Hey Everyone,
Randy's recovery has come a long way over the past couple of weeks! He has become quite vocal, and responds to most questions. Sometimes it takes him a few minutes to process the questions and think of an appropriate response, but he has really started to come around in the speech department! He has talked to many of you on the phone, and we can't thank you enough for your calls. It means so much to us to talk with our friends and family over the phone! And, as always, Randy is quite a character! We never know what he is going to say, sometimes he is serious, and other times he is really full of bulls**t!

He is also coming along quite well with his physical therapy as well. He tried to get out of bed several times yesterday. Of course, this is impossible for him, but he doesn't fully understand why he isn't allowed to get up. We have explained that his legs aren't quite strong enough yet to support himself, and that we need to wait for the boneflap surgery before we start trying to get up. I am not sure that he understands that part of his skull is missing, so getting up is very dangerous. He acts as though he understands at the time that I explain it, but he acts very frustrated with me when I try to prevent him from doing what he wants. I suppose this is normal.

Surgery is still scheduled for July 2nd, and we are really looking forward to a quick sucessful operation. Dr. Smith says our hospital stay SHOULD only be a couple of days, but with the holiday on the 4th, we aren't real sure when we will be dismissed.

As always, thank you for keeping us in your prayers. I believe that our continued recovery is due to the many prayers, and continued support from our friends and family!

Love,
Felisha

MORE GREAT NEWS!

Dr Smith's office phoned today and said that his boneflaps are made and ready for surgery. Dr. Smith will be on vacation through the last of June, and wants do the surgery on JULY 2nd! They are sending us more details about the surgery and plan of care for pre-op in the mail, and I will post more information as I get it. We are all excited to have this appointment, and anxious to be through with all of the surgeries. As I understand it, they should be removing the stomach peg at the same time, and he SHOULD BE finished with all surgeries at that time.

Thanks to everyone for your continued prayers and support.

Love,
Felisha

The Garage Sale was a huge success! A very special thank you to Debbie and Ron, Chad and Melissa, Tammi, and Denise. You guys did an awesome job, and the family really does appreciate all you have done to help us out! Thanks also to everyone that contributed items for the sale, and to those that purchased items.

I have talked to Randy about the sale, and he is aware of everything that our friends and family are doing to help us out. Though he doesn't say so verbally, I can really see the gratitude in his eyes. Please know that we love each and every one of you!

Another reminder that we are playing music EVERY THIRD SATURDAY for the residents. We invite you to stop by and enjoy the music and witness what live music can do for the soul! Thanks to Matthew (Wolfe) for keeping musicians lined up for this. So far, we have had Jill and Johnny Mulhair, Ronnie Allsup, Diane Miller, Paul Goad, Adrian Ancira, Lynn Trimble,Tommy Williams, Chris Cox and Joe Mondragon. The next jam set will be on JUNE 21st. Hope to see you there!

If you can't stop by at that time, just come by when you can. Randy really enjoys having visitors!

Love to all!
Felisha

Hello Everyone,

Just a quick note to remind everyone of the BENEFIT GARAGE SALE coming up this weekend, JUNE 6 & 7, at 4th & Hickory. Debbie and Ron have worked MANY hours puttting this thing together, and there will be SOMETHING THERE FOR EVERYONE! I encourage all of you to stop by and hug their necks for doing such a great job! I know they are also going to have some food there, and no telling what all, so be sure and stop by either Friday or Saturday!

Randy has been talking quite a bit more over the last few days! He seems to be in great spirits, and he even told the preacher that he would be going home soon! He won 50 cents at BINGO the other day. That was lots of fun!

We are going to play music for them on Saturday Morning. This always keeps Randys spirits high. He loves our music!

Thanks for your prayers and support!
Felisha

TRACH REMOVED!

Just a quick note to let everyone know that we got Randys trach tube out yesterday! This is such great news, as we have had lots of trouble keeping it clean! The Dr. said that it would take a month or so for the hole to close up. We will return to that doctor in 3 weeks for a follow-up. Randy didn't say much after getting it out, so we weren't sure how it would affect his speech, but I called him on the phone this morning, and we had a pretty good phone conversation. He even laughed out loud a couple of times! Thanks for your prayers!

