8/19/24 One year. One year? It's been 1 year.

 Saturday 8/26 afternoon post.

It is Saturday and after 1p in the afternoon. It's almost exactly one week from when he got out of surgery and was recovering from the anesthesia. It has been a wild and bumpy ride but so many of those bumps have been smoothed out by your prayers.  A nurse named Robin was one of the first to be caring for Justin, and as I was chatting with her last night she shared a couple of thoughts.  First, as much as she loves to see patients progress out of the ICU she said it's been good to have Justin back and see his progress. Second, she shared that he is having a "miraculous" (her words not mine) recovery.

The difference in the last couple of days has been awe-inspiring. Last night he got to eat his first real food in a week, he went straight for pepperoni and sausage pizza, he was able to repeat the words pepperoni and sausage for the nurse as she asked if that's what he wanted. He didn't eat a lot but he was eating. And then this morning he ordered pancakes and sausage and finished that off in short fashion. Some key indicators for Justin to be released from the ICU are looking very good. First, the sodium level is balancing out close to where it needs to be. If he continues on the current path he should be at a low enough dosage level that he would be able to move out of the ICU on Monday. The second is the Heparin level in his blood that they are giving him to ensure that blood clots will not grow is also looking very good.

None of this seems to be quite fast enough for him. We shared with him the score of the Impact game which is his competition team from this morning's game (6-0 win Go Impact).  They have another game tonight, as soon as I shared the score with him he asked for the phone and was replying on the team messaging platform that he would be ready to play for tonight's game. LOL!
He was able with some assistance to get into a wheelchair. Once in the wheelchair, he was able to propel himself all the way to a window. And then push his way all the way back to his room, the nurses were very excited for him and his progression. The room he is in does not have much in the way of windows so it was good for him to see some sunlight. 

We know there are a lot of people that want to see him and love on him in person, we appreciate that and you so much! But as we make this move please understand this has been overwhelming for Justin and he is still wrapping his head around it.  At least initially our desire would be that people would request a time to come and see Justin so we can space it out appropriately with other visitors and a fairly busy schedule of doctor visits, speech therapy visits, physical therapy visits, and occupational therapy visits.

Once again thank you for your ongoing support and prayers -- Steve & Kim