Morning,
For those of you that are awake this early, just wanted to drop you another line to ask for your continued prayers. They are doing the shunt procedure this morning around 10:00 or 10:30, TX time. This should take approximately 30-45 minutes. Dr. Smith seemed to think all will go well.

I asked Dr. Smith this morning some questions regarding his long-term rehab that he had mentioned to me one day last week. He says that unfortunately, we are without resources, so the rehab he wanted to send us to would not be made available to us. He said he would check into some nursing facilities in the surrounding area, and see if there is something available, perhaps something close to home, if possible.

I asked him about when he thought we might move his feeding tube from his nose to his stomach, and he said that would be done in a week or so, depending on how quickly he heals from the shunt surgery. I also asked about when we thought we would be replacing his bone flaps. He again said we would have to see how well his shunt works, and make sure all of the spinal fluids are draining properly.

For some more optimistic news: When I went in to see Randy this morning, he was glad to see me, and was moving BOTH arms, and not just a little bit. He was looking at me as though he was pleading for answers, or that he was confused and afraid, and very agitated about something. I tried to calm him to no avail, and had to physically hold his arms and shoulders to allow the nurse to give him a shot of morphine. He has shown a tremendous change in the amount of movement since last night. No doubt they will be restraining his arms when he recovers from the shunt surgery, because he was all over the bed, lifting not only his hands and arms, but also his shoulders. We all know Randy is a strong person, I only wish I could ease his fears. One one hand, the Dr. seemed very pleased with this obvious change, but on the other hand he tried not to let me get my hopes too high, telling me that this could go on for a very long time. It is sometimes hard to interpret his forcast for the future. I suppose this is because each case is so different. Some people bounce right back, others take much longer, if at all.

Again, if I could ask of you to please continue with your prayers, I would be greatful. I will post more as soon as I know more.

Love,
Felisha