About me!

My name is Roxana, I am a health scientist and the wife of SFC (Ret.) Victor L. Medina, a combat wounded Veteran with a traumatic brain injury. Victor and I met on March 14, 1996 while attending college, and since then we knew we wanted to grow old together. My sweet husband was creative, spontaneous, funny, kind and a very smart guy. His sense of responsibility and his humble heart captivated mine, so we married in May 29, 2000. Victor joined the US Army and our military family life was a very adventurous journey. Little did we know that we were about to experience a life detour. On June 29, 2009 I received the call that changed our lives, my sweet and loving husband was wounded during his third deployment in a combat operation in Iraq. In this blog I will share our story from my point of view as a caregiver. Despite all the unexpected circumstances I try to transform lived experiences into memories, sorrow into happiness and obstacles into the fulfilled capacity to succeed. I strive to be the best I can be, perhaps Roxana Version 2.0 and so on. Because life is precious, it is our unique gift that God has given us, and only we can determine how we decide to spend each and every day of our lives. It was true love what made us become one and it is this same love the reason why we will not give up the hope of a brighter and better tomorrow. Our love would not be sufficient without God’s love and grace as the foundation of our journey. With Love, Roxana E. Delgado, PhD 2015-16 Elizabeth Dole Foundation Fellow- Texas

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A New Beginning All Over Again

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It was a bright and warm morning in early May 2009. Many families gathered in an hangar at Fort Bliss, TX, for the farewell of the 1st Armored Division Soldiers getting ready for a new deployment to Iraq. One of these Soldiers was my wonderful and loving husband, at the time staff sergeant (SSG) Victor Medina. Before leaving, he ran to me three times for a last hug and kiss. I will never forget that memory and how it felt.  Some weeks later on May 29th we celebrated our 9th wedding anniversary. Victor always made me feel so special and important in his life, and this time was no different. It was the fourth time we celebrated our anniversary apart and as always, he didn’t forget and planned ahead to make sure it was special. Little did we know we were a month away from experiencing a life detour, the biggest test of our love and lives, all in a click of a button. On June 29, 2009 during a patrol mission, Victor’s MRAP was hit by an explosive formed projectile, one of the deadl
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A Journey of Grace and Love

  In 2009 when my sweet husband Victor was medevac’d from Iraq I anticipated a challenging road, but what I didn't envisioned was how much grace it will bring to our lives in this very successful healing journey. The set of expectations, demands and responsibilities sometimes felt too much to bear.  The amount of commitment, love and acceptance for my husband and myself as we walked this path defined the healing in this home. Walking the path of this unexpected journey were met by a number of disappointments, but nothing compares to the joy of small victories and triumphs along the way. While walking this new unsolicited path, and experiencing a "life detour", some things are important to be identified and never taken for granted: 1.     New relationships: perhaps noticing those family members you encounter in the hospital or rehabilitation center waiting room or in the hallway. They may become your new extended family, the ones you can count on. 2.     Perseverance
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Marriage and Intimacy

I was asked to write about marriage and intimacy. What a topic of so much divergence and complicated to the human nature. When I see marriages that survived WWII, Korea and Vietnam I can’t avoid thinking “wow, how they made that happened”, but the more I speak with more experienced couples the more I see a common theme among them, values and commitment. I remember seeing my grandparents’ growing old and still saying “I love you” like it was part of their daily language. “What have we forgotten or when did we disconnect?” “There is no intimacy, there is no marriage”. These question and statement are so common and have been brought to my attention by spouses of wounded warriors. One afternoon I am sitting at home and I am reflecting in all the comments that I have heard and the pain and sorrow that these situations bring to these spouses. Are you the spouse of a wounded warrior? Life is not over, like my husband will say, “It is a new beginning”. The problem is that sometimes we are y
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