"Jeannie"

Dad seemed to have a little more determination today. He did a good job in occupational therapy at the gym, and saw a few other therapists throughout the day. He is up to about 15 hours of being off the respirator, so that's also good progress. He now has a new valve for his trach that allows him to speak...I know....very exciting. Except as with most tubes/hoses currently attached to him, there of course is a weening process. So he was only able to use it for a few minutes today, just to get him used to it. Instead of the air flowing in and out of his trach tube, with the valve it flows into the tube but then out of his mouth. This takes some getting used to for him because for the last few weeks he has been breathing without air necessarily entering his mouth. So they will slowly start weening him onto the valve until it's comfortable for him. Today they attached the valve and then asked him to say his wife's name. He said "Jeannie" and then started to cry...hopefully out of the joy of hearing his own voice and not remorse over his choice of wife. I'm pretty sure is was the voice thing.

He still gets his times and days confused...pretty understandable I guess. Other than that, today he seemed to be on top of things, no talk of Texas or any other southwestern states. There are times when he gets very anxious and seems to panic about his breathing, even when his oxygen levels are fine. It's more in his head than anything else, but we need to pray that he really has peace and trusts in God and the nurses.

There was a moment tonight that Mike and I will never forget. Dad suddenly asked us to pray with him, so we each took one of his hands and bent down to his face. As I opened my mouth to pray, dad began to do it himself. Our eyes were glued to his lips as he began to mouth this prayer, "Dear Heavenly Father, Lord...be my feet. Lord, be my ankles. Lord, be my knees. Lord, be my legs. Lord, be my strength. Give me patience. Give me peace." When he was done, I tried to finish the prayer without sobbing uncontrollably, and we said "amen". A very special moment. There is such joy in knowing that dad is taking his struggles to the Lord. Pray that he does it more often, especially in his moments of anxiety.

And pray that he has a hard working attitude tomorrow. The worst thing for him to do right now is lay in bed all day...he needs to be up, at the gym, focused on rehab, ready to do some painful workouts. Time is precious right now, and every day he opts out of therapy is just another day lost to regain strength and movement. So we pray huge prayers tonight that Pops is on fire tomorrow, feels inner strength and resolve to get better, has less anxiety, feels God's peace, and is willing to work his booty off. Onwards and upwards!