NEW HANDS FOR JEFF
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                       Progress Updates
June 5, 2010

Hey Everyone,
 
Jeff had another quiet day, especially since it was the weekend.  His OT therapist came in early this morning to work
Jeff's arms, wrists, hands, and fingers.  He was there for about an hour.  Again, each session is getting longer and longer,
working him up to his outpatient days which start on Monday.  They are still going on the premise that Jeff will be discharged early Monday morning and then he will head over to the Hand Clinic to start his outpatient therapy for the week.  They have settled on his hours which will be from 8:00 -11:00 a.m.   Then he will get an hour break for lunch (or to catch a quick nap) and then his afternoon hours will be from 12:00 - 3:00 p.m.
 
Jeff also took his first stroll down the hall today.  He did well but, of course, he will have to work himself back up to his usual distance. 
 
We just want to thank everyone for their contined prayers and support.  We appreciate your calls, emails, and most of all, your prayers.  God is Good - All the Time!  He continues to hear your prayers and answers them.  We just pray that our prayers will be answered for quick healing and that this surgery will be exactly what Jeff needs to get his hands working and doing what he needs them to do.
 
Please continue to pray that infection and rejection will be bound and pray for Jeff's faith, strenght, and state of mind.
 
God Bless!


June 4, 2010

Good Evening Everyone,
 
Just a quick update this evening as Jeff had a very quiet day.
 
The doctors were in first thing this morning to change all of Jeff's dressings.  They took most of the bandages off, along with the castings that were on to protect the stitches.  They just wrapped up his arms in gauze.  This made Jeff happy as his arms and hands were much lighter.
 
Then, his OT therapists came in to make his new splints.  These allow him to move his fingers more and to do the exercises they have given him.  He will have therapy over the weekend.  The plan is still for him to be discharged on Monday morning and then to head straight over to the outpatient OT therapy Hand Clinic.  We are still praying for all to go well so that we will be able to come home next weekend.
 
Please continue to pray for Jeff's healing and for infection and rejection to be bound.
Please also pray for Jeff's stomach.  His pain seems to be in check, but he is having trouble with nausea.  Every time he tries to eat, he gets a stomach ache and then the nausea, along with a headache.  Please pray that these will go away.
 
As always, we Praise and Thank God for his grace, mercy, and faithfulness throughout this miraculous journey, along the faithfulness of His servants who continue to pray for us and support us.
 
On a lighter note - our beloved Flyers won again this evening so they are now tied two games a piece with Chicago.  Of course, this made Jeff's evening.
 
Thanks again for all of your prayers and support.
 
God Bless!


June 3, 2010

Hey Everyone,
 
Well, today was another quiet day for Jeff.  He is still dealing with some pain, but I think it is gradually receding.
The doctors continued to do dressing changes and blood work to ensure that there is no infection or rejection.
Jeff's fever came down, so we are not exactly sure what that was all about, but Praise God that it is gone.
 
Jeff's therapy started today.   They worked on stretching exercises for about 30 minutes which went well.  Jeff was
also able to get his legs on and walk for a little while.  Praise God that it was good to see him out of bed.  Tomorrow, the
OT therapists will be working on some new splints for him and exercising again.
 
Jordan and I were able to get to the Carnegie Museum of Natural History.  It is quite impressive.  We did not realize how big the museum was and every time we turned around, we were at another wing.  But, we got through most of it and enjoyed ourselves.  They have a great geology collection.  The minerals and gems were fabulous.  Jordan, of course, loved the dinosaurs.  But, overall, like I said, the museum was quite impressive.

We thank everyone for their continued prayers and support.  We just ask everyone to continue to pray for all of those
things we mentioned before and just to keep Jeff in our prayers.
 
God Bless!



June 2, 2010

Good Evening Everyone,
 
Sorry this is late in getting out.  We were watching the Stanley Cup Finals game between the Philadelphia Flyers and the
Chicago Blackhawks and it went into OT.  YEA!!!!!! The Flyers won so the Flyers are down by one game.  Of course, this made Jeff very happy.
 
Pretty much, Jeff had a quiet day.  He was still in a lot of pain, which the doctors are aware of.  But, as with any surgery, we will have pain.  Of course, they view this as a good thing as, again, it shows that the nerves are regenerating and growing.  But not to like being in pain, Jeff does not share in their enthusiasm.  He spent most of the day resting, giving blood, having dressing changes, etc.  So, things are going well.
 
Tomorrow will be a different story as his therapy starts, both for his hands and for walking.  Nothing is wrong with his legs, but again, he has been in the bed since Tuesday morning so they want him up and around as soon as possible.  As for his hands, they will be starting out slow and working towards intense.  Again, they will be keeping him in the hospital through the weekend so that he can get therapy.  Then, starting on Monday, he will go to outpatient therapy for about 7 hours a day.
 
Please continue to pray for:
 
Jeff's continued healing, especially this evening as Jeff's was running a slight fever when we left this evening.
Pray for no infection or rejection.
Pary that Jeff will feel better overall, in body, mind, and in spirit
Again, Pray that this surgery will be exactly what he needs to get things moving in the right direction and that he will see dramatic progress before we leave to go home in two weeks.
 
We thank all of you for your continued prayers as we feel them each day and know that you all are with us through this miraculous journey.
 
Some of you have asked for our address here in Pittsburgh.  It is the same as before:
 
Valarie Kepner
Holiday Inn Pittsburgh University Center
Room 429
100 Lytton Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15213 


June 1, 2010

Good Evening Everyone,
 
Well, it has definitely been a long day.  We arrived at the hospital around 9:00 a.m. this morning as Jeff's surgery was scheduled
for Noon.  After all the doctors saw him, all the bloodwork was completed, x-rays done, etc, etc, etc....he finally went back around 11:15 a.m.  We were told that the surgery would take about 3-4 hours.
 
Well, you all know how these things go.  Jordan and I took the truck back to the hotel where we had some lunch.  Jordan decided to stay at the hotel for a while versus sitting in the waiting room for 4 hours (gee, wonder why) so I headed back up to the hospital around 1:00 p.m.  As I was walking in, I ran into all the doctors.  Knew this couldn't be good.  Well, the ORs were backed up and Jeff was still waiting his turn.  Of course!
 
They finally took Jeff into surgery around 2:00 p.m.  Things went well and they doctors were able to do everything that they set out to do.  They fixed the ulna in his right arm, removed scar tissue, and then did some additional work on his muscles and tendons that will, hopefully, increase Jeff's mobility, flexibility, and strength.
 
Jeff finally arrived at his room on 11 North to all of the familiar, welcoming faces that we are so used to around 7:30 p.m.  Jordan and I were there to meet him.  Needless to say, he was not feeling to well and was in pain.  Then, as the staff were getting him settled, they noticed that there was bleeding in his right arm that has pretty well soaked his dressings and bedding.  So, the doctors were immediately called to come and take a look at it.  It was nothing major, just some seepage which they bandaged and rewrapped everything.
 
When Jordan and I left, Jeff had received his pain medication and will hopefully be able to get some rest for the evening. (Yea, right!!!!)
 
He will be resting tomorrow and will start with light therapy on Thursday.  The doctors have decided to keep Jeff in the hospital through the weekend so that they can provide therapy to him there as he will not be able to get therapy over the weekend as an outpatient.  So, he will probably be released on Monday to then go straight to his therapy with his old therapists for about 6-7 hours a day.
 
We are still planning on being here for about two weeks, but will keep everyone posted on Jeff's progress.  Thanks to everyone for their prayers during Jeff's surgery.
 
Please pray for his healing right now and for his pain to go away.
That there will be no infection or rejection.
That this surgery will do exactly as the doctors have predicted.
For Jeff's state of mind, for his comfort and that the Lord will just watch over him constantly and show him what he needs to see.
 
Thanks again for all that you have done, and continue to do, to support us and help us out throughout this miraculous journey.
 
God Bless!


May 31, 2010

Hey Everyone,
 
Just to let everyone know that we made it safe and sound to Pittsburgh - Praise God!  Traffic wasn't
too bad.  We had some construction which slowed us down along with some rain, but overall
we made it here in just under 10 1/2 hours.
 
Jeff has to be at the hospital tomorrow morning at 9:15 a.m.  His surgery is scheduled for late morning.
I will send out an update as soon as I have news.
 
Please pray for Jeff's piece of mind this evening and tomorrow. 
Please pray of a successful surgery and that this is exactly what
Jeff needs in order to get back on track.
Please pray for the doctors that the Lord will guide them in doing exactly what needs to be done.
 
Thanks to all of you for your prayers and support.
 
God Bless!


May 11, 2010

Good Evening,
 
Again, I have been so remiss in getting updates out to everyone.  But in reality, there really hasn't been much to send out in the way of updates.  That is until now.
 
Over the past few months, Jeff has been going to therapy three days a week.  But his progress has been incredibly slow.  His progress has been in millimeters at some points and then recently, he has not made much progress at all.  He still has some movement in his fingers, but still does not have any movement in his thumbs.  He is also experiencing some problems in turning his wrists over.  He used to be able to do this a little more easily, but now, to turn his wrist over, he has to turn over his whole arm.  He progress now seems to have stopped.  Needless to say, Jeff's attitude is not very good and he is depressed at this point about the whole thing.  He is working hard to make things happen.  But nothing is working.  The good thing is that he has not had any further rejection episodes (Praise God) so he has not had that to worry about.
 
So here is the news.  We are heading to Pittsburgh on May 31st because Jeff is having another surgery on June 1st.  First, they need to attend to the Ulna on the right arm.  This is the only bone that has not healed completely.  The other three bones have healed completely (Another Praise) but this one will need surgery.   

Next, they will be looking for, and removing any scar tissue that has formed on the muscles and tendons of the arm.  This is what they feel is keeping Jeff from making progress. 

Jeff will be in the hospital for about 3 days.  We will then have to stay in Pittsburgh for about 2 weeks so that Jeff can undergo Intense Therapy on the newly released muscles. 
 
Please pray, pray, pray that indeed this is the case.  Jeff definitely needs some answers and needs some encouragement.  He is really down right now and of course, this trip isn't making things better.  He knows that he needs to go, but it means another long stay for us (all three of us as Jordan will be going with us since school will be out) in a hotel and I will be on Leave Without Pay again for an extended period.
 
We just again ask for your prayers for:
 
1.  That this will be the answer to the problems and that Jeff will see dramatic progress after the surgery.
 
2.  That Jeff will have no infection, rejection, or any other side effects from the surgery.
 
3.  For Jeff's attitude and faith (he definitely needs prayer in this area)
 
4.  That the Lord will be with us in all ways through this and will provide in all ways.
 
I do have a great praise to tell you about.  We do know that Jeff's nerves are growing as they should.  Jeff continues to show progress in having feeling in his hands and fingers.  As you know, the hot and cold sensations appeared awhile ago and continue to be present.  He now shows signs of feeling in his hands as when they had to perform biopies, they have had to use a numbing agent to keep Jeff from feeling pain during the procedures.  Now, when the doctor here in Augusta "stabs" (actually using the uncovered end of a cotton swab) Jeff can tell that his palm is being touched or his fingers, even though he cannot tell which finger.  When the hand is touched, he gets "electrical shocks" through his hand into his arms.  This is great because it is evidence that the nerves are growing and are down into his hands.  This is great news for Jeff as something is on track.
 
