Hello Everyone,

Just a quick note to let everyone know how much we all appreciate Paul Goad and Matthew Wolfe for putting on a FANTASTIC Benefit Concert. The show was a huge success, and a GREAT time was had by all! Also, thank you to everyone that helped with posters, flyers, decorations, dinner and such. It was a very special day in my life, one I will NEVER forget! A special thank you goes out to ALL of the musicians that came and played for us. And also, thank you to Joye Myers for staying with Randy during the benefit. RANDY AND I WILL NEVER FORGET, AND SOMEHOW, SOMEWAY, WE WILL FIND A WAY TO PAY IT FORWARD!!

If you missed the concert, you missed a great event. Thanks to Lonzo Lasiter (ENMU) for recording over EIGHT HOURS of video. Lonzo and Matthew are in the process of putting this footage to DVD. Many of you have asked to get a copy of it. I am not sure at this time, but I think we we will be selling these videos with the proceeds to go to the Randy Miller Expense Fund. I will post more details on the videos when I get them.

Also, Debbie McBride is currently accepting donations for the Randy Miller Benefit Garage Sale. We are planning to have one huge garage sale, as soon as we can get enough stuff together. We don't have a date set for the sale yet, because we don't have many items gathered yet. If you have any garage sale items to donate, please let us know. We would be happy to pick up the items from your house! So, take a look around your house, and see what you can dig up to donate to the sale! Feel free to contact me at felisha@portales.com, or call Debbie McBride, or call any family member!

I have some other people I want to thank publicly, so please bear with me at this time.

• The people I work with at NM Workforce Connection, for being so understanding, and allowing me to take the time off to be with Randy. I know what a hardship this has been, and I appreciate you holding my position for me. Also to Prestige Carpets for being so supportive.





• Roosevelt County Fire Department-for responding so quickly to my 911 call. (This is NOT the first time I have called on them, and BOTH TIMES they were there in a FLASH!)





• Roosevelt General Hospital-for the rapid diagnosis, and for getting him to Lubbock in a timely manner.
  




• Lubbock Covenent Medical Center and the ENTIRE TEAM of Drs., Nurses, and Staff. They are an awesome team, and were very attentive to all of our needs!

• St. Anthony's Healthcare - Rehabilitation and Nursing Facility- for making the transistion from urgent care to long-term care possible.

I am sure there are others that I have forgotten to mention, but on closing now, I wish to publicly add the following:

I THANK GOD, EVERYDAY--

1. That we live in the United States of America, where the technology that saved Randy's life is present.




2. For blessing Randy and I with an incredible family, extended family, friends, and community.




3. For the many miracles and evidence of His existence.




4. For hearing and answering our prayers.




5. For allowing ME to witness these miracles.

GOD DOES GREAT WORK! Just ask any of us.

Randy is doing well today, and is especially happy when people are visiting with him. It seems to give him the drive to continue. Again, thank you all!

Love,

Felisha

Hello everyone!

I apologize for the delay in posting. It has taken a little while to get Randy settled in at our new location. We are now at St. Anthony's Rehabilitation/Nursing Facility located on West 21st Street, in Clovis, Room 216. Randy is doing quite well at this time, and seems to be totally aware of everything that is going on. He is aware of his location, and is aware of his condition. He seems to recognize everyone that visits with him, and he responds well to our questions and conversations. I think having visitors and support from family and friends has really boosted his spirits. He doesn't seem as angry/depressed and confused as he was in Lubbock. We had our first visit with his new doctors office, and got his medication and dietary orders going again. We will be participating in physical therapy, speech therapy and occupational therapy today.

As far as progress, I can see many changes in the past week or so. He uses his right hand much better, and even uses it to wipe his mouth with his napkin while feeding. He scratches his nose quite often, and has even been feeling his head, and scratching and rubbing his incision areas.

On Easter Sunday, he spoke to the nurse, saying "No" to one of her questions. Later that afternoon, he spoke and said "I love you" after I told him I love him. We were not sure if these were just automatic reflex responses, or intentional conversation. On Monday, when we were trying to get him settled in to the new facility, he spoke again, and this time he told Diane "I'm hungry!" This was NOT in response to a question! We are all relieved and excited to see and hear this! We feel confident that with some time and speech therapy, his voice and speech will be fine.

As far as his legs, we aren't making as much progress. He still has some movement, but not quite as much as before. He still wiggles his toes for us, and can shake his right leg around some. Not as much on the left side at this time. The occupational therapist has asked the family to start approaching him on his left side, which should help him to start using that side a little better. They have also asked us to bring in photos and cards that might have some meaning to Randy to keep his spirits high, and to keep his memory active.

Plans for the benefit concert are in full swing!! Paul and Matthew are doing an outstanding job of putting together one of the best concerts you could ever hope to attend. Thanks to everyone that has helped with this project! We have posters and flyers distributed throughout Clovis, Portales, Melrose and the surrounding area. It looks to be one of the best concerts you would ever want to attend. DON'T MISS OUT ON THIS EVENT! For times and locations, click on the link under our picture.

I probably won't have time to blog again until after the concert, as I have a lot on my plate with our grandson's first birthday plans, the concert, and my eye infection. It certainly keeps me BUSY!

Thanks for your patience. I can certainly tell when I am not blogging, because my phone starts ringing off the hook!

As always, we appreciate your calls of concern and prayers. Please understand if we don't have the time to get back with you as soon as you call. We are all doing our best to get settled in.

Love always,
Felisha

Happy Easter

Happy Easter Everyone!

