Prayer Thread for Jwil!

[blazer]

Please pray for Jwil and his son, Mitchell! They need a touch from God right now!
http://forums.hannity.com/showthread.php?p=45104751#post45104751

[blazer]

My youngest 17 year old son has suffered an accidental gun shot wound to the head. I am posting this from Hunstville Hospital ICU waithing room. The foklks are very nice here. he was transfered here from a smaller hospital. He has undergone brain surgery and all they will tell us at this point is that things are not looking good, and that if he does survive there is certainly severe brain damage. The good part is the bullet only passed through about 1/3 to 1/2 of his brain but there is damage.

It doesn't get any worse than this my friends. THis is the worst life has to offer. He was with friends and there was a firarm is all we really know. The cops say there is now foul play and I have spoken to the boys present. Yall I'm sorry I can't talk about it right now.

Please pray for Mitchell, things are not looking good for him.

God bless,

Jeff
__________________
I'd rather die while I'm living than live while I'm dead

[free2B]

prayers reach out to the ears of God:pray: may Mitchell be touched with the healing power of Jesus

[Mimiheart]

Prayers heading that way. Can't really say much more.

[birdonawire]

Blaze you beat me to it.
This is so awful my heart is so breaking for all involved. :((

[Meriweather]

Prayers for Mitchell, his family, and everyone involved in his care.

[CID_0687]

:pray:

[blazer]

Me too! Jwil is such a loving, Christian man! he always prays for all of us! God, please touch Mitchell's body, if it be your will and heal him oh father! please comfort this family with your amazing love!

[Tim]

I hurt for Jeff. He has been a real friend to me on these forums... one with whom I feel a kindred spirit.

My heart and thoughts are with you, my friend!

[blazer]

bump!

[CMike11]

I am really sorry.

:pray::pray:

[RayMan]

Jeff,
So very sorry about this. Praying for you and yours.

[Hadassah]

Praying!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Meriweather]

Our thoughts and prayers are still with Mitchell and Jeff.

[Dancer]

:pray:

[blazer]

Thank you all for praying! :hug:

[crystalclear]

I can't imagine your pain Jeff! I'm Praying for you!

[Hadassah]

Update from jwil:



Yes Goose thank you very much. Look bro, when all this is over, My sig line is your for a month

I do not have much to update. We did see Mitch a little bit ago and there is really no change. The fact that he is alive and has stable vitals is a direct result of God's grace. There are a detail or two that needs specialized prayer

1. - The danger is his brain swelling. We need to control that. The latest CT scan was this moring after the surgery, which of course looked better than the one before the durgery. There is like a white line on the CT that seperates the 2 sides of the brain from what I understand. That line was invisible before the surgery but not now. I think that is good but I dunno.

2. - This mornng early Mitch resonded to a comands like like telling him to thumbs up. That isn't happening anymore, probably an indication of brain swelling. We need that to happen to know his brain is still alive. He has resonded to some pain stimuli this afternoon which is good I hope. I might be repeating myself but I really cant think clearly right now yall. I want to add here that if you folks are not praying people then thoughts and vibes our way help too.

3 - This hospital has a big huge waiting room which combines all the patients families from all the different ICUS. They are great here, passing our blankets and pillows, drinks, and that sort of stuff . I met one guy in particular last night that has struck my heart. His 19 year old daughter was in an auto accident 8 days ago and until today had no brain function at all. He told me a little while ago that he had prayed that God forgive him today. Today his daughter is responding to commands and ven opened her eyes. There are many like him here, hearts broken beyond repair, people that don't have a relationship with God to fall back on. This particular guy and I are going to have a talk after everyone settles down in here. Every time you pray for Mitchell I ask that you also pray for his daughter Sarah. Also, please pray that the non-belivers in this room will see Christ through me. God often uses tradegy to call people to himself.

I will update more later. Another woman is wanting this computer I think.

God bless you all, I cannot even begin to say how much I am humbles by this reaction today. I have never ever brought anything to this board that would warrant two stickys about Mitch, but I will take it cause he needs the prayer. I am also feeling like a failure as a parent, which wikll not help anything right now but I cannot help it.

Please pray and send us you good vibes and thoughts. I cannot get this machine to copy and paste so would someone please paste this update in the WP sticky

God bless you all, I love you more than you will ever know

[orbitaldecay]

My prayers are also with you.

[blazer]

Yes, keep praying! Our God is good!

[blazer]

A Miracle in Me!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zww4kTv1sUE&feature=related

[blazer]

Four Days Late!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTLl7C77gSc&feature=related

[Hadassah]

latest update:


Good morning.

We just saw ther Nero docs. They say he is about the same, which is good. At this point they are still just trying to keep him alive so they cannot tell us much about his chances of recovering. With each passing day those chances increase. We'll take it and prasie God for it.

Thank you all so much. I cannot answer everyone here or all the PMs right now but I will get around to it. I am drawing strength from readin all this, thank you so much.

My wife and I got about 5 hours sleep last night and that is good. Our family and Church family are all here with us. The body of Christ is a wondefull thing

Thank you all, I love you. Don't let up yet

Someone please paste this in the WP sticky. These are the weirdest computers I have ever seen. No games or c & p.

Thank you and I love you

[Koushi Shinigami]

God bless.

[Snagglepuss]

You and your family have my prayers and good wishes Jeff.

[blazer]

Still praying! :hug: Glad u got the sleep!

[Dancer]

Bumping jwil's prayer thread. We are still praying for you, Mitch, and Sarah!

[blazer]

Yes, bump for the prayers of the saints!

[Meriweather]

Prayers continue.

[blazer]

Ty for being here! :hug:

[ralittlefield]

My youngest 17 year old son has suffered an accidental gun shot wound to the head. I am posting this from Hunstville Hospital ICU waithing room. The foklks are very nice here. he was transfered here from a smaller hospital. He has undergone brain surgery and all they will tell us at this point is that things are not looking good, and that if he does survive there is certainly severe brain damage. The good part is the bullet only passed through about 1/3 to 1/2 of his brain but there is damage.

It doesn't get any worse than this my friends. THis is the worst life has to offer. He was with friends and there was a firarm is all we really know. The cops say there is now foul play and I have spoken to the boys present. Yall I'm sorry I can't talk about it right now.

Please pray for Mitchell, things are not looking good for him.

God bless,

Jeff
__________________
I'd rather die while I'm living than live while I'm dead

This is heartbreaking beyond words.


The family will be in my prayers.

[blazer]

Ty, :hug:

[blazer]

Jeff, could you please pm me the name of the hospital,and address and the room number of your son and his full name? Ty so much!
__________________

[Semi-Sweet]

:pray:

[Meriweather]

O God, the strength of the weak and the comfort of sufferers: Mercifully accept our prayers, and grant to Mitchell the help of your power, that his injury may be turned into health, and our sorrow into joy. Amen.

[CID_0687]

:pray:

[Meriweather]

I pray all will be well during the night.

[Hadassah]

latest update:


I am humbled and overwhelmed about this outpouring of love and support. Aagin, I am limited on time here so I cannot respond to everyone. I have read every post though and drawn great strength from that. I don't have the words to thank you. Gosh I just don't know what to say. MY new home is Huntsville Hospital ICU waiting room in Huntsville Alabama and I have come to terms with that. My house and all my stuff don't matter anymore.

No change in Mitch's condition. I have been told that 48 hours in a milestone and we are right now about 50 hours out from the accident. I will also get around to posting about what actually happened but right now that does not matter. We got some weak responce toady from Mitch, a hand squeeze or two and my wife said he tried to open his eyes once but I dunno. WE are really looking for something positive and it is really easy to see things that are not there sometimes.We'll take it and praise God for it though. This is a critical time for the brain swelling. I saw one of the Trauma docs earlier that is handeling Mitch's respirator or venilator or whatever you call it. he says Mitch's chances of survival are increasing, we'll take it. The NICU RN assigned to Mitch on this shilft says she thinks he is doing as well as he can at this point. he has a little fever tonight and she is treating that. We don't want any fever, that's bad, but she say 102+ is not all that alarming unless the tylenol don't decrease it then she will have to wrap him in ice if it goes any higher. I do not want that. When I am done here I am going to call her and check on the fever. We will see his neuro surgeon about 6 am. They say he can hear us so we are constantly talking to him when we get to visit. MY dumb ass promised him a new car That's really all I know. I beg you to keep praying for Mitch, I am forever gratefull and I love you guys. Please someone paste this in the other thread for me, no right click on this mouse.

I also feel pretty stupid about something. I got the mane mixed up and it is Brittney and not Sarah. Sarah is a different patient but she is doing good now. God knows though, the names don't matter

One more thing that someone mentioned earlier. Mitchell's best friend Stephen watch this happen real time. he was sitting in front of mitch when it happened. he is having a really hard time. many of Mitch's friends were all here for the 4:30 visit time today. I made em all go in and look. Stephen is crushed and he is blaming himself because he didn't stop it. I keep telling him it not his fault, his heart is broken in two, please pray for Stephen and his girlfriend Britt who watched this happen.

I'm soory yall but there is no spell check on this machine.

God bless and I love you all. I am going to pray over the other OO threads, call the NICU, and try to get some sleep. I will not have time to post in the other threads but know I am praying for you guys .

Jeff

[Hadassah]

God in heaven, be merciful. Hear our prayers for Mitchell and his family and friends, especially to the ones who witnessed this. Bring them comfort, peace, grace and mercy, and above all, the ability to forgive themselves, because You know, Lord, how we tend to blame ourselves even when things were not our fault.



Also, we pray for Brittney. Comfort her family and friends as well. Bring healing and wholeness to her body and mind.


Give wisdom and compassion to the doctors and nurses. Let them be instruments of Your Healing. This we pray, in Jesus Name. Amen.

[Dual867PowerMac]

http://img114.imageshack.us/img114/3079/signofcrossda0.gif (http://imageshack.us) for everyone.

[blazer]

Ty all for posting and praying! Love and prayers!

[CID_0687]

Bump for prayers

[FoxGranadaChuck]

Kyrie eleison. Christe eleison.

:pray: :pray: :pray:

[birdonawire]

I have not stopped praying and or crying since he first posted this and I cant and wont stop. :pray:

[Meriweather]

Amen.

[Hadassah]

Latest update, posted just before 10am, EST:




The Doc said there is really no change, which is good. The longer he lives the more time he has to heal. I praise God. The doc wsants us to keep trying to get reactions from him and see if we can get bhim to respond to commands. please pray for that today and the brain swelling. The nurse from last shift said they got his temp down last night so that is good. I really cannot report much else.

I cannot youtube on this machine but I wish you would all go listen to a song by Don Henley called New York Minute. I know most of you have heard it. As you listen let it sink in. Think about the fact that instead of celebrating Christmas with your family you could be in some hospital ICU with someone you love. Never ever think it can't happen to you. It might not be a gunshot but it could be a car wreck or stroke or anything. Even for the faithfull God does not promise us tommorrow. Something good has to come from this and if you all will learn that lesson this Christmas it will help me to go on through the holidays. Trust me, your house and all your stuff is not that important.

I gotta run, some of my Church family just came in. The Body of Christ is a wonderfull thing. if I think I need something they are here with it before I am sure I need it.

I really really need yall to keep praying.

I will check in later, I love you guys. Someone please put this in the Wp thread for me.

Jeff


Continuing to pray.

[blazer]

Yes, continuing in prayer! Ty Hadassah :hug:

[blazer]

bump for prayers!

[blazer]

continuing to pray!

[birdonawire]

continuing to pray!

Me too. :pray:

[blazer]

An Update just now from JWil.
-----------------------------------

Just a short update cause I have to get some sleep, we see the head surgeon in 5 hours.

Mitchell answered commands several times today. The day shift nurse got him to stick his thumb up three times and open one eye. This is more than we have gotten since early Sunday morning. I think this is God and Mitch's way if saying "hey I am still with you and doing the best I can, just hang with me". This is good news, actually better than good. Later this evening he also opened one eye and it looked like his eye was moving around trying to follow one of his buddies that was here.

This is good yall. WE are still not out of the woods but thsi is progress. baby steps are good. Please keep praying, I will get into more detail tommorrow.

Thank you and I love you all. Someone please put this in the WP thread

[Hadassah]

I am crying with joy. My heart is on its knees in thankfulness.

[Meriweather]

Praying his progress continues. This is indeed comforting news.

[Meriweather]

Remembering Mitchell and his family this day.

[blazer]

praying!

[blazer]

The crowd was great, but she knew she had to reach Him.
It was her last hope of ever being healed.
So she pressed through, until she touched His garment.
Right then and there, her miracle was fulfilled.

Have you prayed and prayed, but still you've heard no answer.
Has your faith grown weak and you feel you're all alone.
Don't give up, for the God I serve won't leave you.
You'll get your miracle if you'll just keep pressing on.

There's a miracle, in the making.
One just for you the Father is working even now.
Your prayers have been heard and the answer on the way.
There's a miracle in the making for you today.

Your prayers have been heard and the answer on the way.
There's a miracle in the making for you today.

Back to the Home Page

© 2005-2007 Christian Originals™

[blazer]

Hey hey my dear friends. You guys are the greatest. I see all the sig lines and stuff so heres the result of your goodness: This is our best day so far. I ran home to shower and change clothes and was really not expecting to miss our 4:30 visit with Mitch. Our lives revolve around those 4 daily visits. MY time plan was right to get back, but I didn't expect the driving rain and 30 mph wind. I was about 20 minutes late. They kept the NICU unit door open late so I could see how responsive Mitch was. he is trying to open his eyes, both of them and holding his thumb up a little. I asked Stacy (the RN) if that was just maybe an involuntary reaction to something like brain injured folks do. She said no that it is Him. Praise God, we will take this baby step. I'm starting to think he is still with us. I gotta go for now cause I am going to have a talk with Gary (Brittney's dad). God is knock knock knocking on Garys heart. I don't have words to express how much you guys mean to me. Please please keep this going. God bless you and I love you.

I will check back a little later
__________________
I'd rather die while I'm living than live while I'm dead

[Hadassah]

Blazer just posted the latest from jwil!







God is so good!!!!!!

[mgifford]

Hey hey my dear friends. You guys are the greatest. I see all the sig lines and stuff so heres the result of your goodness: This is our best day so far. I ran home to shower and change clothes and was really not expecting to miss our 4:30 visit with Mitch. Our lives revolve around those 4 daily visits. MY time plan was right to get back, but I didn't expect the driving rain and 30 mph wind. I was about 20 minutes late. They kept the NICU unit door open late so I could see how responsive Mitch was. he is trying to open his eyes, both of them and holding his thumb up a little. I asked Stacy (the RN) if that was just maybe an involuntary reaction to something like brain injured folks do. She said no that it is Him. Praise God, we will take this baby step. I'm starting to think he is still with us. I gotta go for now cause I am going to have a talk with Gary (Brittney's dad). God is knock knock knocking on Garys heart. I don't have words to express how much you guys mean to me. Please please keep this going. God bless you and I love you.

I will check back a little later
__________________
I'd rather die while I'm living than live while I'm dead


God offered and Jesus paid the price years ago. The same one who laid the foundations of the world has also healed us. God will not let it be any other way but to give Mitch absolute and perfect healing.

"By His Stripes Ye Are Healed". There is a stripe upon the back of Jesus for every sickness, that makes sure that we're healed even when the doctors say there's no hope.

"Now Faith Is The Substance Of Things Hoped For, The Evidence Of Things Not Seen".

The Woman With The Issue Of Blood For Twelve Years said "If I can But Touch The Hem Of His Garment, I Know I'll Be Made Whole".

"If Thou Canst Believe, All Things Are Possible To Them That Believe".

1 Peter 2:24
Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.

[blazer]

Still praying! :hug:

[blazer]

Thinking of you and praying!

[blazer]

UPDATE FROM JWIL
I'm a little disheartened this morning. The neuro doc says there is no chnage in Mitch, even after we told him about all the responce yesterday. That is about all they are telling us. I wish I had more to report. This is like an emotional roller coaster. I am sure the ones of you who have been through this know what I am saying. I thought we hade a great day yesterday, maybe not.

I have snapped a couple photos of Mitch in his current condition but cannot post them from this machine. I might try to e-mail them to someone to post for me. It isn't pretty but it will give you guys something to pray over. Maybe it will also shock people to the point of holding on tight to the ones they love. If yall will do that on this Christmas Day it will make me fell a whole lot better. LIfe is fragile and you are not promised tommorrow. IT don't have to be a gun shot, it could be a car wreck or anything.

You people have awed me with your responce to this. I am unworthy of such love. THis is how God wants us to treat each other my friends. I think He is looking at you guys and saying. "Well done my faithfull servants". I showed this to my mom last night. For her to understand I had to teach her about the workings of the board, about stickys and sig lines and such. She could not read the post for the tears and it's the same for me too. I cannot even begin to tell you how much I love you and how gratefull I am for all this.

Have a Merry Christmas today and thank God you are not where I am.


Laying her in the darkness,
hear the sirens wail. sombody going to emergency,
sonebody going to jail
WHEN YOU FIND SOMEONE IN THIS WORLD YOU LOVE YOU BETTER HANG ON TOOTH AND NAIL.
THE WOLF IS ALWAYS AT THE DOOR
__________________
I'd rather die while I'm living than live while I'm dead

[blazer]

bump for prayers!

[Hadassah]

Latest update as of 3:32pm, EST:


Thanks for all this my dear friends. I wish I had time to respond to every post.

I gotta run, just wanted to let you know that Mitch was a little more responsive this visit, Praise God. We will take it

A couple more prayer requests. Please pray for Mr. Hurst. He was shot in the chest by some drug crazed fool a couple weeks ago. It was a case of mistaken identity. Apparently the idiot meant to shoot his neighbor.Today they are trying to take him off the machine that keep him paralized so he cannot hurt himself. They tried that yesterday and it didn't work. His family is having a rough time.Please pray that works today if you read this on Dec 25.

Brittneys responces are not as strong as a couple days ago so pray about that. Also, Gary went to a convience store across the street and someone stole his cell phone and he cannot get one til tommorrow.

I met a gent today that retired from the same company I work for. Please say a prayer for his wife Angela.

There is so much heartbreak here yall. Everyone here is the same. Black, white, brown, rich, poor, convict, cops, etc. And we have all those I listed.

I love you guys, please someone post this in the other thread.


:pray:

[blazer]

Prayers going up, love coming down!