Thanks to everyone who has been supporting us in so many ways.  There are those of you who have sent us cards and checks and we are so appreciative.  We thank you for your phone calls and emails.  And we thank God each and every day for your prayers and your love.  We are so blessed to have you all in our lives.
 
God Bless!


March 18, 2010

Good Evening Everyone,
 
Just thought I would get another update out to everyone as I do have quite a bit to report.  Things have been going rather well for Jeff lately and we thank the Lord for answered prayers.
 
First, the doctors have decided to cut down on Jeff's therapy from 5 days a week to 3.  Jeff was really getting burned out with doing the same things, so many times a week.  It was rather wearing on his nerves and, with Jeff not seeing tremendous progress, it was becoming very frustrating for him day after day.  So, now, he is going to therapy on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.  This seems to be working very well so far.
 
The next great news is that Jeff's blood work has been so stable of late that now, starting this week, he can now start going every other Thursday for blood work.  Jeff went today, so he will not have to go back until April 1st, and then, as long as everything comes back normal, every other week after that.  Wow, Jeff is so happy.  What a giant step forward for him and another answered prayer.  He has been waiting for these steps as it shows his body is healing and progressing well.
 
The next bit of great news is that now Jeff is only seeing his doctor here for follow-ups once a month.  Jeff saw his doctor last Friday and he is very pleased with his progress.  In fact, he did a couple of tests to see how Jeff's nerve growth is progressing.  He had Jeff close his eyes and then touched Jeff's hands and fingers in different placed with the wood end of a swab.  Jeff was able to feel the pressure in some places on his palms, but the best thing was he was able to feel the touch on one of his fingers.  Yes, Praise the Lord!  He had not been able to do that yet, so the nerves are definitely growing.  The doctors have said that the "feeling nerves" grow faster than the ones needed for movement, but that they will not be far behind.  They seem to think that Jeff may see giant leaps coming up as all of a sudden, nerves will connect.  Jeff is just so grateful that everything seems to be falling into place right now.  Jeff is just looking forward to all that will be possible in the future.
 
Finally, the last bit of great news is we were finally able to make it to church this past Sunday.  Jeff was finally feeling up to it and we were so blessed to be back among our family at Burns.  We have really missed them.  
 
We do continue to ask for your prayers in the following areas:
 
1.  We ask for continued, miraculous healing in Jeff's hands and arms in that we will see those giant leaps in movement, strength, and feeling very shortly.
 
2.  We ask that infection and rejection will continue to be bound.
 
3.  We ask for prayers for Jeff for his courage, strength, and perserverence.
 
4.  We ask for your prayers for Chris Pollack who became the second person in the US to have a double hand transplant.  He had his done in February and he is doing well so far.  He is the first person to have his whole forearm transplanted to include the elbow joint.  Please pray for his healing and progress also.
 
5.  We ask for your continued prayers for Haley Van Pelt.  She is the daughter of our good friends, Bill and Lexie Van Pelt.  I told you all about her last summer.  She was the 17 year old that was in the car accident and suffered brain damage.  She has now turned 18 and continues to progress in her healing.  Please continue to pray for her and Bill and Lexie. 
 
6.  Please pray that we will be able to sell our first home in Goshen.  We have had a few people look at it and there is one couple that are very interested in it.  Please pray that all works out with them and we will finally be able to get out from under two mortgage payments.
 
7.  Please pray for us in that we will follow God's plan for us in all things.
 
We just continue to thank God for all of you, for your continued prayers and the support that you give us each and every day.  You means so much to us and we thank God every day for all of you.  You all are the best!
 
God Bless!


March 1, 2010

Hey Everyone!
 
WOW!  Does time fly!  I profoundly apologize for not getting an update out sooner.  I have good intentions at the end of each day and somehow, I just never make it to the computer.  Something always seems to come up and before I know it, it is after
Midnight and I opt for bed instead.  I will certainly try and do better.  My objective is to always get an update out weekly, so I will try and stick with that.
 
Things have been kind of hectic since our return from Pittsburgh.  All of our prayers were answered as the doctors were able to get Jeff's rejection under control and reversed.  We continued on the course of treatment since our return and just finished
Jeff's last one this past Friday.  His arms and hands are really looking good, so we thank the Lord for answered prayers and just continue to pray that any further rejection will be bound.
 
This past trip was especially hard on him, just so much to deal with.  He really thought that, hopefully, rejection would play no art in this.  Unfortunately, that was not to be the case.  But, he made it through and, Lord willing, he will not have to go through it
again.
 
We have not been out too much because of Jeff's treatment.  His doctor here advised him, since his immune system was already suppressed, to be careful of crowds.  So once again, we have not ventured out.  Since his last treatment was Friday, we will wait awhile and then, hopefully, Jeff will be ready to once again get back out into the world.  We have really missed going to church and seeing our church family.  They are such a part of our lives here and we miss them terribly, along with our other friends here in Augusta.  We hope to see you all soon.
 
Jeff's therapy is still going well.  He is making improvements, small as they may be.  Of course, this continues to be a source of frustration for Jeff as he would like giant leaps.  But, for the moment, he must measure everything in millimeters.  Not what he wants to hear.  The doctors and therapists at UPMC, along with his therapist here are trying to come up with some new exercises and such.  Hopefully, this might get Jeff going on a different track, or at least liven up the therapy sessions.  Please just pray of diligence and courage for Jeff as he continues to work through all of his.  It weighs heavy on his mind so much of the time.  He really needs a big break through.
 
We just thank all of you (as always) for your continued prayers and support.  You are always there when we need you with a kind word, a prayer, etc.  We really want to thank the volunteers who have been so dedicated in picking Jeff up from therapy and bringing him home since I have returned to work full-time.  You even, at a moment's notice, take him to therapy when I have to be at work early.  We really don't know what we would do without you.  You all are certainly heaven sent and we really appreciate the time you give up to do this for us.  We love you all and have been so blessed by each of you.
 
We also want to thank Paige and Scott Walden, Paige's parents, and, on occasion, Carol Echols.  They pick up Jordan from school, take her to piano lession, and make sure that she gets home.  We know that she always has a place to go on a moment's notice.  We love you all too for everything that you do for us!  You also are such a blessing in our lives.
 
We ask that you continue to pray for rejection to be bound, for Jeff's courage and strength, and for miraculous signs of healing and advancement in what Jeff can do.
 
God Bless!


February 7, 2010

Hey Everyone,
 
Well, it was another quiet day, as weekends usually are.  Pittsburgh is still digging out so things are pretty slow around here.  Most of Jeff's doctors were able to make it in today to see him and they are still happy with the progress he is making.
 
They are still in agreement that biopies will be taken early tomorrow morning.  If the results come back good (as they are expecting they will) then they will discharge Jeff late in the afternoon.  This will allow us to at least get a head start out of Pittsburgh as another snow storm is expected to hit here Tuesday morning.
 
We have decided to head home a different way that will take us away from the two major mountain passes that we usually have to travel through.  My Dad mapped it out for us and it doesn't seem to be much longer than our normal route, but it does look to be safer this way.
 
Please, this evening and tomorrow, pray that Jeff's test results will come back with the results that the doctors are looking for so that we may head home; continue to pray that rejection will be bound; that Jeff's blood pressure and blood sugar levels will all remain at acceptable levels; and especially pray for traveling mercies as we try and navigate these roads that are still snow and slush covered.  I had to go and get gas this afternoon and needless to say, I did not stop at intersections if I did not have to.  People are still sliding and traction is just not there sometimes.  I did alright, but have forgotten what it is like driving in these conditions, especially in a truck that is not a 4 wheel drive, nor does it have front wheel drive (a must for up here).
 
Jeff, Jordan, and I just continue to thank all of you for your prayers and support.  We know that our Lord hears our prayers and has definitely answered them quickly this week.  We thank Him each day for all of you.
 
God Bless!



February 6, 2010

Good Evening Everyone,
 
Well, what a snow storm.  I would like to say that the weathermen were a little off, but that would be an understatment.  This  storm was a blizzard.  We did not get 8-12 inches, like they were forcasting - we got 21 inches!  The roads were all closed this morning, so the shuttle from the hotel to the hospital was not running.  I had to walk.  What fun!  The sidewalks were not shoveled yet, so trudging through that much snow, in sneakers, was quite a workout.  Mostly, I tried to walk in the streets, when cars were not coming.  This worked well since there weren't many vehicles on the road and I made it to the hospital without much trouble.  It finally stopped snowing about Noon today.  It was quite pretty outside really. 
 
Needless to say, we had a very quiet, but unique, day.  Almost none of the Food Service workers for the hospital were able to make it in, so the patients meals today consisted of boxed lunches of turkey sandwiches, which the nurses from each floor had to go down, pick up for their floors, and deliver.  The cafeteria over at the main hospital was open and, since most of the hospital staff had to stay overnight, they were not making anyone pay for food.  They were simply serving stuffed shells, a small salad bar, and drinks, but it was free.  Since nothing was open any where in the area, it was a great deal.
 
Jeff's doctors were able to make it in later in the day and they are still happy with the progress he is making.  Right now, the plan is for another set of biopsies to be done on Monday.  If those results come back where they want them, then we will hopefully be able to leave on Tuesday.  Praise God!  The only problem is that another snow storm is on the way and is supposed to be here on Tuesday.  So, we have asked them to consider that, if the test results are good, if they will discharge Jeff Monday afternoon, so that we can get a head start from the storm and get on the road.  We will have to see.
 
Please pray for Jeff's test results to come back with no further signs of rejection, for rejection to continue to be bound, that all of his other blood work to remain within the desired parameters, and for traveling mercies for us for a safe trip home.  Please also pray for my situation at work at I will receive the donated leave that I will need to see us through this time and for our finanacial situation in that we will be able to cover any deficit not covered by donated leave. 
 
We continue to thank God for all of you as you have continued to bless us throughout this miraculous journey.  We thank Him each day for all the blessing you have brought into our lives and pray that you are Blessed in return.  You all are as much as part of this journey as we are and, frankly, we wouldn't have been able to do it without your prayers, love, and support.
 
God Bless!



February 5, 2010

Well, the weather outside is frightful and we have no fire!  LOL!!!!
 
It is snowing like crazy up here.  I haven't seen a snowfall like this in so long and, as for us, it is beautiful.  But the driving is treacherous.   The hotel shuttle even had trouble getting to the hospital to get me this evening.  It is supposed to snow through the night and the city is expected to have up to 8, maybe even 12, inches of snow by Noon tomorrow.  If the shuttle is not running in the morning, I will be walking in this Winter Wonderland.  If only I had boots!!!!!!
 
Jeff had another uneventful day.  He continues to respond to the treatment as they have expected.  This is great news.  The only concern is getting his anti-rejection level of medication in his system to where they want it to be.   Since he has had this episode, they will want a higher level for a while, but they have not found the right combination to maintain it in his body.  So, please pray that this will work out and that Jeff's body will adjust to everything.
 
