12/17/08 Update - Becoming more Normal!

Sorry it's been so long since I updated. As a result, there's LOTS to report!

Mom and Steve want to THANK everyone for all thier donations, love and support. Without it, they wouldn't be where they are now. You guys are all so important to them. They don't know how they will ever let you know how much it all means to them.

Now to Steve's progress to Normal...

- Steve is doing really well with the walker. There is still always someone with their hands on him when he uses it, but he's doing great. Mom expects he'll be able to go short distances ON HIS OWN within a month or so. As he gets better with the walker, he'll use his wheel chair less. Mom will walk with him as much as possible. Still just short distances though.

- He got his communicative aid last week and is learning as fast as possible how to use it so he can start communicating with everyone again. He'll be able to email and write letters to all his friends and loved ones VERY soon. So be on the look out for a message from him :)

- His right hand is getting more movement all the time. He can now lift it up to his eye. He was right handed before the strokes and will continue to be right handed. They work very hard on this with him. Recently he signed his name 6 times on his power of attorney forms. It wasn't great - and it made him laugh to see it - but it is better than it was a few months ago. He is also working on feeding himself. He wants to live a normal life as soon as possible!!

- Vision update... There isn't a lot they can do now. So they are just waiting. They have to wait 12-18 months to see if his brain can relearn to see normally or if the nerve will regenerate. They are not sure which is the cause of his vision problems.

Please just continue to keep them in your prayers and maybe his journey to Normal will be much faster.

Also - if you want to still make donations, you still can. You can use the button in the blog or contact me and work something out.

Thanks Everyone!!

Pictures!

If you'd like to see more pictures from the tailgate party, please click here.

David updated our website with all the pictures we took that day.

Mr. Chatterbox!

Steve had a big weekend this past weekend. It was exhausting, but I think he had a lot of fun.

Friday night he went to his old High School to watch them play football and got to see a lot of old friends. Then on Saturday he and most of our family went to the Maryville College game to see Spencer's last home game for Senior Day.

We were all back to Calhoun Saturday night and had dinner and watched a little more football. Then hung out there on Sunday and watched more TV.

Steve is talking up a storm now!!

His speech isn't completely clear, but if you are really listening, then more often than not, you can tell EXACTLY what he is saying!!! It's so awesome to see him get better and better every day :)

10/19/08 Update

Just wanted to post quickly about Steve...

He is very happy to be home. Adjusting very nicely. He does miss all the visitors he was getting at LifeCare, but he'd rather be home than there any day of the week!

But of course, visitors are almost always welcome at his home, so call Bella if you want to come by and hang with him :)

Pictures & Prizes!!

Thanks again to everyone that donated and came out to the fundraiser last weekend. It was a huge success!! I want to send a special thanks to a few people for their efforts that day:

David & Debra Moyer
JJ & Shannon Jackson

Without what they did, the day would not have gone so smoothly!!!

Now for the Pictures. Here are just a few...


And here are the prize winners. If you did not get your prize, please email me at daisygirl@davidandstaci.com.

2 - GA Tech tickets for 10/11/08: Kari Butler
3 - GA Tech tickets for 10/11/08: The Moyers
1 hour massage at Allure Elite Day Spa in Dalton: The Therbers
A Manicure and Pedicure at Cut-N-Up in Calhoun: The Goswicks
The "Man Pack" courtesy of AutoZone in Calhoun: Jackie Haun
Beauty set (shampoo, conditioner, brush) courtesy of Cut-n-Up in Calhoun: Joann Soto
Dinner for two at Cracker Barrel: David Phillips
Chik-fil-A gift bag: Bobby Scruggs

Quick Update

Well, the fundraiser went great!! I just wanted to say THANK YOU to everyone for all their help to make the day a success and THANK YOU to everyone that came and helped Steve and Bella.

I will post soon with pictures and maybe some video of the day. I will also post a more detailed thank you list and the prize list of the people who won yesterday.

