All's Well... for now!

Hi folks!

Dad is resting well in his new hospital room at VA Baptist in Lynchburg. Mom and I have just been very impressed with how knowledgeable the staff appears to be with GBS. In fact, there are two other GBS patients on the floor with Dad. Their cases are not the same as Dad's but you can see the same devastating toll it has taken on the patients and their families. That seems to be a common theme amongst GBS patients.

Mom came back home with me for the weekend and will go back up to the hospital on Sunday. The staff has found her a room to stay in for the nights that she wants to be there, so she can work with Dad and keep him motivated. So far, all of the staff is very nice and concerned with Dad and his family, and there's even some staff that are from Southwest VA, including one direct from Richlands. She is Dad's Speech Therapist and shows genuine concern and enthusiasm for getting Dad back on his feet.

Dad his working on learning how to swallow again and how to form words with his mouth. He spoke some more on Friday and it was less gargled. Of course, this takes a lot out of him and we don't want to stress his body out. But even after the nurses and therapists leave the room, you can see him over there in bed working on the exercises they taught him. I guess that workout ethic that he used to have when he was weightlifting is starting to kick in again (hehe). Also, I think he wants to open his eyes so he can see his little granddaughter. When he's getting tired or frustrated, all we have to do his say her name and he gets refocused on what he's doing real quick.

Well, that's all for now. We'll keep you posted as things develop. Thanks again for all your support. Someone asked me to post it again, so here is the address for Dad's Benefit Acccount:

P.O. Box 2364
Danville, VA 24541

Take care of yourselves!

Team Jerry all the way!