Jeff's arms and hands are looking better, so the doctors are encouraged that, again, Jeff's body is responding to the course of treatment.  His blood sugar was down this morning, but took an unexpected rise this afternoon.  Also, his blood pressure has been up and down, at different times, for no reason.  Not sure why all of this is happening, so please continue to pray that all of these areas will normalize, along with his treatment.
 
We still have not found out a return date, but feel that it is not in the too distant future.   I will let everyone know as soon as we do.  If you would, please start praying for traveling mercies as we will have to travel though some mountains and mountain passes after this snow storm. 
 
As I stated above, please keep all of these areas of concern in your prayers, along with binding all rejection and infections.
 
We thank you all, as always, for your prayers and support.  You all are in our prayers each and every day.
 
God Bless!


February 4, 2010

Hey Everyone!
 
Well, we had another quiet day.  Praise God for that.
 
Jeff continues to respond well to the course of treatment, so all is going as the doctors have expected.

Jeff's blood sugar was down today, to a much more acceptable level, so we Praise and Thank God for answered prayers in that area as well. 
 
There really is not much more to report, as in anything different.  Jeff did have his ultrasound done today.  This was the one that he was supposed to have done when we came up here in January, but we could not work out the scheduling.  So, it did work for today, so Jeff was able to get out of the room for a while and have the test done.
 
We still have no release date as of yet, so we don't know when we will be able to return to Augusta.  Pittsburgh is expecting a major snow storm starting tomorrow, through Saturday, with up to 8 inches of accumulation.  So, even if Jeff was released, we would not be able to leave until at least Sunday.  But since, they have not given us any plans, we are expecting to be here through the weekend.
 
Please continue to pray for infection and rejection to be bound, for Jeff's blood sugar level to continue to fall to normal levels, and that this episode will be over soon, with no more in Jeff's future.  Please also pray for my situation at work as I am out of leave.  My co-workers have been very gracious and are working to help us out, as all of you have also, so we continue to thank God for all of you, your prayers, and continued support.
 
God Bless!


February 3, 2010

Good Evening Everyone!
 
First, Jeff and I would just like to thank everyone for your continued prayers.  They are definitely being heard and answered.  God is Good - All the Time!
 
Jeff had a good day today.  It seems, to this point, that the course of treatment is working as they have expected.  His arms and hands are looking better.  They are not where they need to be, but it seems they are going in the right direction.  Praise God!  They will continue to watch Jeff over the next few days and then decide what they will do next.
 
We are asking for your prayers this evening specifically for Jeff's sugar level.  Due to all of the medications that they are giving Jeff, his blood sugar is running very high and is now being treated.  We pray that this, again, is a temporary situation and it will be back to normal very shortly.
 
Otherwise, today was very quiet and  I will continue to update everyone as we know anything else.
 
Please also pray for Jordan through all of this.  My parents traveled to GA today and will be taking care of her until we return, but it is still hard for her, going through all of this.  We thank God for His traveling mercies that, as of when I talked to them earlier, they were doing fine and about 2 1/2 hours away from Augusta.
 
Again, we thank all of you for your continued prayers and support.  We truly are blessed by all of you and have no idea how much you have helped us throughout this continued, miraculous journey.
 
God Bless!


February 2, 2010

Hey Everyone,
 
For those that don't know, we are back in Pittsburgh.  We have made an emergency trip back because Jeff is showing signs of rejection in both of his arms and hands.
 
This showed up late last week and, after some pictures were sent to the doctors here, the decision was made that we had to get to Pittsburgh immediately.  So we started driving at 8:00 p.m. last evening and arrived at UPMC this morning at 6:30 a.m.
 
Jeff was immediately admitted to UPMC, back to 11 North (the Transplant Floor).   The doctors saw him pronto and biopies were done.  We received the results this afternoon.  Jeff does have moderate rejection in both transplants.  They have started a variety of treatments at this point.
 
We do not know how long we will be here or we were are going at this point.
 
Please, please pray for this rejection to be bound and that his hands will heal right now!
 
We thank everyone who have helped us get here, the Waldens for keeping Jordan (again!) until my parents arrive tomorrow, and everyone that is praying constantly for immediately healing.
 
I will continue to keep you updated each evening or as I have news.
 
God Bless!


January 22, 2010

This will be a quick update as Jeff and I are heading to bed. 
 
We are still in Pittsburgh and we are praying that we will be able to head back to GA tomorrow.
 
They have gotten Jeff's kidneys under control.   They felt that everything with them was simply due to the all the of contrast and not eating or drinking.  His levels have come back down and he is urinating again regularly.
 
Unfortunately, Jeff started running a fever today while he was getting his second dose of fluids.  Again, they feel that this is all tied in together, but just to be sure, they took blood cultures today to check for infections or any bacteria in his blood.  Since he is immo-suppressed, this would not be a good thing.  The only thing that they can think of that would be causing this would be the new port.
 
So, we have to go back in at 6:30 a.m. tomorrow morning for another round of blood work, antibiotics, and fluids.  If everything comes back normal, then we will be free to head home around 10:00 a.m.  It is a little later than we would like to start out for a 10 hour drive, but we definitely need to make it back on Saturday.
 
Please pray that Jeff's blood cultures do not come back positive.  If they do, then they will have to surgical remove his port and insert a new one.  Then, we don't know when we will be able to go home, probably not until some time next week.  We are praying that this will not be the case, that everything will come back normal and we will be on the road tomorrow.
 
Please just continue to pray for Jeff through all of this that everything in his body will be back to normal, with no infections of any kind and that everything will be functioning as it should.
 
Please pray for traveling mercies for us tomorrow.
 
God Bless!


January 21, 2010

Hey Everyone,
 
Well today, as some of you know, proved to be an interesting day and not exactly what we had planned.  We had hoped to leave this afternoon and make it at least part way home, but as of right now, we are still in Pittsburgh and headed back to the hospital tomorrow.
 
Jeff went in, as scheduled for his blood work this morning and then he was to go for his ultrasound.  We never made it to the ultrasound.   After the labs were drawn, as we waited for his doctors to come down to do his biopsies, we had the pleasure of speaking with some last year students from Pitt who were spending the day on 7 West.  It was very nice talking with them.  They had a lot of questions for Jeff and were very interested to speak with him.  Two of them were finishing their Masters in Social Work so they spent some talking with me and asking me some questions so that they had a better idea of things from a caregivers point of view.  They are a great group of young people and we definitely wish them well when they graduate in the Spring.
 
Jeff's doctors came in and did the biopsies and everything was going well until Jeff's lab results came back.  His one lab came back high and they were not too happy with this at all.  This lab shows his kidney functions and, since Prograf can affect his kidneys, this caused some concern.  But, they attributed this to having contrast on Tuesday with his CT scan, contrast with his surgery yesterday, and then of course, not eating or drinking because of the surgery, and then getting nauseated last evening so he did not eat or drink much.  So, he was not urinating.  But more importantly, he was dehydrated, so his creatin (?) level was too high.  So, he had to stay on 7 West for 3 hours while they hung two bags of fluids.  This took us into the afternoon.  Hence, he missed his ultrasound appointment.  They redid the lab at 2:00 p.m. after all the fluids, but the level still had not come down.  So the plan was for us to come back to the hotel, push the fluids all evening, measure his urine output, etc.  Jeff finally was able to go to the bathroom around 7:30 p.m., so that made them happy.
 
We have to go back to 7 West for more labs at 8:00 a.m. and we are praying that everything is back to normal.  Then, we must have the ultrasound done that Jeff missed today.  We are praying that we will be able to leave by Noon and start for home.  The weather is not expected to be good here tomorrow (rain and freezing rain), but we are still going to try and leave if we can.
 
Please continue to pray that all of Jeff's lab results will be within all desired ranges, all tests will be done on time, and that we will be able to leave.  Also, please pray for traveling mercies for us and that the weather will have not adverse affect on our ability to drive home tomorrow.
 
We just thank you all for your continued prayers.  We definitely need them now and we know that the Lord hears and answered them.  Thank you all and God Bless!


January 20, 2010

Good Evening Everyone,
 
Well, I am trying to get this update out a little earlier than last evening.  Today definitely went much smoother than yesterday.  Praise God!  Although the morning started out questionable, prayers were answered quickly.
 
Last evening, knowing the parking situation over at Shadyside Hospital, we decided to arrange for a taxi to take us to the hospital this morning.  Arrangements were made with a very reliable driver that the hotel uses quite often.  He drives a van so it would work out perfectly, especially with Jeff's wheelchair.  When we got to the lobby at 5:45 a.m. this morning, we learned that the driver would not be able to make it after all.  But, not to worry.  The front desk clerk had made arrangements for another taxi...she just didn't know we needed a van.  So a number of calls were made rather quickly and finally, a van taxi showed up and we arrived in time for Jeff's appointment.  Praise God. 
 
We got to the Day Surgery Waiting Area, they checked Jeff in right way, and then took him up to his Pre-op room with no waiting.  Things went very well.  They got him all settled and all the doctors came in and did everything that they needed to do.  His surgical appointment was for 9:00 a.m. but they actually took him back round 8:15 a.m.  So then I prayed and waited.
 
They call me around 9:45 a.m. and told me that everything had gone well.  The new port (actually call a "Power Port") was in and that they would be taking the central line out shortly since they were still using it for drugs and such.  I was finally able to go back up to his room about 45 minutes later.  We had to wait for a chest x-ray to be done to ensure that the port was properly placed and, Jeff had to stay there for about an hour for them to ensure that his vitals were stable and that he was awake enough to leave.  We finally left about 11:30 a.m.
 
We then went directly over to see Dr. Lee, his main doctor up here.  We had a brief meeting with him, one of his hand therapist here, and a few other doctors from the original transplant team.  The hand therapist went over the results of the tests that she performed yesterday and they had Jeff do some basic movements so that they could see what muscles were moving, etc.  Overall, I think that they were all very pleased so far with his progress.  They did discuss what treatment plans they want to pursue for Jeff when he returns and the areas that they feel he really needs to work on, so I think he will have some new therapy routines and exercises when he gets back to Ray next week.
 
Tomorrow, he will have his final bloodwork, bioposies, and his ultrasound and then he will be done!!!!  Depending on what time he finishes, we may start back for GA tomorrow and then stop for the evening somewhere in West Virginia.  This will at least cut down on the amount of time I will have to drive on Friday.  If not, then we will be leaving early Friday morning as planned to head back home.
 
I am asking for your prayers this evening specifically for Jeff as he is very nauseated and sick from the surgery today.  He was feeling pretty good until about 3:00 this afternoon when I got him back to the hotel.  He then began to feel light headed and sick to his stomach.  He even attempted to throw up a couple of times, to no avail.  He has been sleeping ever since, so I hope it is just a need to sleep off the drugs they gave him for the surgery.  Please pray that this will pass and he will feel better shortly.
 
Thank you for your continued prayers while we have been here.  We know that the Lord hears and answeres them and that He blessed us with a much more wonderful day today.  Please continue to pray for outstanding results on all of Jeff's tests and that he will feel better this evening so that the morning will not be too difficult for him.
 