Love,
Felisha

Thank you all for staying tuned. I know it has been a long time since I updated, but I know many of you have been calling or coming by to see Randy. We want to thank all of you for your continued support and prayers.

Randy is doing well. We have an appointment on Thursday to see about getting his trach out. It isn't clear if they will remove it at that time, or if he will set another appointment for removal. We will be SO VERY HAPPY to have it removed! We have had a terrible time with the nursing staff about keeping it clean, and he has had several infections, and several rounds of antibiotics to clear it up. Hopefully soon we will get it out.

Our trip to see Dr. Smith in Lubbock was a good one. Not only did he write orders to get the trach removed, he also wrote orders to discontinue the stomach feeding. It took a couple of weeks to get the orders faxed to Clovis, but we finally got this accomplished, and he is no longer on the stomach food. He is eating 3 meals a day, along with all the snacks and goodies we offer him. (Nothing wrong with his appetitie or ability to eat!) The stomach peg is still there, and we will remove it when he has the bone flap surgery. We also made a 2nd trip to Lubbock to do a CT scan. From this scan, they took measurements to have new TITANIUM MESH BONEFLAPS made. They sent off the measurements and the new flaps should be in during the last part of June. I am supposed to call Dr. Smiths office on June 23rd to see if they are in, and make an appointment for the boneflap surgery. Dr. Smith assured me that this is a simple operation, and it will take longer to prep him for surgery than it will to actually do the surgery. He said our hospital stay would be no longer than 2 days, at most. They will remove the stomach peg at that time. This will mean that he is finished with surgeries! He wants us to return in another 6-8 months for another angiogram to ensure that he is still out of danger of another anuerysm. (The only coiled 80% of this anuerysm, and he wants to keep a close eye on it!)

Randy is talking some, more on the phone than in person. He seems to talk more in the morning than later in the day, and it seems to be more in response to questions. Not yet speaking his mind, but answering some of our questions. It is yet to be seen if his talking will increase when we get the trach out. Speech therapy has dropped us for the time being, and he gets only a little occupational and physical therapy. It seems that most of the therapy he is gettings comes from the family, as we are with him all day long, and work with him at his pace. Most days he has pretty good upper body movement, and is able to feed himself. (Except when they serve English Peas...you should see him chase those peas around the plate!)

Overall...we have good days and bad days...just like the Dr. said. I think the bad days are fewer and farther between, and are not quite as traumatic as they were. We are still recovering, and gaining ground, but it is a SLOW PROCESS!


BENEFIT GARAGE SALE:

We are having a benefit garage sale on June 6th and 7th---4th & Hickory.

This will be a huge garage sale with many very nice items, including:
Furniture
Kitchen Appliances
Tools
Automotive Supplies
Fishing Gear
Clothes for all ages and sizes
Baby Items
Household Items
Nurses Uniforms

The list goes on and on...

There will also be a bake sale, and will be selling hot dogs at the garage sale.
All proceeds go to defray costs incurred by the family, and your support is greatly appreciated.
PLEASE MAKE PLANS TO ATTEND!

Thanks to Debbie and Ron, and all of those who have donated items for this sale! I know this has been difficult to put together, but we do appreciate all you have done for us.

Sorry it has taken so long to update the blog, but things have been kind of crazy for me. We have had some tough days, and tough moments, but we are still progressing overall. Randy picked up a stomach virus, that had us all on guard, but he seems to be getting over it just fine. I am still seeing progress in his recovery, though it is a very slow process, and seems to be good one day and not as good the next. He has some days that he is not very responsive, and other days that he seems to be very alert and sharp. Sometimes it is due to the medication, and sometimes not. We are finally getting somewhat routine with his care, though some days are pretty trying. We are still having to teach the nursing staff how to care for him at times. This is very frustrating for all of us, but we know that "THIS TOO, SHALL PASS!"

We have an appointment to go back to Lubbock on May 13th for a consultation with his doctor. We should be finding out when he will return again for the bone flap surgery, and more details about his progression at that time. He is still in physical therapy, occuapational therapy and speech therapy, and we are continuing to make baby steps.

I am really tired tonight, so I'll close for now. Thank you all again for staying tuned to the blog. It really does mean a lot to me to see how many of you are still checking in, and are continuing to pray for Randy's recovery.

Love,

Felisha