More Good News-Stepping Up!

Yesterday I posted an update on my recovery. 

Also, I have posted a video with the information in yesterday's post and more good news from today.

Monday was also a monumental day at therapy. During physical therapy, they worked with me for most of the hour on walking without assistance. I was a little unsteady, or maybe a lot unsteady, but they had me walking pretty fast and quite a bit of distance.

Also, occupational therapy was designated to be the day that they would give me cognitive tests to see if I was ready to begin driving again. They had prepared me for this, but this was the day to take all the tests in one hour. 

It is actually a series of cognitive tests along with a speed test to make sure I can get from the gas pedal to the brake pedal and a test to see if I recognize and comprehend traffic signs. I passed all the tests with flying colors and they have approved me to begin driving.

The neurologist has the final say and they can require me to take a driving test from a professional driving instructor, The therapist does not think they will require it. She said there is no doubt my cognitive skills are at the right level.

I have begun driving some, but I have such a good chauffeur, that I do not have much need to drive. ❤️ I will hold off on driving the bus for a little bit, to make sure I feel comfortable enough to attempt it. There is no sense in doing something stupid.

That is the good news for today. We are making progress, stepping up one day at a time. Thank you so much for stopping by. 

Davy

 

35% of Normal, 1000% Better Than My Lowest

I am super glad we made the quick trip to Kentucky on Sunday but I definitely feel the effects of it.

This video has the information from this Mile Marker and Wednesday's too.

I mentioned yesterday that last Friday was an evaluation day in physical therapy and occupational therapy. They need to grade the patients once in a while to justify to the insurance the need to continue therapy or to determine if therapy is no longer needed.

Many of the things that were required, were duplicates or similar to things they tested on the first day of outpatient therapy January 19. They were happy to find that I had improved on every measurable goal. I was pretty happy myself!

Praise God!

Even though I have room for much improvement in my balance, walking, dexterity and speech; all these areas are tremendously better than before. That is a super reason for thankfulness. 🙌🏽🙌🏽

The main areas that need to improve now are the numbness that remains on my entire right side and the strength and quality of my speaking and singing voice.  

Also, even though I am able to swallow and consume enough calories to keep me going. There are many normal foods that I cannot eat yet. I am so thankful to be swallowing but I would love to be completely recovered in that area.

I really appreciate you taking time to pray about those three things especially, in addition to all the other areas. We hear from some of you regularly and we know that you are taking these things seriously in prayer and we appreciate it very much.

I am grateful for the inquiries we receive asking when we might be able to return to our regular schedule on the road. I wish I knew the answer with certainty to that question, but the reality is, there is no way that I can know. There are heaps upon heaps of things I need to do to roll that wagon.

I feel like I am about 35% of what I was when I went to bed on the bus on December 28. Yet I am 1000% better than I was when I transferred into ICU late at night on December 29. 

35% of Normal, 1000% Better Than My Lowest

35% means I am a very long way from being able to do all my duties to keep us traveling, singing and preaching. I have had so much fun the last many years that I have made it look easy, but it does not look easy from where I sit right now.😍🤣

1000% means I am incredibly and amazingly improved from where I was immediately after the stroke. I give the glory to God and the people He used to bring me to this point. Hallelujah! There is no God like our God!🙌🏽🙌🏽

That is an honest assessment of where we are right now. I am here by God’s grace and every forward step I take will be by his grace as well. I know God can pull me through IF I can stand the pulling. 

I have purposed to do my part and I have faith that God will do His part. I am working hard like all the progress depends on me and I am trusting, believing and praying like all the progress depends on God!

I have determined with the wise counsel of mentors and friends, that I am not going to rush this. When I am ready to go there still be work to do.

Thank you for traveling along with us. We need you.

Davy

A Little Dignity Goes A Long Way

Kelly and I did not take many pictures during the 18 days that we were in the hospital and inpatient rehab. Number one, we were not in a picture taking mood and number two, there was not much we wanted to remember enough to take a picture. 