Please also pray for traveling mercies for us and I can again, handle the daunting task of this 10 hour drive home to get us there safe and sound.
 
God Bless!


January 19, 2010

Hey Everyone,
 
I would like to say it was a good day, but we definitely had our ups and downs.  A lot of downs.
 
It was wonderful to see everyone again.  We were greeted by the smiling faces of the information ladies at 7 Main at UPMC Montefoire.  They are always wonderful to visit with each day when we were here before and they certainly didn't disappoint today.  It was great to catch up with them.  We had our normal morning coffee before we had to head off to our first appointment at 9:00 a.m. for Jeff's blood draws for his surgery tomorrow.  This is where things started to go downhill.
 
7 West (where Jeff always got his blood drawn when we were here) was extremely busy today.  Because yesterday was a holiday, many patients waited until today to come in and get their bloodwork done, so they were very backed up.  We arrived around 8:45 a.m. and they never took Jeff back until 10:15 a.m.  This was after I told them that we had to be over at UPMC Presby for his CT scan at 11:30.  Of course, we had already missed his 10:00 a.m. appointment with another doctor, so I had to call the coordinator and tell her that she would have to reschedule that one.  What a start.
 
With the blood work done, we headed over to UPMC Presby Radiology for Jeff's CT scan and prayed that everything would go OK.  We arrived at 10:45 and got checked in.  Jeff's appointment was for 11:30 a.m. and they didn't even call him back for the initial interview until almost noon.  Not a good sign.  About 12:15 p.m., they called Jeff back for the scan and then the fun started.  As always, Jeff's central line just seems to give them fits.  Not that this is the first time that they have used the lines for a CT scan on him.  This would have been the third time.  Well, first one tech comes out wanting to know where the ports are for the contrast.  We told her that there are no ports because they cannot put ports in Jeff's arms, so they use the central lines and have for the last two times.  So, she leaves and goes and gets a nurse.  They look to see what kind of lines they are and decide that it must be documented in his file.  So we sit there in the waiting area of the CT room.  Finally, about 12:25 p.m., the tech that is actually going to do the scan comes out and tells us that they are trying to reach the doctor because they are not sure what they need to do with the contrast and the central lines.  I ask why Jeff had to go through this each time he had to have this test done.  They have done this test twice already and it seems it is a mystery each time.  It is never documented what to do when they use the central lines, so they have to contact a doctor.  So we waited.  And as we waited, they continued to take patients ahead of us.  Well, by 12:45 p.m., Jeff had had enough.  We had had nothing to eat and he was tired of this, so we just up and left.  We called our doctors and told them what was going on and this was just ridiculous, so we were leaving to go and get something to eat.  And we left.
 
Needless to say, they were none to happy, but they understood.  As we were eating, they were trying to get all of this worked out and, then, we find out that Jeff also needed to have X-rays done.  Well, one of Jeff's docs called and convinced him to go back to the CT room and that they were finally ready.  Yes, they were but, we had walked from one hospital to another to get something to eat and now, we had to walk back.
 
While Jeff was getting his scan, I contacted the coordinator to see if the X-rays could be done while we were already there.  We were supposed to leave from the CT scan, go over to another building quite a walk away for his hand therapy appointment, and then go back to Radiology for the x-rays.  We really did not want to do that.  So, we got it all worked out so that we were able to complete everything right then and there.  But, we were 2 hours late for the hand therapy appointment.  The day continued to go well!!!!!!
 
Again, it was great to see everyone at the hand clinic.  They had a series of tests that they put Jeff through to see how he was doing.  He didn't do too well on some, but he did well on others.  We were able to visit for just a little while since it was so late in the day, so we are hoping that we will be able to go back before we leave.
 
We finally left the hospital around 5:30 p.m. this afternoon.  Jeff was exhausted and I was just frustrated.  We found out late in the day that his surgical appointment will be over at UPMC Shadyside which is not near our hotel.  Another frustration.  So after dinner this evening with our dear friend, Mary Conners (thanks for a great dinner and grear company), I decided I had better make a dry run to make sure I could find the hospital and that we would be able to park Jeff's truck, since we have to be there at 6:30 a.m. tomorrow morning.  Well, I found the hospital with no problem, but as the day was going, it was going to end that way also.  Jeff's truck will not fit in any of the parking garages.  So, security sent me to the Emergency Room where the security office is and we had to decide where I was going to be able to park the truck.  Not too many options.  They finally decided on a space in the drive around in front of the medical building.  The trouble is that I am not supposed to be parking there at all.  But, I was supposed to park there at 6:00 a.m., take Jeff in for his surgery, and when they took him in, run back down to talk to the guard and explain why I was parked there.  Yea right.  So, after much deliberation, we have decided to take a taxi to the hospital in the morning that will accommodate Jeff's wheelchair and then take the hotel shuttle back to the hotel.
 
I am just worn out.  So, it is now 11:45 p.m., I am finishing up this update, and I am heading off to bed since I will be up at 4:30 a.m. to get us around.
 
Please, please pray that tomorrow goes much more smoothly than today.  Jeff's surgery will involve taking out his central line and putting in a port.  He will be under for this, so please pray for no complications and my sanity!!!!! 
 
God Bless! 


January 18, 2010

Hey Everyone!
 
Just wanted to let everyone know that we made it to Pittsburgh safe and sound.  For those of you that don't know, we are here for Jeff's 9-month check up.   Even though it has only been 8 months (as of January 4th), they are counting this as the 9-month follow up.
 
Jeff will have some of his tests tomorrow and the rest on Thursday.  Wednesday, he will be having a surgical procedure to remove his central line and replace it with a port.  This will be a God Send.  With the central line, he has to have a sterile dressing change once a week and we have to cover it with all sorts of stuff to keep it clean and dry when he takes a shower.  So, this will be much better and easier for both of us.
 
The drive was long as I had to do it all, so I am glad that it is over.  Unfortunately, I will have to do it all again on Friday.  It took us about 11 hours to get here.  The weather was great but it just seemed to take so long.  Everyone at the hotel was glad to see us and gave us a very warm welcome, but it was bittersweet.  It just seems like we were here for so long, and now we are back again.  Thank heavens it will only be for a few days and we will be heading home again soon.
 
Jordan is finishing up her trip to Disney World with the Waldens.  She is staying with them for the week and we thank God for them and that Jordan has such a great family to stay with when we are gone.  Since the kids had off school today and tomorrow, they decided to take a trip to DW right after school on Friday.  So, they have spent three wonderful days and they will be heading home tomorrow.  Please pray for traveling mercies for them that they will have a safe trip home and that Jordan will have a great week with them.
 
We just ask that you pray that Jeff will have a good three days that all tests will have positive results.
Please pray that the surgical procedure goes well on Wednesday and there will be no complications.
 
I will be sending out updates every night to let everyone know how the days events went.
 
God Bless and we are so grateful for your prayers!


December 9, 2009

Good Evening Everyone,
 
Just wanted to say Hello to you all and to give you a quick update.  I know that I am not sending out an update every night, but, now since we are home, things are now more on an even keel and there just isn't always something to report.  Even with that being said, I don't want you all to think that we are not thinking of you and not wanting to make sure that our greatest supporters, cheerleaders, and prayer warriors are not being kept up to date.
 
Jeff continues to go to hand therapy every day, Monday - Friday from 9:30 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.  These become very long days for him.  He continues pretty much with the same exercises as he was doing in Pittsburgh.  All of them are intended to either strengthen or increase his mobility.  At the end of every week, his therapist Ray, does various measurements and tests to see how he is doing.  Each one does show improvement, no matter how minut, so that is great!  Jeff is definitely making progress.  He continues to feel hot and cold sensations in the palms of his hands, so again, this is progress.
 
Jeff continues to work on being able to eat on his own.  We have all the utensils here at home and he works at making everything work together, but sometimes this gets frustrating.  He can work the utensils pretty well, but his four fingers have a tendency to start drooping after a while and then they end up in his food.  He hates this and this is when he usually stops.  Buts it does gets better each time, so he knows that it will be only a matter of time before he will be able to eat a whole meal on his own.  Baby steps, Baby steps.....  not Jeff's strong suit.
 
All of Jeff's blood work continues to come back well and there has been no changes.  He has also has no signs of rejection or any infections.  This is a miracle and an answer to our prayers every day since Jordan and I have both been down with colds.  I kept Jordan away from Jeff but I don't have that luxury.  So, I got some masks from his therapist and have tried to wear them when I am around him alot (like when I am getting him ready in the morning or at night).   So far, so good.  He has shown any signs of a cold.  Thank God and please continue to pray that the Lord will protect him from all colds, flu, and infections.
 
Other than that, there really isn't anything new.  We have our Christmas tree up and the house is decorated.  Thanks to our friends Mike Crawford, and his son Stephen, and Tommy Williams for getting our tree out of the attic and put up for us.  It is 9 ft tall and too much for me to do by myself.  We are so blessed with friends that continue to help us out in so many ways, such as Paige and Scott Walden and Carol Echols, who pick Jordan up from school and get her home when I have to work.  We are grateful.

We have also been able to get back to church and it has been such a blessing in our lives to be able to worship our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ with all of our Brothers and Sisters in Christ at Burns Church who have been such a big support system for us throughout this whole journey.  We love you all and look forward to seeing you each Sunday.
 
We just thank God every day for all of our family and friends.  We are truly blessed and pray that the Lord blessed each and every one of you and your family this Blessed Christmas Season!
 
God Bless!


November 30, 2009

Hello Everyone!
 
WOW!  Again, I am soooo behind with my updates.  I sincerely apologize for not putting out an update sooner.  Time is flying so fast and I am just getting further behind.
 
Things continue to go well with Jeff's therapy.  Again, things are slow but sure.  He continues to have movement in his fingers on both hands and is gaining more control of his wrists.  He does better with his left wrist than his right, but both are coming along.
 
He continues to have the hot and cold sensations in the palms of his hands.  That is so cool- literally!  He has greater feeling of cold than hot but it is really something that he has this sensation and the doctors are very pleased that it has presented itself so soon.
 
One of the newest things is that Jeff is able to feed himself again - sort of.  Ray, his therapist, ordered some new silverware and a special plate that allows Jeff to eat by himself.  Using what is called a univeral cuff,  I wrap this between Jeff's right fingers and thumb and then insert a fork or spoon.  He can then use the plate, which has high sides so that Jeff can use it so scoop up the food.  He does pretty well, but his fingers sometimes drag through the food.  He is still working at mastering it, but he is really coming along with it.
 
Jeff continues to have issues with his right leg.  He continues to have numbness and pain which hinders his walking sometimes, so please continue to pray for healing in this area.
 
All of Jeff's blood work continues to be great.  He is down to blood draws one day a week and this seems to be working out well.  His body continues to do well on the anti-rejection medication.  He is showing no signs of rejection or infection.
 
