Good afternoon, AU family!

I have so much good news to report regarding Wayne's recovery from surgery last week!

Today was a HUGE day! Physical therapy had him doing chair pushups (dips), etc. Then came Speech therapy & he was able to put the one-way valve on his trach & surprised the therapist with the strength of his voice! He got his reward - that much hoped-for cup of ice chips! (He has had nothing by mouth since last Wednesday).

Cheeky monkey! He had asked for some water & a swab to rinse his mouth out... As I turned my back to fetch something else, I caught motion out of the corner of my eye... the sly bugger had taken a sip from the cup!

He will officially start liquids tomorrow, but they want to be sure he's not leaking into any tissues anywhere from the mouth.

He is cleared to get a wheelchair, even with all the IV pole, He's very keen to get rolling since I told him it would reduce the swelling in his arms & hands...

cont'd

Bless him... I pray his healing is swift and smooth and comforting. That looks like a lot of soreness... very tender. Thank you for sharing... its nice to have a picture of your husband as well.. Great well and healed soon. Prayers really do work.

Antidote, my heart was breaking for him yesterday. He had deep bone pain from the leg they took it from (an 18" scar, because they had to get bone PLUS an artery connected to it PLUS a good vein, PLUS a good-sized piece of skin to fashion into gums for him again). The procedure is getting quite famous; it's called the "Flap," and we have reconstructive specialist - Dr. Eid - whom I believe is from the mid-east, who did the graft & microsuturing of the blood vessels. If the vessels fail, the bone graft fails, we have the Doppler. Tomorrow, Wayne will be out of the "danger period."

He also had "road rash" pain of the thigh, & facial pain from having all that stretching & shifting about of tissues & nerve endings, a sore place where they put the feeding tube to his stomach & a headache on top of it all.

Told him, "This is the last day of the bad pain, let's breathe through this together," and put some lavender oil on his gown where he could inhale it.

God made my words come t

You are doing a marvellous job. Thank you so much for sharing I can feel how intensely intense it is.. Bring on the healing and repair.

Today is a special day! We found out what God has done for us (again)!

Wayne is being discharged TOMORROW!

Our daughter has got a walker, bedside commode & shower chair we can have... She's picking up some grab bars for the shower & will give all that to Daniel, Wayne's son, so he can come & install them...

We will have a male helper twice a week for 2 weeks, just for safety in the shower, since I have zilch for upper body strength anymore...

And Patriot Angels is giving us $2500 to defray costs as thanks for Wayne's Coast Guard service.

I know I'm going to start crying over this soon, but right now I'm just AMAZED at how God has worked all of this out. I told him I could not handle the details, that I could only focus on getting Wayne better & would he please handle it.

OMG! I'm so humbled & so grateful I can't speak. I could barely choke down a bit of breakfast a few minutes ago, LOL.

Awe.. bless you sweetheart.. All full of faith and heart what a blessing you are. I think I may start now.. that's super news... Sounds like a good plan.. You trust that plan now.

I am grateful you shared your gratitude.

That's one of my cardinal rules, Antidote...

When God answers prayers, don't keep it to yourself; TELL EVERYONE ABOUT IT!

I don't know what time we'll be getting out of here, but I've already requested that it be around noon, so we can get back before dark.

(And if it's not too much trouble, with enough time to get by the grocery store so I can stock up on milk, eggs, cream, fruit, taters, onions & a few other things so I have plenty of stuff on hand to make soups & smoothies with!)

I have a strange confidence that we'll be homeward bound at or before noon.

It's so awesome being one of Grandfather's favorite children!

My heart is so full I keep thanking nurses & every so often crying happy tears!

Now I KNOW everything is going to be just fine. Next time Wayne worries about bills or house payments, I'll remind him not to because God has got this right down to the ground!

Pure awesomeness!