In hindsight, we should have taken pictures of all the great nurses and doctors who helped us along the way. We have taken some pictures of the therapist since then and we will post them at some point in the future. 

I do have three pictures taken the day that we were discharged and happily made our way to Odie‘s home. It was my first time going to the Lazy OD Ranch since the stroke, of course.

Ready To Leave Our Room

I asked Kelly to please bring some dress clothes, dress shoes and a tie for me to wear home. She wondered why I wanted to dress up to go home and you may be wondering the same thing. It is a reasonable question. 

This was my thinking and it certainly made sense to me. I wanted to leave that place with a little dignity. There was not much dignity to be found at a hospital. There is little privacy and not much room for modesty either. 

We tried to preserve any decency and self-respect that we could, but it often proved difficult. I had no intention of wearing a hospital gown for my time there and I politely declined each time it was offered or even insisted upon. 

Plus, Kelly Jo shut the door for me when they needed to work on me and tried to retain any modesty that we could. 

We understand that doctors and nurses do the absolute best they can and we have the fullest respect for them. Human bodies become routine when you work on them every day, but my body is not routine, it is mine. 

We received nothing but kindness and thoughtfulness once we made our wishes known and I appreciate the respect that we received. However, hospitals are not designed to preserve our dignity. so we must work for it for ourselves. 😇

I wanted to go home looking and feeling a whole lot better than when I arrived 18 days before. Even though I could not button my dress shirt over the feeding tube, I wanted to put my suit and tie on while going home to try to reclaim at least a speck or two of dignity.

I have no idea what others thought about it and it’s not really that important to me. At least I felt normal, or as close to normal as I had felt for nearly three weeks. 

It seemed almost normal to feel normal  That helped a lot.

Does that make sense? I tell you often, it makes sense when I say it to myself.

Thank you for reading today.

Davy

Revisited In Pictures Healing Is A Process

It is a little unusual for me to revisit a Mile Marker that is only two weeks old, but I think I need to. Or at least I want to.

On January 26 I posted Healing Is A Process. You can follow the link above and read or re-read that post as you like.

I will not completely rewrite the whole post, but as a recap, I showed you pictures of the inside of my arm. The first picture was taken two weeks into my hospital stay. I received all those bruises and blood beneath my skin the first day in the emergency room.

Pictures after that were in one week increments showing how the arm was healing. The natural process, that God created in us was healing the wound.

I compared that to the swelling and pressure that is in my brain stem from the stroke I suffered on December 29. It is also healing, it is experiencing the healing process that God instituted in humans. I do not know the rate of healing but I know it is healing. 

I cannot take a picture as the brainstem heals but I have taken pictures each week of my arm as it heals. I draw encouragement every week from that picture, because I know my brain is healing too.

As my brain heals, we are seeing small advances in regaining use of my leg, my arm, my swallowing, my vocal cords, my eyesight. and my balance. All of these will likely continue to improve as my brain heals.

Praise God! Praise God! 

I have a long ways to go, but as my inner arm heals I am reminded, even though I cannot see it, my brain stem is healing too.

Look at these and rejoice with me.

Two weeks. 

Three weeks. 

Four weeks. 

Five weeks. 

Six weeks

As I said before, every day I believe God for an instantaneous miracle and I have received some. But also, every day, I am experiencing and trusting God‘s amazing healing process in my body.

Thank you very much for reading today.

Davy

Revival tonight

Not MY Stroke

Not MY Stroke       

I am rambling today.😍 

I suppose someone could say that this is only semantics or a different way of saying the same thing, but it is important to me. 

I intend to say this as perfectly clear as I can. I had a major brain stem stroke on December 29, 2023. It hit me incredibly hard, but it is Not MY Stroke. 

It happened to me. I do not deny that. I am not living in a dreamland of make believe. I am still dealing with the effects of it. Hundreds of times a day I am reminded I had a stroke. 

However, I refuse to take ownership of it. This brain attack with the root cause of a blood clot in my brain stem, does not belong to me.

I hope this makes sense to you. It makes sense when I say it to myself. It happened to me but it does not belong to me. It is Not MY Stroke. 

