Published: July 30, 2006 11:43 pm      

Galatas to undergo another surgery

Thursday is the day Sgt. 1st Class Norris Galatas has been waiting for for more than a year.

While most people might shy away from even hearing about the procedure Galatas is about to undergo, he’s ready.

“This is the big one and I’m ready to get it behind me,” Galatas said Sunday in a telephone interview from Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C.

Galatas has faced several surgeries since he was wounded when an Improvised Explosive Device exploded near the vehicle he was riding while on duty with the Army National Guard’s 150 Combat Engineer Battalion April 19, 2005.

Galatas suffered severe lacerations to his stomach, buttock and back and had shrapnel wounds over much of his body. The surgery Galatas will undergo Thursday will include removing a skin graft that covers a large section of his stomach and then reconnecting his stomach to his intestines.

The procedure is scheduled to take up to eight hours.

His wife, Janis, is with him in Washington, and she is sticking close by his side.

“They say the surgery is rough and it hurts, but he can’t wait,” she said

Janis has orders to stay with her husband until Aug. 31. After that, she said Galatas may be able to return to Meridian on a convalescence leave, but it depends on how he recovers and whether or not he gets an infection.

Back at home, Janis said a friend is taking care of her dog and another friend is taking a bale of hay to her horses every other day.

After surgery, and when Galatas has had a chance to recover, he will begin a process with the medical review board in which they will determine if he can stay in the National Guard or if he will be given a military discharge.

He said he hopes to remain in the guard, even though he probably will never fully recover from his injuries.

“Pulling me out of service after 25 years would be a big waste,” he said. “Even though I walk with a limp, it doesn’t mean I don’t have something to offer the Army to earn my pay.”

Galatas said the Army will take into consideration the fact that he wishes to remain in the guard, but the final decision is up to the medical review board.

Galatas said this is probably not the last surgery or procedure he’ll have done as a result of his injury, but it’s the most important, and it will go a long way to help him feel whole again.

ON THE WEB

Check out the progress of Sgt. 1st Class Norris Galatas at http://crazynightinga.blogspot.com. His wife, Janice, said her daily journal entries will be posted on the Web as well as updates on his surgery at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., on Thursday.