Wow! What a day! Troy had lunch and dinner by mouth today! He ate 80% of his lunch and 90% of his dinner. It was a wonderful experience to watch him take in food with a spoon. It took me about an hour to get him to eat it, but the fact is that he ATE and that in itself is a huge improvement! Praise God! He isn't taking in liquids by mouth though, so they still have to give him water through his feeding tube. Yesterday he took a little sip through a straw and was able to take a sip out of a cup, so we'll continue to work with him to encourage him on drinking, as well. To have the feeding tube taken out he has to be able to eat and drink by mouth.

Another thing that I have noticed with Troy is that he is able to show when he's in pain or uncomfortable, in other words, he's apparently very aware of his surroundings. Tonight, when the nurse and the tech turned him on his side, he immediately started grimacing and moaning...loud! It was shocking to see and hear him like that! He was even trying to sit up in the bed. It took the nurse and I a few minutes to figure out what was wrong with him. Well, it looks like his right hip hurts and when turned on his left side it puts his right leg at an awkward angle and that causes him pain. The nurse and I put him back on his back and he immediately stopped moaning and laid his head back down and closed his eyes. So, I will be bringing that up to the physical therapists attention because he doesn't move his right leg, I'm guessing his hip must just be tight and sore from lack of range of motion.

I know I shouldn't be happy about him being in pain, but the fact that he FELT pain was very comforting to me! His nervous system and senses seems to be healing really well! Little by little, day by day, week by week - Troy is just moving in the right direction and I have not stopped praising God and thanking Him for keeping His hand on Troy in continued healing! As I type this, tears of joy sprout to my eyes as I look back on how far we've come since May 1st! This is all just so overwhelming and humbling at the same time. To see that God created us and realize how fragile we really are is a rude awakening to me.

And finally, I wanted to thank everyone that has been mailing me things here at the housing. But, just to let everyone know that as of tomorrow I will no longer be here so please do not mail anything else to the address you have for me. The agreement I have with the hospital is to get housing for 30 days; well the 30 days are up this weekend and I have to make arrangements to find another place to stay while Troy is here at Shepherd.

Thank you again for all the wonderful messages, emails, cards, etc that you have taken the time to write. I might not have time to respond to everyone, but just reading them encourages me and get me through the day. I am so grateful to be surrounded by such loving people!

God bless you all and I am looking forward to seeing what God has for us tomorrow! In Christ, Joan