I have heard people say all my life.

My car wreck. 

My accident.        

My seizure. 

My disease. 

My depression.

My cancer.  

My heart attack. 

My surgery. 

My stroke. 

I have obviously never corrected anyone who said that and I have no intention of scolding anyone now. But I have always flinched a little bit inside when I have heard it.

I understand what they are saying and like I said at the beginning, it is probably all a matter of using different words, but these things do not belong to me. Even though this crisis is a part of my life for this short space, I am not going to embrace it as my own.      

The stroke I suffered has consumed almost six weeks of my life and has the potential to consume many more weeks or months of my life. It has been all consuming for my wife, my daughter and even some of my family and friends.

That is enough. No more. I am not going to own this thing the rest of my days. No, no and no. And No again. 

I refuse to let a situation, no matter how severe, consume my life forever. Eventually, it must fade into the past and become an event that may have been a dominant part of life but does not rule me any longer. 

Even if I deal with the effects of the stroke for a while down the road. I will not be, I refuse to be defined by the stroke. It does not belong to me, it does not own me and I do not own it. It is Not MY Stroke. 

This whole thing belongs to my enemy. He wants me to have it. He wants me to take ownership of it. He wants to control my life forever with a past event. But I refuse. 

It may affect me. It may slow me. It may delay me. But I am putting your junk back in your hands, slewfoot as quick as I can. The LORD rebuke you. 

It is Not MY Stroke. 

Yes, this may be semantics, just words that you and I use differently, but I believe there is value and perhaps even victory in refusing to take ownership of the things that the enemy of our soul has brought into our lives.       

I am very interested in hearing what you think about this. Thank you for reading today. 

Davy

A Little Update

On December 29, the day I had the stroke, we were preparing to leave that evening for our first revival of the year. We were planning to drive to Tennessee that night, drop the bus in Vonore and drive the Jeep back to London for revival.

One of the things on the agenda that afternoon before leaving was emptying the holding tanks on the bus. The black tank was full. Obviously, that got put off a while. But after a couple weeks at home I remembered that it needed to be done.

Last Thursday was about 50° so Kelly’s dad and my dad came over and we accomplished the task. I did not do any work, I just kind of oversaw the work.

However, it was a milestone day because it was the first day that I have been down to the barn since December 29.  Kelly drove me down and I unloaded onto the concrete into the barn with my walker.

Kelly Jo cranked the bus, backed it out and they emptied the holding tanks. Then she backed up the driveway and pulled into the barn and they hooked the up electric.

As we were preparing to leave the barn I wondered if maybe I could climb the steps into the bus. I knew there was no way I could have done it even a week ago but I thought I would like to try it.

Against the advice of some of those or maybe all of those standing around, I tried it. There is a good handhold in the doorway and I easily climbed the four steps up into the bus.

It felt really good to be back home, but then I had to get out some way. That was a little different story. It seems that going down the steps for me is a whole lot harder than going up.

With a little coaching and a little effort, I made it down slowly and safely. I was thrilled that I had been able to climb up into the bus and I am looking forward to climbing those steps regularly in the future.

Friday the physical therapist worked me like a borrowed mule again. She is really trying to help me gain my balance and know what to do with all this numbness.

Between Thursday’s adventure to the bus and barn and Friday’s therapy, my thighs and calves have been hurting all weekend. I reckon that’s a good thing because it means I am working toward the goal.

I want to say thank you again to all of you who are praying for us and holding us up before God. I know he is hearing, paying attention and working.

We are looking for more good things in the future.  Thank you for reading today.

Davy

He Is Still God

Hey Friends,

Odie here with a post for the final Saturday of January. One month ago, our plans changed in an instant. God has been with us every day! I am still thankful that we can lean on God.

Almost two weeks ago, Dad graduated from the hospital/ rehab to my home. We stepped into the next stage in his stroke recovery process. These are some of the facts that Dad talked about this week here on the blog.

Mom and I doing our best to assist Dad in his recovery. He still has a long road ahead, but He is working hard! God will see us through it all! 