Thanks to all the generous donations - present and absentee - we were able to raise over $6000.00 for Steve & Bella!!

more to come soon :)

He's Home

Steve is officially home for good. He got back on Wednesday, September 17th. He is very excited to be home. His first order of business was to lay out by the pool and listen to the Eagles. He also got a little sunburned. He doesn't mind though!

Mom is getting used to a new schedule for them. It will take a little while to adjust to doing it all on her own, but she's also very glad to be home.

The weekend before they got back, Willie and Brian built an awesome wheelchair ramp into the house. It looks great and we are so grateful for them for doing this for Steve.

Don't forget about the fundraiser tailgate party we are having for them at their home on October 4th. If you need more information - PLEASE email me at daisygirl@davidandstaci.com.

8/14 Update

It's been a while since I've had a chance to update. There aren't a lot of huge changes, but here are the highlights...

1 - Vision - Steve went to the eye doctor on Monday. The doctor was able to use prisms to get rid of the double vision, but they are too intense to put in a lens so they are not going to do that yet. Also, the doctor said that if they did, then his brain might not rehab itself and fix the double vision on it's own. So they are getting him new lenses to help as much as possible, but it won't fix the double vision issue. They are also discussing eye therapy to help him recover faster, but won't be able to do this completely until he is able to go in his own car (Mom driving, not the center's bus).

2 - Eating - Steve is off the feeding tube from 6a-6p every day. He eats foods that are the consistency of honey. Anything that is more liquid than that he can not have b/c he is a silent aspirator and at this point it's still going down the wrong way. He chokes during meals a couple times, but he's doing pretty well with it overall.

3 - The rest - his therapy sessions are still going well. He works very hard every day. He has a long recovery ahead of him still, but it's great to know he's anxious to get well ASAP!!

Poppa Bear!!!

Steve is a grandpa! Jackson Tyler "Jax" was born on Thursday, July 24th :) Here are a couple pictures of Jax with Poppa and Mammie...

Pictures of Steve

Here are a few pictures of Steve.

Progress Update - 7/18/08

Quick update for everyone...

Today Steve took 117 steps!! He does as much of the work as he can and the therapists help move his right leg, but he's even moving that a little most of the time too. Last week he only took 50 steps. So he's more than doubled that in a week.

Everyone says he is so happy and laughs all the time. He's trying and working so hard.

I'm hoping to have pictures to post soon. If not, then I will be posting some for sure after his first grandson is born. I can't wait to get a picture of them together!

Thanks for the continued prayers and support. And I will post more soon!

7/10/08 Progress

Well, Steve is having another great week. He is making progress a little each day, but today has been a big day.

This morning, mom went to put his socks on and he held up his left foot like always, then when she went to put them on his right foot, he had lifted his foot about an inch. Mom asked if he was doing it, or if it was involuntary and he was doing it. She even got him to lift it again. When PT came in, he was still able to do it. They also got him to do somethings with his right hand/fingers/arm. And when they were walking with him on the parallel bars, he was actually doing a little lifting of his right leg, like he was gonna walk. Of course, it is only a little bit, but it's a huge advance for him.

The therapists said it's completley normal for him to get voluntary movement on some days but not ever day in a row. But this is the most he's had in one day so far. So that's great.

The speech therapist had a treat ready for mom when she came back at the end of that therapy today. Steve said, "Hi Bella". :) Mom was ecstatic. While she was telling me about it on the phone he said it again, and said what sounded like, "I love you." He's trying so hard.

I got to hear him laugh out loud the other day. Mom held the phone up so I could hear him. The sound brought tears to my eyes.

They did his sleep study this week and it is official that he has sleep apnea - pretty bad. So I guess they will be getting him a machine to help him ASAP. They also got him a new wheelchair - supposed to be the Cadillac of wheel chairs. So far, they haven't gotten the size right, but they are working on it.

That's all for now. God is doing amazing things with Steve. We are so blessed.

7/2/08 - Progress Update

I just talked to Danny and Steve had a good day.