I am still trying to work 4 hours a day while Jeff is at therapy.  Sometimes this works out and sometimes it doesn't.  By the way, Praise God, my department at work received a Superior rating during our recent Program Review.  I am very proud of my staff and the great job they did to keep everything going while I was away.  They are terrific.  On a different note, I am asking for your prayers for me.  My migraines have returned.  I have gone back to the neurologist and he has increased by daily medication, along with a new medication for the actual headaches.  So, depending on when I get them, sometimes they hinder me in getting to work.  Please just pray that the new medication will work.
 
Also, as things also go, our main computer and the one that Jordan uses for school, crashed and burned on us this past week.  Even after some very hard work by a good friend, he could not get it going.  Not exactly what we needed at this time nor what we planned on having to replace at this time.  Jordan used it for school and it had all of her work and necessary presentation programs on it and we used it heavily also for our banking, website upkeep, etc.   So, it looks like we will have to replace it.  We are just thankful for friends who will be helping out Jordan in the meantime because, of course, she has a presentation project due Monday for Social Studies that requires Power Point and now we don't have it. 
 
At times like this, when it seems like things just keep getting too overwhelming or things are not happening fast enough for us, we can sometimes lose ourselves in doubt or even lose faith.  I have a great book called "Promises and Prayers for Times Of Uncertainty.  This is one of my favorite chapters - No Problems are Too Big for God.
 
Is anything too hard for the Lord?  Genesis 18:14 KJV
 
The grace of God is sufficient for all our needs, for every problem and for every difficulty, for every broken heart, and for every human sorrow.   Peter Marshall
 
Here's a riddle:  What is it that is too unimportant to pray about yet too big for God to handle?  The answer, of course, is:  nothing.  Yet sometimes, when the challenges of the day seem overwhelming, we may spend more time worrying about our troubles than praying about them.  and, we may spend more time fretting about our problems than solving them.  A far better strategy, of course, is to pray as if everything depended entirely upon God and to work as if everything depended entirely upon us.
 
Life is an exercise in problem solving.  The question is not whether we will encounter problems; the real question is how we will choose to address them.  When it comes to solving the problems of everyday living, we often know precisely what needs to be done, but we may be slow in doing it - especially if what needs to be done is difficult or uncomfortable for us.  So we put off till tomorrow what should be done today.
 
The words of Psalm 34 remind us that the Lord solves problems for "people who do what is right."  And usually, "doing what is right" means doing the uncomfortable work of confronting our problems sooner rather than later.  So, with no further ado, let the problem-solving begin....now!
 
Perhaps your troubles are simply too big to solve in a single setting.  But just because  you can't solve everything doesn't mean that you should do nothing.  So today, as a favor to yourself and as way of breaking the bonds of procrastination, do something to make your situation better.  Even a small step in the right direction is still a step in the right direction.  And a small step is far, far better than no step at all.
 
We hope that everyone had a great Thanksgiving.  We have so much to be thankful this year and that is in part due to all of you.  We thank God every day for each of you and we are looking forward to a wonderful and Blessed Christmas season.  He is the Reason for the Season and we know that He hears, and answers our prayers.
 
God Bless!


November 16, 2009

Boy, how time is flying.  I can't believe it has been so long since our last update, so I do apologize for getting behind.
 
Things continue to go along smoothly.  After Jeff's little scare with the biopsy results, we have gotten back on track.  His hand therapy continues to go well.  This therapist, Ray, is very pleased with his progress.  At the end of each week, all the testing and measuring that he does on Jeff's hands, continue to show improvement in all areas.  This is always great news and we just Praise God for all the prayers that continue to be answered.
 
We were hoping to start this week with just once a week blood draws, which will be on Thursdays, but we did have to do in today.  Jeff's anti-rejection medication levels are changing, and not the direction we want.  He has been  on such a low dose for quite a while and he was very happy about this.  Well, starting last week, the levels began to drop in his blood, so the doctors have upped the dosage.  Not the direction he wants to go, so we will just pray that whatever is going on his body will get straight, and he can go back down on the dosage shortly.
 
This past weekend was such a joy for Jeff in that he was finally able to go to church this past Sunday.  Wow, the reception was a Godsend.  Everyone was so glad to see him, as you can imagine, and I know that he was so happy to see everyone there.  It was like a big family reunion.  Most people kept their distance as to not endanger Jeff with any illnesses, but overall, it was a great time.  The pastor did a wonderful prayer for Jeff, Jordan, and myself and one of our good friends even had a banner done and put on the pew up front.  It is so good to be back and worshipping with all of our brothers and sisters who have sustained us, and continue to sustain us, through this journey.
 
Otherwise, all is continuing to go well.  Tomorrow and Wednesday will be a test for us in that I will have to work full days those two days due to having our Program Review for Education and Recreation from Central Office in Washington.  I have to leave early in the morning so that I can get Jordan to school and then head into work.  A good friend of ours will be picking Jeff up around 9:00 a.m. and get him to therapy and then pick him back up at 2:00 p.m. to bring him home.  Then a good friend of mine will pick Jordan up at school and bring her home.  Please just pray that our planning will work out and that we will not have any problems.
 
I continue to work most other days from 10:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. while Jeff is in therapy.  Since my leave ran out the beginning of October, I need to get to work as often as I can, even if it is just part-time at this point.  
 
Please just continue to pray for Jeff's health.  He is still experiencing nausea in the mornings, but we are trying some different things to help with that.  Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn't.
 
Please also continue to pray for healing for Jeff's right leg and hips.  He is walking a little more on his legs and we just pray that everything will heal.
 
Pray that whatever is going on with his anti-rejection medication will work out and he will be able to go back down on the dosage.  He still has no signs of rejection or infection (Praise God always for that), but we just pray that his body will continue to do well on the medication and we can get the dosage back down.
 
We just thank all of your for your continued prayers and support.  As we have said, we are in this journey together and couldn't have gotten this far without all of you.  We just thank God every day for all the things that you do for us.
 
God Bless!


November 11, 2009

Well, it started out as a very quiet week.  We had a little drama in the middle, but all things are back to normal.
 
As you know, Jeff's doctors came to visit last Friday.  They were very happy with Jeff's progress and were amazed at what he has been able to accomplish so far.  One thing they did while they were here were to do the scheduled biopsies on Jeff's arms.
 
We received a call on Tuesday from Pittsburgh.  They got a report from Pathology that showed some signs of rejection on one of Jeff's arms.  Not what we wanted to hear.  But, the report had some anomolies in it so they wanted us to go see Jeff's doctor at MCG and have them redone.  Of course, we rushed right over, had them redone, and they were rushed to Pittsburgh.  We just kept praying that everything would be alright.
 
Well, we got the phone call today and - Praise God - another answered prayer.  All pathology reports came back normal and there are no signs of rejection whatsoever.  Yea!!!!!
 
We also received some more good news on Monday in that Jeff will now only have to go once a week for bloodwork instead of twice.  He is really progressing and things are moving along smoothly.  All answers to our prayers.
 
Jeff's therapy continues to go well.  He did get today off for Veteran's Day, which worked out well since we are getting the outer bands of Tropical Storm Ida and the weather was horrible today.  No need to go out in this mess.
 
We had a great visit from two of our friends from church tonight.  Sonia Brizius and Mavis Williams came to see us and, of course, were not empty handed.  Thanks to both of them for the Chicken and Dumplings and the Pound Cake with Strawberries for supper.  They were wonderful.
 
We just continue to thank all of you for your prayers and continued support.  We know that God does hear our prayers and we are so thankful for His many blessings.
 
God Bless!

November 6, 2009

Hello to Everyone,
 
Sorry that I am a little behind in getting out an update.  As I have said previously, since things have slowed down a bit, there isn't always something to send out, so I will probably not be doing updates everyday unless there is something to report.  But, I will always get out a weekly one if nothing else.
 
Jeff's visit with his doctors from Pittsburgh went great today.  It was wonderful to see Gerald and Jon.  They seemed to be pleased with everything and were very happy with the progress Jeff has made in therapy.  Like they said, since they haven't seen him in a while, the improvements in the mobility and strength in his hands were amazing.  They were especially amazed with how much he can feel hot and cold in his hands.  They did a little test and place a very cold object at various places on his hands to see exactly where he could feel the temperature.  They filmed this so that they could take it back for Dr Lee.  They were very impressed at the significant progress Jeff is making.  The Lord's timing was also right on (as always) because as we were sitting there talking with them, I was tickling Jeff's arm.  He said, Wow, I can finally feel that.  And it was on his right arm!  It was really neat.  Things are healing and the nerves are definitely growing.  God is so Good!
 
As I told you all before, Fox TV from Atlanta had come up and did an interview with us.  It aired this past Monday.  This is the link so that you can read the interview and watch the broadcast: http://www.myfoxatlanta.com/dpp/news/fox_5_special:_Jeffs_Journey_110209 
If this link does not work, simply type in Fox TV Atlanta and in the search area, type in
Jeff Kepner.  It is the first story that comes up.  I think they did a wonderful job.
 
As for me, I went back to work this week, part time, for two days.  I went in on Tuesday and Wednesday from 10:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m.  This allows me to drop Jeff off at therapy and then be back to pick him up.  Next week, I will be in more days since my department's Program Review by Central Office in Washington DC is the following week.  We are still working out the details but I will have to be at work on November 17th and 18th all day for the review.  I think I have it all worked out with Jeff and Jordan so please pray that it will.  After that, my plan is to work each day for 4 hours.  Please just pray that this will work for us at this time as Jeff continues to recuperate.
 
As for my interview with the British reporter in New York, she called to tell me that indeed, a woman's magazine in the UK has picked up the article.  Praise God!  So, we are working on some photo details right now.  Seems I am not the best of photographers and the ones that I sent them are not of high resolution enough for them to print.  Not sure what they will do, but it will work out.  She is going to send me copies of the magazine once it is printed and, if there is a link, she will send that also, so I can send it out to all of you.
 
I do have some pray requests for Jeff:
 
1.  Please continue to pray for his nausea as it is still bothering him and interferes with his therapy.  He continues to take his medication.  Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.  Please pray that the Lord will touch him in this area and it will just do away.
 
2.  Please pray for his hips and right leg.  He is still having pain and weakness in this leg.  He mentioned it to the doctors today and they told him that it may never heal all the way.  We just refuse to believe this and right now, we claim complete healing for his leg.  He walked on it more this evening and has decided that, starting next week, that he will walk to therapy and just use the wheelchair to sit in.  We claim this healing and will not accept that this leg will not get better.  Please pray for the same.
 
3.  Continue to pray that infection and rejection will be bound (as it has been).  The doctors are so pleased that Jeff has had no signs of rejection to this point.  We know that it is because we have claimed this from the beginning.  Please continue this prayer and also that his body will continue to do well on the anti-rejection medication.
 
4.  Please pray that Jeff's body will feel warm.  He is always cold.  Can you believe that?  Jeff is cold.  But he is killing me with the temp in the house.  The doctors say it is probably from the surgery and from the healing and it should go away.  Please pray that it does so quickly.  I will be camping outside soon!
 
5.  Praises - Praises - Praises in that the doctors have given Jeff the go ahead to return to church and to out in public.  They feel that it has been long enough.  He still must watch the hugs and such if people are sick but we can finally go to church.  Jeff was just thrilled.  We can't wait to see you all soon!
 