Just a note to let you all know that things are still improving. We now have his trach capped off, and we are no longer on oxygen. He is on a full liquid diet, and is enjoying his iced tea! He has even had chicken broth and ice cream! As far as I know, as of tonight, we are still on schedule to move to Clovis tomorrow sometime. (But as we all know, this is subject to change.)

We had a pretty lazy day today. The weather made us both pretty sleepy. Physical therapy didn't come by today, so we weren't able to get up into the wheelchair. He is able to reach up to the top of his head with his right hand, and was trying to scratch his scar from the first shunt surgery. I had to explain what all was happening up there, to keep his hands off it. He inquired about the shape of his head. The swelling is down now, and he has two large indentions in his head. (They still haven't put the bone flaps back in. They said this would happen in a few more weeks.) After I explained to him why it was shaped that way, he seemed to be all right with it. I can tell that he is still a bit worried, though. Understandably so.

I hope the next time I blog, it will be from a Clovis location!

Love to all,
Felisha

Friday-The First Day of SPRING!

Good Morning,

Just a quick note to let everyone know that they have capped off his trach tube, and he is doing well with it at this point! They are supposed to do a swallow test sometime today. Depending on how well he does with that, we will know more about how long we will be on the trach. This could be a quick process, or a slow one, depending on how well Randy responds. He had a small temperature 100.2, this morning. This is the first time it has been elevated in over a week. They didn't seem concerned, but are going to run some lab work, to see if there might possibly be an infection in his catheter. It appears that we are still set to move to Clovis on Monday, if all continues to go well.

Thanks to everyone for thier love, prayers and support!
Love,
Felisha

Sorry for the delay...

Sorry you guys haven't heard from me in a few days. We kind of got excited about moving to Clovis, and sent the RV to storage, and my computer sent back to Clovis. The moving process got delayed, and I developed a bachache that needed some serious rest. Thanks Mom, for everything! But I am doing better now, and am thrilled to finally have a closer date for our estimated move! I got word today, that we will be trying to wean him from his trach tube tomorrow. We will watch it over the weekend, and make sure there are no complications in this area. (This also gives him time to finish out his antibiotics.) They are planning to do a "swallow test" tomorrow, and see what we need to do to progress in that area. If he has no difficulties by Monday, we will try to transport him to Clovis. As we all know, this is TENTATIVE, and subject to change at any given moment, for any given reason!

We got Randy up in his wheelchair for a while today, and did a little physical therapy. Not too much at a time, but mostly just moving his joints around. This morning he was able to mouth the words "I love you", but I couldn't get him to do it again for me. He can stick his tounge out justs a little bit. (Before this happened, he could touch the tip of his nose with his tounge! Can you??!!) The swelling is down quite a bit on the left side of his head, and his left foot is swollen some. The swelling is not down as much, but the right foot isn't swollen much.

He seems to be bored most of the time. Happy spurts, but mostly bored, and he chooses not to answer me from time to time. (I think he gets tired of my company or something!) I am sure this will get better when we take the trach tube out, and we can turn his hands loose. I just can't imagine how hard it is to be restrained all the time. I loosen it up when I am right there with him, but even when I am watching him close, he still tries to pull at his tubes, wires and such.

Again, thank you all for staying tuned. I will continue to post as often as I get the chance. It's just not as easy as it was before. Also, please continue to pray with me. I can tell our prayers are being answered!

Much love to all,
Felisha

BENEFIT CONCERT INFO!!!!

As you can see, I have added some links to our page. These links will provide you with more information on the Benefit Concert(s) being held for Randy, and the Floyd Jamboree. Please be sure and check out this information, and mark your calendars! You won't want to miss these events! We are expecting these to be awesome events, with musicians gathering from all over the place! I am e-mailing flyers to everyone with this information attached. If you would like to have a flyer to print and post, please e-mail me at felisha@portales.com and I will be sure to send one to you! Also, if you can, please forward this blogsite address and the flyer attachments to all of your contacts, to help spread the word!

Sunday Morning

Good morning everyone!

We had a great day yesterday. Mom, Diane, Ron, Denise and Walter all came to visit. Thanks everyone! Great to get away for a little while to re-group! Sorry our sleepyhead was not too awake for your visits. Last night, after you all went home, Randy was so very alert! He was communicating better with his facial expressions than earlier in the day. We watched the end of Drumline on TV. (We have seen it before, so RQ wasn't too impressed, but he remembered that I liked it and gave me permission to watch the end of it again, though he teased me about the cheerleaders!) We shared some giggles, and some love. He was very loving last night, wanting kisses just every few minutes.

I noted that the swelling was down quite a bit last night, as the left side of his head is very concave. I have only seen it that low once, after they removed the bone flaps. There is still some swelling on the right, as it looked "normal" shaped.

The nurse weighed him last night. He lost 5 1/2 pounds in the past 24 hours! That is incredible...I don't know if it is intended or not...but incredible just the same. They have increased the amount of liquid food, and we are nearly to the maximum amount they will offer him. (They had to start with small meals, and work their way up.) His blood sugars were at little high, at 154. They told me it was probably the food increase that caused it. They gave him some insulin. Another possibility for the weight loss could simply be loss of fluids, because as I mentioned, the swelling on the left side of his brain is nearly all gone. I asked the nurse why they were no longer getting him into the wheelchair, and she is checking into it. I am thinking that it is due to the blood clot in his leg, but I am waiting to hear it from someone who knows for sure.

Not much else to report. I stayed at the RV last night. I needed to get away, and sleep in a more comfortable place. (I had nightmares and a backache the night before.) I slept well last night and feel much better today. I explained to Randy why I was going to the RV last night, and he was ok with this. (Not happy, but he seemed to understand.)

Will try and blog more later.

Much love to all!
Felisha