While working with the speech therapist Steve started laughing out loud. Danny said it was just like his old laugh. A great sound after two months of basically nothing! The therapist was also able to get him to say "one, two, three" and make other random noises as practice for more to come. He also got to have ice chips, water, and apple sauce today. But, he doesn't like apple sauce, so he only had a few bites. But he was able to swallow it correctly and not choke. So awesome.

When leaving for physical therapy, he sat himself up in his chair and used his left leg to roll himself down the hall. The therapists had him do that going and coming back. So he is getting stronger, slowly, but surely!

Since he no longer has the trach, he can practice the talking part anytime, so hopefully he'll really get his voice back soon. :)

Message from Danny...

Danny was talking to his youth paster (i think that's what he said) today to tell him about Steve removing the trach, etc. Danny told him he felt like God must have just told his dad to take it out, it was time.

So, his pastor told him that when he was there on Saturday he had said an extra prayer over Steve that God would help him get that trach out ASAP so he could get better even faster.

It's amazing how God works - but He is the reason Steve is doing as well as he is. :)

Oopsie!!

Well - Steve decided to take things into his own hands last night and made the decision that it was time for his Trach to come out. So he took it out!

Mom and the nurse talked to the doctor last night. He said to put it back in, but when mom went to do it, she realized that the hole for it was closed up and that he wasn't even really using it anyway. So the doctor gave the ok for it to just be bandaged for now.

As of now, Steve is happier and coughing less. He is swallowing and breathing fine on his own without it.

Please pray that this stays the case. As long as it's out, he should progress faster. His speech therapist is already happier and is excited to work with him even more now!!

Progress Update - 6/25/08

Steve had an Awesome Day yesterday!! I'm so excited to report about it!!

Danny spent several hours with him yesterday and shared all of this with me. He was so excited as well. But big step #1 was that Danny led Steve to accepting Jesus. :) Way to go!!!

Physical therapy progress was amazing as well...

As I think you know, his right side is the side that still has some paralysis issues. Well, yesterday, the therapist had him curling his arm (like showing he has a muscle), she had him make a right angle and put his arm down, then had him hold a water bottle and pretend he was going to drink from it. He was able to do ALL of those things!! She said Monday he could hardly move anything. What a huge step!

Then, they took him to the gym to get him set up on the parallel bars to stand up. Well, Danny said that they were so busy trying to get him to stand up, they weren't really helping him stand up. So he was doing that almost completely on his own!

Steve had such an amazing day! I know you are as excited as I was to hear about it!

Progress Update 6/24/08

Hello Everyone!!

Yesterday, Steve was fitted with a new trach. I know I'm going to screw up the specifics since I'm not a doctor, but...

Mom said it's called a passy muir valve. This new trach is cuffless and has a talking valve on it.

The cuffless part means Steve is swallowing/coughing on his own. The talking valve will allow him to actually talk out loud! :)

The talking part may take a while as it's been almost 7 weeks since the trach was put in. They also don't know the extent of the damage from the strokes yet. He'll have to relearn some things in order to talk as well. So it might take a little while, but this is a huge step.

If all goes well, then in about a week, they will cap the trach. This will see if he can function on his own without any help from the trach. If he does well with that, they will remove the trach and start introducing real food. Probably protein shakes and stuff like that at first, but the point is to wean him off of the feeding tube.

All of this is so positive and we are so excited!!

Thank you for your prayers - we can definitely see how God is working through Steve these days. Please keep it up!!

New Location Information

Steve is now at the Life Care Center of East Ridge.

1500 Fincher Ave. East Ridge, TN 37412

The number to the room there is 423-499-5441. He is in room 108.

Mom thinks the visiting hours are 8A-10P.

Change of location...

Just wanted to give a heads up. Steve is moving again in the next day or so. I don't have the details yet, but wanted to post to let you know.

I'll post more soon.

Evaluation Day

I didn't know this, but several doctors and other medical types evaluate Steve on a weekly basis. Mom said that so far today everyone has said he's improving and making progress. That's great.