Well, sorry I have written a short story this evening.  We thank all of you for your prayers, calls, cards, emails, and support.  We are so grateful and so blessed.
 
God Bless!


November 2, 2009

Hey Everyone,
 
I know that it has been a couple of evenings since I have sent out an update.  With the weekend and everything, there really has not been too much going on. 
 
Thursday was Jeff's normal blood draw and dressing change day.  The doctors are still very happy with all of Jeff's blood levels, so there are no changes to any of his medications.
 
Friday was Jeff's weekly visit with Dr. Yu who is following up for Dr. Lee here in Augusta.  Again, Jeff had a great visit with him and there is nothing new to report as all is going well and as planned.  That is always great news.  Praise God!
 
Jeff's Hand Therapy continues to go well, abet slow.  As it was in Pittsburgh, Jeff pretty much has the same schedule of exercises throughout the day, working on strength and mobility.  It is very slow and tedious which is so hard on Jeff.  He really would like to see miraculous results each and every day, but he knows that each improvement, no matter how large or small, is a miracle.  He knows that all will come in  the Lord's time and not before, so he must have courage, faith and determination.
 
Jeff's doctors arrive this week to visit with his doctors here and his hand therapist.  It will be great to see them.  Please pray for traveling mercies for them as they travel on Thursday and back on Saturday.
 
Hey, we found out a really cool fact the other day - Jeff is on Wikipedia.  If you don't know what this is, it is the encyclopedia that is found on the Internet.  Well, Jeff now has his own Wikipedia page.  We happen to find it the other day doing a search for an article.  I guess you finally have arrived when you have your own Wikipedia entry!!!!!
 
I was able to get back to our church on Sunday for the first time.  It was such as blessing to be able to see our brothers and sisters in Christ that have supported us, and continue to support us, through this miraculous journey.  Lots of hugs from everyone and they were very much appreciated.
 
We have finally gotten settled in and into a routine that pretty much works.  The days are busy with appointments and therapy, but the evenings and weekends are relaxing.  Starting to feel a little more normal.
 
Please accept this as an open invitation to come and visit Jeff if you would like.  He would really enjoy the company any time after 3:30 pm during the week or after 1:00 pm on the weekends.  Just call ahead first so we know to expect you.  He would also enjoy phone calls.  He cannot wait until he is cleared so that he can see you all in church, etc.
 
Please just continue to pray for Jeff's nausea, his pain in his hips and right leg, and for his attitude.  This can be very trying at times for him with all of this going on.  Please just pray that the Lord will continue to work miracles in him.  Please pray that infection and rejection will continue to be bound and that Jeff's body will continue to do well on the anti-rejection medication.
 
I will be heading back to work tomorrow and Wednesday, part-time, and then some more days next week.  Please just pray that again, my schedule will work out and that this is something that will work for us until Jeff's healing and recuperation will allow for something more.
 
God Bless!


October 28, 2009

Hey Everyone,
 
Today was a pretty quiet day for Jeff.  Again, since it is Wednesday, the only thing that he had today was Hand Therapy.  According to his therapist, everything continues to go well and he is pleased with Jeff's progress.  As we continue to say, it is all baby steps.  As much as we would like for everything to happen right now, Jeff knows that there is still a long road ahead for him.  He is so diligent in his exercises and has such determination, we all know that he will succeed. 
 
Ray, Jeff's therapist, has been working with him on being able to finally eat on his own.  He is doing this by using a universal cuff (OT device) and then inserting a fork or spoon into it.  This has been difficult for Jeff to use in the past due to not having the strength or flexibility in his wrist to work with it.  But he has been progressing very well in this area and it is finally coming along.  Ray feels that very soon, Jeff will be able to eat on his own.  Praise God!
 
I had to go into work today for a little while as the institution is doing some Annual Refresher Training and today was the last makeup day for what was being done in October.  So, after I dropped Jeff off, I headed up to Edgefield, completed my training, and then came back.  So far, it looks like I will be at work next week for two days, and then, by God's Grace, will try to go in every day for 4 hours starting the following week.  Please just continue to pray that this will work out.  I do know that some days, it just will not happen and that will just be that.  I cannot worry about what I cannot control.  God is in Control, so He can do it much better than I.
 
Please continue your prayers for Jeff for his nausea and pain.  He did see some relief today (another answered prayer), so we are very grateful for our diligent prayer warriors that keep those voice raised each and every day.
 
God Bless!


October 27, 2009

Hello Everyone,
 
Jeff had another busy, but productive, day.  As always on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, Jeff just had hand therapy.  But he had some visitors today.  The Fox TV station out of Atlanta came up to do an interview with Jeff and they started out with him at therapy.  It went very well and they got some excellent footage of him doing a variety of things.  Then, the crew came over to the house to conclude the interview with Jeff while I went and picked up Jordan from school.  I was hoping that they would be done by the time we got back home, but it was not to be.  They were waiting for me to do my part.  That did not take very long and soon they were finished up.  I think it will be a very nice piece.  Unfortunately, we will not be able to see it since we are not in the Atlanta area, but they have promised to send us the link to the story, which will run on Monday, November 2, 2009, at 5:00 p.m.   Once we have it, I will send it out to all of you.
 
I had a very nice experience today in that I spent a little over an hour being interviewed by a writer in New York City who writes for a publisher for Women's Magazines in the UK.  She spent quite a bit of time doing the interview for publication in one of the magazine "on the other side of the pond."  It was rather fun.  The nice thing with this is that I get to proof it before it is sent for publication.  Yea!  Nice to clear things up before they are published.  So, we will see how that goes.  She will try and get me some copies of which ever magazine publishes it and send me some copies.  Also, some of them are on line, so I will let you all know.
 
We have just been so blessed by all the prayers that have been answered, prayers that you all continue to lift up each and every day.  We are so grateful for the continued support.  I do ask for your prayers for Jeff for his continued nausea in the mornings, which at times can be rather debilitating, along with the continued pain in his hips and right leg.  Please pray for relief in these areas.  I also ask for your prayers in that I am trying to get back to work next week, even though it will be only part time.  My leave run out as of the beginning of October, so I am currently on Leave Without Pay.  With Jeff's current schedule of blood draws and doctor's appointments that I must get him to, I am planning on taking him to all of these, drop him off at therapy, and then get to work by 10:00 a.m.  I will then work until 2:00 p.m. to get 4 hours in each day.  This will give me at least half a pay check each pay period, so that will be wonderful.  Please pray that all scheduling will work out so that this plan will come to fruition.
 
We continue to thank God each day for all of you.  We are so Blessed!
 
God Bless each of you!


October 26, 2009

Well, here we are at the start of another week.  And it is the last week of October.  We just cannot believe how time is flying.  Jeff is coming up on 6 months since his surgery.  Wow!  It is so hard to believe.  He is half way to the year point already.  Praise God!
 
Everything is still going well.  There really is nothing new to report at this stage.  Jeff had his blood work done this morning and every thing continues to go well with that.  Jeff is working hard, and I do mean hard, each day with his Occupational Therapy.  Even though he says that it is tedious at times (lots of times), he knows that it is though all of these small exercises that giant steps will come.  With each day, a little more movement comes.  And that is always a GOD thing!
 
This week, Jeff has an interview with the Fox TV station out of Atlanta, so that should be interesting and I will keep you up to date on the airing of that program.
 
I would again like to invite all of our family and friends to please feel free to call or visit.  Jeff is really looking forward to seeing all of you since he is not able to travel to large gatherings as of yet.  And, of course, phone calls are always welcome.  But, please feel free to call or come over.  We would love to see you.
 
We just thank all of you for your continued prayers and support.  We could not have done this without you.  And, of course, we would not be able to continue on this miraculous journey without all of you along for the ride either.
 
God Bless!


October 22, 2009

Good Evening Everyone,
 
First, let me apologize for not getting an update out last evening.  Jeff and I were watching our beloved Philadelphia Phillies win the National League Championship to advance to the World Series (GO PHILLIES!!!!!) for the second year in a row and it was around Midnight before the game was over.  So, unfortunately, I didn't get around to doing the update.
 
There wasn't really too much to report.  Jeff's therapy continues to go well.   He is having more movement in his left thumb, so this is definitely positive progress.  The doctors always are concerned about the thumbs because it is different muscle groups that control them and more nerves have to regenerate in order for them to start working.  So, Praise God once again for answered prayers in that his left thumb is increasing in mobility.
 
Jeff received his bone stimulators yesterday.  These are the devices that I told you about that he will wear to help with the healing of his arm bones where the transplants were done.  The company's rep, Megan, traveled 4 hours to get here to Augusta to deliver them and show us how to use them.  They are like a shell that Jeff's arms rest in and then they are secured with velcro straps.  They are then connected to battery packs that produce electrical pulses that will aid with the bone growth.  They are really pretty cool.  Jeff cannot feel a thing.  They would like Jeff to wear them for 10 hours a day (yes, I said 10 hours a day) but that is a little unrealistic since he doesn't get home from therapy and other appointments until around 2:30 p.m.  So, we just put them on then and he gets in whatever he can before bed.  Megan is a real sweetheart and Jordan took a picture of us for her company.  When she sends me the picture, I will post it on the website.
 
Otherwise, things continue to go well in all areas of Jeff's recuperation.  We continue to thank all of you for your continued prayers.  We love you all!
 
God Bless!


October 20, 2009

Good Evening Everyone!
 
Sorry that I did not get an update out last evening.  There wasn't really anything new to report.  Jeff had his blood work done and everything was still fine, so there were no new changes to his medications.
 
Hand therapy yesterday and today continues to progress well.  Jeff is still working on the movement in his fingers and wrists, along with the strengthening exercises for all areas of his arms and hands.  It continues to be a slow process, with little accomplishments along the way, but all in all, Jeff continues to do well and the doctors in Pittsburgh, along with his therapist here, are pleased.
 
We received a call from the company that will be providing the bone stimulators for Jeff's arms.  They will be coming later in the week to fit him for them.  These will be devices that will fit on his arms and will provide electrical stimulation to help with the bone regeneration in his arms.  This will aid in the healing process in helping the bones in his arms to knit together faster.  We will see how this works.
 
Please continue to pray for Jeff's healing and for strength for him.  He is still having problems with his stomach and there are days that he feels quite nauseated.  It does pass, but is uncomfortable.  Please pray that this will go away.  Also, please pray that all infections and rejection will continue to be bound, and that the healing process in his right leg will continue.
 
I also ask for your prayers for my work situation.  I am not sure when I will be able to go back to work and even then, it may only be part-time.  Please pray that everything will work out for us financially, as it has in the past, and that I will keep my heart and mind open to what the Lord wants me to do and not what I think I need to do.
 
We also ask for your continued prayers for our very dear friends, the Van Pelts.  Haley came home today from the Rehab Center in Atlanta to continue her healing and rehab at home.  We just ask for your prayers for her continued healing and for Bill and Lexie, for strength, courage, and faith.  We know what you are facing.  We know that it seems like a daunting task.  But we also know that with prayer and the help of so many of your family and friends to see you through this, it will all work out.  Please continue to keep them in your prayers.
 