[free2B]

life is fragile jeff, and our prayers go out for your child and for the others who have met such sad misfortune, Praise God for His blessed touch on those of greatest need, miracles still happen in this day, and the prayers of the faithful, and the careing can reach out to the healing power of God, we pray for improvement in your son every day until he is able to be home with his family again:pray:

[blazer]

life is fragile jeff, and our prayers go out for your child and for the others who have met such sad misfortune, Praise God for His blessed touch on those of greatest need, miracles still happen in this day, and the prayers of the faithful, and the careing can reach out to the healing power of God, we pray for improvement in your son every day until he is able to be home with his family again:pray:

amen! :hug:

[blazer]

UPDATE!
WE had what we think is a very good day today. The greatest Christmas gift of my life was to see his green eyes. I'm not sure how many breaths but the vent gives so many and he does the rest on his own. My worship pastor and his wife were up here tonight alnog with another couplewho are close friends of ours from Church. They all went up to pray and tears started flowing pretty quick. i told my worship pastor to hold his hand and pray. After he did that I told mitch to give pastor Bruce the ole thumbs up and he did. They could not believe what they saw cause they have not seen him in a couple days. This is progress I think. This has been a wonderfull Christmas day, the best of my life. Our next step is for him to get alert enough to ween him off the ventilator, then we can see if he can talk. I think he can see, I dunno. he seems to follow people around with his eyes but I dunno. Tonight it seemed that he was trying to follow my oldest son. We let them have some time alone, Adam (my oldest) is having a hard time with this. Well I guess we all are but today was a good day. My wife has been much more optomistic than me but I am starting

Please keep praying hard, we are taking baby steps.

I showed gary some of your replies about Brittney and he is very thankfull and touched that people he does not know would care enough to pray. They took Brittney completely off her ventilator today, no more tubes down her throat if all goes well. How bout that for an answer to prayer.

You guys are the greatest. I love you guys and please keep this up
__________________
Please pray hard for my son Mitch

[Semi-Sweet]

UPDATE!
WE had what we think is a very good day today. The greatest Christmas gift of my life was to see his green eyes. I'm not sure how many breaths but the vent gives so many and he does the rest on his own. My worship pastor and his wife were up here tonight alnog with another couplewho are close friends of ours from Church. They all went up to pray and tears started flowing pretty quick. i told my worship pastor to hold his hand and pray. After he did that I told mitch to give pastor Bruce the ole thumbs up and he did. They could not believe what they saw cause they have not seen him in a couple days. This is progress I think. This has been a wonderfull Christmas day, the best of my life. Our next step is for him to get alert enough to ween him off the ventilator, then we can see if he can talk. I think he can see, I dunno. he seems to follow people around with his eyes but I dunno. Tonight it seemed that he was trying to follow my oldest son. We let them have some time alone, Adam (my oldest) is having a hard time with this. Well I guess we all are but today was a good day. My wife has been much more optomistic than me but I am starting

Please keep praying hard, we are taking baby steps.

I showed gary some of your replies about Brittney and he is very thankfull and touched that people he does not know would care enough to pray. They took Brittney completely off her ventilator today, no more tubes down her throat if all goes well. How bout that for an answer to prayer.

You guys are the greatest. I love you guys and please keep this up
__________________
Please pray hard for my son Mitch

:pray: Thank you O Lord, our strength and our redeemer! :pray:

[blazer]

UPDATE!
The doc says he is the same but I know better. That is all I can report cause we have not seen him yet today.

Please keep praying cause God is listening. I'll get back with yall later
__________________
Please pray hard for my son Mitch

[blazer]

UPDATE POSTED AT 1:40 P.M.
Today is not a good day for mitch so far. he is not responsive and seems to be staring into space. What can I say. please keep praying.


I also need a huge prayer bump from you guys for janice today. She has some more family flying in today and then they plan to unplug her life support.

Brittney was sitting in a chair when gary went in this morning. They had her tied in but she is out of the bed at least.

God bless, I love you guys. Will check back later. Please put these updates in the other thread.
__________________
Please pray hard for my son Mitch

[Meriweather]

Remembering Mitchell in my prayers.

[blazer]

UPDATE!
Oh my how things can change on a dime around here. I don't have much time but have a short story to explain our day here.

Shortly after my last update the ICU nurse taking care of Mitch said that the vent was only giving him 1 breath per minute and he was doing the rest on his own. They did all the tests to make sure his levels were right and turned the vent completely off earlier this morning but left the tube. Well the trauma surgeon comes to see him and thinks judgringf from all his levels that they won't need the vent anymore and wants to take the tube completely out. They call us to tell us and we say have at it. About an hour before the 4:30 visit the same nurse calls my cell and say, "Hey Jeff why don't you guys come up and talk to your son". I could not believe it so I took off to see. She had asked him where he was and he told her. Then she asked him where he went to school and he told her that. He can't talk very well cause trhat tube has been in his throat since Saturday night, but he can think and talk. That is something that has haunted me every minute, would he have any brain capacity at all. Well I now have my answer. I know there are some health care people posting here and they can tell you how absolutely remarkable this is. When I first heard his weak voice I fell on my face before God and my wife had to step over me. This isn't a baby step, this is a big step.

I don't need yall to stop praying. We still have a lot of uncertainty here. He isn't moving very much at all on his left side and I have not seen his legs move at all. Before we pray for further progress though, we must praise and thank God for what has happened today. YOu would have had to hear all Drs reports and stuff to know how big this is. Still not out of the woods my friends, but this is the greatest day of my life thus far.

You people are the greatest. Anything that might ever be accomplished politically on this board will only pale in comparison to the love that has been shown me on this forum this week. If the whole world treated each other this way then things would be different. Gezz yall I cannot even begin to say what this has meant, and I now ask you not to stop but keep going. I love you all more than you can ever know.

I gotta go for now
__________________
Please pray hard for my son Mitch

[blazer]

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker
Artist: THE MCKAMEYS
Title: DO YOU KNOW HOW IT FEELS

===========================
LYRICS
===========================

Do you know how it feels

Do you know how it feels to know something missing
And hear a still small voice that you just keep dismissing
Do you know how it feels to be troubled inside,
to think just for you on the cross someone died.

Do you know how it feels when he knocks to surrender,
How your sins washed away, never to be remembered,
And know that’s its real, tell me do you know how it feels.

(Chorus)

Then how does it feel to know you’re a child of the king
Your heavenly father owns everything, how does it feel
To know you are loved, by the one who created the stars up above
How does it feel , to know your alright,
when you lay your head on your pillow each night
And know that its real, aint it good to know how it feels

Do you know how it feels, when your cold heart has melted
And tears start flowing, the moment you felt it
Do you know how it feels, to know you’ve been changed
And it seems that the hold world has been rearranged
Do you know how it feels, wherever you roam,
You still get a feeling you’re not at home
Knowing heaven is real, tell me do you know how it feels.

(chorus)
Aint it good to know how it feels….

Do you know how it feels, when your cold heart has melted
And tears start flowing, the moment you felt it
Do you know how it feels, to know you’ve been changed
And it seems that the hold world has been rearranged
Do you know how it feels, wherever you roam,
You still get a feeling you’re not at home
Knowing heaven is real, tell me do you know how it feels
(chorus)
Aint it good to know how it feels….

[Koushi Shinigami]

Wishing him continued progress.

[birdonawire]

Praise God!!! :dance:

Any of you who have ever dealt with a brain injury know what a HUGE break through this is!!! :dance:

Still praying my heart out for a full recovery!!!! :pray::pray::pray:

[blazer]

UPDATE!
We got to talk to him again tonight. It's very faint but I can understand him if I get close. My heart broke for a minute or so tonight. He said, "I am not moving". he is worried about being paralized. His left arm only moves when the staff moves it. That really did break my heart. WE kept telling him that he was going to be ok and that he had to work hard to cough so he don't get sick (pnemonia but we didn't tell him that). He has to do what they say and they say coughing is very important. Ther is still much uncertainty here and I do have some specfic things I would like you guys to pray and think about. Please hang with me on this, we are seeing the results.

1 - He is going to have to cough but it hurts cause the tubes have made his throat very raw.

2 - Please pray that God will ease his mind about his body moving. That seems to bother him really bad. It would me too. Lets just go all out and pray that God will make him move his whole body. Please pray that his left side and legs will work. Please Please Please. Pray that he is healed all the way. Please

3 - Please pray for me to have the right words to tell him about what happened. He asked earlier what happened and his mom just said he had hurt his head badly.

4 - He is very dry and asking for water, which they will not give him. They have specialists in this that will do some tests tommorrow to see when he is ready for some ice chips or something. Maybe they will give him water, I dunno yet. Pray about the test and for him to tolerate the sore throat until they can give him something

5 - Please pray for no infections, infection from the wound or staff infections. We need to pray that away before it even thinks about happening.

I cannot think of anything else specifically but to be honesty the way you have been praying so far is good by me too.

You people have been much too good to me. It's something I do not deserve. I will say that Mitch does deserve it though, he is just a kid. I am humbled and don't really know what to say. I could type all night and still not have done justice to what I feel right now. All I can say is I love you.

I have saved the best part for last cause my eyes are tearing up just thinking about typing it. I have ran all out of sad tears but seem to have some happy tears saved up. Are you ready yall, I heard it:

I LOVE YOU TOO DADDY


I gotta go cause I can't see the screen. I love you guys.

Please put this in the other thread.
__________________
Please pray hard for my son Mitch

WHEN YOU FIND SOMEONE TO LOVE IN THIS WORLD YOU BETTER HANG ON TOOTH AND NAIL

[Hadassah]

I am sobbing my eyes out.

[blazer]

:hug:

[free2B]

Praise God!!! :dance:

Any of you who have ever dealt with a brain injury know what a HUGE break through this is!!! :dance:

Still praying my heart out for a full recovery!!!! :pray::pray::pray:

as are we all wire:pray: any who have teenage children or relatives, pray always that they will stay safe from harm, and when a tragedy befalls, we pray that they will recover in the arms of our Lord, and be able to return home to their loved ones in full health

[blazer]

as are we all wire:pray: any who have teenage children or relatives, pray always that they will stay safe from harm, and when a tragedy befalls, we pray that they will recover in the arms of our Lord, and be able to return home to their loved ones in full health

Yes, the teen years can be rough ones! Our God is so great and so good!

[meggers49]

UPDATE!
Oh my how things can change on a dime around here. I don't have much time but have a short story to explain our day here.

Shortly after my last update the ICU nurse taking care of Mitch said that the vent was only giving him 1 breath per minute and he was doing the rest on his own. They did all the tests to make sure his levels were right and turned the vent completely off earlier this morning but left the tube. Well the trauma surgeon comes to see him and thinks judgringf from all his levels that they won't need the vent anymore and wants to take the tube completely out. They call us to tell us and we say have at it. About an hour before the 4:30 visit the same nurse calls my cell and say, "Hey Jeff why don't you guys come up and talk to your son". I could not believe it so I took off to see. She had asked him where he was and he told her. Then she asked him where he went to school and he told her that. He can't talk very well cause trhat tube has been in his throat since Saturday night, but he can think and talk. That is something that has haunted me every minute, would he have any brain capacity at all. Well I now have my answer. I know there are some health care people posting here and they can tell you how absolutely remarkable this is. When I first heard his weak voice I fell on my face before God and my wife had to step over me. This isn't a baby step, this is a big step.

I don't need yall to stop praying. We still have a lot of uncertainty here. He isn't moving very much at all on his left side and I have not seen his legs move at all. Before we pray for further progress though, we must praise and thank God for what has happened today. YOu would have had to hear all Drs reports and stuff to know how big this is. Still not out of the woods my friends, but this is the greatest day of my life thus far.

You people are the greatest. Anything that might ever be accomplished politically on this board will only pale in comparison to the love that has been shown me on this forum this week. If the whole world treated each other this way then things would be different. Gezz yall I cannot even begin to say what this has meant, and I now ask you not to stop but keep going. I love you all more than you can ever know.

I gotta go for now
__________________
Please pray hard for my son Mitch

i know exactly what you're saying. my husband's best friend, more like a brother to us....was almost killed by being hit by a car. eventually, pressures came down and things were a little more status quo, but they were getting ready to send him to a step down floor. he was still intubated but I asked him "is it going to be ok?" meaning, I felt that he had spoken with God and made a deal with him, since he was alive and he shouldn't have been. I expected a squeeze of the hand or a nod, but got "yeah, it's gonna be all right". he spoke in his voice around the tube. I was kneeling next to him and burst into tears. the funny thing was, although he was not entirely 'with it', he was enough of himself to roll his eyes at me :lol: i think besides the days my kids were born was the happiest day of my life.

God is truly good and miracles do happen.

[meggers49]

UPDATE!
Oh my how things can change on a dime around here. I don't have much time but have a short story to explain our day here.

Shortly after my last update the ICU nurse taking care of Mitch said that the vent was only giving him 1 breath per minute and he was doing the rest on his own. They did all the tests to make sure his levels were right and turned the vent completely off earlier this morning but left the tube. Well the trauma surgeon comes to see him and thinks judgringf from all his levels that they won't need the vent anymore and wants to take the tube completely out. They call us to tell us and we say have at it. About an hour before the 4:30 visit the same nurse calls my cell and say, "Hey Jeff why don't you guys come up and talk to your son". I could not believe it so I took off to see. She had asked him where he was and he told her. Then she asked him where he went to school and he told her that. He can't talk very well cause trhat tube has been in his throat since Saturday night, but he can think and talk. That is something that has haunted me every minute, would he have any brain capacity at all. Well I now have my answer. I know there are some health care people posting here and they can tell you how absolutely remarkable this is. When I first heard his weak voice I fell on my face before God and my wife had to step over me. This isn't a baby step, this is a big step.

I don't need yall to stop praying. We still have a lot of uncertainty here. He isn't moving very much at all on his left side and I have not seen his legs move at all. Before we pray for further progress though, we must praise and thank God for what has happened today. YOu would have had to hear all Drs reports and stuff to know how big this is. Still not out of the woods my friends, but this is the greatest day of my life thus far.

You people are the greatest. Anything that might ever be accomplished politically on this board will only pale in comparison to the love that has been shown me on this forum this week. If the whole world treated each other this way then things would be different. Gezz yall I cannot even begin to say what this has meant, and I now ask you not to stop but keep going. I love you all more than you can ever know.

I gotta go for now
__________________
Please pray hard for my son Mitch

i am so ecstatic for you and your son and family. i hope he continues........and if he does, find a good rehab place...it will help him continue to make incredible strides.

[meggers49]

UPDATE!
We got to talk to him again tonight. It's very faint but I can understand him if I get close. My heart broke for a minute or so tonight. He said, "I am not moving". he is worried about being paralized. His left arm only moves when the staff moves it. That really did break my heart. WE kept telling him that he was going to be ok and that he had to work hard to cough so he don't get sick (pnemonia but we didn't tell him that). He has to do what they say and they say coughing is very important. Ther is still much uncertainty here and I do have some specfic things I would like you guys to pray and think about. Please hang with me on this, we are seeing the results.

1 - He is going to have to cough but it hurts cause the tubes have made his throat very raw.

2 - Please pray that God will ease his mind about his body moving. That seems to bother him really bad. It would me too. Lets just go all out and pray that God will make him move his whole body. Please pray that his left side and legs will work. Please Please Please. Pray that he is healed all the way. Please

3 - Please pray for me to have the right words to tell him about what happened. He asked earlier what happened and his mom just said he had hurt his head badly.

4 - He is very dry and asking for water, which they will not give him. They have specialists in this that will do some tests tommorrow to see when he is ready for some ice chips or something. Maybe they will give him water, I dunno yet. Pray about the test and for him to tolerate the sore throat until they can give him something

5 - Please pray for no infections, infection from the wound or staff infections. We need to pray that away before it even thinks about happening.

I cannot think of anything else specifically but to be honesty the way you have been praying so far is good by me too.

You people have been much too good to me. It's something I do not deserve. I will say that Mitch does deserve it though, he is just a kid. I am humbled and don't really know what to say. I could type all night and still not have done justice to what I feel right now. All I can say is I love you.

I have saved the best part for last cause my eyes are tearing up just thinking about typing it. I have ran all out of sad tears but seem to have some happy tears saved up. Are you ready yall, I heard it:

I LOVE YOU TOO DADDY


I gotta go cause I can't see the screen. I love you guys.

Please put this in the other thread.
__________________
Please pray hard for my son Mitch

WHEN YOU FIND SOMEONE TO LOVE IN THIS WORLD YOU BETTER HANG ON TOOTH AND NAIL

i can't say anything about any of the liquids etc for his thirst, but for the pain, they can use Cetacaine spray, it's like chloraseptic, they use it for putting down NG tubes and such and it will help the discomfort.

[blazer]

Thank you all for praying! Keep doing it! :hug:

[blazer]

It's the simple things in life that mean the most, a hug ,a kiss, looking someone in the eyes and telling them you love them, hearing those words spoken by the ones you love! Putting your arms around someone you love and pulling them close to you and feeling their heart beat. Laying your head upon their chest and hearing that heart beat! Some people are afraid to love someone. Loving someone whether it be friend, family, or lover, is one of the greatest gifts you can give someone. people fear rejection and we have known that feeling. But the greatest feeling is when that love is returned and you can feel it flowing through you! that is the greatest gift! To truelly be able to love others as Christ loves us!

[blazer]

Kepp praying! :hug:

[blazer]

UPDATE POSTED BY JWIL
Mitch is communicating with us again today. We have pitchures, posters, cards, and stuff hanging in his ICU room. I showed him a photo of his mom and his little dog smokie and he said the dog's name. This is good I hope that he can recognize and communicate with us. He is very tired though. We have had a boom box in there all week playing the radio and some of his cds. he even tries to sing along. I suppose that means he remembers the lyrics. praise God. After the 10:30 visit I asked for some private time just him and me and he didn't want me to leave after that but they made me go. That sucked, and he even said that, "That sucks" he said

Dad ain't doin so good. The doc this morning don't give me much hope of him ever being anywhere near whole again. My heart is broke cause he has said once that he knows he isn't moving. It's on his mind heavy. I dunno, guess it's just not a good day for me. I have said hang tough a million times but I dunno. Just venting yall.

Yall are great. I am going to humbly ask you hang with me long haul here. I love you.

Will check back later.

Jeff
__________________
Please pray hard for my son Mitch

WHEN YOU FIND SOMEONE TO LOVE IN THIS WORLD YOU BETTER HANG ON TOOTH AND NAIL

[blazer]

Yes, hang tough Jeff! You are the best! we love you and your family and we are here!

[roger teekell]

UPDATE POSTED BY JWIL
Mitch is communicating with us again today. We have pitchures, posters, cards, and stuff hanging in his ICU room. I showed him a photo of his mom and his little dog smokie and he said the dog's name. This is good I hope that he can recognize and communicate with us. He is very tired though. We have had a boom box in there all week playing the radio and some of his cds. he even tries to sing along. I suppose that means he remembers the lyrics. praise God. After the 10:30 visit I asked for some private time just him and me and he didn't want me to leave after that but they made me go. That sucked, and he even said that, "That sucks" he said

Dad ain't doin so good. The doc this morning don't give me much hope of him ever being anywhere near whole again. My heart is broke cause he has said once that he knows he isn't moving. It's on his mind heavy. I dunno, guess it's just not a good day for me. I have said hang tough a million times but I dunno. Just venting yall.

Yall are great. I am going to humbly ask you hang with me long haul here. I love you.

