Update

The prayers seem to be working, as Dad has started to stabilize and is showing signs of getting better. His blood pressure has fluctuated for the past few hours, but all within normal parameters. His temperature is also going up and down, but nothing that Tylenol hasn't been able to control. The only concern of mine is his heart rate, which is elevated right now. But the doctors and nurses both assure us that this is probably the byproduct of the infection in his body and the medicine that they are giving him to fight the infection. Once both are removed from his system, things should go back to normal.

He is resting comfortably right now and if things go well overnight, they'll move him to a step-down unit on Friday. Dad has not needed the ventilator again since last night, which is a good sign that his body is getting stronger.

Please continue to pray for him and Mom. She has worried herself to the point of exhaustion. In fact, I'm forcing her to leave in just a few minutes so we can get her back to Danville at a descent time and allow her to get some much needed rest before she travels back down Raleigh tomorrow.

As soon as there is more to report, we'll update the blog. Thanks for your continued support!

Team Jerry all the way!!!

Need Your Prayers

Well... here we go again.

Over the weekend, Dad developed a high fever. As the days progressed, he started to show signs of an infection. The facilty ran some tests and decided to send him to the ER down the road for more tests and observation. Long story short, Dad is now in ICU (as of 3/30) where he is being treated for a serious infection. He is septic, which means his blood became infected, his blood pressure also bottomed out, and his heart rate went through the roof. All of these things combined made for a very scary night.

As of this posting time, Dad's blood pressure has started to stabalize and his fever is under control. The heart rate is still up, but is better than what it was yesterday. He ate a little something for lunch, which made him feel somewhat better. The past 24 hours has taken a lot out of Dad, but he is resting more peacefully now. We (April, Mom and me) are operating on about 5 hours sleep, as we didn't get back to VA until early this morning and woke up early to return today so we could meet with the doctors. Unfortunately, today is the day the doctors decided to be late, so we are waiting for them to arrive so we can find out the name of the bacteria causing Dad's infection and how long he might have to stay before is able to return to his rehab facility.

So we would appreciate as many prayers as possible right now to pray for Dad to get over this infectino fast so we can start back on the path to recovery.

Team Jerry all the way!!!

What's going on!

Well, where do we start? Lots of new things are happening with Dad! He is able to walk with mechanical support as you can see by the video in the last posting. In addition, Dad has started eating solid foods and does not require nutrition via the feeding tube anymore. As of right now, the plan is for Dad’s trach to be capped Monday (3/28). This will force him to breathe on his own through his mouth and his nose. Even though he is breathing on his own now, he must learn to do it through the normal nasal and oral passages. In order for the trach to be completely gone, he must successfully breathe on his own with the cap on the trach for 2 weeks. At the conclusion of that time period, Dad will be reevaluated to determine if they can take the trach out completely. This is a crucial time because we want the trach GONE! As I said today, that’s one less machine to deal with in that tiny room!

Besides walking, Dad is able to move around in a motorized wheelchair. The facility has a loaner for him to use until he moves out and to his new facility or home. This allows him some much needed freedom and he loves it. We were walking with him at our last visit and everyone that saw him going down the hallway said “Hi Jerry!” It’s like he’s Norm from Cheers! (hehe) Anyway, this is a great ego boost for him, because he doesn’t have to depend on someone else to get him around.

In other news, we moved Mom and Dad to Danville at the beginning of March. They bought a house in a subdivision just outside Danville. Mom and Dad love the house, even though Dad hasn’t seen it in person. April’s mom, who is a real estate agent, did a virtual tour with pictures of the house, so it’s just like being there. Dad saw the tour and is really excited to get home so he can start planting things with Mom and Anna Leigh. But more importantly, he’s getting tired of the hospital facilities. After 9 months, who can blame him? Mom is almost done unpacking the many boxes from Richlands and we're in the process of getting a few things for her that she had to leave in the old house. To update your address book, their new address is 402 Deerwood Drive, Blairs, VA 24527. Their new home phone number is 434-836-1502. For the time being, we are keeping Dad’s mobile phone. So if you have that number, it still works.

Well, that’s all for now. Take care and keep those well wishes coming.

Team Jerry all the way!!!

Walk On.....

As a family we witnessed a moment we will never forget. While all three of us (Gammi too!) watched, Papa took his first steps. Watch the video and enjoy his moment.


Walk on,
Walk on.
What you got,
They can't steal it
No they can't even feel it.
Walk on, walk on.
Stay safe tonight...
~ U2,Walk On