We love you all and thank the Lord every day for each one of you...for your prayers, support, and all the things that you continue to do for us.  We are so grateful.
 
God Bless!


October 16, 2009

Jeff had another great day today.  He met with Dr. Yu this morning.  This is the doctor here at MCG who is helping at with Dr. Lee, his main transplant doctor at UPMC.  Dr. Yu works in the Plastics Department and Jeff will see him every Friday for a while, just to ensure that everything is going well with his hands and that he has no issues.  Everything remains stable and there were no new issues this morning, so that is always good news.
 
Hand therapy continues to go well.  After Jeff's wonderful news earlier this week of now being able to feel temperatures, there is not much new to report.  They continue to work on range of motion and the dexterity of his fingers and wrists.  Jeff also continues to work on strengthening exercises.  Otherwise, all is well and everyone from his therapist and doctors here to those in Pittsburgh continue to be very pleased with his incredible progress.
 
We did have a call from Dr. Lee this evening to discuss the week's events.  He told us again that they are all pleased that the recent development of feeling temperatures and were very excited for him.  His blood work continues to look good so there are no changes there as to the medication dosage levels.  They are looking a making a new splint for his right arm as they would like a different position for his palms at this time.  So the OT therapists there will be working with Ray here to come up with something that will achieve the desired position.
 
Also, they are looking at some kind of bone stimulation to increase, and speed up, the healing of the bones in his arms.  All is well, they would just like for the healing to occur faster than it is.  From what Dr. Lee told us, there is some kind of bone stimulation therapy that will accomplish this.  The company that will be providing this therapy will be contacting us, so we will have more information about all of this, hopefully next week.
 
As I told you all earlier in the week, this evening, two interviews were run on Jeff on WRDW television station.  Just click on this link
http://wrdw.videogenesis.net/watch?v=5773 in order to view them.  You can also go to their website, click on Video Achieves, and in the Search Area, just type in Kepner.  The top two listings are the two interviews that were run this evening.  I do have one suggestion though.  When you select the video and it starts to play, you will only see one minute of the interview.  Scroll down to where the time areas are.  Change the ending time to 13:00 on both of them and you will see the entire interviews.  They were both very good.
 
We are looking forward to a quiet weekend.  Tomorrow is Jordan's 14th birthday and we are having a cookout with a few close friends and some of Jordan's friends from school.  Nothing too big since Jeff cannot be around large crowds.  It will very enjoyable and we are looking forward to celebrating another great year for our daughter!
 
We are so truly blessed and have so very much to be thankful for.  We have family, friends, and most importantly, a loving and merciful Lord who hears our prayers, and answers them.  What more could we ask for but to know that we just have to have the faith of a mustard seed......
 
We continue to thank the Lord for all of you and all that you continue to do for us in helping us along in this miraculous journey.  You continue to provide in so many ways and we are truly grateful.
 
God Bless!


October 14, 2009

Praise God for a miraculous day!
 
Jeff felt a lot better today than yesterday.  We are still not sure what the combination is to get the nausea under control.  Some day are just better than others.  But, he awoke feeling fine this morning, so it was off to therapy today.
 
Hand therapy was fine, with some excitement.  Jeff was visited by the Augusta Chronicle during his session today.  They are doing a follow-up piece on Jeff and wanted to include pictures of what he is doing during his Occupational Therapy sessions, so the reporter and photographer visited him to see what he is doing and how things are progressing.
 
But, the most wonderful, miraculous new for today is that Jeff FELT TEMPERATURE in his hands today.  His therapist had given Jeff a cold can of Sprite to drink.  Jeff put it between his hands to lift it up to his mouth.  When he did, he actually felt the cold temperature of the can.  What a miracle!  He can now feel hot and cold in his hands.  To make sure it wasn't a fluke, when he got home, I made him a cup of hot coffee.  He put the mug between his hands and he could feel the warmth in his palms.  Praise God!  The miracles continue!
 
This evening, Jeff had his interview with WRDW, the local CBS affiliate.  They also were doing a follow up interview with Jeff.  It was great to see Meredith again.  She does such a wonderful job.  Her interview will air this Friday.  They will air the GiveIt4Ward presentation that was done by Candye Smith on the Monday after we got back on the 5 o'clock show and then Meredith's interview will be at 6:00 p.m.  If you do not live in our area, you can see the broadcasts on their website beginning around 7:00 p.m. Friday evening.
 
We again want to thank everyone for their continued prayers and support.  We are so truly blessed to have such a wonderful prayer team behind us and we know that the Lord is hearing, and answering, our prayers.  Please just continue to prayer for healing, good health, and that everything will continue to go well for Jeff as to his medication, his legs, and that his nausea will go away.
 
God Bless!

October 13, 2009

Well everyone, this will be a very quick update as Jeff was not feeling too well today, so he did not go to hand therapy.
 
He still gets nauseated from time to time with all the medication he is taking and sometimes the only way to get rid of it is just to lie down, which was the case today.  Nothing serious and he is feeling much better this evening.
 
He will be back at therapy tomorrow and I will update everyone again tomorrow evening.
 
God Bless!

October 12, 2009

Today started another wonderful week.  It is always a wonderful week when we are able to Praise God for the wondrous things He continues to do in our lives.  We are so Blessed to have such a Loving and Merciful God.   Let all of Us Praise Him!
 
Jeff had his blood work this morning and again, every thing came back just fine, so all of his doses remain stable, with no changes.  He is doing well in therapy, working on all of his skills and exercises.  Ray continues to try new things with him, but the best news is that there is always improvement.  His grasping strength is increasing, although it is in baby steps, but it is in the right direction.  He continues to have additional movement in his left thumb which is encouraging.  We are so thankful for answered prayers.
 
Jeff will have another TV interview with one of the local stations here on Wednesday, which will air on Friday.  The station is the CBS affiliate, WRDW, and they will do a piece at 5:00 p.m. and then again at 6:00 p.m.  If you are not in our area, you will be able to view it on their website about an hour after it airs.  Meredith is the anchor who interviewed Jeff before and she is just doing the follow-up, so we look forward to talking with her again.
 
Please continue to pray for Jeff's right leg as it is giving him some pain.  His back and hips continue to bother him, but he feels that it is just a matter of time and exercise in building everything back up again.  Please pray that this will come quickly and that the pain will subside.
 
We continue to thank all of you for your prayers and support.  We would not be where we are in this journey without our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and without all of you.  We love you all!
 
God Bless!

October 9, 2009

Jeff had a very quiet day today.
 
We meet with Dr. Yu who will be taking over Jeff's follow up here at MCG.  We had a great visit with him and it will be great to have someone here that will be working with Jeff on any issues concerning his transplant.  We will continue to meet with him every Friday until he is sure everything is going well.
 
Jeff did not have hand therapy today as his therapist is sick and would not risk being around Jeff.  So, he had a break today and just spent the day resting.
 
We had a wonderful visit with our good friend, Bill Van Pelt.  He is Haley's father and returned to Augusta to take care of some things today.  We were so blessed to have him over for dinner and hear all about Haley progress.  We continue to keep her and Bill and Lexie in our prayers, as we ask all of you to do the same.
 
We are looking forward to a quiet weekend, our first full one at home - Praise God!  It has been so good to be back and we are working at getting everything in order, back in order, and looking forward to all the good things to come.  But some things never change, so I will be working in the yard tomorrow as my flower beds are being confused with weed beds.  It will be nice to be back out working in the yard.
 
God Bless and have a great weekend.  I will update everyone again on Monday evening.

October 8, 2009

Well, we were bound to have a few snags, but fortunately, nothing too major.
 
Jeff went for his blood draw this morning, which went well.  But today was also the day that his first dressing change was to be done.  Of course, new hospital, new supplies.  The hospital here did not have the same ports that are on Jeff's line, so they had to spend some time trying to find them.  It turns out that the hospital does not have the same ports that are on Jeff's line.  So, they will have to contact UPMC to see what to use or if they can get them from there.  Just a small glitch, but it caused Jeff to be late to his hand therapy.  Hopefully, by next week, we will have it all worked out.  The rest of the dressing was changed with no problems.
 
Jeff's therapy went well today.  He is still making small improvements, but things continue to go in the right direction.
 
Tomorrow, Jeff has an appointment with the new doctor that will be coverning for Dr. Lee here in Augusta.  We are really looking forward to meeting, and working, with him.
 
Everything else continues to go well.  We just asked for your continued prayers for:
 
1.  That Jeff will continue to do well on his anti-rejection medication and that it will continue to have no adverse side effects.
2.  That infection and rejection will continue to be bound.
3.  That Jeff's legs will continue to heal and get stronger so that he is more comfortable with walking.
4.  That he will have extra ordinary healing in his hands so that his strength and mobility will increase at a miraculous rate.
5.  Please also pray this evening for healing for his hips and lower back.  He was up most of the night because they hurt so bad and no matter which way he lay, they would not stop hurting.  Even the pain medication was not helping.  This may be because he has lost so much weight, or how he is sitting and walking, we just don't know.  Please just pray that this issue will resolve itself.
 
We just are so thankful for all of your prayers.  We have so many things to be thankful for and we are truly blessed by all of you and what you continue to do for us.  We have a wonderful praise in that we will be able to visit with our good friend, Bill Van Pelt, tomorrow evening.  As you all may remember, Bill and Lexie's daughter, Haley, was involved in a very serious car accident back in July.  She is in a Rehab hospital in Atlanta now and is making progress each day.  It will be so nice to see Bill and please continue to keep Haley and her family in your prayers that her healing will continue each day.  If you want to keep up with her progress, you can visit CaringBridge.org and visit her page, prayersforhaley.
 
God Bless!


October 7, 2009

Well friends, another uneventful day, which of course, is always a blessing!
 
Jeff just had hand therapy today.  He and Ray worked on a number of things.  They are still trying to get a routine down and get into 4.5 hours what Jeff was doing in 5 hours.  It is still a work in progress, but all in all, everything is going well.
 
Jeff went for a long overdue haircut this afternoon - Thanks Sue!  As always, you are a doll!.
 
Tomorrow will be a long day as Jeff has blood work and a dressing change first thing in the morning and then on to hand therapy.  Please pray that all will go smoothly, with no problems.
 
We continue to thank all of you for your continued prayers and support.  Many of you have asked about visiting.  If you could do the following, we would appreciate it:
 
1.  The best time will be in the evening, after supper.  Please call ahead so that we know you are coming and to ensure that Jeff does not have too many visitors at once. 
2.  Please ensure that you are well (no coughs, colds, flu, etc).  I know that this sounds restrictive, but since Jeff is immunosuppressed, if he would catch any of these things, it would be very bad for him. 
3.  Also, Jeff cannot be around anyone who has had a vaccine which carries a live virus (such as the flu vaccine that is inhaled.)  Once you have these, you are carrying a live virus, thus your immune system fights it off.  Again, these are not good for Jeff.  Jordan and I can never, ever have any vaccines that contain live viruses again.
 
We do look forward to seeing everyone and please don't hesitate to call if you would like to visit.  We would enjoy it.
 