They said his eyesight IS getting better. I'm so excited about this. This will open up more options for communication if he can read better.

Mom also said that they are going to get him into the gym today. Not sure what they will do there, but this will get him out of the bed more. Having been in the hospital not too long ago with pre-term labor, I was so sick of the bed and I was only there about 3.5 days. I can imagine he's miserable, so this will be a great break.

I think mom also said that his therapists are really pushing him a little more. telling him they know he can do these things and "making" him do it.

So, this is all great news. Sometimes it's hard for mom and others that see him regularly to notice these subtle improvements. But any improvement, no matter how small is a step in the right direction!!

Thanks everyone! Keep praying. Prayer is powerful and really is working in Steve. :)

Friends and Family - You are needed!!

Hello Everyone!

Sorry for the long gap between updates. There really hasn't been too much to report. But now, we need your help!!

Steve is at the new facility. They are working with him every day. They do occupational therapy, physical therapy, speech therapy, and breathing treatments. I am pretty sure they do all of these every day.

As we all know, this is right up Steve's alley. He's a fighter and having all this going on should really motivate him and excite him that he'll get better soon. Right?

Well, it's not! It could be he's depressed, he's tired, he's weak, etc, but he's just not into doing what he's asked so he can get better.

We can't stand for that, can we?? NO NO NO!

What I'm hoping you can do:

1 - Pray! Pray that he pushes through this and really starts to get into the program and helps himself out of this funk.

2 - Pep talks! If you go see him, he could really use a good pep talk. Maybe even a little bit harsh would be good - to give him a theoretical kick in the pants. Examples: Killer Bear Pep Talk, Halftime Soccer Pep Talk, etc. etc.

I know you guys can do this. Let's not let him down :)

Thanks!!

He's Moving Today!!

I haven't talked to mom yet, but David did and she sent out a text. So here are the details about where he's going :) I'll post more if there is anything important to add after I talk to her.

Steve is being transferred to Healthsouth. The address is 2412 McCallie Ave in Chattanooga. He will be in room 204. The number there is 423-697-9204. They should be there around 5.

This is great great news and should really speed up his progress with all the therapy/rehab he'll be getting.

YAY!!!

Had a rough night

Last night was pretty rough and might have set him back a little bit. After his 9pm breathing treatment mom noticed he was coughing a lot more than normal. This went on all night. She called the nurses in several times, but they couldn't figure out why. When the morning nurse came on he figured out what was wrong. The easy to understand version - there is a cuff around his tube in his throat that inflates so that it can block his saliva/secretions from going into his lungs. It had deflated. So a bunch of junk is now in his lungs. This can lead to infection, etc. So, they are waiting for a lung x-ray to see how bad it is and to get him back on the right path. Unfortunately we don't know more, but we're afraid this might delay his transfer to Healthsouth :(

So, neither he nor mom got much sleep at all last night - both are VERY tired today and will probably be napping as much as possible to catch up.

Important Info!! Please read...

I don't have much to update as of yet, but wanted to let you know of what is in the works.

They are in the process of getting Steve moved to a rehab center. This is awesome news, but isn't final yet. They have to get a couple more doctor signatures and the ok from the insurance company. The center is Healthsouth in Chattanooga. They already have a bed ready for him. He will be moving as soon as all of this goes through.

SO IF YOU ARE GOING TO VISIT THIS WEEK - please come back and check the blog. I'd hate for you to go to the hospital and he isn't there :)

I will update the blog as soon as we have any official information.

Weekend Update

Sorry for the late post, I've been trying to get on all day!

Friday/Saturday were pretty good. Steve did well with his therapy/rehab. He was very smiley and animated when we saw him Saturday afternoon. I think he really likes having his own room and doing a little more therapy than before. His room and bed are a little on the small side, but his doctor has a request to get him moved to a corner/bigger room and to get him a bigger bed.