We are continuing to rejoice in every bit of forward progress! I praise the Lord every time I see him drink some water! God is a miracle worker! He is helping Dad every day. Here is another step in the miracle that happened this week. We are keeping the faith!

Thank you to many who have let us know you are still praying! Here are a few things to pray about specifically: for the swallowing to fully function, the numbness of his right side to go away, including his right vocal cord, the dizziness to completely subside and good rest. I know there are lots of other areas, but that is what I am praying for right now.

I will close with one of my favorite songs. My parents wrote this song several years ago. I keep thinking of the words in the last four weeks. It describes our current path.

I do not see the purpose and plan behind this season of life! But I must remember that He is God and we are just human! Today, I am saying, Lord, You are God! I trust you to see us through this day!

Thank you for stopping by for a visit!

Odie

Facts And Faith

These are the facts.

Death

Strokes in the area of the brain where the stroke hit me are over 70% fatal. The fact is God blessed me to keep me alive from that very first moment.

Swallow

It is very common to have trouble swallowing after a stroke but uncommon to not be able to swallow at all. I could not get anything down at all for over two weeks. I was told after two weeks that I was very likely looking at 90 days of intensive therapy in order to regain any swallow.

Then it happened. On the 17th day, I was able to swallow water. I was and I am incredibly thankful. The therapists worked. I worked. God worked!

Each swallow is still an effort and I am struggling to swallow different textures so that I can eat, but I am so thankful I can drink water, even though it takes a little extra effort.

At the initial moment of the stroke, when I realized I could not swallow, my thought was, How in the world can I not swallow?

14 days later the overwhelming thought in my mind was, How had I ever swallowed freely? I knew I could, but I could not figure out how to do it. The fact is God gave me a miracle!

Voice, Singing and Preaching

The fact is, my voice is very affected from the stroke. The same nerves, muscles and other parts of my throat that affect my swallowing, also affect my speaking and singing voice. 

Those of you who know me, know that I have used my voice to sing and preach the gospel and make our living most of my adult life. The fact is that would be utterly impossible at the moment. 

However, we do not believe that must remain impossible. They have given me a full retinue of vocal exercises and I am trying to be diligent to regain the ability to sing again. We know that God is able!

Numbness

Also, it is a fact that my whole right side is greatly affected. It is completely numb like it is asleep. Thankfully I have strength on both sides and that is definitely a plus. 

Therapists are working diligently to teach me to have balance, walk, and to help me have manual dexterity in my right hand. I do have a long ways to go and at times it looks impossible, yet we believe God.

Eyes

The fact is my eyes are partially affected and even though I seem to see well, I am extremely dizzy at almost every movement. The therapist is also working on that and I am practicing every day and believing God to change that fact as well.

Faith

These facts could be emotionally paralyzing but we believe in a God who He is able to do the impossible. Faith in God can overwhelm and change facts. 

That is why we are praising God for the obvious miracles and making the facts known to all of you that believe in God by faith. We believe in him, we have faith in our God who eats the impossible for breakfast!

Please continue praying and believing and there is no telling what God will do.

Davy

Steve And Karen Boggs

We are working through things and working around things one item at a time around here. One of the things we are working around today is typing. I have typed hundreds of words each day for many, many years. That becomes a problem when I am now typing about 2.5 words per minute. 😍 There are not enough minutes in the day nor enough mental capacity in my little brain for that.

So, I will try speaking to text. Maybe Odie can insert and format the text into the blog and go through the process of posting. Let’s see how it goes.

We have had so many friends and family draw near to us in the last three weeks. There were so many calls, texts, and emails offering to come, to buy, to do absolutely anything that could be done. 

Many family members that are near us here in Ohio, have done so much for us, from bringing food to finding clothes and other things we needed. It has been amazing. Standing tall among those that stood up are these two special people I am mentioning today.

Steve and Karen Boggs

My brother Steve and my sister Karen were in Ohio visiting family for Christmas when the stroke hit me. In fact, Steve and I were loading PA equipment into the bus, visiting and spending time together. I am very thankful that he was here with us praying, thinking and acting.

