family members as they receive treatment at military and v.a. hospitals. it s a reminder that i m not alone in this and that there s other people who basically have the same situation and that are not alone. sometimes way stays for days, sometimes months. a long way from his family and home in georgia as he tries to find a prosthetic leg that will finally work long-term. way was injured in a 2003 i.e.d. explosion in afghanistan. he spent more than a decade enduring two dozen surgeries until shrapnel wounds caused an infection that nearly killed him and ultimately took his leg. i had 35 surgeries now. the 25th sunrgery was amputatio. before way stayed in a hotel, draining his financial resources and his hope as he thought about what to do when he could no longer afford lodging.