Will check back later.

Jeff
__________________
Please pray hard for my son Mitch

WHEN YOU FIND SOMEONE TO LOVE IN THIS WORLD YOU BETTER HANG ON TOOTH AND NAIL

Jeff...With ALL God has done so far don't let doubt start to creep in...

You BE STRONG for your son...And BELIEVE in God's PROMISE to answer prayer...

No one here is praying for anything less than a FULL RECOVERY for Mitch....

I BELIEVE that is what God will grant...

Get some rest my friend...Stay positive and stay on your knees to God...

Always remeber everything JOB went through before God rewarded him greatly.....

Love you my friend...

And praying CONSTANTLY for your entire family!!:hug::hug::hug:

[blazer]

Still here and still praying! :hug:

[blazer]

It is a joy to pray for others!

[blazer]

UPDATE POSTED BY JWIL!
Hey yall. When we went up for the last visit Mitch was out like a light. he has been awake most all day so he is very very tired. We didn't get to talk with him but I am good with him resting. They say that is good for him. His voice still isn't very strong yet so I guess hos throat can use the rest too. That is about all I can report.

God is so good yall. I could not even fathom going through this without a relationship with Him. By His grace He has chosen life for Mitch. He promises to never leave or forsake me. He never promised me a rose garden, but He does promise the grace to get through.. He says all things happen for the good of those who love Him, not all things except accidental gunshot wounds but all things. What it boils down to my friends is do I believe it or not, it's that simple. I chose to believe it and claim the promises of God.

I wish I could reply to every post but that just isn't possible at this point. Please know that I have read each one and drawn great strength. Some I learn from, some make me cry ( a good kinda cry), all give me hope. I dunno what else to say to yall about this. I could type all night and not do my emotions about all this justice. I now know why I got bored at work some time ago and clicked on hannity.com. All things happen for a purpose, now I know why I first came here. Yall are a part of the grace I spoke of above, I am forever gratefull. I love you each and every one..

I gonna get some sleep, God bless. This has been a good day, even if I did vent on yall just a little.
__________________
Please pray hard for my son Mitch

WHEN YOU FIND SOMEONE TO LOVE IN THIS WORLD YOU BETTER HANG ON TOOTH AND NAIL

[blazer]

still praying! :pray:

[blazer]

UPDATE BY JWIL!
Man what a good 6 1/2 hours sleep can do for a body.

There is a very good chance we might get out of the NICU unti and into an intermediate care room today. That would be cool cause we can stay with him 24 hours then.

Please keep praying hard. God bless you all on this Lord's Day morning
__________________
Please pray hard for my son Mitch

WHEN YOU FIND SOMEONE TO LOVE IN THIS WORLD YOU BETTER HANG ON TOOTH AND NAIL

[blazer]

UPDATE!
Originally Posted by jwil59
Mitch is more alert this moring and speaking in complete sentences. He has devoured many cups if ice chips soaked in pepsi and seems to be doing well with that. A post yeasterday from Seanachie kinda prepared me for a little bit of colorfull language that he uttered. His voice is much more clear today. he is also singing to the music better.

His nurse Stacie seems to think the trauma surgeons will buy off on him moving today. At that point I am going to have to tell him exactly what happened and I suspect that will really effect him.

It's a good day my friend, please keep praying. God bless you all

[meggers49]

UPDATE BY JWIL!
Man what a good 6 1/2 hours sleep can do for a body.

There is a very good chance we might get out of the NICU unti and into an intermediate care room today. That would be cool cause we can stay with him 24 hours then.

Please keep praying hard. God bless you all on this Lord's Day morning
__________________
Please pray hard for my son Mitch

WHEN YOU FIND SOMEONE TO LOVE IN THIS WORLD YOU BETTER HANG ON TOOTH AND NAIL

word of advice....well, two words. Don't stay 24 hours. I'm saying this as a nurse and as a person who's been through this.

it's bad for you and it's bad for him. You need good rest and change of scene to recharge yourself and he needs you to go so he can rest and recharge, too.

It will make you more able to handle the ups and downs and progress and setbacks.

I'm thrilled he's doing better. The sooner they get him to rehab the better. It's a short time away if he's going to stepdown. Find a Brain Injury Rehab Unit and use it. It's specialized for just this kind of thing. They are amazing.

Bless you all, keep strong.

[terri910]

still praying! :pray:
+1

[blazer]

Ty all for praying!:hug:

[blazer]

Somebody's Praying By Ricky Skaggs Somebody's praying I can feel it. Somebody's praying for me. Mighty hands are guiding me To protect me from what I can't see Lord I believe Lord I believe Somebody's praying for me Angels are watching I can feel them Angels are watching over me There's many miles ahead 'till I get home Still I'm safely kept before Your throne Lord I believe Lord I believe Angels are watching over me Well I've walked barren wilderness Where my pillow was a stone And I've been through the darkest caverns Where no light had ever shone Still I went on 'cause there was someone Who was down on their knees And Lord I thank you for those people Praying all this time for me

[blazer]

bump for prayers!

[Meriweather]

bump for prayers!

Never ceasing...

[free2B]

UPDATE POSTED BY JWIL!
Hey yall. When we went up for the last visit Mitch was out like a light. he has been awake most all day so he is very very tired. We didn't get to talk with him but I am good with him resting. They say that is good for him. His voice still isn't very strong yet so I guess hos throat can use the rest too. That is about all I can report.

God is so good yall. I could not even fathom going through this without a relationship with Him. By His grace He has chosen life for Mitch. He promises to never leave or forsake me. He never promised me a rose garden, but He does promise the grace to get through.. He says all things happen for the good of those who love Him, not all things except accidental gunshot wounds but all things. What it boils down to my friends is do I believe it or not, it's that simple. I chose to believe it and claim the promises of God.

I wish I could reply to every post but that just isn't possible at this point. Please know that I have read each one and drawn great strength. Some I learn from, some make me cry ( a good kinda cry), all give me hope. I dunno what else to say to yall about this. I could type all night and not do my emotions about all this justice. I now know why I got bored at work some time ago and clicked on hannity.com. All things happen for a purpose, now I know why I first came here. Yall are a part of the grace I spoke of above, I am forever gratefull. I love you each and every one..

I gonna get some sleep, God bless. This has been a good day, even if I did vent on yall just a little.
__________________
Please pray hard for my son Mitch

WHEN YOU FIND SOMEONE TO LOVE IN THIS WORLD YOU BETTER HANG ON TOOTH AND NAIL

thank the Lord Jeff :pray:that your son is recovering and becomeing stronger every day, we are all praying that he will be home with you soon, and becomeing the child of God that we all long to become with guidance from the Lord
I remember one day when I was rideing around with my dad and the song by CSN & Y CAME ON THE RADIO tEACH YOUR CHILDREN WELL HERE ARE THE WORDS IT SEEMED WAY BACK WHEN THAT IT WAS JUSt A FEELING BUT DAD'S LOVE THEIR CHILDREN, AND WE PRAY THAT YOUR MITCH WILL BE WELL AND HOME AGAIN SOON

Crosby Stills Nash Young - Teach Your Children Lyrics
Album:

Send “Teach Your Children” Ringtone to Your Cell

You who are on the road
Must have a code that you can live by
And so become yourself
Because the past is just a good bye.

Teach your children well,
Their father's hell did slowly go by,
And feed them on your dreams
The one they picked, the one you'll know by.

Don't you ever ask them why, if they told you, you would cry,
So just look at them and sigh and know they love you.

And you, of tender years,
Can't know the fears that your elders grew by,
And so please help them with your youth,
They seek the truth before they can die.

Counter Melody To Above Verse:
Can you hear and do you care and
Cant you see we must be free to
Teach your children what you believe in.
Make a world that we can live in.

Teach your parents well,
Their children's hell will slowly go by,
And feed them on your dreams
The one they picked, the one you'll know by.

Don't you ever ask them why, if they told you, you would cry,
So just look at them and sigh and know they love you.

[blazer]

thank the Lord Jeff :pray:that your son is recovering and becomeing stronger every day, we are all praying that he will be home with you soon, and becomeing the child of God that we all long to become with guidance from the Lord
I remember one day when I was rideing around with my dad and the song by CSN & Y CAME ON THE RADIO tEACH YOUR CHILDREN WELL HERE ARE THE WORDS IT SEEMED WAY BACK WHEN THAT IT WAS JUSt A FEELING BUT DAD'S LOVE THEIR CHILDREN, AND WE PRAY THAT YOUR MITCH WILL BE WELL AND HOME AGAIN SOON

Crosby Stills Nash Young - Teach Your Children Lyrics
Album:

Send “Teach Your Children” Ringtone to Your Cell

You who are on the road
Must have a code that you can live by
And so become yourself
Because the past is just a good bye.

Teach your children well,
Their father's hell did slowly go by,
And feed them on your dreams
The one they picked, the one you'll know by.

Don't you ever ask them why, if they told you, you would cry,
So just look at them and sigh and know they love you.

And you, of tender years,
Can't know the fears that your elders grew by,
And so please help them with your youth,
They seek the truth before they can die.

Counter Melody To Above Verse:
Can you hear and do you care and
Cant you see we must be free to
Teach your children what you believe in.
Make a world that we can live in.

Teach your parents well,
Their children's hell will slowly go by,
And feed them on your dreams
The one they picked, the one you'll know by.

Don't you ever ask them why, if they told you, you would cry,
So just look at them and sigh and know they love you.

great post!

[blazer]

UPDATE POSTED BY JWIL!
Thank you all for the kind words, I have read every post. I wish I could reply to each one. I'm sleepy yall, this has been a good day in a couple ways and very stressfull in another.

First the good. mitch is certainly with us. My nephew comes in his ICU room all dressed up after church and tells Mitch he looks good. Mitch tells him, "I know I am good looking John but not as spiffy as you". he has been very talkative to everyone that vists. My BIL came in and asked Mitch if he could pray with him. Mitch said yes and thanked him. After the prayer Mitch thanked him again and told my BIL that he trusted him. I praise God for all this progress. He is still in ICU cause the trauma surgeons have not been around to buy off on the move. They handle the whole hospital and the ER has been very busy today as I have heard the chopper leave and come back numerous times as well as many many ambulances. If my son had an emergency I would rather them be handeling that than springing stable patients out of ICU so we will be patient. Our Pastor was here tonight and Mitch thanked him for all his prayer and support. he is calling all these people by name, even the people he hasn't seen in awhile. This is a miracle that has God written all over it. God does not promise me a rose garden but He does promise the Grace to get by. I claim that and all of God's promises as mine. I do ask again that you keep praying that Mitch will have a full recovery. Hang tough with me long haul and together we can watch this miracle as it completes itself. The RN today started talking to us about rehab. She says the hospital has an outcome team that will go over all our options and even arrange for transport and that kind of stuff. She even says that Mitch is not all that far off from being ready to begin with that. Praise God from whom all blessing flow.

Now the stress. After meeting with several members of his hospital team it is becomming very clear that it isn't really possible that he accidently shot himself. The story from the people that were there and the bullet path don't really match up. I do believe that it was probably accidental, but I no longer believe he himself did it. Several things tipped us off to that and I am really a little tired to go through the details. His RN this mornign told me that the detective has been calling to check on him every day. I started wondering why he qwould do that if the shooting was ruled accidental. You would have to know our local police dept, but they have been accused in the past of being a little lazy at times. Not saying I believe that but I did ask the nurse if the bullet path from his records (she didn't see the wound until closed after the surgery) was consistent with a self inflicted gunshot, either accidental or intentional. She said probably not but that was all she could tell me, she referred me to the police. One of the kids that was in the room at the time of the shooting, well his dad has been up here all week. His dad has always disliked and Mitch was not even allowed at his house. i was thinking maybe he has changed until today when all of the sudden he finds out that the Detective is still inquiring about the events of that night. He then starts to coach me that the cops will try to do this and do that to pin the shootting on somebody. he must think I am stupid. he actually said much more than that, but I should not say cause I think there is going to be further investiagtion. Actually I do not think there will be, I am going to demand it. My best buddy Mike has a good friend who is an investiagive reporter for our local paper. he is waiting in the wings if the cops need a fire lit. I am going to get to the bottom of this. If it was accidental and just a kid playing with a gun then why not just tell the truth and lets go on? The problem is that there is a coverup and an adult involved. Also if my son laid shot in that room while they discussed things getting their stories straight while his brain was bleeding then...............well I pray that isn't true. I will be calling the PD in the morning to arrange a meeting with the detective ans also his boss. That is all I am going to say at this point.

I love you guys, please please keep praying. I'm going to sleep in this ICU waithing room for what I hope is the last night. God bless yall each and every one. Please put this in the other thread.

jeff
__________________
Please pray hard for my son Mitch

[Hadassah]

In addition to the prayers for Mitch's recovery, etc, I will now be praying for the truth to come out about the shooting and for Mitch's protection.

[terri910]

In addition to the prayers for Mitch's recovery, etc, I will now be praying for the truth to come out about the shooting and for Mitch's protection.
Ditto!!!

[blazer]

still here and praying!

[blazer]

UPDATE BY JWIL!
The physidcal therapy guys has been in this mornign so Mich is very tired. he also looks and talks like he is very depressed. he keeps talking about not moving. This is a heartbreaker yall. We still have not been sprung from ICU but I know that is comming sometime today. That's the term around here, to spring. I am depressed too, geez yall what can I say. It isn't that I don't know how blessed we are to be at this point, I do know and praise God for that. That isn't it, it's hard to explain.

We met with the detective this morning. All I will say is he is looking into some stuff and leave it at that. I am trying not to worry about all that today, but as most of you have advised we are restricting visitors until this is all done. We did ask for a room close to the nurse station and told them why so I will see what happens. The 4 people ojn our team Mitch so far (me, my wife, my sister, and my best friend Mike)will be with him at all times, at least one of us. The ICU also knows this so nobody sees him, even the cops, unless we are there.

I gotta go for now, Thank you so much and please please keep praying. hang with me yall
__________________
Please pray hard for my son Mitch
__________________

[Mimiheart]

Just a note, folks, it may be better to give personal message to jwil in the thread in Overcoming Obstacles. I don't know if he's seen this one, and I'm sure he doesn't have time to look through all of the messages.

I'm still praying, and that's good for this thread, but messages for jwil should probably go there.

[blazer]

UPDATE POSTED BY JWIL!
i do not have time to read all your post right now but I will catch up later. Things are moving at warp speed all the sudden. We have been swprung from ICU and we are going to a room. I've seen it, it's more like a small apartment or large hotel room. The social worker came by and has sent referrels ro 3 rehab facilities. Spain in B'ham, Health South here in huntsville. Please pray about that today.
Will check back later

This is good yall
__________________

[blazer]

UPDAI messed up my last post on the rehab. The social worker said that he could not legally tell me where we shoukd go. He did however look Darlene and I straight in the eye twice and said that he had also sent a referral to Sheppards in Atlanta like jeny said. Then he look at me again and repeated the same thing again. He said he had also called someone from Sherards. Sorry yall but he is alseep and I am typing in the dark.

Thnks for going to the care pages.i don't know who some of you are but i do know why you are there and I am gratefull. My sister is doing all tht, she is cool and a true woman after God's own heart. This is her laptop and she needs to axxomplish some work so I gotta run.

I will say this again cause i think it is important. Anything ever accomplished politically on this site will only pale in comparison to the love shown us me this past week or so. God bless, I will check back later
__________________
Please pray hard for my son Mitch
TE FROM JWIL!

[blazer]

bump for prayers!

[blazer]

UPDATE!
Mitch had a bad night. He was very agiatated and restless, even a little belligerant. No spell check here. I need yall to pray about that today. Not that much more to report. Thanks for the carpages messages yall.

I do not have unlimited access to these computers any more cause he is out of ICU which is good but I am going to try to get home today an get my wife's laptop maybe. I will update when I can. This is kinda my vent place away from the rest of my family and what not so thanks for the posts.

God bless you and please keep praying. maybe we will get some more info on Spain Rehab vs. Shepards today. Both are very good. he isn't gonna wanna go though, he is already wanting to go home. Please pray about that too.
__________________
Please pray hard for my son Mitch

WHEN YOU FIND SOMEONE TO LOVE IN THIS WORLD YOU BETTER HANG ON TOOTH AND NAIL

[Meriweather]

We pray that Mitchell is able to receive the rest he needs and that peace comes upon him. We also pray for those caring for him, and the family and friends watching over him.

[blazer]

And I never thought I'd feel this way
And as far as I'm concerned
I'm glad I got the chance to say
That I do believe I love you

And if I should ever go away
Well, then close your eyes and try to feel
The way we do today
And then if you can remember

Keep smilin', keep shinin'
Knowin' you can always count on me, for sure
That's what friends are for
For good times and bad times
I'll be on your side forever more
That's what friends are for

Well, you came and opened me
And now there's so much more I see
And so by the way I thank you

Whoa, and then for the times when we're apart
Well, then close your eyes and know
These words are comin' from my heart
And then if you can remember, oh

Keep smiling, keep shining
Knowing you can always count on me, for sure
That's what friends are for
In good times, in bad times
I'll be on your side forever more
Oh, that's what friends are for

Whoa... oh... oh... keep smilin', keep shinin'
Knowin' you can always count on me, for sure
That's what friends are for
For good times and bad times
I'll be on your side forever more
That's what friends are for

Keep smilin', keep shinin'
Knowin' you can always count on me, oh, for sure
'Cause I tell you that's what friends are for
For good times and for bad times
I'll be on your side forever more
That's what friends are for (That's what friends are for)

On me, for sure
That's what friends are for
Keep smilin', keep shinin'

[Hadassah]

The latest update from jwil59:


The hospital folks tell us that Mitch's agitation and such is a result of the injury like jeny said. Mitch isn't 18 until June so that might be an issue but I doubt it. I have made a note of that though so we can discuss it. Thank you all from the bottom of my heart for your posts. It has really helped me tons. I really don't have the words to describe my felling so I am not going to try cause we are going to bed early

I am posting this from my house. I came home one day to get some clothes and we came home Christmas Eve to give our oldest son his gifts but that has been it. My sister is staying tonight so we will be sleeping in our own bed for the first time since the night before the accident. This is gonna be cool. It's hard for me to leave but we will do him no good if we are brain dead. I think we are looking at going to rehab Monday or Tuesday because of the holiday. If not for that it would have been probably Friday to one of two facilities. The rehab thing brings on a whole new set or prayer needs.