Steve and Karen were scheduled to go home in a couple days but stayed nearly three weeks, being everything we needed anyone to be. They brought food, drinks, clothes and support at each and every opportunity. They sat for many hours and many days in the hospital just to be near. There were several days I was not able to see them, but they were there. They did whatever needed to be done for us or for Odie at the barn, at the house, or at the hospital.

Dozens of friends have expressed a willingness to come to us from day one, but there was really nothing that any of you could do for us. We appreciate the willingness and we know you would have sat there and waited on us, but we already felt guilty enough that Steve and Karen would not go home.😇

Let me assure you anything you could have done, could have brought, could have provided was well covered by the selflessness of my dear brother and my dear sister. Steve and Karen were the arms, legs and feet of all of your compassion, tenderness and provision.

They did absolutely everything that any of you have wanted to do for us and they did it well. They represented God’s people and our family, and they represented you completely. 

They neglected the things that they needed to do and stayed with us for days and days, but not for any type of recognition. They did it because of love, and we felt it and feel it now. 

But I want to recognize love and loyalty like that. They would say they made no sacrifice, but I have seen too much to agree. So, Kelly and I salute these great people, Steve and Karen Boggs as heroes in this momentary tragedy of life.

Please join us in thanking and appreciating these tremendous people.

Davy

Feeding Tube, Fear and Faith

Hey Friends, 

This is Odie reporting in with an update on my Dad. We are glad to have him home from the hospital and rehab. Mom is working hard, giving him the best care she can provide. I am trying to assist her wherever I can. 

We had a bit of a scare overnight and into Wednesday with Dad’s feeding tube. It was doing weird things, and we were not sure what the problem was exactly. All we know is it is so easy to become fearful.

We were able to get an appointment with the surgeon who inserted the tube over two weeks ago, and Mom and Dad drove to Hamilton Wednesday morning.

There is a little infection and the tube was a little out of place, but after looking it over he assured Mom and Dad that everything was okay. Dad has now started a little antibiotics through the feeding tube for the infection, and we are hoping for smooth sailing from here on out.

The feeding tube must remain in for at least six weeks whether it is being used or not. Hopefully, it will spend the last few weeks with no use at all.

Of course, that is being optimistic because it is the only source of nourishment at the moment. We are hoping and praying for a complete miracle soon.

Thank you for your continued prayers and concern for Dad and our family! Today, pray for things the infection to go away and the tube feeding to go well. Keep praying for his full swallowing capabilities to return!

Our faith is in the sovereign God! We are holding to the words we have sung thousands of times. Many people have reminded us of this line by text, comment, card or email. He may not come when you want Him, but He'll be there right on time. God is still an On Time God!

Thanks for stopping by to check on us!

Odie

Moving To The Next Stage

 First, we are now at Odie‘s house. After 18 days in the hospital and 11 days in rehab, we left the hospital and arrived at Odie‘s at about 4 PM Monday afternoon. It will take a few days to get settled in here. It looks like a hurricane hit a medical device company/thrift store. We are so thankful that Odie has made this available to us.

For the last 18 days, Davy has not been using his phone. He actually has little desire to see it because of dizziness and challenges with his right hand. However, the amazing encouragement we have received from hundreds of texts, emails and voicemails has been God-given. That means the one-way communication from you has been and will continue to be invaluable to us. The time and energy you have invested in praying for us and for purposely encouraging us during this time, has lifted us much higher than we ever dreamed we could be at this point. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Now that we have shifted home, our focus will shift to going back to the rehab for outpatient therapy and to continue to get back to life as we have known it, if that is possible. Of course, we know with God, all things are possible. Events are piling up quicker than we can relay them to you and there are so many things that God has done but on some days it’s hard enough to live and move and do what’s required of us, we are having a hard time keeping you updated, especially personally updated.