Other than being in the hospital at all, I think his next biggest frustration is not being able to communicate with us. He tries so hard, but we just don't get what he's saying. David and I are gonna try to find something this week and bring it up to him and see if that helps.

Sunday he slept most of the day and was up a lot at night. So he's a little turned around. He still wakes up to see visitors, but is sleeping a lot in between.

Mom is working hard to get him in a better facility for rehab and stuff. We want something more agressive - something Steve would want as well. He needs more control :)

Sorry not much else to tell for now. Will be back soon though!!

Shout out from Bella...

Mom asked me to THANK EVERYONE for everything. She is so grateful for everything you guys are doing for them. Donations/Food/Friendship...it's all amazing and wonderful.

So she wants you to know, she can't say it enough. Thank you!!

Friday mini update

Not much to tell today. Mom said the new unit is pretty noisy, but Steve managed to sleep through a lot of it.

I asked about the clots again, still nothing new. But she said a doctor told her that they are the reason he doesn't keep his eyes open too much. She said the clot(s) cause him to be really dizzy and kind of like he has bad sea-sickness. Supposedly this will get better as the arteries re-route themselves around the clots, but who knows how long that will take.

That's all. Told ya there wasn't much to tell today.

More later!

Private Room!!

Steve has been moved to his own room! WOOO HOOO!!

The info is:

Room 6 in the IMCO (intermediate care unit). That is on the 6th floor.

Visiting hours are from 9am-8:30pm.

He has a phone that can be called from 8am-11pm and the number is 423-778-6132.

Obviously Steve can't talk to you yet, but mom or someone will be there about 99-100% of the time.

Thursday Update...

David and I got to see Steve last night and it's amazing how great he looks now that he has that ventilator out of his mouth. He looks like the Steve everyone is used to knowing! :)

When we got there, the nurse said he'd had a fever of around 101, but while we were there she took it again and it was down to 98.3. They have him on 2 antibiotics and tylenol for the Staph - pretty aggressive, so we're happy about that. They told us last night that once they got all the Dr signatures, he'd go on a list to get into his own room in the IMCU - Intermediate Care Unit. This is great news. It means he's still progressing well and that he'll have his own space. Now mom can sit with him all day instead of an hour here or there throughout the day.

His right leg was doing a bit of moving last night. It seemed to be a reflex of having his toes touched, but any movement is good movement we think. He also was doing better with his right hand when mom asked him to squeeze hers.

He was playing catch with the nurses last night also. He would throw his squeezy ball and they would fetch it. I think he has them trained well, don't you? ;)

This morning mom said his fever was back around 101, but they are staying on top of it, so hopefully it goes back down again soon. They got all the signatures they need to get him moved, but now they have to wait on a bed, so it could be sometime today or tomorrow before he gets to leave where he is. Keep your fingers crossed that it's sooner rather than later.

More to come...

I am currently working on getting a link on here so that you can subscribe to the blog and it will send you emails when I have updated it. So stay tuned. I'm also going to work on getting a donation button on here so you can do it online as well as by check through mail or at bank.

Staph Infection :(

Mom got word this morning that Steve has Staph in his lungs. I guess there are a couple kinds of staff and what he has isn't the worst kind, but due to our family history Staph is a bad bad word. The nurses have been on top of it from the start and he's on antibiotics and they sound positive he'll get over it soon. Mom thinks as long as he doesn't get a bad fever then this won't really be too bad of a set back and he'll still get to change facilities soon.

At this point we don't know when/where of anything of that tho.

Keep praying and I'll post again soon!

Great Tuesday Update!!

I just talked to mom and Steve had a good night/morning. They did some rehab with him today. got him sitting with his feet hanging off the bed again. Also had a couple big guys pick him up so he was standing up. He needed their support, but they said just that he was willing to do that was great. Of course we all know he'd do anything :)

His doctor told mom if he keeps this up he'll be ready to move to a new facility within 2 DAYS. :)

This is really awesome!