Some things transpired today that makes it more than obvious where all the professionals at the hospital, who do this for a living every week, want Mitch to go to rehab. We have narrowed it down to Spain or Shepards. The social workers and physical and occupational folks say that they are not allowed to come straight out and reccomend a facility. I almost broke down in the hallway cause I was expecting some serious help. It's a decesion of epic proportion. They started to speak in a different way. Marcus made a comparsion about cars and Shepards is a Mercedes. My wife said well what is Spain, is it a Buick? he said not really a Buick but I think you get my point. The head occupational therapy woman was talking to darlene and darlene told her that we are looking seriously at Shepards. She said that was a great idea. I said that we have heard that Spain is also great and she that yes it is but she thought my wife had a great idea. LOL. Our first choice is Shepards but we will take Spain if we don't get into Shepards. When I told Marcus that they all grabbed their cell phones and went to work. They really want him to go there but there are no gaurantees we will get in. I also appreciate all the offers of help from my Atlanta hannity friends. We might need to tap into that if we can go there. If nothing else I might need some face to feace vent time.
1 - Please pray we get in, marcus said he thinks my insurance will work but cannot be sure. Marcus said it will probably be Monday before we can meet with the Shepards lady. I am thinking she has seen the referral he sent and is willing to meet with us. I hope that is a good sign
2 - Please pray that we can swing it. We have to keep our jobs and house so he will have a house to come home to. We do have a short term plan for that

I addition to all you thoughts and prayer I really need to add those 2 things. This is mega important. I cannot stress how important that is. This could be the most important decesion of my life thus far. We want to go to Shepards. This is also consistent with what many of you guys seem to think. There might be problems though so we need God to intervene now.

My sister says Mitch is doing ok for now. Please pray they have a good night. My sister Joni is a dear soul so please just pray for her in general. She is driving the carepages site. Gezz I love that woman, and she loves me too. My parents and my best buddy Mike are also on the team but my parents are old and not able to do too much. They do pray and worry alot. People have been so good to us. I had an old farternity brother come by today I have not seen in 28 years. My Chuch family is awesome and so are you guys. Please hang with me here, we might be turning a corner. I love you guys.

I also wanted to take just another sec and update you guys on a couple of other people I asked you to pray for. gary said a doctor and a couple nurses came into their room today and said she wasn't a very good candidate for any rehab facility because she wasn't speaking and making and new steps for the last little while. Another nurse came in and started to brush Brittney hair. Brittney says stop that hurts. She spoke for the first time and is off to the races according to gary. praise God. I also asked you at one point to pray for Mr Hurst I think. I do not remember if I listed him as Mr Hurst or Sandy. Either way, they took him off his ventilator last night and he is talking to his wife for the first time too.

Thanks and please do not stop.

[Hadassah]

Latest update as of 9:23am, EST.


I don't have tim eto read everything right now cause I gotta get back to the hospital. Joni says Mitch had a pretty good night last night. please pray for her.

he is wanting badly to know what happened so I am going to have tp tell him. I ask that you pray about that thid morning.

Jeff



:pray:

[blazer]

ty Haddie!:hug:

[blazer]

bump for prayers!

[blazer]

UPDATE!
Mitchell took another big step this morning physically. The therapists got him up sitting on the side of the bed. I was on the interstate driving toward the hospital when Joni sent me a pitchure message on my phone. I had to pull off the road cause I could not see to drive. That was cool. A phyc doc was here earler (finally) and talked to me about telling Mitch what happened. A short time later Mitch asked again to be told exactly what happened so I did it. We just kept stressing the fact that it was an accident. The doc said I should not go with any "I told you so" at this point and I didn't. He said later that us as parents could deal with that stuff but not now. The first thing he said when I told him was that he didn't want any more guns. he said maybe someday when he got older he would have a gun in his house for protection and I said that would be fine at that point. Praise God, that is the reaction we have been praying for. he is concerned about people judging him and we keep telling him that isn't the case. Not sure he believes that. He mentioned people at our Church and the folks he worked with judging him in particular. He was also concerned that Joni would not allow his cousins to be around him any more too. She made it clear that is not the case. There were some tears from him and me both. I told him it was ok to cry. He then drifted off to sleep and tht is where we are at this moment

We met with the Spain Rehab people today and they are very impressive. They told us what we already knew that their specality is closer to Mitch's injury than Shepards but I will have to talk to the Shepards people about that. They say from looking at Mitch's chart that the head docs say he isn't quite ready to go anyway. I don't think the social workers and the like would steer us wrong about Shepards either. With brain injuries, Shepards specializes more with patients that have much less mental function than Mitch, for instance patients that cannot talk. It would sure be much better for our family to go to Birmingham but we will just pray and think about it cause our main concern is his full recovery. I am mixed up something terrible again. Another consideration we have decided that will be important will be how many young people are in the population at the facility for work out partners and that kind of thing. The Spain lady's next appt today is with Brittney.

Please keep praying. I do not know how to thank you folks. This is an absolute miracle my friends. One of the elders from our Church was here today and he and could not believe the progress since they came to pray in the ICU. God is good my friends. I'll check back later

Jeff
__________________
Please pray hard for my son Mitch

WHEN YOU FIND SOMEONE TO LOVE IN THIS WORLD YOU BETTER HANG ON TOOTH AND NAIL

[Hadassah]

Thank You, Lord, oh thank You!!!!!!

[blazer]

UPDATE!
QUOTE=jwil59;45694381]Hey yall. Mitch is resting for now. The nurse explained to me tonight that he was going to be very agitated comming out of ICU becuse of the cutback on the meds. I am seeing some things that I didn't see in ICU. He moans alot and sometimes very loud and complains that he doesn't feel good. They have put him back on his Aspergers meds tonight and that is helping him sleep. I hope he is comming to terms with what has happened but I don't know. We had another talk tonight and he is still worried about being judged. He talks and sings alot when he sleeps. He has been calling a girl's name, Ashley. THis is a girl we have never met. My wife checked the messages on his phone ansd she has called him most every day. Tonight we copied the number from his phone(which is blood stained) and called her on my wife's phone. I held the phone up to his ear and they talked awhile. He seemed to like that. He gets agitated and confused alot. I hope we can get to a rehab soon.

I cannot begin to thank you guys for all this support. It means the world to me. Please keep the thoughts and prayers comming. So far that has helped create a miracle, an absolute miracle. I need you long haul though, this isn't over yet.

God bless you all

[Meriweather]

To a year of new beginnings for Mitchell. May God's strength and blessings continue to be upon him.

[blazer]

UPDATE!
[QUOTE=jwil59;45721731]Another goal has been met today. Mitch passed his swallow test which means he can now start eating solid food. We will start slow and work our way up. Maybe by tonight or tommorrow we can go out and get him something he wants. He is less agitated today too so far.

Happy New Year my friends.

I have been notified today that Repchick's mom isn't doing too well. I ask that if you pray for Mitch today that you also pray for her and her family.

God bless

Jeff

[blazer]

UPDATE
[QUOTE=jwil59;45735471]We are home again tonight and my sister is at the hospital. We especially try to sllep weel the night before we know there will be events at the hospital that require decesion making and that sort of thing. We had a pretty good day overall. he seems to be much less agitated and that is good.

We finally got to meet the girl Ashley he has been talking about. She called my wife this afternoon asking for directions and what not to the hospital and the room. When Mitch found this out he wanted to be bathed and spiffied up a little. The nurses and techs rushed in to accomplish that before she got there. he was even asking for a pair of pants to put on but we finally convinced him that wasn't possible. My sisters family was there too and when Ashley arrived with her parents we all went into the hall to give the kids some privacy. There we all stood for about an hour or so until Ashley's dad and I decided enough was enough and we all piled into the room. I was afraid her parents would judge him but it was just the opposite. her dad sat on a stoll beside his bed and asked Mitch why he had never came to their house. He laughed and said "I dunno". The visit was good for him. he was laughing and smiling the whole time and that was cool. Her dad is in the remodeling business and I need a storage room turned into a bedroom so he said he would bring me his card tommorrow. The therapists want us to do some things like try to keep his wrists straight and Ahsley helped us with that. It was great to see him happy.

I cannot thank you folks enough. My wife also reads alot of this and she cannot believe the love we are being shown here. God bless you guys, I'm gonna get some sleep. I will be praying and thinking about Repchick's and her mom tonight and I ask that you all do the same.

Thank you guys for putting these updates in the other thread. Happy New Year


jeff

[blazer]

UPDATE!
[QUOTE=jwil59;45824921]Thank you for all the information. It helps us to be able to aske the right questions of the experts. Some of them act as if they don't want to answer questions but tuff **** for them.

Mitch isn't comming to terms with what has happened and how it has effected him. Some professionals have told us that he will deny that he cannot walk or do the things he wants to do, like use a cell phone or computer. I hope he can realize the truth, I guess for now he has blocked it. He gets pretty nasty at times and later always apologizes. He also refuses to use the bed pan and that is going to cause him even more embarrassment and discomfort down the line if they have to force that. That is something that I have prayed for though, that he would have control of that aspect of his body. Praise God

Medically speaking he is still doing great. I am in awe of God's goodness when I think about where we were two weeks ago. My heart still breaks though because of the uncertainty.

Now that I have our laptop I ofetn read through these threads and I want to say something here. There are some things in my first post that I want to explain to you guys. I said at that time that this is as bad as life can get, and that what I was going through was the worst that life has to offer. I want you all to understand that was just a scared father talking out his butt. Fact is, it can always be worse and it is only because of God's grace that it isn't worse. God is good and He is my rock. I cannot fathom where I would be wothout Him.

Please keep the thoughts ansd prayers comming yall. This is an absolute miracle yall, a true act of God. God bless you and I wil, check back later.

Jeff

[blazer]

bump for prayers! :pray:

[blazer]

UPDATE!

[QUOTE=jwil59;45911111]It has been a whirlwind day in our world today. The low point was the removal of all those staples in his head which was very painfull. I would estimate maybe 40-50 staples for the surgery then another 8 or so for the bullet entry and exit. He took it like a man, better than me and mom. LOL. We had lots of visitors today too. he likes that as long as we don't get too many people in the room at once.

During his PT today they sat him on the edge of his bed and he actually balanced himself for a few seconds without help. That's a few seconds more than yesterday. praise God for his progress. He is less agitated but still wants to go home, and he also thinks he can use a cell phone and computer and get up to go to the bathroom and he still can't. IT breaks my heart for him. He is doing really well though yall.

The social worker sayd there might be a glitch with my insurance and out of state rehab at Shepards. I'm not going to stress, just pray that it works out. If it don't then Spain is still an excellent facility, but Shepards is our fist choice for sure.

Thank you guys for the all the support and prayer. We are all humbled. I was talking to my pastor about yall today and he was shocked that we could all be this close. You guys are the best. I love you all and please keep praying. I will update as soon as I can.

My sincere condolonces and prayers for Repchick and Chuck. God bless you guys. I am praying for you.

Jeff

[blazer]

UPDATE!
[QUOTE=jwil59;45987831]Every time I read through your posts I am humbled. Everything happens for a purpose yall, and I now know why God brought me to this place. I wish I could explain the strength I have drawn from all this. I don't know what to say.

Miracle Mitch has had a pretty good day. They sat him up on the bed again today and he was able to balance himself and hold his head up longer than the last time. He can operate the TV remote and his mp3 player with his right hand and that is something he wasn't doing right after discharge from the ICU. The PT today hasn't seen Mitch since New Years Eve. He thinks there is significant progress since then. I praise God for all these things. We put the laptop on the bed tonight and he could not do very much with that. I hooked up a mouse and he can navigate with that but not type very well with th one hand. I put a stop to that quickly cause I didn't want him to get frustrated. I am sure that will all come with more time. The surgeon who did the surgery the night of the accident came back to work today. He is pleased with the progress and told us we are welcome here at the hotel until the rehab is settled. Our prayers are being answered here, lets keep praying and having faith.

The rehab is close to being settled I hope. Our chances of being able to go to the Shepards Center are greater today than yesterday. I should know something for sure tommorrow but if all goes well we should be leaving Huntsville for Atlanta sometime on Wensday. The plan will be for me to stay until Sunday and then come home to hold down the fort here whilr Darlene stays at the center. They have housing for us free for 30 days that is connected to the center. After that I don't know what will happen but the marketing rep says the average stay in the brain injury unit is 30 days. I was thinking he would need more than that but we will just pray about it and see what happens. If we do go to Atlanta it would be very cool to meet some of you folks and I look forward to that.

That is about all I have excpt thank you from the bottom of my heart. I really do hope Sean Hannity sees these threads, I think it would make him proud to know that something this special is happening on this little corner of the internet that he and WABC have provided. I know for a fact that God is smiling for sure.

God bless you

Jeff

[Hadassah]

OH YEAH!!!!!! God ROCKS!!!!!!!

[blazer]

UPDATE!
[QUOTE=jwil59;46064851]We are kinda in limbo today waiting for the insurance company to give the go on the rehab at Sheppards. I know we are covered but they have not given the pre-admission apporval yet. I will not bore you with the details but it now looks like the earliest we can leave for Shepards is early Thurs morning, God willing. It sucks for sure but God is still in control of all that too so I defer to Him.

Thay sat him up today and he held himself for a couple minutes. He just cannot hold his head up by himself anywhere near that long. I think he approaching a rut here judging from his depression and stuff like that. He really needs a change and soon. I am praying this all works out tommorrow with the insurance so we can get on with it.

I would really enjoy meeting with some of our Atlanta friends. Maybe a coffee or a beer or something, maybe a meal or sumpin. PM me and I will give you guys our cell numbers so we can maybe set something up. I will have to work on Shepards schedule though.

Please keep praying. I think we are about to turn a huge corner here yall. I know it's gonna hurt, and like yall are saying it's gonna **** Mitch off but it's our next step. We eagerly await the next leg of this jouney God has mapped out for us.

Thanks you guys. I will post something as soon as I know about leaving. God bless


Jeff

[blazer]

Update! 1/7/09
just accessed the care page and read this:

"
mitch continues to progress today. His doctors and therapists are all very pleased. He hit his feet for the first time just a few minutes ago. The therapists and i helped him up and sat him in a recliner. It was only a very short period, but he did support himself for the first time since the accident. Praise god. We ask that you continue to pray for his progress both medically and with the therapy.
We have chosen shepards center in atlanta for his in patient rehab. There are a couple insurance issues that will prevent our leaving huntsville today. This is frustrating but we do know that the rehab is a part of god's perfect plan and that includes departure and arrival. His grace has gotten us this far and will get us the rest of the way. We eagerly await his will in the next leg of this journey he has mapped out for us. Please pray today that all the insurance issues are settled so we can leave tommorrow.
I would ask that you pray for joni this week. She is at a workshop in nashville but i know her heart and mind are in huntsville. Please pray that she can concentrate on learning new ways to help the children of first bible church know, love, exalt, and obey jesus christ.
God bless,
jeff


miracle mitch got out of bed this day! Way to go, mitch! :clap:


Than you, lord of all mercies! Your wonders never cease to amaze us. :dance:


And, hoobeedoo: You are more than worthy of respect. I truly admire your willingness to give and then give still more.

[blazer]

update!
[quote=jwil59;46123451]it looks like the insurance company has still not settled the issues. They asked today for a speech therapy evaluation which mitch aced but we still have not heard anything. He needs to leave here now. I know god is in control but this is really tickinging me off. I think it's about time to bring down a little righteous indignation on someone. I will be 50 years old in feburary and not once in my life have i ever been this angry. Ok so much for the vent. It now will pr4obably be friday before we can leave.

Rhet was kind enough to post the carepages update so thanks for that sis. We did make some more progress today so i praise god for that.

I'll probably be back later to update more, just needed to vent a little.

[blazer]

Update 1/8/09
nothing yet from the insurance company. The social worker thinks maybe some clinical expert for the insurance company might be trying to plan my son's health care options. Maybe i am niave but i don't see how that could be cause that person has never met my son. I know shepards is a ppo provider and i know my insurance covers that at 100% so i don't get the problem and neither does the social worker or the shepards rep. He suggested to my wife tonight that we might consider looking at spain again. I know that god is in control and that's about all that is keeping me sane and relativly civil at this point. Tommorrow my rather large and influential employer will become more involved than they have been. The problem is each day he stays makes the rehab that much harder. I will keep praying in faith and see what happens tommorrow.

He's doing pretty good though. They have a dvd player in his room so he and his mom watched a movie that he laughed at. He keeps making progress and i am thankfull for that. It is indeed a miracle from god. He sat in a recliner today for over an hour and that was cool. We stood him upright for the first time today. Seeing this progress i can only imagine how much the right rehab could be doing for him right now. God's plan is perfect so i will settle down and run with that.

Eta - a little prayer bump for don would not hurt. He might be making a little progress for the first time in a long time. And a little prayer for his wife nancy. You wanna talk about the definition of marriage, well this woman is an example of what god's definition of marriage is all about. On a better note, you prayed for sandy during some of his worst times and he went home from the hospital today.

[free2B]

Praise God that Mitch is showing improvement daily we are Blessed with the mercies of our God and the healing touch of Jesus the Christ

[Hadassah]

Mitch is going to rehab!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Latest update from jwil59.


It's done, we leave for Shepards early tommorrow morning. Cheryl, the amissions rep, called me just a few minutes ago. God in His infinite wisdom and grace made this happen. It did take some work from myself and the Boeing Company but it did work. I swear I love my job, they have been so good to us. Cheryl with Shepards gave me the insurance company case worker's number which turned to be her home phone LOL. She is two hours behind us so I actually woke her up. I won't bore you with the details but the hospital is setting up the transport as I type this. They want us there very early to evaluate him before the weekend. praise God for this.

He is doing ok today, I will update more later.

Jeff

[blazer]

woo hoo God is so good!

[Hadassah]

The latest:




The next leg of our journey begins at 6 am tommorrow morning. Mitch will ride in the anbulance and we will take our car. We are not supposed to follow the ambulance for obvious reasons. I thank God for putting all this in motion, and my hannity friends for allowing me a place to vent so I could deal witrh those insurance people as civil as possible.

We did something very special today. 2 physical theralpists and I watched Mitch rise from a recliner to his feet and stand for about 20-30 seconds. It took him 2 tries to get up but he did it. Praise God.

I want to say a very special thanks and welcome to our newest Hannity lurker, my mother. When we were still living in the ICU waithing room one night I showed my mom this thread and she was hooked. She now reads your posts every day and like I draw strength from that. Mom and Mitch are very very close so I ask that you pray for my mom Helen and my dad Jack as we take this next step. It's gonna hurt them not being able to see Mitch. I love you mom, the faith I have today was instilled in me at a very young age. There was a period in my life when I ran from that, but my roots stuck with me. All those things that you and Dad taught us about faith, honesty, and family have served Joni and I well In our lives. God bless you both as you wait and pray.

Pray for us yall. I hope to see some of our friends in Atlanta, you guys have my number. God bless

Jeff

Keep praying, y'all!

[blazer]

[QUOTE][QUOTE=jwil59;46319691]Mitch's first day at Sherpherds Center was pretty busy with evaulations and what not. We met a couple doctors and most of his therapy team. We were supposed to be able to visit from 9 - 9 this morning but they want him to do a therapy session this morning so they asked that we wait. It's certainly different than Huntsville Hospital and so far he isn't warming up to this place very well. Not much more to report at this point. They have a efficency apartment building Darlene and I get to stay in for 30 days. It's nicer than our house in a couple places. LOL

Gotta run, will try to post more later.