Davy’s phone has been silent for 18 days and will probably continue to be as he tries to acclimate to life at home and face the challenges of climbing back up. He simply does not have the strength, stamina or emotional clarity to communicate with everyone one on one. 

Thank you very much for understanding. Please keep reaching out. Kelly and Odie will keep trying to update you. Odie will try to update Mile Markers each day with as much information as we can.

Thank you for praying and we believe God.

Davy

1/15 Monday Davy Update

Hey Friends,

This Is Odie here with the Monday report on my Dad. We are continuing to rejoice over Dad's Swallow And Praise from yesterday!

God is a miracle worker! He is healing my Dad one day at a time! Words can not explain my gratitude and praise for our magnificent Lord!

Please share this video with anyone you know who has been praying for our family! We want the world to see a miracle in action!

If all goes well, Dad will complete his in-patient therapy today. He should be home by this evening,

I will let Dad tell you about his current condition later, once he is home. He still has a long way to go to a full recovery. The rest of Dad's miracle is on the way! We will keep praying, trusting, believing and praising!

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your prayers! The many comments on the blog and YouTube, texts calls. emails and cards of encouragement have brightened our days! We love our family and friends dearly!

Odie

Swallow And Praise! Davy Update 1/14

Hey Friends, 

This is Odie reporting for this Sunday's post. Yesterday was a two post kind of day. Check both of them out here and here if you missed seeing them. 

They are both worth reading! The morning post was about our precious friend Dorcas in Nigeria. The second one was a Saturday Evening Post. It was an encouraging update from my mother about Dad. We praise God for each movement of forward progress in Dad's recovery.

I was getting ready for church this morning when I received a YouTube notification on my phone. Dad posted a video from the hospital. I immediately opened the video! This is what my eyes and heart saw!

I had a little church right here in my bedroom! He's An On Time God, even on a frigid January day!

Then I had to share the good news with you! Please keep praying for a  complete miracle! God is at work. I know the family of God has been going to war on our behalf! We are so thankful for the grace of God in the last 16 days!

Odie

A Little Good News And A Lot Of Praise!

Hey Friends,

This is Odie checking in for a quick minute. This is the second blog post for Saturday. Pleases Click here to read the first post about my dear Nigerian sister Dorcas.

Now, I have a rare treat for the second post of the day. Mom sent me an update on Dad to share. We rarely get to read a post from the mouth of the Kelly Jo Boggs! Take it away, Mom!😇

We have good news that we would like to share with you. You have been praying with us that Davy would regain the function of swallowing. He has had no food or drink in over two weeks now. He has been nourishing from a feeding tube in his stomach for about 10 days, but trust me that is not the same.

He has had speech therapy several times, probably 15 sessions. The therapists have been working diligently to help him retrain his muscles and regain swallowing. It has been slow going, and frankly, discouraging at times. The therapists have been very encouraging and we praise God for each one of them.

Although he is not having a functional swallow,  He has been getting down a drop of water every now and then during therapy. Friday, he was given a barium swallow test. They give you barium to swallow while they x-ray you from the side.
It took him several tries, but he did get a little barium down. Then the therapist put some barium in some applesauce, and he eventually got two small bites of that down. That’s good news, but even better news,  none of it went into his airway. Even when he cannot get it all down in a swallow, it is not going to the wrong place.

The therapist says that shows that he’s getting some mechanics right. We just need to keep training those muscles until they get it.   
 He may be days away, he may be months away, but at least he is on the way. Although he cannot drink, and he cannot eat, he is encouraged. 

Thank you for holding us up in prayer. God will do miracles in response to sincere fervent prayer. We look forward to giving you more good news in the future.

Kelly Jo

1/12 Friday Davy Update, Family and Birthdays

Hey Friends,

This is Odie checking in for this Friday's post. Here is the latest update on my Dad. He continues to work hard on the road to recovery!

Davy Update

Dad has now finished 7 days of inpatient rehab. He has 4 more days to go. The therapists say he is making great strides, but it is honestly hard for him to see the progress himself. Mom can see his coordination improving.