Mom is out now trying to take care of some stuff in Calhoun and calling another possible facility for Steve. This one is in Rome. That would be really convenient for her, so maybe that will work out.

If you have more questions or need updates, email me - daisygirl@davidandstaci.com. Mom is feeling a little overwhelmed these days. I'm sure you understand!!

Memorial Day Update

Sorry it's been a few days since the last update. Here goes...

Thursday evening David and I went up to see him and he was awake, but pretty frustrated. You can tell he's ready to be better and definitely ready to be off the ventilator.

Over this holiday weekend, we got to see him a few times. He seemed to be in better spirits - had his favorite channel on every time - The Golf Channel. He's absorbing the tips from the pros so he will be ready when he gets over all of this mess :)

Seriously - he is trying very hard to communicate and gets a little frustrated when we can't figure out what he's trying to tell us. Paul is the best at figuring it out. He's very emotional, which is very normal for stroke patients. He is so happy to see all his friends and family and he shows it. He'll laugh, he'll cry. He gives us the thumbs up and the sign for I Love You. He tried to write again, but it's hard since he can't see what he's writing and b/c he is not left handed.

He is moving his right leg a little each day. He can barely barely move his right fingers sometimes. All is good progress, just slow. But we'll take it!

Unfortunately the ventilator is a must for him for a while. The doctors said that until he can swallow and cough completely normal, they have to keep the ventilator in to keep his airway open. He really hates that - as you can imagine. But, as long as he has the paralysis on his right side he is unable to swallow correctly, so things (fluids/saliva/secretions) are going into his lungs instead of his stomach. We do not want that at all. He has gotten over the pneumonia and we want to keep it that way.

On a positive note - they have a longer term solution for the ventilator and have taken it out of his mouth and put it in through his trachea. Please forgive me, I am not 100% on what to call this procedure. But it's similar to what Christopher Reeve had to help him breath. Steve is breathing almost completely on his own, but again - he needs this to keep his airway clear.

What does this really mean for him? Well, it's really a great thing. With the ventilator in the new location he can become more mobile. He is not confined to the bed beside the machine anymore. Once he gets stronger he will be able to move to a new facility that specializes in rehabilitation/therapy of stroke patients with the trachea ventilator. We do not know how long until that happens, but if things go well, we're somewhat hopeful it could be within 1-2 weeks. At this point we are not sure which facility he will go to for this, but right now I think the options are 1 - a different unit where he is now at Erlanger, 2 - Kindrid Hospital, also in Chattanooga, or 3 - the Shepherd Center in Atlanta, Ga.

On his visit tonight, mom said you could tell he was happy to have the ventilator out of his mouth. he was feeling his teeth and his mouth and even wanted kisses from Mom. So cute :)

News about the clots? Not yet. They did another MRI on him this weekend, but his regular Dr hadn't been in yet, so we have no real official word. The weekend Dr told mom basically what we all already know. Until the other Dr can review the MRI results, we won't know if the clots are any smaller or anything like that.

Thanks for bearing with me on these updates. And as usual Thank You for the Prayers!!!

5-22-08 Update

On Tuesday, Steve had to have a feeding tube put in his stomach so he could get nutrition. Because he was still having problems breathing enough and coughing on his own, they also put the ventilator back in. We were worried he wouldn't be very happy about this, but he knows they are only doing what's best. Most of Tuesday they tried to keep him relaxed and getting as much rest as possible. He really needs to gain some strength in order to be able to breath/cough properly on his own. That night was good for him, and my mom - she slept at least 8 hours without interruption. I know she needed that so much!

Yesterday - mom said that the 4 and 8:30 visits were GREAT. He was very awake, alert, and responsive. The rest was doing it's job :) The sat him up at the end of the bed so he could move his legs more. He is still doing really well with his left side. And he moved his right foot 7 times while laying in bed. So that is great progress. We also found out that his pneumonia is all gone!! That is a relief.

So far today - he is really tired in the mornings, but still responsive when talked to. He is still on the ventilator, but if all goes well, may come off in another couple days. They want to be really sure tho, so they don't have to put it back again like this time.

