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!!!