be great!


I thought this picture was appropriate. It was taken in Redondo Beach when Nicholas was still underage and Nic hadn't even proposed to me yet. We just celebrated one of our two year anniversaries on the ninth so this definitely shows how long it has been... Wow, time really flies...

Don't let the picture fool you... they're in love :)

TD- why?

sooooo... Nic left for his six month TDY on Friday.
It was rough. He had his alarm set for 5:00 but he turned it off so that we could spend some time together. As he was doing some last minute packing he wanted me to stay and chat with him. I had been doing a great job at holding it together but if I stayed and watched him pack I wouldn't be able to hold on much longer so I tended to the dogs. He stayed on the couch and watched the news with me until I basically kicked him out. The waiting was terrible. He said goodbye to the dogs who cried which broke my heart. Then with a slightly tearful goodbye... he was off. Friday he drove all the way to Tennessee. Once he got to Nashville he attempted to check into a hotel where he had reservations. He looked at his room and he asked for a refund because not only were they planning to charge him more than they quoted him but Nic said it was scary. Now for Nic to say something is scary I can only imagine what that place looked like. So he went across the street to a much nicer hotel and crashed for the night. I was lucky enough to have a girls night that night to take my mind off of everything that had happened that day. Besides Nic leaving I was attacked by a dog. I informed the owner of the dog's menacing attributes only to be met with... surprise... OPOSITION... go figure.. well at least I had the scratches, bruises and bite marks to prove it huh? lucky me.
Finally on Saturday I had a girls day all by myself. I walked the dogs, got my nails done and did a little shopping before church that night. Church was great. Sunday morning was nice as well I had lunch with some neighbors but Sunday night was a long one. I think the dogs just figured out he wasn't coming home right away and they were testing my patience until 3 in the morning. Nic made it to TX where he set up his room and is preparing for class to start tomorrow. I have been swamped with homework and housework and work work :) the dogs are finally starting to mellow out. hopefully this lasts through the night. more updates to come....