HALLELUJAH

Yesterday morning had lots of progressing excitement but after giving the thumbs up twice earlier and then pulling his central line for the ventilator out himself, (which also included his feeding tube), he was pretty exhausted.  They tried to get a nasal feeding tube in but had to retry and at that point Jason had had enough and his breathing started to decrease.  They first just gave him some additional oxygen but the doctors felt he needed a bit more help so he was on the CPAP machine when we went yesterday.  But even before we left last night they had already lowered it down to 40 so he seems to be stabilizing again and the plan for today was to just having him on an oxygen mask with no pressure involved.  The CPAP machine will be on stand by but I have a feeling they won't be needing that!   So it looks like there will be no tracheostomy done - amazing when just 7 days ago we were told he would need to be on the ventilator for at least 2 more weeks!

It was very tough seeing him even though he looks amazingly better than when we left him on Sunday.  His swelling is really down and he looks much more like our Jason.
All of the cuts are healing and the places he needed stitches look less angry.  And seeing him without that huge neck brace and not having the ventilator forcing his chest in and out was a beautiful sight.  So now we are entering the next phase which is going to be tougher for us all as he comes around.  Carolin said he had been opening and closing his eyes most of the day and the entire 4 hours we were with him he had his eyes open more than closed.  It's so hard to say what he sees or recognizes. His eyes are still pretty swollen and extremely blood shot.  He is blinking and moving his eyes from whoever is talking to him to another person talking - though his head doesn't move and he is favoring his left side. (Which makes sense since the worst of the damage to his body is on the right side.)  There is no way to know if he knew who we were but both David and I felt a strong connection as if even if he might not be placing who we were he knew we were very important to him.  David, as before, got a strong reaction, and it seemed he was trying to tell him something but most of what comes out is a moaning sound which just broke us up.
He is clearly in horrible pain which shows in his eyes and honestly I don't know that anyone could be reacting clearly under that duress.  They are limiting his pain meds as they are afraid if he is too far under it will cause his breathing to decrease so it's a very fine line.  He can't get comfortable and when the waves of pain hit him and he kind of jerks his body and his leg begins to shake.  Carolin, David, and I were taking turns calming him down with soothing words until the worst of it passed.  At one point Jason reached up towards David's face but he is clearly having a depth perception issue - not unusual at this stage - when David saw that J was having trouble he put his hand up and Jason definitely grabbed it and wrapped his fingers around David's hand.  We both felt he was crying a few times in response to our speaking of how much we loved him and were proud of his fighting spirit.   We talked to him about imagining all of you out there lifting him up with your love and prayers and are hoping somewhere in there he is registering and feeling that.
When it was time to leave it was gut wrenching, whether we imagined it or not, it once again felt like he knew who we were and his eyes filled with tears.  Thank God for Carolin who stands calmly by his side and who he clearly feels so much comfort from.   David quietly hummed the Hallelujah song and he seemed to like that. They did give him a slow drip of some pain medication as we left and he seemed to relax again and doze a bit more.  What a relief! 

Another significant thing he did that could be meaning he is more and more remembering Carolin is that he was playing with her wedding ring which is something he did before the accident when they would be watching TV or talking.  He kind of rubs the top and twists it around and that takes some good coordination.  It's all those video games that may just have kept that dexterity okay!  Hopefully it won't be long til he is back to playing them with those of you who are his "game" pals!

 Dance Dance Revolution in competition, as usual, with Aaron

Wii Bowling

After we were able to tear ourselves away we were driving back to Frederick when Carolin called up with an unexpected update - they were taking his chest tubes out over night!  Another step already!  She also spoke to them about how can he sleep when in such pain and they were going to give him something to relax his body.

Usually the neruologist comes in by 6 a.m. but Carolin's been sitting by Jason's side and no sign of him yet today.  But I can tell you that they do have him up in his special chair again and he is dozing at this time.  Carolin reports that he was doing so well they just have a nasal tube for oxygen and no mask.  On the down side his left lung was showing a small air pocket on an earlier today chest xray.  They will do another one at noon and make a decision if they need to reinsert the left chest tube.  A good place to focus those prayers and energy on right now!

Our understanding is he will be getting what's called a "peg" tube for feedings which is thru his stomach.  There is also talk of starting some therapy this morning which I'm assuming is physical therapy.

So lots going on and the idea is he will finish some neurological testing this week now that they are letting him wake up more and by mid next week he may be moved to a rehab facility.  It should be in Lancaster but no definite decision made as it depends on where his main problems are.

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for the ongoing vigil for Jason and being a part of his journey which is far from from over.  Lindsay, Aaron's wife, told me last night that their little boy, Cole, has been praying each night for Uncle Jason to feel better and even reminding his parents to pray as well.  Yesterday he found the stuffed animal Jason and Carolin brought him back from Disney and brought it to daycare to snuggle with because Uncle Jason bought it for him. 

 I'll update you again later today.  With ever growing hope in all of our hearts -
God is listening so keep speaking!