Monday, October 28 Update, 7:00am

Sunday was another long day at the hospital.  John looked great when we arrived in the morning - very alert and bright eyed.  He had slept better than the previous night, but still wakes up frequently, both on his own and for numerous nurse checks and starts of new antibiotic drips.  It was very exciting to watch him with the physical therapist as he raised his left leg and worked through the strengthening exercises.  Then he got himself out of the bed with the walker and hop-walked about two feet, turned around and came back - with only one assistant this time!

There were two main concerns: his white blood count slowly is climbing up rather than gradually going down which can mean continuing infection.  Also, his right foot/leg has swollen with fluid, perhaps just from the IV solutions and the inactivity.  The doctor had them remove the dressing and unpack the upper leg wound with Veronica present.  The wound looked good, is draining well and no visible signs of infection, but really is very deep.  An MRI was ordered for that area to search for deeper infection.  An ultrasound scan was done on the right leg to be sure there were no blood clots.  These took up about 3 hours in the middle of the day.  He is on a new pain medication which is working very effectively and makes a real difference.  The wound was re-packed and dressed with John feeling minimal pain, so he was really grateful for the new drug! When we left last evening, we did not have any results, but are hoping this is good news - at least nothing urgent that brought the doctor running.

In so many ways, John looks healthy - he is getting stronger, his color is good, his breathing and heart are good.  There are still issues with hiccuping/belching/coughing/swallowing which interfere with eating.  We continue to think this is a result of the intubation and anesthesia during the surgeries. We're hopeful that's improving, since he spent over an hour talking with visitors without it bothering him.

Veronica and Dillon were with us until they left to catch their plane home.  Little Dillon's voice and happy activity certainly added cheer and thoughts of the future to our day. Of course, Veronica has been an amazing help professionally, but her positive, encouraging words and presence were even more of a blessing.  A real highlight of the day was a visit from Tony and Joy Cook (Tony is Stated Clerk of Grand Canyon Presbytery) and also from Fred and Judy Davis, dear friends from our days in Las Cruces, NM before they were called to Washington.  Fred is a miracle of God's care and faithfulness as well as the power of prayer following a terrible accident when we were all together there.  John and Fred share a special friendship - and they just moved to the Valley from Washington!  All these friends lingered and talked and prayed - for all of us it was a powerful, uplifting time.

We're headed over to the hospital now in hopes of being there when the doctors visit John.  Paul, Elisa and I hope to visit two rehab facilities and then make a decision for a recommendation. Paul will be flying back to California this evening.