There was an interesting facet to rehab Thursday. They had Mom bring the green machine to the outside door and he loaded in several times using the walker and using the wheelchair. He really did good with that. The Jeep seat is a little higher; they said they will try that later as well.

I pray he keeps gaining ground each day. He is giving it his all! I can tell he is tired. I also see he is getting stronger. Thank God for daily strength!

Most days, I only get to see him for a little bit. This week, I was able to hug him. That was one of the best things I have felt in a long time! I love my Dad so much!

Family Time

I spent several hours with Gran, Papaw, Uncle Steve and Aunt Karen yesterday! The extra family time is an added blessing for me in the last two weeks.

My family members are lifesavers for me. I have not worried about food, rides, and whatever I need!. I am so thankful for all of our family!

Happy Birthday, Gran

We have a big birthday today in our family. I could not let this day pass without a bit of fanfare for my Grandmother.

Happy 75th birthday, Gran! We love you so much! You are a wonderful Mother and Grandmother! We feel blessed to call you Mom and Gran!

Some of the family had planned a surprise party for her last weekend. From the beginning of the planning, I knew that we would not be home for the party.

Well, things changed. We were home, but we were at the hospital all day. Thanks to our Morgan family for understanding why we could not be there to celebrate in person!

Below is a picture my cousin sent me from the party. They were all able to pull off the surprise and treat Gran for her birthday. It looks like they had a great party!

I am incredibly proud of the family for not spilling the beans! That was quite the task for a few members of the family! Gran is hard to surprise.

Thanks for stopping by to visit with us! See you tomorrow!
Odie

1/11 Thursday Davy Update And Preparation

Hey Friends,

This is Odie reporting with the 1/11 Thursday Davy Update. Yesterday was a day full of activity. It was preparation day at the beach cottage. 

I have opened my home to my parents for my Dad's home recovery process. I am happy to share my beach cottage with them for as long as they need to stay! God blessed me with an accessible home. Now, I can share my blessing with them.

Aunt Karen and Uncle Steve have been our rocks during the last 13 days! I can not begin to adequately thank them for all they have done to make this as easy for us as they can. 

They organized everything to get my home ready for Dad's arrival. Things were set in place yesterday here at home for his pending release from rehab. 

Yesterday afternoon, the rehab told us that Dad will have therapy all day Monday. Then, he will be sent home that evening, ready or not. It is an insurance decision, and we knew that was a possibility.

Steve and Karen, with the help of one of Dad's nephews, Luke Osborn, Cousin Lisa Isaacs, and the Stansell family from our church at Dryden Road, set up a bed In my second bedroom for my parents to use. They also fetched the recliner from Dad's study upstairs.

We had them bring Dad's exercise bike from upstairs into the garage. I pray Dad will soon feel up to riding his bike again. He loves riding the bike!

Here are a few pictures I snapped during the excitement yesterday. I have not been in much of a picture-taking mood since most of the time we have been at the hospital/ rehab.

Also, Lisa helped me get my desk into my room on Tuesday evening. She also came Wednesday morning to help me give the office an extra cleaning. It was time to officially make it a bedroom for my parents.

Tim and Luke finished clearing the room. 

 

Bringing in the bed for the new bedroom setup. 

Thank you to Steve and Karen for allowing us to use a bed they own.

Getting the bed in place.

Ready for Mom and Dad.

This is my 21 year old "little" cousin  Luke. Thanks, Bucko, for using part of your day to help us! He will head back to Kentucky for college this weekend. I am going to miss him!

What would we do without Lisa and Karen? I do not want to know the answer to that question. They are extraordinary ladies! We are privileged to have them in our lives!

The helpful crew, Luke, Tim, Rick and Stephanie.

This is Uncle Steve and Rick taking a break after the work was finished. 

So thankful for my precious friend Stephanie. She is always there to help me! 

I feel much more at ease knowing that we are prepared. It was good to spend some time with my family. We worked, laughed, and we prayed for a miracle!

Thanks for stopping by to visit with me today. Please keep the prayers going! God is hearing each prayer! See you tomorrow.

Odie