I am pretty computer stupid. Cab someone tell me how to make my laptop work cause they say we cannot use the hospital connection like we did in Huntsville. I bought an ethernet cord but don't know what to do with it.

[blazer]

UPDATE!=jwil59;46372001]Today was a little better. They like to keep him out of bed so we kept him in the wheel chair most of the day. We rode around the hospital and outside in nice garden on Peachtree St. Monday the real work will start. Staying out of bed is more than he wanted to do in Huntsville so we'll take it.

We had a nice visit with Hoob today and he got my laptor going. Thanks buddy, later this evening I spoted a red cord comming out of the back of our apartment phone hanging behind the cabinet and that is my connection in there. I guess I can use the same cord in the hospital but your connection still works in there.

We are very encouraged by some of the stories we have heard from patients and family. There are doctors and other employees here that were themselves injured and did rehab here. it's an amazing place.

Please keep praying for him

Jeff

[Hadassah]

UPDATE!=jwil59;46372001]Today was a little better. They like to keep him out of bed so we kept him in the wheel chair most of the day. We rode around the hospital and outside in nice garden on Peachtree St. Monday the real work will start. Staying out of bed is more than he wanted to do in Huntsville so we'll take it.

We had a nice visit with Hoob today and he got my laptor going. Thanks buddy, later this evening I spoted a red cord comming out of the back of our apartment phone hanging behind the cabinet and that is my connection in there. I guess I can use the same cord in the hospital but your connection still works in there.

We are very encouraged by some of the stories we have heard from patients and family. There are doctors and other employees here that were themselves injured and did rehab here. it's an amazing place.

Please keep praying for him

Jeff


Oh Jeff, we're not going to stop praying for him. :mrgreen:

[blazer]

Hey yall. Cutie, Linda, and Jeny with her two beautiful kids just left. We had a very nice visit. Thank you guys very much. Our hannity family has been just wonderfull. I told these ladies that only hours after the accident I ran to this board as soon as I could because I KNEW that I could count on you guys for prayer and support. I only wish Sean Hannity would read this. I think if he did he would be very proud of what is happening on this corner of the internet he provides for us. I have actually e-mailed and asked that Sean thank you guys for me on the air but I guess he has bigger fish to fry. I wish someone on here who had some connections would try to get him to read all this. In the end this will be good for this board and the people who post here. It's cool that politics and personalities have been put aside. It's very humbling for us.

He has been up in his chair most of the day which is good. The real deal starts tommorrow and I ask for a serious prayer bump as Mitch starts the aggressive therapy.

Thanks again you guys for comming and bringing some good stuff. Yummy.

I will check back later.

Jeff update!

[Dancer]

Hey yall. Cutie, Linda, and Jeny with her two beautiful kids just left. We had a very nice visit. Thank you guys very much. Our hannity family has been just wonderfull. I told these ladies that only hours after the accident I ran to this board as soon as I could because I KNEW that I could count on you guys for prayer and support. I only wish Sean Hannity would read this. I think if he did he would be very proud of what is happening on this corner of the internet he provides for us. I have actually e-mailed and asked that Sean thank you guys for me on the air but I guess he has bigger fish to fry. I wish someone on here who had some connections would try to get him to read all this. In the end this will be good for this board and the people who post here. It's cool that politics and personalities have been put aside. It's very humbling for us.

He has been up in his chair most of the day which is good. The real deal starts tommorrow and I ask for a serious prayer bump as Mitch starts the aggressive therapy.

Thanks again you guys for comming and bringing some good stuff. Yummy.

I will check back later.

Jeff
Serious prayer bump. :pray:

[blazer]

UPDATE FROM CARE PAGE
Thank you for your prayers today. mitchell's first day of rehab work was a huge sucess. We were able to observe most of the day today. He took his PT, OT, and ST in 30 minute intervals with periods of rest and meals in between. All the therapists said he did great and it was better than that from our perspective. One session of the OT was the most painfull, but he hung in and DID NOT QUIT. We praise God for this first day, knowing that all good things come from Him.

Tommorrow will be a new day so please keep praying. We have to pray Mitch through this one day at a time.

God bless,

Jeff

[blazer]

Update
he did great today with the therapy. It was painfull at times but he worked through it. This is another huge answer to prayer. Praise god from whom all blessing flow.

Thanks again to all of you for your prayer and support. Please keep going.

God bless,

jeff

[blazer]

Update!
his nurse suggested that we stay away today so we have done that. Not what we wanted but this isn't about us.

I will update when i know something. Please keep praying today.

Jeff

[blazer]

UPDATE!
[QUOTE=jwil59;46590661]We skipped the therapy today but one of the therapists called this afternnon asking that we get him some open toed sandals cause shoes are hurting his feet. The violent posturing in the ICU in Huntsville have bruised his toes badly slamming against the bed rails in the ICU (the posturing is normal in his case). All that posturing (severe muscle flex over his whole body) is about equal to us working out or running 27/7. That is another place where God intervened before the accident. His mom and I had been on Mitch to stop eating so much junk cause he was gaining a lot of weight. Well the constant posturing in ICU cause him to lose much wieght, I am guessing about 35-40 lbs. in about 10 days. God knew Mitch needed that weight long before this ever happened cause if he didn't have it he would have been skin and bones. Praise God for His soverign control over ALL events. When the therapist called about the sandals she said that he had done well today. She said he was a little agitated thisd morning but finished strong. I praise God for that report. They say he is working through the pain and that is very important, a major step for him enabled by God Himself. I ask that you pray about his physical strength. I also ask that you pray about his depression which seems to be getting worse every day. he cant even scratch his belly if it itches and is totally 100% dependent on other people for everything. The highlight of his night is our visit and finding out who his night nurse is, and rather or not she will promply respond if he needs her. It breaks my heart. I know we have come a long way but it still drives me crazy at times when I think about this stuff. I do have faith and know that God grace is sufficent but I can't help it.
IT's hard for me still, even after the progress we have made. I dunno, it's just tough but I do claim the promise that God grace is sufficent and will carry us through. It's still hard though.

Linda came to visit us tonight and brought a great dinner that was great. She also straightened out Mitch's hair which was pretty bad. One side was shaved after the surgery and we got a friend in Huntsville to try and match the other side but it was tough cause he could not hold his head up at that point. Linda straightened all that out tonight. We all rolled up to the family room and she hooked Mitch up with a professional haircut. he has always been picky about his hair and clothes so I know that will give him some confidence. I also have some great cobbler for my comfort food before bed tonight. Thank you Linda, you are a dear soul. I don't have words to express my gratitude for all this. That also goes for all my hannity who care enough to help us out. I am humbled and don't really know what to say.

Please keep praying for him, God is answering.

I will leave you tonight with this: Nahum 1:7. Linda heard this verse tonight as we were boarding an elevator.It was posted by someone earlier in this thread but I think it is worth another look. It would be cool if yall would look it up. Nahum is one of the OT books that the pages are usually still stuck together in folk's Bibles cause nodody really reads It all that much. THis is a dynamic verse that is very special to Joni and I, as well as my neice Emily. This verse has seen my family through some rough stuff. I am not posting it hoping yall will look it up for yourself

God bless you and thank you,

Jeff still praying hard!

[blazer]

[QUOTE][QUOTE=jwil59;46662941]Good evening my friends.

We need some positive thoughts and prayer about some things today. Number one Mitch is highly and overly depressed. This breaks my heart to see. He has said many things that make this depression apparent. It's really really bad and I ask for your prayer on that. What can I say, it's heartbreaking. We did meet with a phycologist tonight that will be discussing this with the docs tommorrow and maybe will devise a game plan for that.

Like most of you have advised, we have backed off on the therapy. We were allowed to observe two full days but backed off on day 2 as I said earlier because we felt like he was too dependent. Well today through the therapy sessions nobody really bothered to hydrate him very much. He was unable to urinate and the result was he had to be temporary cathatherized to empty his badder. Later this evening he was able to void his bladder again on his own which is good. Please pray that this will continue.

Tommorrow is another therapy observation day so darlene will go over and watch for awhile. These days are set up by the hospital and are there for a reason so we will participate. There is also a meeting tommorrow afternoon with the medical staff. The big meeting with his whole team is Tuesday so maybe then we will know something concrete as to what they think his prognosis will be.

I will be leaving for Alabama tommorrow morning to work a couple days and will be returning sometime this weekend. Joni and her family along with my Mom and Dad will be comming to visit so this is good time for me to get to work for a couple days. Leaving this parking deck for home tommorrow morning will be the hardest thing I have ever done in my life thus far.

Please please continue praying and thinking about him. God's blessing is the only thing that has gotten us to this point.

I also have another prayer request tonight for Elizah Young who is in the same room with Mitch. He is 39 years old with a wife and children, his son is only 18 months old. His father (Elizah SR. ) and wife (patsy) have been a great source of encouragement for us. I will not type everything about Elizah's condition but all his surgeries and stuff before comming to Sherherd Center were at Kennestone Hospital in Marietta. Ironically enough on June 27, 1991 Mitchell's life began at that same hospital.

God bless you my friends, thank you so much

Jeff

[blazer]

UPDATE!Good evening my friends.

We need some positive thoughts and prayer about some things today. Number one Mitch is highly and overly depressed. This breaks my heart to see. He has said many things that make this depression apparent. It's really really bad and I ask for your prayer on that. What can I say, it's heartbreaking. We did meet with a phycologist tonight that will be discussing this with the docs tommorrow and maybe will devise a game plan for that.

Like most of you have advised, we have backed off on the therapy. We were allowed to observe two full days but backed off on day 2 as I said earlier because we felt like he was too dependent. Well today through the therapy sessions nobody really bothered to hydrate him very much. He was unable to urinate and the result was he had to be temporary cathatherized to empty his badder. Later this evening he was able to void his bladder again on his own which is good. Please pray that this will continue.

Tommorrow is another therapy observation day so darlene will go over and watch for awhile. These days are set up by the hospital and are there for a reason so we will participate. There is also a meeting tommorrow afternoon with the medical staff. The big meeting with his whole team is Tuesday so maybe then we will know something concrete as to what they think his prognosis will be.

I will be leaving for Alabama tommorrow morning to work a couple days and will be returning sometime this weekend. Joni and her family along with my Mom and Dad will be comming to visit so this is good time for me to get to work for a couple days. Leaving this parking deck for home tommorrow morning will be the hardest thing I have ever done in my life thus far.

Please please continue praying and thinking about him. God's blessing is the only thing that has gotten us to this point.

I also have another prayer request tonight for Elizah Young who is in the same room with Mitch. He is 39 years old with a wife and children, his son is only 18 months old. His father (Elizah SR. ) and wife (patsy) have been a great source of encouragement for us. I will not type everything about Elizah's condition but all his surgeries and stuff before comming to Sherherd Center were at Kennestone Hospital in Marietta. Ironically enough on June 27, 1991 Mitchell's life began at that same hospital.

God bless you my friends, thank you so much

Jeff
Still praying!

[blazer]

I am back in Alabama and that sucks. I really can't concentrate on work right now because I am obsessed with what is happening in Atlanta. It's all I can think about.

There was a meeting today with Mitch's head doc. They hooked me up with a conference call. The doc, mitch's case worker, darlene, and I all participated. I am sad to say that I am not all that optomistic about that call. Darlene feels better than I do about it. maybe that is because she was in the room and was face to face with the doctor. They say there is more loss on sensation in some areas than I thought before the call. He did say that there are many positives though. They will start the casting of his ankles this week to try and get the right angle from his leg to the bottom of his foot. That needs to be 90% to stand properly. They call that 90% angle the zero point. In order to take a step the foot/leg angle needs to be about +25% or so. When his therapy started Monday the therapist said his right leg/foot angle was about -24% and the left not quite that bad. They basically said that Mitch's progress is up to him and how much he is willing to put into it. Today was not that great of a therapy day for him because he got a little lazy at times acording to what his mom learned. I dunno yall, this is a real roller coaster ride. Please pray he does not get lazy and does well in therapy. We also need prayer and positive thoughts about his depression. The doc said that is something they are going to try and treat with meds, it's just they have to be carefull what they give him with his brain condition. I'm not 100% sure he really understands what is at stake here, and I don't think he will until the depression gets better. What I do know is that prayer changes things and that's a fact.

I'm gonna try to finish my night at work. Thanks for all your prayer and support Still Praying!

[blazer]

UPDATE
Hey yall. Thank you all again for your posts, prayers, and well wishes. I wish i could reply to each one. I really do appreciate the way this board has rallied around us. It's unbelieveable and something that is hard for me to express my feeling about. Thanks again to our Atlanta members who have been so good to us. I pray Hoob and Sim are able to get their van fixed with al little cost as possible. Maybe Jeny can save you guys a few bucks there. I know he feels better about Linda catching up his haircut too. You guys are the best. It is my prayer that this accident will teach us as people something about love and hanging on to those we love.

His therapist came to his room later this evening and talked to my wife and Mitch. She said Mitch had a super good therapy day today. Praise God. I am sure he had to have help, but she said he was able to stand and sit back down 10 times and actually took 7 steps. She told him that this is basically up to him. She thinks that he is capable of more than he lets on and has asked the nursing staff to back off a little this weekend and let him do more for himself. This is something that we have to pray him through one day at a time. I praise God Almighty for this good therapy day and all the progress thus far. To Him be the glory, all of it.

I'm at work again tonight. I actually tried to venture out on the board last night and get back into the fray of things but that didn't really work all that well for me. After all the support and love I have been shown here it's going to be very hard for me to ever debate any of you people again. I'll take this over debate any day though.

God bless,

jeff Keep Praying!

[blazer]

jeny is right, he does look good today, better than thursday when i went home. By god's grace i think we have made progress in the first week. We'll take it and be gratefull. Your prayers and support are appreciated very much.

What can i say jeny my nephew matt is a chick magnet. Always has been, always will be. :) thanks for visiting, sorry i missed you. I got in the wrong lane and turned the wrong way on 75 and wound up in marietta. update!

[blazer]

UPDATE FROM CARE PAGE

More "one day at a time" prayer requests
Posted 12 hours ago
Just got back from Atlanta. Was absolutely wonderful getting to see Mitchell this weekend, though leaving was heart wrenching for us. I am grateful that Matt and I had the opportunity to go - Matt was great "medicine" for Mitchell! Also thankful that my parents were able to go with us. (John William was sick, so he and Dennis had to stay behind.)

Today wasn't quite as bright as yesterday. Mitchell was very tired and had a difficult time staying awake. Hopefully the fatigue was just from his unusually active day yesterday. Please pray that he will be awake and alert enough tomorrow to have a productive therapy day. Also, please pray for resolution of the bladder problem, which appears to be getting worse.

Thank you,
joni

(Jeff, Darlene, and Mitch - I love you and miss you already!)

[blazer]

[quote][quote=jwil59;46985921]the care page update is accurate that mitch wasn't as chipper as saturday. There are also some really good new photos that joni took saturday on the care page. I'm going over there now, will update later.

[blazer]

UPDATE!
Originally Posted by jwil59
hello my friends. Mitch is doing pretty well. He is in ok spirits and his speech therapist said today he is doing good. Thanks for your thoughts and prayers. It is by god's grace that we have made it this far. It is indeed a miracle as some of you have seen first hand. Thank you guys for taking the time to visit, we really do appreciate that.

Please keep praying for him. We love you guys.

keep praying!

[free2B]

UPDATE!
Originally Posted by jwil59
hello my friends. Mitch is doing pretty well. He is in ok spirits and his speech therapist said today he is doing good. Thanks for your thoughts and prayers. It is by god's grace that we have made it this far. It is indeed a miracle as some of you have seen first hand. Thank you guys for taking the time to visit, we really do appreciate that.

Please keep praying for him. We love you guys.

keep praying!

their are still miracles through prayer:pray:

[blazer]

I am happy to report that Mitch is pretty chipper today. he is crackng on all the staff and that is classic Mitch, always joking around. He seems more alert than yesterday too. One of the therapy assistants said he had a good day of therapy. We saw his physical therapist in an elevator earlier and she said he wanted to quit once today but worked through it. Your prayers are being answered by God so far with a resounding yes. I say that knowing that there will be bad days but I have learned to revel in the victories when they come. We cannot say what all your support, visits, and prayers mean to us, thank you from the bottom of our hearts. God is good my friends and I still believed that in he early days after the accident when all the medical experts ddn't give us any hope at all. Everything happens for God's perfect purpose, and that includes life, death, and rehab. I am thankfull that you fine folks have chosen to play a part in that with all your support and prayer.

Pease keep praying ashave a long way to go. God bless

Jeffro
Update!

[blazer]

i wanted to thank all of you who have posted your thoughts, well wishes, and prayers for us in this thread. My family and i are truly humbled by the responce to this accident from this board. I do not have words to express our appreciation to everyone. What can i say, thank you very much. Also thanks to the posters who are putting my updates in this thread.

Thank you all very much, may god bless you each in this new year.

Please keep praying for mitch in the comming days.

Jeffupdate!

[blazer]

mitch has had another good day today and we praise god for that. I am in alabama today for work and i gotta tell you that hitting i20 for home isn't much fun. I wanna be there but i know that there are bills to pay and life has to go on. It's tough though.

His therapy is still progressing and darlene says he is rather chipper again today. His smile and humor have the staff falling all over him and that's good. I am convinced that the shepherd center is a place god himself has set apart to work his healing grace through. It is an amazing place. Thank you for your prayer and support, it is what has gotten us this far.

Elizah's situation might have improved a little today. His heart condition has him so weak that he cannot do all that much therapy. Because of that sherherd had scheduled him for discharge tommorrow, but according to darlene that has been put off until next week now. He isn't ready to go home yall, please pray for him.

God bless you all,

jeffro update

[Hadassah]

The latest update.


My bride Darlene reports another good day for team Mitch. One of the therapy assistants and the charge nurse both said he did great in his therapy today. Praise God from whom all blessing flow. I was able to talk to him on the phone for a few minutes and he sounded good. They said he took some assisited steps and had a little problem with his right leg crossing his left. We will take the steps and be thankfull. They gave him a new chair today which he slid out of but was not hurt, thank God for that. I think tommorrow he will be riding the old chair again for a little while longer.

I am at work tonight but am not getting much done, it's hard to concentrate but I am getting by. I was able to spend some time at our church today and catch up on some work there. It was also great to see some folks I have not seen since we left for Atlanta.

Please keep up the prayers, God is answering with a huge yes so far this week. I also say that knowing there will be bad days, which makes me all that much more gratefull for the good ones. God bless you guys, I love you all more than you can know.

God bless,

Jeff


Keep praying, everyone.

[blazer]

Ty haddie for posting the update in my absence. :hug:

[Meriweather]

Thank you both for keeping us up-to-date. My prayers continue.

[blazer]

Update!i dunno what his schedule is for this weekend jeny. He usually finishes therapy early on saturday. I should be back sometime tommorrow afternoon barring any wrong turns.

