sunday

Thanks to our Heavenly Father and wonderful doctors as Justin is feeling much better after the procedure on Friday. In fact, he babysat for Brenlee on Saturday night for a few hours. Yea, Uncle Justin! Justin is back to feeding himself through the feeding tube and it is going into the stomach. Last Sun and Mon, it was not in place and he could not eat at all. Tuesday, they put it in too deep and it was emptying into his intestine...leaving his stomach empty, growling, and with acids gurgling. He was unable to eat much....really small servings about 12 times a day...too much pain, nausea, etc. I believe he lost about 5 pounds.

The therapy continues...he has had about 6-8 sessions. He is supposed to go 3 times a week, but the therapist was ill and then Justin was ill. So, we hope that he can get back to a regular schedule. With time and therapy, Justin did tell me that he is feeling a little more motion of his tongue. He is still not able to get things all of the way down his throat...but it was a tiny step forward and hopeful for this momma to hear that!

Hopefully, he is back on the road to recovery. Please continue to keep Justin in your prayers as he heals and rehabs during this long journey.

Friday

Today, Justin will have the feeding tube moved to a better spot. When they stitched it back in on Monday, they pushed it too far and it is against the intestine, not allowing him to put much "milkshake" down at a time. They told him to feed small feedings 12 times a day, but he is still weak and nauseous from the new positioning.

I will be taking him to St. Christus at noon today for the procedure.

****We have returned from the procedure. Justin will not really know how it went until he feeds himself for the first time....but he feels good about things.

That boy brings a smile to my face! He had me smiling throughout the afternoon. When dropping him off, I handed him a few dollar bills---he responded, I guess you know that now I'm headed to the Strip Club! LOL That boy!!

He did tell me that his tongue is working better and although the food will not pass by a muscle in the back of his throat...he has felt a few new movements. Not as far along as his mom would like, but we'll take whatever we can get!

Wednesday

Bren is one great little helper....she handed me each of the utensils out of the dishwasher so I could put them away. Also today, she got her diaper & wipes out of the diaper bag and handed them to her mom because she needed a clean one. LOL--what a little helper! Too, too cute!!

Whoops! Her bow is crooked because I have to put it in quickly and then divert her attention! If I mess with it, she grabs it out of her hair immediately and says, "Bow"! Also, if anyone says the word BOW, she will grab for her head looking for a bow, yanking one out if she finds one. LOL

Tuesday

Here are a few pics of Bren enjoying being one year old! Bren looks so grown up!

We saw Justin Sunday for my birthday and he looked great! Today, he has been battling nausea and Bill is taking him to the ER because he is so weak. He is such a trooper; please pray for him as he continues to fight through this difficult journey. There are no major problems, from what I understand. The tube moved and Justin will have to adjust to more feedings a day with less liquid each feeding. Please pray that this adjustment does the trick.

Monday

Bill and I spent the weekend at Canyon Lake and had a wonderful time! We strolled along the riverwalk in San Antonio and enjoyed a couple of meals with friends.

Sunday, when we got home the kids came over.

Justin looked fantastic! He seemed more of himself than I've seen in 2 months. It was such a relief for me. I worry so much about him, that seeing him happy and much like his old self was reassuring.

Brenlee was cute as ever! And so was her momma. Donlee was working on a paper that is due. He should graduate law school mid May and will then have his head in the books preparing for the bar exam.

Thursday

Whew! What a day!

I forgot about my hair appointment and had to run to Amanda's office and switch cars. You see, my little sports car cannot hold a baby car seat. And Brenlee has not been feeling well lately. She may be teething or who knows. She had her 1 yr check up and the doctor did not find any problems with ears, throat, etc. So, off we go to the hair appt with my friend. We take turns holding Brenlee while the other gets their hair cut. Then, my friend had me pull over as she began to throw up on the roadside! YIKES! Poor thing, but hope it is not contagious! After getting home, Brenlee had a little break down and began to cry. She had dirty diapers and what seemed to be a bellyache. Then, Bill arrived. He had been sneezing this week and ran a fever today. He feels lousy and went straight to bed after seeing PA Smith (aka Amanda Curry).

Amanda just picked up Brenlee and whew...what a day!

Tuesday

One of my favorite Bren pics....from Valentine's Day photos... :-)

She was a girl on the go! I had to chase her all over and put her back in place. She wore me out!! But the results were GOOD!

Monday

I just got this message from a friend and wanted to share:

Faith is not necessary when you know how things are going to work out, - that's knowledge. It's in the time of unknowing that having faith is what sees you through to the other side. Faith is what gives you strength. Faith is that light in your heart that keeps on shining even when it's all darkness outside. Now is the time to keep that faith alive!

Justin is coping and has therapy this week. He got to hang out with John at the shooting range on Saturday and this activity with the guys added a smile to his face. Thanks, John, for helping Justin find some fun and joy in his life. There are still ups and downs, but he is hanging in there.


Little Brenlee should be arriving soon, so I may write more later. Brenlee is such a joy! She got a little chick and bunny (not real ones) for Easter and played with them for such a long time. She loves her Uncle Justin and he can get many smiles out of her. Hope your Easter was amazing! Every day is a gift from God-ENJOY!

Thursday

Today is another day of therapy for Justin. I hope that it is going well. We don't talk daily, but usually email daily. I hope to see him this weekend for Easter. Here is one more picture of Justin from Bren's birthday; this is from Kim, Justin's cousin. The picture was rather random, surprising everyone--so no big, pretty smiles!

Bren is calling, better run!

Wednesday

I wanted to post a couple of pictures of Justin at the birthday party. I'm sure his cousins, etc had lots of questions for him, but it was good to get the initial meeting behind him. He was a good sport at answering questions and with all of the food around! Everyone thought that he looked good and it has been almost 7 weeks from the big surgery, with much less from the additional procedures. He still struggles to get a good night's sleep from the lack of swallowing and is disappointed that his voice is not as strong as he would like.

This week will hold his first 3 therapy sessions...for swallowing and speaking. We pray that they go well and that therapy is the answer for him. A good night's sleep due to swallowing his saliva and being able to project his voice louder would be awesome outcomes! For now, he sometimes carries a cup to spit in. Rest assured that he is not "dipping"!

God is good and we are looking forward to Easter weekend!

Have a Happy Easter with your family--God bless!

Tuesday

Justin has completed 2 full weeks of work--YEA! His first week back was just a few days as he was still so exhausted. He has started his therapy this week and will be going about 3 times a week. We pray that it will aid him immensely in swallowing and projecting his voice better.

Brenlee's first birthday is April 10th, this Friday. Donlee and Amanda held her party last Saturday and had a huge turnout. It was fun to see all of their friends with their families in tow. Everyone had a good time and everyone seemed very happy to have time with Justin!

Enjoy the pictures!