Tuesday Update For Ben

Pray does work! Last night Marla and I had a crying party and prayed our souls out together. I told God that I was handing Ben over to him and I asked him to start to heal Ben and show us some sign of a miracle today. My friend Linda came by and picked Marla and me up this morning and drove us down to the hospital. Ben was asleep when we first came in but he opened his eyes and tried to talk and we could actually make out a few raspy words even with the trach in his neck. I told him I loved him and he "croaked" I love you too. I said thank you and he "croaked" you're welcome. He had a slight fever of 100.3° and was very sweaty. They tried the breathing trial on him today, but he failed, but other than that, his vitals were really good, the swelling in his arms and hands was just about gone. He legs were still a little swollen but not as much as before. His belly is still big, but it actually did look a little smaller today. He was also too tired for the physical therapist when they came in, but once we all came into his room and started talking to him and helping him do his exercising, he was wide awake and more alert that we've seen him in several days. He was looking all around his room at all of the machines and looking at all of us. He was not able to help a lot with his exercising, but he did help a little. The nurse said his cultures for C.Diff have been coming back negative, so that's good. When I was exercising his joints and muscles, my friend Marla put lotion on his feet, legs, hands and arms. They are now giving Ben lipids through his IV for nutrition. Ben gave us several big smiles today and made goo goo eyes at us several times. They got his fever down in the afternoon with Tylenol. His brother Lanny came by and he and I spoke with the doctor who is on Ben's case right now. Lanny was reminding Ben about his colonoscopy and his visits to the ER and then his surgery and Ben was nodding all the time like he understood. Then Lanny said some name that was from their childhood and Ben gave him a great big smile and nodded so he is remember way back now. I took another photo of him which I will post her. He gave me a smile when I took it. I also took a short video of him with my phone but when I transferred it to my computer, there was no sound. I'm going to try to take one tomorrow with my regular camcorder if he's as alert as he was today. We were going to drive by that other Trach Care Unit this afternoon, but decided to just come home and Linda, Marla and I went for a nice walk around the lake over in Bridgeport. I hope this progress with Ben continues now. Please continue your prayers for him.