Mitch got a new chair today. He does not like it one bit because it is harder to hold himself up without the tilt feature like he had on the last one. This does mean progress though. I predict he will be ill and honary most of the weekend because of that, i hope not though. He did load himself in the wheel chair for the first time today by standing (with help) and pivoting and sitting down without the crane. That's more progress. His day nurse today said he worked hard in therapy, and then she worked him some more. No rest for the weary. I talked to him on the phone and he sounded good, but he did comment that he didn't like the new chair. All in all this is progress and for that i am thankfull to god.

I cannot wait to get back. I have a few tasks at the church tommorrow morning then i will be driving carefully back to atlanta. My 8 hour shift at work tonight seems like 8 days but i am blessed to have such a great job and good insurance. Man what a blessing that insurance is right now. Thank you god.

I gotta get back to work. Please keep praying, i love you guys.


Jeffro

[blazer]

My return to Atlanta found Mitch doing better than when I left. With help he can stand and get in the new wheel chair. he is a little wobbly on his feet but I guess that is to be expected. Some of our family from Ga. was here yesterday and he actually reached up with his left arm and tried to hug his aunt. He might have more use in his hands but not much, we will take some though. God is good indeed. I'm on my way over there now, I will post more later.

Church is at 1:30 Jeny. We will be here my friend.

Thank you guys


Jeffupdate

[blazer]

Mitch isn't feeling all that well today. This past week has been very good though and we know there will be days that are not so good. A little prayer bump this afternoon would not hurt. He is sleeping soundly right now so I am hoping he will wake up feeling better. Don't misunderstand me, I am not fussing or anything cause God has been much better to us than we deserve. I'll try to post more later.

God bless you guys, we love you

Jeffro :pray:

[blazer]

Don't sweat it Jeny, he was not feeling well anyway. I think he was just tired from a busy week. Elizah's situation is complicated. Apparently if a patient hits a wall in his therapy because of not being strong enough, they will release them until a later date becuase of insurance issues. Some patients only have so much time, so they save it for when progress can be made. Elizah's heart condition has him strapped as far as the therapy goes. They were going to release him this past Thursday, now I think he is scheduled for one day this week. If they see him progressing he will probably stay. If Shepherd can help him then they will, even without the insurance money. I met a guy today who has been here 6 weeks and has no insurance. I hope he keeps progressing like he did this week but I dunno. I don't talk to his parents or wife about that stuff if he is around for fear of upsetting him. His parents are our dear dear friends, it was hard for me to say bye tonight knowing they might be gone when I get back. It would be different if they were going becuase his rehab was complete and he were well. I dunno, we will see what happens.

Overall I would say that Mitch's 2nd week at Shepherd Center has been good and productive. I noticed tonight when they stood him upright that he could studder step a little if he needed. That indicates to me that there is a brain to feet hookup there but I dunno. It's just good to see him on his feet, and he is more steady today than yesterday. It looks like they have stretched him a few inches too, he looks taller. There are many areas that I can see a distinct difference in his movement and control. I thank God for this progress.

Your prayers and encouragment are a huge part of this progress. Thank you and please keep going.


God bless,

Jeff Update!

[blazer]

Yeah today was a rough day for Mitch, emotionally speaking especially. He was able to complete his therapy though. He is dealing with all this in his mind and I guess it gets worse the more intense the therapy gets. It breaks my heart, I wish I could do it for him cause I would switch places in a second but that isn't the road God has laid out for me or him either one. Having to be in Alabama does not help my frame of mind any either but we have to pay the bills. All I can do is ask that you keep thinking about him and praying for him. Thanks a million for doing that. keep praying!

[Hadassah]

Thank you blazer for posting these updates. I am weeping reading about the progress Mitch has made. God is soooooo good!

[blazer]

I appreciate all your posts and words of encouragement my dear friends. We have drawn great and supernatural strength from reading this. Thank you, it's much more than I deserve. God bless you all.

Today has been a much better day for Mitch. We got some great news from his case worker today. She has been out of work for some surgery on her arm is why she hasn't been in contact with us for a week or so. She said he is ahead of schedule on all areas of his therapy. His tenative release date from Sherherd is Feb 13 at which time they want him to go to Pathway in Decatur Ga for 2-6 weeks of outpatient therapy. Their expectation for him by Feb 13 is to walk out of Sherherd Center with only moderate assistance. This is great news and we thank God Almighty. My friends from Dec 20 until not we (you included) have watched a miracle unfold before our very eyes. It is unexpainable medically speaking but we all know what has happened.

Please keep thinking about him and praying for him as he does have a long way to go. I cannot explain how much these prayers and thoughts mean to our family. We have to pray him through one day at a time. God bless you all.

Jeff Thank you Haddie and all the others who pray! You are such a blessing in our lives! :hug:

[free2B]

Thank you blazer for posting these updates. I am weeping reading about the progress Mitch has made. God is soooooo good!

God is good it seems Mitch is makeing progress every day:pray:

[blazer]

God is good it seems Mitch is makeing progress every day:pray:

Yes, he is, free! And your prayers are part of that! :hug:

[blazer]

I do not know if there is any change in Elizah's situation today Rhet. I think he will be discharged one day this week though. We need to keep praying for him even after he leaves Shepherd Center. I fear for him and that heart condition being away from the hospital.

Roger is right, anyone who does not believe in God's healing power and promisies only needs to read through this thread. It is a miracle of epic proportion. Medically speaking this just doesn't happen. I thank God every minute for his grace and mercy.

Mitch is having a pretty good day. It was an intense therapy day until late this afternoon, later than usual. Darlene was already at the ABI unit when he came back from therapy. Those of you that have been there know that outside the large room Mitch and Elizah are housed in there is a sofa and a couple chairs for folks to sit in. Darlene was sitting there when Mitch came around the corner from the therapy gym. Today was different though beacuse Mitch himself was providing the power to move the wheel chair. He was pulling himself along with his feet and using his right hand to push the wheel. The nurse had to help him steer the chair, but he himself provided the power to turn the wheels. This is the first time we have seen him do that.

The miracle continues my friends, please keep up what you are doing.

God bless,


Jeff God is still making miracles happen!

[RayMan]

Blazer, thanks for the updates.


Jeff,
So happy to hear how Mitch is progressing. :hug:

[blazer]

Blazer, thanks for the updates.


Jeff,
So happy to hear how Mitch is progressing. :hug:

Ty for praying! :hug:

[blazer]

darlene didn't get to talk to his family today so I don't know what is going on. Thanks for asking

All the people in ICU units at the time mitch was there are either in a regular room or gone home except Mr Weeks. last I heard was last week and he was improving. :pray:

[blazer]

Jeny I am happy you are starting to get some relief on the back problem. darlene had the fusion surgery a few years back and that did the trick for her dengerative disk. You might want to talk to her about that. We will surely sing for the twins birthday but I have to warn you that Mitch and I switched the traditional happy birthday song for God Bless America some years back. :lol: Not sure why we do that but we always do for family birthdays. The program is for the traditional happy birthday song to start, and then Michell, me, and Joni's boys to interupt with God Bless America. It almost got us kicked out of Cracker barrel once.

Cali it is always good to read about your son's life. I remember not to long ago we were praying like crazy for him. I said then and will say now that he is spiritually wise beyond his years. It's great he has chosen a profession that will help others. The fire dept. crew that responded to mitchell's accident on Dec 20 are one of the reasons he survived.

I appreciate everyone's willingness to pray for Elizah. I have not heard anything new on him today but no news is good news in his case. I would open a thread like Rhet said but really don't know how to update, especially is he gets released. Rhet is a prayer warrior and a very good example for all of us. It was her willingness to pray for my mother some years ago (unsolicited) that dragged me kicking and screaming into this OO conference. I cannot even try to explain what this little club means to me today. I read this thread often cause it reminds me of where we are and where we have been. Sometimes it is like re-living the early days all over, but that is good cause he helps me to remember what I pray all of you remember. That life is very fragile and we are not promised tommorrow, and that we need to hug the ones we love every single day if not every single minute. My life was forever changed on Dec 20th 2008.

Mitchell had a decent day. They casted both of his ankles to obtain the proper ankle/leg angle. He needs a 90 degree angle from the bottom of his foot to his leg to stand properly. They call that 90 degree angle the zero point. he needs about +25 degrees from that zero point to take a good clean step. On his first therapy day he was -27 degrees from that zero point but I don't know what it is now. Apparently there is still a negative angle, hence the need for the cast. They will cut the cast off tommorrow and attach vecro so they can take it off for therapy and put it back on at night. He is going with some of the other ABI patients on a field trip to Lenox mall tomorrow. He is excited about that cause he hasn't been out since Dec 20th except for the ambulance ride to Atlanta witch was not really equal to being out in public. I talked to him on the phone a bit ago and he seems to be in good spirits but very tired. The therapy is getting much more intense and longer in length. I praise God that they think he is capable of that intense therapy, that means progress.

I will say again that I do not have words to explain what your posts here mean to me. I am forever gratefull for your thoughts and prayers. I love you all

jeff God is so good!

[blazer]

Mitch had good day today. He enjoyed the trip to Lenox Mall today but pulling the chair around that big mall made him very tired. His case worker says he is still ahead of schedule and on track for the Feb 13 discharge date to go to outpatient rehab. We need your prayer on that too, that we make the right decision as to where to go. I am thinking if the Shepherd people say Pathway is the best place then that is what we will do. We have unirary and head pain issues that need some praying about as well. he is in prettty good spirits and very excited about the idea of being released from inpatient in a couple weeks. He is already thinking about clothes and shoes.

Elizah is still at Sherherd Center so maybe his strength is improving and he is making progress, I pray he is. I look forward to seeing his family tommorrow.

Joni and the kids along with my parents are comming up next weekend tenatively. They had planned to come tommorrow but we have some youth activities (DNOW) at Church this weekend so their trip will have to wait another week.

God bless you all for everything, thank you from the depths of my heart.


jeff :hug:

[blazer]

I'm sorry you are not feeling well Jeny and I hope you are better soon. Mitch has been ill as a hornet this weekend anyway, not sure why, I guess he's tired.

he is still doing well overall though my friends. The miracle continues to unravel before our very eyes. Weelends are kinda boring and not much for him to do, I guess that is why he is a little sideways. He did do a few hours therapy saturday but has not done much today except roll around and watch a movie or two on TV.

Thanks you all agian, I love you all


Jeff
:pray:

[blazer]

I am back home for work today. I really need you guys to pray for my wife. She is missing home, our family, and our Church very badly. Please pray hard for her this week.

Mitch's therapists said today he is still doing well. I thank God for giving him energy and the will to work hard. If nothing else, he will come out of this a man, having earned every inch of movement in his body. He is also missing home very badly, he hasn't seen our house since Dec 20th. He has been seperated from family and friends for the most part since going to Atlanta and that is starting to hit home for him. I also need you to pray about a urinary issue that just will not get better for the most part (unless something has happened since I left this morning). All things considered though he is doing well overall.

Thank you guys and please keep this up, this is going to be long haul. I love you all.

Jeff :pray:

[blazer]

Hello my dear friends. Not much change today in Mitchell's condition.
Mitch's therapy assistant said he is still doing well in his therapy. He has 8 more therapy days before going outpatient and there is still a lot of work to be accomplished. This is going to be very critical prayer wise cause there is a lot of ground to cover. One prayer at a time, one day at a time.

Our housing at Shepards runs out this comming Monday. They are filing for an expension but not sure how that will go. It will depend on new families comming in and things like that. We will get another 30 days when he starts his outpatient therapy but that isn't until the following Friday so there is a 4 night difference. We can stay at darlene's sister's house but that is a long way away from Sherherd. We'll see what happens.

Thank you all for your posts and prayers.



God bless,

Jeff

:pray:

[blazer]

I think you've about got it covered Rhet. I didn't get anything new today on the bladder situation but certainly got some very good news on the therapy issue. Right now we are looking at a place called Pathways in Decatur Ga. for the outpatient rehab, which is connected to Shepherd in some way. That is where most of their patients go. We will be touring that facility one day next week. The other option is to do it closer to home but we will probably be going with whatever Shepherd Center reccomends.

Now the good news. His lead physical therapist said he has been up on his feet walking most of today. She says it isn't all that pretty at this point but he is walking. She told darlene on the phone that she is very impressed with his progress, not having worked with him directly herself in the last couple days. She think he might need a rental wheel chair upon release but not for all that long. Mitch told her he intends to go home on his feet and not in a chair. This is very good news my friends and a direct result of your prayers, please keep going. Thank you very much for all this concern, we are humbled by all this.

God bless,

jeff

Praise God!

[blazer]

i cannot imagine jeny without a voice or the ability to speak. :d just a little inside joke jeny. If you get by then fine jen but if not that's cool. Call before you spend any money on food though, you know how our boy is a little picky about that. :lol:

He is still doing very well. His case worker met with his whole therapy and medical team and they all say he is still doing well. They were especially elated about his walking yesterday. The urologist is still looking at the urinary situation but no new news on that yet. He has been in pretty good spirits, just very tired in the evenings, but still able to spend some time out of bed and that is good. I don't have any details about today's therapy but if something bad had happened i'm sure we would know about it.

We are still unsure about our living situation next week, will know more friday we hope. Thank you all and please keep praying.

Jeff

update

[blazer]

Darlene got to walk Mitch to the bathroom today and that was very cool for her. He still wasn't able to go after he got there but he did walk. We need your prayers about the not going really badly. Beside that he is still doing well and still on track to go to outpatient late next week.

We have to move on Sunday morning dadgummit. We will be getting a place close for a few days until we can go back and live at Shepherd Center for the duration of his outpatient therapy. There are lots of training classes and stuff we will have to go to all week so we will have to stay close. They gave us a list of places so we will be going over that tommorrow and deciding what to do.

Please keep praying in faith, God is answering every single prayer.

God bless,

jeff

Praying still!

[blazer]

I'm trying to post this in the middle of a toy dart gun battle with Mitch. That is how much better he is. This is the biggest week to week improvement I have seen since i have been traveling back and forth. We had a birthday party (I'm 50 monday) and he was trying to eat cake with a fork and hold his sida can. These are things he would not even try to do when I left Monday. When he got up this afternoon he walked a short distance for me. Man I cannot describe the emotion seeing that, what a blessing that was to see. He is doing great yall

Anytime is cool Jeny, you need to take care of yourself first though. You simply will not believe the progress though. It is a miracle in itself.

Please keep praying, we have turned a corner but still have a long way to go.

God bless,

Jeff

keep up the great work!

[blazer]

Mitch has has a busy weekend with our family from Alabama visiting. We all had a great time fighting with water pistols and wheel chair racing. They threw me a birthday party but I am officially stuck in time, 49 and holding. He has also been in good spirits today but very tired. We have family training this week and get to take him out to dinner Monday with a therapist.

We still have some serious bathroom issues. Thank you guys

Jeff

so much fun!

[blazer]

We have been very busy today with family training. We learned chair to bed transfers, helping him take a shower, chair to car transfers, and much more. Tonight we stay on the unti with him in an apartment they have there. We got to go to dinner with him at Chick-Fil-A and that was cool. he is doing very well, just a little honary today but all is good. We still have a going to the bathroom problem though. Tommorrow is another day of training so we are going to settle in for the night soon.

God bless you all,

Jeff

Praying!

[smyrna]

Happy 50th Birthday.

[blazer]

We completed the family training today and that meant we were able to get what they call a push pass. We pushed Mitch down Peachtree St and had dinner at a TGI Fridays. We had a great time.

The training today including us getting to walk him down the hallway. It still isn't pretty but it's a start. He tends to want to go very fast because his chest muscles and abs are not strong enough at this point for a straight gate. His chest leans forward and his feet want to try and catch up. We visited Sherherd Pathways today where he will be doing the day program outpatient therapy and it is a very nice facilty. He had a pretty rough day early and was not all that chipper but our outing to supper helped that. All in all he is doing good.

We still need some serious prayer about the bathroom issues. They just cannot figure that one out.

Thank you guys, God bless.

Jeff

Praise God for progress!

[blazer]

I just pulled back in to Shepherd Center. Darlene tells me he is walking much better than yesterday or the day before. They gave him some ankle braces to keep him fron crossing his feet. he walked around the ABI unit practically unassisted and was able to walk up two flights of stairs with help. Praise God.

There is also some movement on the bathroom issue but that problem is far from solved. At least there is some movement though and that is a start. I have heard many stories of brain injured patients who had that same problem and many stories of those who are fine now in that area. The more prayer there the better. I do think that Cali is right and this problem will solve itself with time and God's help.

Thank you guys, I love you all. I'm gonna get some rest.

God bless,

Jeff

Praise God again!

[blazer]

We have been released from inpatient and he is very excited about that. In a little while we are going to darlene's sister's house for dinner. He is ready to go somewhere.

After we got back to the apartment we walked around the hallway for awhile. When we came back into the apartment he wanted to go to the batroom. I tell yall that boy stood in front of that toilet and went all by hinself. Praise God.

Thank you for your support and prayers. All this is a driect result of that. I love you all

Jeff

Praise the Lord!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[blazer]

I know what you mean sis, the love God has poured on us is beyond comprohension. We are so undeserving of his goodness, as well as we are not worthy of the love shown us from the folks on this forum. I guess that just how God and His people do things. I am thankfull.

We have had a great time the past couple days. Last night we had dinner with family in Canton, Ga. I have not seen most of these folks in 19 or 20 years. It was cooll to get reaquainted. Mitch had a great time too as well as my bride. Today we have spent at Lenox Mall which as out Atlanta members know is a huge place with plenty of room to move around. We ordered Mitch a pair of shoes that will fit with his ankle bracelets (they don't keep many size 14 shoes) and had a nice lunch at the food court. After some rest we are going over to spend some time with Elijah and his family. I hope you all saw the thread on them.

Thank you guys loads and tons. I cannot imagine having to go through this without you guys. I love you all

Jeff

continued progress! :clap:

[blazer]

Shortly after I left Atlanta for home yesterday Mitch and Darlene has a blowout on his wheel chair. The rubber section of one of the wheels came off. That caused them to be late for his first out patient day program therapy. They did make it but I have not talked to her in detail about how things went. I am happy that he is taking the next step though. God's grace has brought him this far and I am sure He will carry this to the end. He was doing good when I left last night. We made a practice run across town to Shepherd Pathway to ensure Darlene knew her way. We also got to spend a short time with Elijah's parents and two brothers. Even with Mitch's progress it has been a bittersweet weekend with Elijah's death. Even today I just cannot shake it, he was making so much progress. I guess this is what a seizure can do to a brain damaged person and hopefully Mitch learned something about seizure prevention, stuff like taking the meds at the right time and other stuff they have told him to do to prevent that. It breaks my heart, his father and mother really helped us early on when we got to Shepherd, teaching us the ropes so to speak. I feel like I have known them my entire life.

