Late Night Update

I stayed up past my bedtime to get this out to all of you...I'm sure dad did too! But, it's worth it! Read on:

We had a meeting with Linda’s case worker as scheduled yesterday afternoon. Linda and I had already agreed upon a plan of action that we would take for her to be discharged ASAP. The meeting went well with good to excellent progress reports from all three therapy departments – speech, physical and occupational. The recommendation from the case worker was that Linda would stay in rehab until September 17th. We politely informed her that we wanted the discharge date to be sooner. She asked “How soon?” We said “Wednesday!” Well, she said, we can’t hold you against your will. Let me talk to the doctor and see what he says. Anyway, we didn’t get an answer by the end of the day Monday.

The doctor comes in early Tuesday morning for his “30 second appearance” and told Linda, “Well, you can go home tomorrow.” (Wednesday) Later that statement was retracted when he learned of Linda’s scheduled swallowing test at 9 AM this morning to be conducted by the speech therapist. Linda was REALLY NERVOUS about this procedure (THANK ALL OF YOU WHO PRAYED AT 9 AM THIS MORNING) of putting a tube through her nose with a camera to monitor her swallowing. It was pretty neat (from MY prospective as I was able to watch) to see the vocal cords and the throat respond to food and liquid being put into her mouth. The speech therapist was very pleased with her progress and ability to swallow, even though one vocal cord is still not in its proper place. SHE PASSED THE TEST!! Linda came out of that room shouting! You would have thought she had just attended a Pentecostal camp meeting! Based on the test and her swallowing, she was put on a “Dysphagia 3” diet (look up if interested).

After the swallowing test, the case worker came back to the room to discuss Linda’s discharge. We were told that patients are normally monitored at least 24 hours after beginning to eat and the therapist would like her to stay until at least Thursday providing her eating goes well. So, as of this afternoon, LINDA IS SCHEDULED TO BE DISCHARGED THURSDAY!! PRAISE GOD!!!

She ate lunch and dinner today without much difficulty. She is very careful when swallowing and light liquids such as water still caused her to aspirate. They seem to think that the vocal cord just needs TIME to move back into place. Now all of a sudden, the E-Stim which was so IMPORTANT a few days ago is being discontinued. The tech likened it to a brace on a broken bone. Once the bone gets better, the brace isn’t needed any more even though the limb may be still weak.

Once at home, Linda will be under the care of an In Home Health Organization here in Goldsboro. They will work with her until she is no longer “home bound.” We are convinced that we can do what is necessary at home to continue bringing her to a full recovery.

We have been so blessed by the response of SO MANY of our brothers and sisters in Christ, from Europe, to Okinawa, even Australia, who have prayed for Linda and me. We are overwhelmed by your love, concern and prayers. Jennifer has been a great source of strength to us even though she is 1600 miles away (by land) but only a moment away in spirit. All of you have been a blessing to us.

We know there are still some hurdles to jump over and some more valleys to pass through. But, I believe we can face these with greater confidence because we know we have a team of prayer warriors lifting us to the Throne of Grace.

Keep Praying and Keep Looking Up,

Joe