« June 30, 12:15 AM | Main | July 2, 9 AM, Talking »
June 30, 2005
July 1, 1 AM
asher has had a great day today. i called gloria late afternoon to see how asher had done in his therapy sessions and to also find out how she and hadrienne were doing. i think i mentioned that asher had a swallow test yesterday to see if he could swallow, which would mean that he could start eating food in addition to getting fed through a stomach tube. apparently, asher not only passed the test, but they let him try some food today to see how he would do with it. first they tried apple sauce, but gloria said he clenched his teeth really tight and wouldn't even try it. so, they tried pudding instead, and he really liked it. he ate 10 spoonfuls, and his speech therapist said that tomorrow he would get to actually eat a meal (pureed first).
another huge step for asher today was that his orthopedic doctor there said that he didn't have to wear his "turtle shell" upper body brace for his back injury any more. that it had healed well enough for him, since his operation, not to need it.
finally, they put a button on asher's trach opening so that the hole could begin to close up around it. the hole edges have begun to break down, which means that the hole has gotten bigger than the original opening. apparently, when you remove a trach the hole closes up pretty quickly, within a day or 2 it can close dramatically. according to asher's respiratory therapist they will completely remove his trach in another week.
2 of asher's friends came down to see him today, mark and josh. it has really been hard on asher's friends not to be able to see him every day. gloria said that asher really responded to their visit. when it came time for them to leave hadrienne left with them so that she could get a ride to chattanooga for the skate benefit competition for asher tomorrow and saturday. when hadrienne told asher that she was going to leave for a few days and started to go, gloria said that asher got really agitatated and started making sounds like he was upset. getting upset over something like that is something that we have never been able to connect to a source until this happened today. it is so wonderful to see yet another sign that asher is becoming more and more aware of what is going on around him and that he has begun to find ways to let us know that.
the words of gratitude for todays good news about asher all go to God for the ways that He is continuing to pour out His mercy and grace on asher. i also continue to be greatful for all of you and your amazing words of encouragement that you leave as comments on this blog or that you email me personally to express. only once has anyone communicated anything in a negative way about either the way i write or the content of what i write and that actually happened earlier today. in proverbs it says that "a brother (or sister) offended is harder won than a strong city." it took most of the day to overcome the effects those words had on me, but i am deeply thankful to God that everywhere i went throughout the rest of the day God put people in my path who really lifted my spirits, beginning with joe and barbara novenson. i saw them only briefly in the grocery store, but even in that short time the effects of those words written earlier to me immediately began to fade.
please remember to pray for asher's continued healing and complete restoration. i continue to truly believe that this will be the ultimately outcome of this for him. pray for gloria while hadrienne and i are away from her. i know that she is lonely where she is without us. pray for the skateboarding benefit competition beginning today at 12 PM, and on saturday it will begin at 6 PM. they are really expecting a lot of people to show up. please pray for safety. it would really be a terrible thing for anyone to get hurt.
in addition to attending the benefit i also have a number of appointments tomorrow as well as other business to take care of too. the days just seem so short on the one hand and yet, on the other, so incredibly long. please pray that i will just be able to leave my worries at God's feet when i wake up in the morning. if i can accomplish that as my first order of business to take care of then i am fairly certain that i will find that the rest of the day will take care of itself.
may the Lord's peace continue to make a way for you to find your rest in Him.
seeking His rest,
andy mendonsa
| By Andy Mendonsa | 10:02 PM