We are walking with Mitch quite a bit. They gave him some ankle braces that help with the feet crossing. It still isn't very pretty but it is getting better. He loves to walk too. At this point we are trying to avoid hills and steps, but sometime that isn't possible and he does pretty well. He still does not have much control or use of his hands. We have 6-8 weeks of intensive therapy at Pathways to work on all this and I pray he progresses as much there as he has in inpatient.

Thank you all from the depths of my heart. Although I do not always have time to post, I still go down the list of threads and check for updates and pray for you guys too, I will never stop doing that.

Jeff

:pray:

[Hadassah]

God is so good. :pray:

[blazer]

You guys have posted some beautiful words in this thread, thank you very much.

Not all that much to update about Mitch. he is just getting started in the outpatient therapy. They did say his foot/ankle anlge on his right leg in back in the neutral zone. I posted earlier in the thread about the need for that angle. He was -27 or so degrees when I made that post and now he is back within the "good" range on that foot. Praise God cause that will help him walk straight.

I have been looking back through this thread a little. I go through a whole gammit of emotions doing that. The pain of the first few days and the rejoicing of the days after that. You guys have hung tough with us and I am forever gratefull. I have been trying to get out on the board the last couple days and get back into the swing of things in the debate threads. I see all the sig lines designed to generate prayer and support for us and it makes my heart flutter at the goodness shown me and my family on this board. I will never do or say anything that would make me worthy of such kindness. What can I say, you guys are the geatest.

Jeff

Yes, our God is good!

[blazer]

Not much to update on Mitchell today. The therapists at Pathways are still really evaluating and goal setting for him.

Darlene says he is in pretty good spirits. She does ask for prayer in the parenting area. Mitch can sometimes be a difficult and stubborn young man and as Seanachie has pointed out he probably isn't thinking all that straight right now. I ask that you pray for their relationship and also his walk with God.

Hopefully they will be comming home for a visit this weekend if everything goes well this week. mitch has not seen home since the accident and darlene has only been home for a couple nights after he got out of ICU. Mitch's dog Smokie is also very mixed up and a visit from his master would do him some good too.

God bless you guys,

jeff

Extra prayers for Darlene! :pray:

[blazer]

Thank you each and every one for your posts, prayers, and well wishes. I cannot fathom going through this whole thing without you guys.

Not much to update again today. We are beginning to think that Mitch might have more depth perception problems than we first thought. Different actions and test results point that way. If you have seen the pics on carepage you might notice that his right eye seems to be a little lazy (the side of the injury). If you haven't seen the carepage I will be posting various pics of him in my avatar. He fell off an exersize bike today but was not hurt, thank God. It seems that he has a hard time finding himself when he sits. he might sit on the edge of a surface and think he is well seated when he isn't. That might be due to loss of feeling in his hips, I dunno. Overall he is well though and looking forward to comming home this weekend.

Thank you guys,

jeff

praying for total recovery!

[blazer]

Mitch and my bride arrived at our house early last evening. I came home from work to greet them and saw that some folks from our Church had came by and hung a big welcome home Mitchell banner and left some cookies and other goodies. We have been very busy with visits from friends and family. Our family all went out to dinner tonight and went back to Joni's house to visit for awhile. He is very tired and I suspect will be in bed very early tonight.

We have seen the hippo Seanachie. It usually rears it'sugly head when things don't go Mitch's way. I am happy to know that that is actually a result of his injury instead of blantant disrespect. It's a fine line cause teenagers can be a little uppity at times anyway. I dunno, we just have to do the best we can with what we have to work with.

It has been a very good visit but we are discovering that it is a whole lot easier to care for him in a place that is built for a wheel chair. Even the shower and toilet in the apartement at Shepherd is handicap friendly and our house isn't. Down the line we might have to look at making some changes depending upon how far he goes in therapy and what disabilities he might be stuck with permanently.

God bless you guys, thank you.

jeff

Update!

[blazer]

Thank you all for your posts in this thread. We have learned much from you guys abpout everything from TBI to parenting.

The weekend was a sucess. They left early yesterday after a trip to Church to let everyone see Mitch. I didn't see a lot of change in Mitch as far as progress goes from last weekend when I was in Ga. Most of last week at Pathways was evaluation and this week will be much more intense. I am beginning to become comcerned about the use of his hands. Oh well, I will just pray in faith that God will handle this as He has everything else.

Hopefully like Sea says after his Pathways therapy is done we won't have to make lots of changes to the house. Until then I am thinking darlene will want to limit the trips home, at least for a few weeks. I dunno though, those decesions will be hers to make cause all the travel is in her hands and she is there with him everyday and knows more of what he can do. Overall though it was a good trip home and I think it was good for him.

Thank you guys, God bless you,

Jeff

The healing continues!

[blazer]

Mitchell missed his therapy today because of an ear infection. Darlene saw this comming on and has been trying to see a doctor for a couple days. Finally today he saw the doc and that is the problem. Hopefully he can shake the infection and get back to business cause every day he lies still costs him in the end.

I will not go into details but we also need a prayer bump for his attitude toward his primary care giver, his mother. That is all I will say about that at this point but your prayer there would be much appreciated.

God bless,

Jeff

Special prayers going up!

[blazer]

Mitchell was able to return to therapy today. The problems between him and his mother are still there. I have gotten some very good advice on that today and we are going to be acting on that. We need to know if all this is a result of the injury or just him being difficult. We just didn't know til today how to find that out, and we still may never know. They went back to the inpatient ABI unit for a visit yesterday and everyone there was very happy to see him walk all over the unit. We jave came such a long way in a little over 2 months, by God's grace. Without Him we are dead in the water.

To Him be the glory, honor, and praise. There is still a very long road ahead but His grace prevails every day.

God bless you guys, thank you all

Jeff

:pray:

[blazer]

Update from Care Pages!

Trials
Posted 13 hours ago
I have been reading about the trials of Paul and all he did was praise God for his troubles. He stated that all that happened to him advanced the word of God. As I was reading this I pray that what has happened will futher advance the good news, I do not know how but if anyone can take what has happened and use it to see the Goodness and Mercy of our Lord and Savior then it has all been worth it. That is my prayer anyway!

Jeff got here last nite and I was so glad to see him. It had been a rough and emotional week for me and he was just what I needed. We took Mitch out to lunch today and was treated to a beautiful snow storm in Atlanta. Jeff had to leave a little earlier because of it just to make sure he could make it home.

Prayers needed:

For wisdom in dealing with Mitch.
For Mitch to care about doing therapy at home to help speed his recovery.
To futher get the use of his hands back. (that would help ease the boredom)
I am also asking that Mitch recover fully and completely. We are told whatever we ask in his name will be granted.
Please pray for my Mom who is at my sisters house. She did not want to go But I felt like she was not getting the care she needed at home.
Adam tried and did his best but she requires a great deal of care.
Thank you again for all the support and Love we have received. I miss everyone so much. Love ya Darlene W.

Send a message

[blazer]

I didn't have much time in Atlanta this weekend. I had to replace an outside door on our house Saturday, with my friend Mike's help, so I got a late start. Sunday was cut short because of the snow, which was beautiful but made for a testy drive home. I am not seeing the huge week to week improvement as we did most weeks he was in patient. He is still having trouble using his hands but his walking seems to be a little more under control. He still does not have the proper ankle/foot ratio (90%) so he has to pick that right foot up extra high to take a step. We are hopin and praying the casts will help with that over time as he wears them at night. We went out to lunch Sunday and he is able to hold food in his right hand but it isn't real pretty. I guess that in itself is progress, maybe I am a little impatient. I'll tell you guys that "complicated mind" is the understatement of the year. He and mom seemed to get along a little better when I was there but I did get small doses of what is pretty much driving her crazy. She really needs your prayers. We had a nice visit but it was short, I do not know what her plans will be this weekend, I guess we will take it one day at a time.

Please keep praying my friends. I love you guys more than you can know.

jeff
major prayers still!

[blazer]

not all that much new to update on mitch today my friends. He is still doing therapy and gradually progressing. I think this is wearing thin on him though, he's about ready for it all to be over. I pray he finds the strength to carry on and keep going.

update!

[Remus Lupin]

Still praying for you and your son!

[blazer]

Hello my friends. Mitch is doing ptetty well. he can now stand on his own with no help at all. He is also walking with no help now (before we held the waist belt to help steady him). We will still have to use the belt for some situations but until now we have been using the belt to steady him as he walks. The right foot still is not at the proper 90% angle and that needs praying about. He wears the casts at night but that does not seem to be helping with that foot. He is still having problems with his mom but I won't go into details there. I thank you all for your concern and advice over that issue, and we are also working on some remotivation in that area too. They will bot be comming home this weekend so it looks like I will be making the drive to Atlanta Saturday after catching up some Church work. I think I could drive that route with my eyes shut, but won't try that.

The support, prayers, and advice we have gotten here is simply incredible. Thank you all from the bottom of my heart. I cannot even fathom where we would have been without you guys.

God bless,

Jeff

update!

[blazer]

Hello my friends. I am sorry I have not updated you guys but we have been terribly busy since I arrived in Atlanta yesterday. There is much improvement since last week in Mitchell's overall condition. We went out to dinner last night and didn't even bother to take the wheel chair. We had to park in a parking deck and it was a pretty good hike to the resturant door and back but no problems at all. Today we went to the Georgia Aquarium and we had to insist that we take the chair there cause he didn't want to. We did need it for awhile but for a great deal of the time we were there I pushed an empty chair around. You have also been praying about his relationship with his mother and there is also some improvement there, but we really need to keep asking God to intervene in this area. It has been a very good visit but it is about time for me to hit the road. I really hate to leave with him doing so well, it really does my heart good., but life in Alabama has to go on. There is also some improvement in the use of his hands, but not nearly as much as with his walking. Experienced people have told us that with TBi patients that is the last area to come back. God is good my friends and still at work 24/7 in all this. Darlene is going to try and post some new pics on the carepage sometime in the next day or two so look for those. You will be able to see the improvement.

Thank you for all your thought and prayers. Please keep going, this isn't the time to let up. I thank you from the bottom of my heart. God bless you all.

Jeff

Still praying!

[Hadassah]

Latest update, posted 3/10/2009:



Originally posted by jwil59
He did great at the aquarium Linda. Most of the time he walked around on his own but we certaily needed the chair for the trip to and from the car.

My friends it wasn't all that many pages back in this thread that I was kinda in a panic state over Mitchell not going to the bathroom. I was hoping and praying that he would not lose control over those things. Then I humbly asked you all to pray about that and today the results of those efforts are in. Shortly after I asked you to pray he began going without some type of medicine to make him go or an intermitent cathater. As late as this weekend we were helping him to and from the bathroom, helping with his clothes, cleaning, etc. Well today he is doing all those things 100% for himself without any help. This is another major milestone brought on by your faithfullness to pray. Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Thank you from the depths of my heart for praying for us. I believe in the power of prayer as you do and God has answered your prayers in this area. The results could not be any better. As I type this I cannot help but think of those in this forum that we have been praying for and the results have been different. Those who have suffered and those who are still suffering. The ones of you who have lost family and friends, and the ones of you who are suffering physically with some ailment. I do not claim to know why God does the things he does. I do know that even in those cases His will is still good and perfect. Easy for me to say huh? Well my friends we either believe His will is good and perfect or we don't, it's that simple. I just want you people to know that I am still praying for you, and that God will not forsake you. You have to hang tough with Him in faith and know that ALL things work for the good of those who love Him.

Thank you again, we love you all.

Jeff


This has me in tears. I am overwhelmed by God's Grace and Mercy.

[Hadassah]

Latest update:


They are making another cast to help keep Mitch's left wrist straight. This is in addition to the casts he wears at night on his ankles/feet. The biggest problem areas are with his right foot and left hand and we need your prayers for those. He says that his left hand if numb and tingley most of the time. Maybe that sounds like some kind of blood circulation problen but what do I know. His strength continues to improve as he is able to walk all around Shepherd Center usually twice daily, even after a day of therapy. Praise God for that.

His relationship with his mother is slowly improving, thank you for your prayers on that. They are getting along better and God willing she will be bringing him home this weekend. All this is because of your prayers and we are forever gratefull.

God bless you all,

Jeff

[blazer]

It looks like Mitchell's tenative release date to come home permantly will be April 10th. We have training classes and meeting next week to discuss all this with his therapy team. It will be good to have everyone back home although things will probably never be the same. This is the road God has chosen for us so we will rejoice in that and trust Him. I really have nothing to update today as far as his condition goes but you know how to pray.

Thank you all so very much, I am forever gratefull

Jeff

update!

[blazer]

Keep Praying!

Mitch and darlene made it home today safe and sound. We will have a very busy weekend and then Sunday back to Atlanta for more family training and meetings with the therapy team early next week.

Cali is right that God is good. This is a miracle thread my friends. We have all seen it happen before our very eyes. I often try to go back and read the beginning of the thread but it is kinda like reliving those first few days all over, which sometimes I need and sometimes I don't. The goodness of God and the faithfullness of His people to take everything to Him in prayer is all right here and it is very special.

Thank you all for doing that for all this time. I don't have the wordsa to describe how I feel about that. God bless you all.

Jeff

[blazer]

Thank you for all your prayer and support for Mitch and our family. I am in Atlanta this week for more family training and will have more to report Wensday. We have been to Lenox mall this afternoon walking around without his wheel chair. He pretty much now walks around on his own and he is more coordinated than a week ago. We do need your prayers for the use of his hands though. There isn't much improvement there. Thank you and God bless you

Jeff

update!

[blazer]

Our family training this week went very well. This is the first time that I have gotten to meet his entire therapy team at pathways and I am very impressed with their dedication and attention to detail. They have even given him a watch that is made by Timex that he usues in his therapy. It can download to a computer stuff like his daily schedule and many more things too. We have a new release date. Instead of April 10th his tenative date is now May 8th. That is an additional 4 weeks then they said before. They say this is a good thing because his recent progress has made them realize that he can acheive higher goals than they thought before. This new plan was drawn up last Thursday in a meeting with his entire team and case worker. He isn't all that happy about the extra 4 weeks but although darlene is ready to come home she thinks it is a good thing too. The extra time will put additional stress on our family but I am very happy that they now think he can acheive more lofty goals. To be honest I was a little worried about the may 10th date because he still isn't using his hands very well. I do want to stress the fact that the new date isn't based on what he isn't doing though, but based on the good progress he has made.

Please pray about his hands. They are using some additional wrist braces and stuff to try and help with that but they are very uncomfortable and he don't want to wear them as much as he needs to. Also pray about the mother/son relationship. It looked like we were making some progress in that area but from what my wife says today in particular hasn't been very good. I think Mitch is starting to wear down a little too, so please pray for his motivation.

I don't have the words to express my gratitude for everything you guys have done for us. May God bless you all

Jeff

:pray:

[blazer]

Darlene and Mitch are home this weekend. We are working on a home project that has to be done before his permanent release. Simply put, we have a space problem but darlene and one of our dear friends from Church are handling things very well. I cannot wait to get home from work tonight to see what they have accomplished.

We are starting to give Mitch a little more free reign around the house. Up to this point we have been at his side when he is on his feet but he has pretty much graduated from that. He isn't ready to leave the house without one of us yet but today I drove up to the house and he was walking around in the yard by himself. That is something that he hasn't done, his walking has pretty much been limited to flat surfaces like carpeted or tyled floors with one of us at his side. Progress indeed mainly with his awareness and balance. Praise God Almighty.

God's mercy abounds. All this progress is a direct result of your willingness to pray for us. I don't know how to thank you for that. Not that you do it for thanks, it's just what we do here. We've been doing it a long time and will keep going. Thank you so much.

God bless,

jeff
__________________
Please pray hard for my son Mitch So good to see the progress!

[blazer]

WE had a very busy and nice weekend with my family home. We spent Saturday down at my mom and dad's house which is about a 45 minute to 1 hour drive from our house. This is the first time that Mitchell has been home that he was really able to make this trip. We had a nice lunch and spent some time in the park. Mitch walked and my mother rode his wheel chair. We then visited some relatives culminated by a visit to Mitch's great great Aunt Ruby's house. They have always been very close cause Mitchell always went to see her when he spent time at my mom and dad's house through his youth. Aunt Ruby is 96 years young and the look on her face was priceless when Mitch walked through that door under his own power. I think that is one of the points in his recovery I will never forget.

They made it back to Atlanta safely and have started another week of intense therapy. Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers cause that is what has gotten us this far. We ask that you continue to pray about the use of his hands and hos relationship with his primary caregiver. God bless you all

Jeff

update!

[jwil59]

Thank you guys so very much. My son is testimony to the power of prayer. Since you people have been so faithfull to pray for us, my vow is that I will carry that testimony with me the rest of my days. To Him be the glory.

[blazer]

Thank you all for your messages and prayers. I don't have words to express what all this means to me. I hope you guys feel good about yourselves knowing that you are willing to be a part of God's plan not only in Mitch's recovery and comforting and helping our family, but effecting the lives of others who have seen this. This isn't just another forum conference on the hannity board, it is much bigger than that. God bless you all for being a part of not only this thread but all the others. It has been and will always be my priveledge and honor to pray for each of you, that is something I will always do.

One of Mitch's therapists says that he isn't putting in enough work at home. She is doing some things to try and motivate him to start doing that. This includes stuff like writing and tracing and wearing the right braces at the right time. I ask today that you would pray for his motivation to do these things as they can only help. I am not sure why he don't want to do these things cause it's a shame to get set back after he has worked so hard. The tracing and braces are for the use of his hands, and that is an area that needs much much improvement. So like always we pray and wait.

I love you guys, God bless each of you.


Jeff

[blazer]

[QUOTE=jwil59;51558601]Good idea Rea, sometimes Mitch is tough to talk to about that stuff though. I will have to ponder that. We have discussed those things many many times cause he was raised in Church and was always around Christian people. I have not thought of telling him to work hard so he can get back as close to the way God intended as possible. Then again God might have other plans for Mitch, and He may have decided that He can be glorified by Mitch having some disabilities, I dunno. Either way, His plan is perfect and that is what we tell mitchell.

They are giving Mitch a new contraption (as we say down south) that will help him develop the muscle tone in his right hand. Apparently this thing is quite expensive cause we had to sign to pay for it if the insurance don't, which we have not had to do with anything else. This device will actually grab objects for him somehow to help re-train that hand to do those things by itself. We are still seeing progress week to week on his overall general condition which is a blessing. God's grace and mercy are hard at work here as It has been since the first day.

God bless you all, thank you for everything.

jeff

[blazer]

Thank you all for your posts, messages, and prayers. I have not updated the past few days cause we have been very busy. We had a nice weekend in Atlanta but very busy and to short.

Mitch seems to be suing his hands a little better. He seems to be improving somewhat and doing more things for himself. he is better at things like dressing himself and eating with utensils. We seems to be a little worse in his legs though. I think this is dure to a very intensive week of therapy. They are doing lots of new stretching exersizes on his right leg and that seems to be effecting his strength in the short term. Several times when he was walking that leg just seemed to fold up under him. He was able for the most part to right himself and catch his balance but he is defintaly not walking as well as last week. We trust God and the therapists with this though, they know what they are doing for sure. I ask that you pray about that leg this week and we will see how things go.