As you can see the power of God through prayer is amazing. Please keep it up!!!

More updates soon...

The Back Story...

I think a lot of you are aware of what is going on with my stepdad. In this post, I am going to document everything I'm aware of that has happened so far. But first let me thank everyone for praying for him and for my family.

Backstory - Steve hadn't been feeling 100% for a while. His biggest worry was some vision problems that scared him - double vision/blurred vision. So the week of 5/10 he went to the dr. He was tested for a few things and we found out then he was not diabetic, but he did have high blood pressure and started medication for that. He also did not have a thryroid problem. So Monday, 5/12 he had an MRI to see if he might have a tumor or anything and it came back clear. So that was good. Except that same day he was having major vision/eye problems and we later found out he had passed out at home while doing yard work.

Day 1 - Tuesday May 1 - I am not sure of all the details of how it happened, but Steve was rushed to the hopital in Dalton after his secretary noticed him having some problems. That morning he thought he was fine and he had been texting with David about the golf outing that weekend, but he wasn't ok. :( He had had a stroke. He was helicoptered to Erlanger in Chattanooga as they have a very very good stroke team in place there to help him. We found out that he had a blood clot in his brain stem on the left side. Due to it's location, they did not want to start him on blood thinners b/c they were afraid it might bleed into his brain - not good. So they just started him on aspirin. He had paralysis in his right side as a result of the clot. He could understand everything that was going on, but he could not really communicate to anyone else very well.

Day 2 - From what I can remember, I feel like this day was mostly the same. No worse, no better. He was very frustrated b/c he couldn't talk or move much, but they were hopeful he'd get to move to a private room soon instead of ICU.

Day 3 - He did not have a good night and early Thurs he had another stroke. There was another clot in his brain on the right side and then two more in his shoulders (i think???). The new one in his brain was a bad bad one, so they did a procedure on him to target that clot and try to dissolve it. The artery those clots are in are the size of a strand of hair. After the procedure, the dr said they got 60% of it and that possibly the rest would dissolve over the next couple days w/ the meds from the procedure. A possible risk was that the other clot would still bleed into his brain, so we prayed and hoped that wouldn't happen. They decided to try to get him to wake up after that to see how his body reacted to the increased blood flow from moving/talking. Around 8 or so that night, his doctor told my mom that he didn't expect him to make it through the night. He thought the new clot was coming back and that Steve would just slip away during the night.
Steve is a fighter and about an hour later he opened his eyes and he started moving his left arm. he responded to questions from family. It was truly amazing and one small prayer answered by God so far.

Day 4-current - Steve is such a great man. He has had so many visitors come to see him. It's so amazing. I really think this is fueling his fight. He works very hard to communicate with his visitors. He still only has use of his left arm, but will give the thumbs up, OK!, and try to do other sign language/sharades symbols to get his point across. He has moved a couple fingers on his right hand and a toe on his right foot. He can't wait to get out and get back on the golf course!! He developed pneumonia and was put on a ventilator to help with that. the paralysis caused him not to be able to swallow properly and a lot of stuff was going into his lungs. They stayed right on top of his care and although he still has pnemonia, his fever is lower and they took the ventilator out yesterday. Breathing is still very difficult for him. They are giving him meds to help relax him so he can not need to try so hard and hopefully he'll get his strength back up soon and overcome the breathing and pnemonia.

As of right now, we have no new news on the clots. That is great, but still pretty scary to me. Until I hear they are gone, or at least going away, i just don't feel like we are safe. Mom thinks they will do another scan tomorrow or Wednesday. In the meantime, the doctor is amazed at Steve's progress and they are working constantly to make sure he pulls through this.
I am so thankful that God is doing so much to get Steve on the right path. I am SO thankful for all the prayers and well wishes that so many people are saying for Steve. Prayer is a powerful thing. Please keep praying. This isn't over yet.

I will post updates on here as I get them if you want to check back.