They will bve comming home this weekend but I might be possibly be taking a couple days off work the following week so darlene can come home for a few days by herself and get a few days rest. My wife is an amazing person and doing a super job with all this but she needs a few days to herself. Please pray for her.

God bless you, I love you all

jeff

God is good!

[blazer]

[QUOTE=jwil59;51819561]Darlene says Mitch's right leg isn't any better, and maybe worse than yesterday. For the first time in awhile, they used the wheel chair in their travels around Shepherd Center this afternoon. The therapists are going to take a closer look at this tommorrow and I sure hope and pray they can figure this out. Please pray about this right leg cause this could be a setback. Thank you very much and God bless you all

[blazer]

I sure hope Mitch gets some kinda thing-a-ma-giggy for that right leg. They have put him on a walker. The therapist thinks he has a pulled muscle but they are going to have the doc take a look in the morning. Dadgummit this looks like a setback. I ask for your prayers on this my friends.

Thanks you,

jeff

keep prayin! :pray:

[smyrna]

[quote=jwil59;51819561]Darlene says Mitch's right leg isn't any better, and maybe worse than yesterday. For the first time in awhile, they used the wheel chair in their travels around Shepherd Center this afternoon. The therapists are going to take a closer look at this tommorrow and I sure hope and pray they can figure this out. Please pray about this right leg cause this could be a setback. Thank you very much and God bless you all

Father in heaven:pray:

[blazer]

You people are such a blessing to me. I really needed something today and then I log in here and read these posts. It has pretty much changed my whole attitude, which I needed badly today. God bless you all. If a person in my shoes does not get lifted up by all this stuff then he/she is dead inside. I cannot express how gratefull I am for all of you hanging with us all this time, and this thing is still far from over. This thread is the "thread of the year" in my book. It says a whole lot more about the human spirit, friendship, and love than all the other debate threads combined. Nothing we could ever accomplish politically can ever come close to comparing to the importance of what has been said and accomplised here. What can I say, thank you for everything.

The doc thinks Mitch might have a pulled muscle effecting his walking. he also says that the muscle tone in that leg and in his hips are not good so they are going to start giving him a series of injections for that, Botox i think. Because of all this he is stuck with using a walker for now. Please lets pray about that muscle tone. Also darlene and Mitch have not been getting along all that well this week so I ask that you keep praying about that.

They will be comming home tommorrow. We have functions at the Church all weekend so we will be pretty busy. I will update when I can

God bless you and thanks again for everything.

Jeff[/QUOTE] Update! still needing prayers!

[blazer]

WE had a very busy weekend, I am sorry I have not made it to the forum. We had a Church activity saturday night that I had to work for, before and after, so I have been pretty busy. Sunday when Mitch and Darlene left a friend and I played some golf, which was nice.

Mitch seems to be about the same. He is walking a little better but only with the assistance of a cane. He might be using his hands a little better. We had a spagetti dinner at Church saturday and he didn't eat that much cause he didn't want to make a huge mess. All in all maybe he is progressing a little bit, although the progress at this point in the game is a little harder to see.

Please pray for me as I travel to Atlanta Thursday to give darlene a couple days rest. Up to this point she has been his primary caregiver and I am around for support and entertainment. She will be leaving and comming back home for a couple days and our roles will be reversed.

Thank you guys for everything. As a few of you have said, this is a very special little club we have here. It means the world to me. I love you all and God bless.

Jeff

Thank God for this break!

[blazer]

Thanks for the links and offers for assistance. Mitch has an account my cousin set up through his care page that many people have helped us with. If not for the kindness and goodness of a lot of people, I just don't know where we would be today.

We did get maybe some better news on the Botox treatments today. I called my insurnace folks and they say the doc needs to send some detailed justification as to why the treatments are medically necessary then they might cover them. They gave me a FAX number so we will see what that brings.

he still seems to be doing well in most areas. His hands are still numb and that distrubs me. I will be traveling early tommorrow to Atlanta and darlene will be comming home for a few days. This will be a good chance for he and I to have some time together alone and I am looking forward to that. I just hope I can be as good a caregiver as she has. please pray for me.

God bless you guys, thank you so very much. darlene's laptop is on the blink so I will have to update from Shepherd's computers which are often taken by other patients and familes so I will post when I can this weekend. In the meantime, you know what to do, and I am eternally gratefull for your willingness to do that.

jeff

still praying!

[Trinka]

Jeff & Family,

I just saw this thread last week...I haven't had time to read all the posts....BUT...I don't need to read them all to send up my prayers and offer you comfort and support. I tell you now it is hard to type and respond with out the tears flowing....as I have been in your shoes. It is a long hard road ! The rolloer coaster ride of a brain injury. Been there done that....our son had a near fatal 4 wheeler accident in 2002. We spent weeks in the hospital, weeks not knowing if he'd live or die...it breaks my heart to see or hear some one else going through this. My prayers started off Please God just don't let him die, then after seeing another young man age 20 die from the very same kind of accident...and watching his parents and family say good bye and signig the papers for organ donation...my prayer changed to simply...Thy Will Be Done...we had no idea if he'd make it or if he'd be the same son as he was before, or if he'd have any lasting disabilities. I had to simply and faithfully put it in God's hands...He is a walking, talking, functioning, working, miracle! Today if you didn't know, you'd never notice the once in a great while that there is a break in the wiring of the brain that interupts his train of thought and process for just a few seconds. Praise God! Any way...this is my prayer for you today..

Dear Father,
Grant this family strength when they have none, grant them wisdom when they feel they have none, give them the grace to face what ever comes..grant them the knowing of your presence when they feel alone, and the warmth of friends for the physical need to just know some one cares...wipe their tears whether they be tears of joy or sorrow, let them only be tears of joy. Touch each of them with your healing touch...let the Sun of righteousess arise with healing in His wings. Heal the brokeness in what ever form it arises. Grant them the blessing of your awesome miracles..as we Thank You for ours, we Thank You for Theirs now too. Grant them a abundant supply of smiles and laughter, Love and Joy, and the Peace that only You can bring.
In Jesus' Precious Name, Amen

[Semi-Sweet]

Jeff & Family,

I just saw this thread last week...I haven't had time to read all the posts....BUT...I don't need to read them all to send up my prayers and offer you comfort and support. I tell you now it is hard to type and respond with out the tears flowing....as I have been in your shoes. It is a long hard road ! The rolloer coaster ride of a brain injury. Been there done that....our son had a near fatal 4 wheeler accident in 2002. We spent weeks in the hospital, weeks not knowing if he'd live or die...it breaks my heart to see or hear some one else going through this. My prayers started off Please God just don't let him die, then after seeing another young man age 20 die from the very same kind of accident...and watching his parents and family say good bye and signig the papers for organ donation...my prayer changed to simply...Thy Will Be Done...we had no idea if he'd make it or if he'd be the same son as he was before, or if he'd have any lasting disabilities. I had to simply and faithfully put it in God's hands...He is a walking, talking, functioning, working, miracle! Today if you didn't know, you'd never notice the once in a great while that there is a break in the wiring of the brain that interupts his train of thought and process for just a few seconds. Praise God! Any way...this is my prayer for you today..

Dear Father,
Grant this family strength when they have none, grant them wisdom when they feel they have none, give them the grace to face what ever comes..grant them the knowing of your presence when they feel alone, and the warmth of friends for the physical need to just know some one cares...wipe their tears whether they be tears of joy or sorrow, let them only be tears of joy. Touch each of them with your healing touch...let the Sun of righteousess arise with healing in His wings. Heal the brokeness in what ever form it arises. Grant them the blessing of your awesome miracles..as we Thank You for ours, we Thank You for Theirs now too. Grant them a abundant supply of smiles and laughter, Love and Joy, and the Peace that only You can bring.
In Jesus' Precious Name, Amen

This is a touching story and a beautiful prayer Trinka.

[blazer]

Everything is going great in Atlanta this week. Mitch's occupational therapist told me yesterday the he is still progressing well. She thinks he is ready to do more things for himself, such as getting dressed and that sort of things. He has made great strides but she thinks he is ready to do even more. WE have had a great time. Last night we had dinner on the street at a pizze place and we just sat and talked for a couple hours. I think God that he has given me this time alone with my son. Please keep praying my friends, God is good for sure.

I said early on in this thread that we all probably have something to learn from all this. I was flippin channels a little while ago and came across Oprah. Well I never have any desire whatsoever to watch Oprah but today she had James Taylor on there. One of his songs hit home. Never put yourself in a position where one of your loved ones is about to check out of this ole world and you have to sit and wonder if you have done the right thing for them. Don't let that happen to you. God bless you all.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWnjEMbFFME



Jeff

keep praying!

[Abe]

My prayers are offered.

[blazer]

ty Abe! :)

[blazer]

The way I underdstand it Cali is that the 1000 bucks is just our co-lay for the Botox injections. I called my insurance carrier last weel to fuss about that and they asked that Shepherd send them another doctor's report which they have done. So now I wait to see if that co-pay can be waived and them pay the whole thing. Another option is for him to try the orally administered Botox to see how he responds. The problem there is that could effect all his muscles instead of just the target spots and that isn't what they want. They are saying they could give him a small dose, which would cost much much less, to see how he responds before making that big co-pay. I'm thinking if we all pray about that like we do everything else then God might just handle this whole thing, and maybe not. Either way, it will be His will what happens and we can roll with that.

He is making some progress with his hands according to the therapist. He is getting much better at stuff like feeding himself and getting dressed but besides that the progress is hard to see. Like everything else we pray and wait. I could not fathom having to endure all this without God and knowing that he hears and acts on our prayers and that his plan is perfect and for our good. Without Him we would all be dead in the water.

Thank you guys so much, God bless you all.

jeff

:pray:

[blazer]

Mitch passed a balance test today which means he can wander around more on his own and does nor have to be escorted everywhere during his therapy day. Still no word on the Botox injections or what they plan to do. All I know is time is running out. I hope they decide what to do sson.

:pray:

[blazer]

The therapists are working with Mitch on the behavior problems but I'm not sure he is responding all that well. I know anger for anger is the wrong way to go, it's just hard sometimes when dealing with the type problems we are having. Yes Jim this, as well as everyting else you have posted, is very helpfull. Thanks fo rthe info via Pm too buddy.
__________________
Keep prayin, Jeff has been posting smaller updates. :pray:

[blazer]

Thank you for those wise and supportive words ladies. That Grandma sounds like one of the giants of the Christian faith, I wish I were more like her.

Darlene and Mitchell are home so hopefully we will have a better weekend than last. We plan on a birthday celebration for my mom sometime this weekend as well as other stuff. he is doing better this week, by God's grace, and we are thankfull.

I ask that everyone keep praying hard for him cause all he has is another 2 weeks at Shepherd pathways for therapy and we are uncertain what happens next at this point. We do know he isn't anywhere near done with therapy, but we don't think that we have any place locally that will match up with Shepherd. We have refiled the claim for the Botox, and I will be suprised is they don't pay 100% of that like they have all the other hospital administered drugs. The question is rather or not there is enough time left to make it do any good. There is a lot of uncertaintity so we will lay it at the Lord's feet and let Him handle it.

Thank you guys for everything

jeff

:pray:

[blazer]

We are going to be getting the results from the latest round of phych testing one day this week. We are looking for a doctor at home to deal with some of this stuff.

Thank you very much my friend.

:pray:

[blazer]

We are on the home stretch my dear friends. All of you have been a major catalyst in this miracle with all your prayers and support. Like I have said before, I now know why God sent my computer mouse to hannity for the first time. Nothing ever accomplished politically on this forum could ever be as important as the love that has been shown our family. Everyone in my family reads this thread every day, everyone. Like I, they acknowledge the truth I am talking about here. Thank you for your willingness to serve God by serving us. What can I say yall, it's a miracle. I don't know how to thank you, it's much much more than I deserve. That's what Grace is though, unmerited favor from God. You guys are God's instrument of grace, thank you answering that call.

Please continue praying about his hands, muscle tone, and our family relationships. God bless you all, I love you each and every one.

Jeff

:pray:

[blazer]

bump!

[blazer]

My bride and Mitch are on their way home for the weekend. The weather is bad so I am praying for a safe trip for them.

We got the results of the physch testing today but I don't have the details yet. All I know at this point is that there are certainly some limitations. His IQ scores were lower, they say because he could not use his hands much for the test. There are also some sight and reading comprohension issues. It's just another bump in the road and some more stuff to pray about.

Thank you all, God bless you and have a great weekend.

jeff

hope they have a wonderful weekend!

[blazer]

We did have a good weekend my friends, smooth as silk.

We have another 5 days of therapy at Shepherd and then it's home. They are setting up his therapy in Alabama but we don't know the details yet. By God's grace I think we made the right decesion about going to Shepherd Center. And by God's Grace Mitch has made a remarkable recovery, although he still has a long way to go. That is because of your faithfullness to pray, and God's Grace. I might sound like a broken record but everytime I think about everything that has happened since day 1 of all this God's Grace is what always comes to mind.

God bless you all and thank you

Jeff

praise God for progress!

[Pastor Allen Fleming]

Jeff, my flock and I are praying for you. We would like to send you a prayer blanket. Would you send us your address. Our email is pastorallenatthroneofgraceministries.com

[blazer]

ty Pastor

[blazer]

By God's Grace we are reunited again at home. Everything is well so far. We will know more Monday about his therapy schedule on Monday hopefully. We also have to see the surgeon who did the emergency surgery the night of the accident.

Today is a huge step and we thank God.

:pray:

[blazer]

Alrighty my friends everyone is home and all is pretty well so far. We had a great day yesterday as our entire extended family went to Church together for the first time since the accident, including my mom and dad. That was very emotional to say the least. Mitch made an apperance in a few of the kids Sunday School classes that have been praying for him the whole way. The kids all had the deer in the headlights look when they saw him. Man what a great lesson in the power of prayer those kids learned yesterday. It was great to see everyone and they were all well please to see the fruits of their prayers. I cannot even begin to try and explain what our Church means to us. It was a great day overall as we also had a Mothers day celebration at Joni's house.

Today was his first physical therapy day. He got evaluated by a therapist and did some exersizes. He says what they did is basically the same stuff he was doing at Shepherd Center, which is good. He will be doing PT and OT three days a week back to back for a total of a couple hours. His speech therapy evaluation is tommorrow and then it is back to school. he will be going back to school 5 days a week but only about 4 hours a day. All the paperwork has been filed to see that the school system does what it takes to catch him up. They are talking about him actually walking with his graduating class and making up the credits to actually get a diploma in the summer. His main teacher (Mrs Schnars) has been wondefrull filing all the paperwork with the state of Alabama so that all this will happen. God bles her heart, all we had to do is sign up and she did the rest.

Please keep praying for us as he still has a very long way to go. It is going to be much harder for him to focus being at home and all. We also ask for your prayers for our family relationships as we grow acclimated to trying to get back to something close to normal. We know that our lives are forever changed but we still need to get a routine. Thank you all so very much, you have prayed us through to another stage of this recovery. We now wait for what God has in store for us next.

God bless you all

Jeff


ETA - I have not had time to read anything this weekend. I am praying that I will find Rhet is back on the board with us and doing OK.

:pray:

[blazer]

Tommorrow will be Mitchell's first full day of school and therapy sessions so a little prayer bump for his stamina would be appreciated. He is still doing well and so far everything is going well at home (as well as can be expected). He seems to be doing more things for himself each day, Praise God from whom all blessings flow. God's grace and mercy continue to dominate this miraculous recovery. That is a direct product of your faithfullness and willingness to pray for us since trhe first day. Thank you each and every one and God bless you.

jeff

:pray:

[blazer]

Thank you my friends.

We had to take my mother to the ER on Sunday and she was admitted to the hospital for test, where shehas been til today. They think he dizziness, stumbling, and slurred speech might be because she is severly amenic (how ever you spell that). They also say her heart is a little weak and that can lead to congestive heart failure. They did a full battery of tests and have her schedule for some other outpatient tests. My sister is driving her home as I type this. Your prayers for her would be appreciated.

Mitch is doing OK I guess. They have cancelled his occupational therapy twice already, and I am ticked cause that is what he needs the most. If they cannot handle him they need to tell us so we can find somebody that can. I think one of Mitch's main problems at this point is anger. At Shepherd's everyone else was like him, actually he was better than most. Now that he is home in the real world his disabliliies are really hitting home. Also his friends are not comming around all that much, which is probably a blessing in some cases but he don't see it that way. He is also dealing with the thought that his best friend might have actually accidently shot him and has been lying about it all along. He isn't at this point able to go out with his friends or anything and he is bored to death. That is a lot for him to mentally deal with and I think he is very frustrated. Please pray about that.

I am having a very hard time typing all this with Rea on my heart, that's about all I can really think about right now. I just found out about Rick today because I have been away from the board for a few days with my mom. I wish I knew what to say.

God bless yall,

jeff

update!

[blazer]

Thank you friends for your posts, pms, support and prayers. Mitchell is finally getting some occupational therapy, thank God. They now have him scheduled for 3 days a week so I hope that holds up. Physically he is still doing pretty good I guess, all things considered. By God's Grace things have been a little better around the house so far this week. Thank you all again for everything you have done since the first day.

My heart is still heavy today as I pray for my dear friend and sister Rea. I wish I had some words to help ease her pain.

:pray:

[Hadassah]

:pray: :pray: :pray:

[blazer]

Yes he is merciful, check this out: last night when I got home from work Mitch got up to go to the bathroom and he asked me to pour him some soda. I did that and he actually picked the cup up by wrapping one hand around the glass like the rest of us do. Up until this time he has been grabbing a cup or glass with both hands and drinking like that. he hadd to use two hands to actually drink from the g;lass but he did reach down and pick that cup up with one hand. That's progress with those hands. Thank you for your prayers.

Praise God from whom all blessings flow!

[blazer]

God's Grace is always just what we need! We get down and out but He is always there to pick us up and wrap His loving arms around us! We never shed a tear that God doesn't see. We never pray a prayer that He doesn't hear! We never have a hurt that he doesn't feel! When we feel down cast and forgotten, we need to remember He loves us and forgives us! He thinks about us when the person we love the most in this world forgets us. I don't need to use Jesus as a spare tire and just pick Him up when I am sad or alone and afraid. He is just waiting for me to reach out and accept the love and comfort only He can offer! I am truly thankful for this! I claim His promises right now! I claim His peace that passes all understanding. I claim His love that far surpasses anything we could ever feel on this earth! I claim His grace and mercy and forgiveness! Without all of this, I would be lost! I claim the healing balm of his love that can mend a broken heart! I take all my worries, all my cares, all my pain, all my losses and I place them at my savior's feet!
__________________

[blazer]

bump