Thanks again for everything that you continue to do for us.  We really appreciate the calls, cards, emails, gifts, and, especially, the prayers.  Jeff would not be where is he without them.
 
God Bless!


October 6, 2009

Not too much to report tonight.  Jeff started Hand Therapy today and it went well.  Today was a day of measurements and for the new therapist to figure out everything that is going on with Jeff.  He looked at his splints, meds, etc and then had him go through some different tests so that he could get a baseline.  Overall, it went well and Jeff is looking forward to working with Ray.  He will go Monday - Fridays from 9:30 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.
 
Jeff is doing well otherwise.  Hanger Prosthetics is working on his legs so that it will be easier for Jeff to walk.  He has lost so much weight that it has caused some problems with his sockets for his legs.  So, they are working on remedying this.
 
I did forget to tell you yesterday that Jeff had a wonderful surprise on Monday.  A lady here in Augusta has a wonderful ministry called GiveIt4ward.  She goes around and does random acts of kindness.....you can visit the website to see what she does.  It is www.giveit4ward.weebly.com
 
Anyway, she selected Jeff and arrived on Monday with all kinds of gifts.  She brought ballons, a cake, and a bunch of free meal certificates for local restaurants for us and Jordan, and 4 passes for the local canal boat tour.  It was pretty cool.  It top it off, WRDW (CBS TV Station) follows her when she does her thing, so they were here also and interviewed Jeff and I.  You can go the WRDW website and see it.  It was very nice and the gift certificates will come in handy.
 
Well, we are slowly getting into a new routine and hopefully, as each day goes by, it will become easier and second nature.
 
Please continue to pray for Jeff for strength and healing in all areas and also that infections and rejection will continue to be bound.
 
We thank you all so much.
 
God Bless!


October 5, 2009
 
Praise God, we are home!  We had a very uneventful trip home on Saturday, which is always an answered prayer.  We left around 5:30 a.m. and arrived home at 3:30 p.m.  Of course since we arrived a little earlier than expected, we found some wonderful angels in our driveway decorating the mailbox and such.  Thanks to Carol, Sonia, Alice, and Janice for making our homecoming a beautiful one.
 
Jeff faired rather well.   We were both a little tired, so we didn't do much Saturday evening except relax and enjoy the company of our daughter, Jordan.  Hard to believe we hadn't seen her in 2 months...way too long.  We were so glad that all of us were together again.
 
We really need to thank my parents, who spent 6 weeks down here taking care of Jordan.  We really appreciate all that you did for us around the house and, of course, with Jordan.
 
We also need to truly thank Paige, Scott, and Megan Walden.  They opened their hearts and their house to Jordan when we needed them.  They made their house, Jordan's house, and we could not have done all of this without them.  No matter when, or for how long, they were always there, willing to add another member to their family.  We love you guys and are so blessed to have you as our friends.
 
Sunday was spent unpacking and trying to get everything somehow organized.  We needed to figure out new routines and where some things would go.  It was a long day, but by the end, everything was unpacked and we were ready to start the week.
 
Things went very well today.  We meet with our Family Doctor who will be doing Jeff's blood draws twice a week and his dressing changes once a week.  It went off without a hitch and all necessary information got to his transplant team in Pittsburgh.  His levels all look good, so no changes at this time.
 
We also headed over to Hanger Prosthetics to get some work done on Jeff's leg.  Jeff received a very warm welcome back with a wonderful sign made by the staff.  Thanks you guys!
 
Tomorrow, Jeff will start his hand therapy with Ray.  He will be going from 9:30 a.m. until 1:30 p.m.   Jeff is really looking forward to getting back into the swing of things.  We just pray that everything continues to go a planned.
 
We thank all of you for your prayers and we just ask that you continue to pray for a smooth transition and that everything will continue to go well with Jeff's therapy, healing, medications, etc.
 
We love you all and God Bless!


October 2, 2009

Well, here it is, our last update from Pittsburgh.  Praise God, we are going home!  I am sending this out early as Jeff and I are both hitting the sack due to an early day tomorrow.
 
As I said, today was a very busy day.  Jeff started off with his last set of blood work here at UPMC.  Everything was fine.  His levels are great so his next labs will be Monday morning at MCG!!!!!!!
 
We had our discharged meeting at 9:30 a.m., which went very well.  I will be starting a binder with all the information when we get back.  Talk about overwhelming.  Handout after handout, phone numbers, appointments, dos and don'ts, etc, etc, etc.  Wow!   Most of it we already knew or had some idea about.  The rest I will have to reread once we get home.
 
Hand Therapy went well for the last time and we said our goodbyes.  Hard leaving that staff behind.
 
We met with Dr. Lee and Vijay at the end of the day to just go over our thoughts on the whole process, if we had any questions, and for Jeff to sign his first autograph (a picture of him and Dr. Lee taken by the People Magazine photographer).  It is a great picture...we have one also.
 
Well, we can't wait to see everyone when we get back.  To our family and friends that we will not yet see, we just want to say thanks for your continued prayers and support.  But, of course, we will always need the prayers as we start on this next journey. 
 
We will have to return to Pittsburgh at the end of December and then again at the end of May for Jeff's 9 month and one year checkup.  We just know that everything will continue to go well.
 
God Bless and our next update will be from Augusta!!!!!!


 October 1, 2009

It is with such a joyous and grateful heart that I am writing these last few messages from Pittsburgh.  Praise God for He is Good, His Mercy Endures Forever!
 
Wow, these last few days have been, and will continue to be, a little overwhelming.  It is so hard to believe that we are actually leaving for home shortly.  We are so excited. 
 
Today was a day of testing for Jeff.  He has certain tests that they run every three months just to see how everything is going.  His next battery was due in November, but they decided to do them all this morning so that we would not have to return to Pittsburgh so soon.  We arrived early this morning and Jeff had the ultrasounds done on his arms, along with a CT scan with contrast, and his latest series of X-rays.  This took most of the morning, but all appointments were on time, so we did not have to wait very long.  Jeff got up to Hand Therapy around 11:00 a.m.
 
But he had another short day in clinic since there were so many things planned.  The staff in the Hand Clinic had a pizza party lunch for a variety of reasons.  Tomorrow will be Jeff and Josh's last day at this clinic as we will be going home and Josh will be going to another clinic closer to his home.  Kim, one of Jeff's main therapists, will not be there tomorrow since she starts her vacation, and one of the other therapists will also be going to another clinic.  So, there were quite a few things to celebrate.  It was very nice and we had a great time with everyone.  It was also bittersweet in a way.  We have become very close to these people and we will truly miss them.  We wish them all the best.
 
After lunch, Jeff had a photo shoot for Pitt Magazine.  They did an interview with him a while back.  Today, their photographer was finally able to make it over for some pictures to go along with the article.  After that, we had our interview with the ABC TV news station here in Pittsburgh.  They did two really nice pieces, one on the Five O'Clock News that featured Jeff and then another piece at 6:00 p.m. with me.  We really enjoyed doing it and it was our last interview before leaving.  If you want to take a look at it, just go to Channel 4, Pittsburgh, the ABC Affiliate, and you can watch the newscast on the Internet.  Also, there was a very nice piece written for the Pittsburgh Post Gazette on Jeff's progress.  It ran this past Sunday, so I know you can find it at their website if you are interested in reading it.
 
When that was finally over, we said our goodbyes to Kim, Jeff's therapist, and Amy, our media rep, who has been so wonderful in getting Jeff's story out.  We will really miss them both.
 
I spent the night trying to get the last of the packing done.  We have accumulated so much in the past 5 months that I had to scrounge boxes from the hospital and the hotel just to try and get everything packed.  Most of it is done and I will finish up tomorrow evening so that we are ready to hit the road early Saturday morning.  Thank heavens we have a truck.  It is packed to the ceiling.
 
Tomorrow will be another busy day.  We have Jeff's final clinic day for blood work in the morning and then he is off to Hand Therapy.  I am not sure how much he will get in since we have one meeting with the doctors at 9:30 a.m. for all of his discharge paperwork and such, and then we will have another meeting in the afternoon with all the doctors just to get everything straight.  We will be getting all of Jeff's medications tomorrow, plus all the information on who we will be dealing with in Augusta.  WOW - information overload.  I have a binder that I started way back in November 2008, when we started this journey, just to keep up with everything.  It will be full after tomorrow.
 
Please continue to pray that everything will be fine with Jeff's blood work tomorrow.  We definitely do not want any surprises.  Please pray that all his levels will be normal.
 
Please pray for traveling mercies for us as we return to Augusta.  It will be a long trip but we know what destination lies in store for us.  We can't wait to see our daughter Jordan, all of our friends, and to sleep in our own beds!
 
Please also pray that everything next week will go as planned.  We just want everything to go as worked out with no hitches.
 
Also, please pray and thank the Lord for the tremendous support we have had from the people here in Pittsburgh.  Our Holiday Inn Pittsburgh University Center hotel staff brought us a gift this evening (shows we have been here way too long..LOL!!!!).  They have been a great source of support for us and we will miss them.  They have been very accomodating and have done a lot for us.  We will miss our therapy staff.  They have worked wonders with Jeff and he owes a lot to them.  We will miss all of the staff at Montefoire Hospital that have taken care of Jeff from the beginning:  To the outstanding care he received in the Transplant ICU, to the nurses and staff on 11 North that took outstanding care of him next, to all the staff and therapists on 11 East (the Rehab Unit) that were instrumental in getting Jeff back on his feet, to the therapists and staff in the Hand Clinic who devoted so much of their time to ensure that Jeff's hands were progressing, to the outpatient PT therapist who took over to make sure that Jeff was walking out of the hospital, to, finally, all of his doctors, who ensured that Jeff always received the best of everything.
 
We have been so blessed in the first part of this journey.  We will be starting a new phase, with new hurdles and new joys.  We can't wait.
 
I will be sending out another update tomorrow evening, but it will probably be short since I will be going to bed early.  Just think, soon our updates will be from Augusta!!!!!!!
 
God Bless and thank you for all that you have done for us.


September 30, 2009

Well, the end of another month is here and we are so happy about it.  Yea!!!!  Praise God we are going home!
 
Everything is in the works and almost completed for our departure on Saturday, October 3rd.  They have gotten the hand therapist all set, we will get Jeff's meds on Friday and the refill procedure is set up, and we are all set with the doctor.  We have not heard yet on how they will handle the blood work or the biopies, but hopefully, we will get that information by Friday.
 
Jeff had his blook work done this morning.  His FK level is up again, but he is to remain on the same dosage and they will see what the blood work shows on Friday.  They will then make a decision on what to do.  All of his other levels are looking good.
 
Jeff's therapy went well again today.  He is able to do different things with the cones and his grasping strength is growing.  I will be loading some pictures on his website, but unfortunately, it is so slow again, and I cannot get the website up.  I will continue to try.
 
Tomorrow will be filled up with a variety of tests that Jeff needs to have done before he leaves, so we will be getting to therapy late.  Also, he has two interviews tomorrow afternoon, so it will be a busy day.
 
We are so looking forward to coming home.....it has been a long journey so far, with much further to go.  But, we are glad that this first stage is coming to an end.  We just continue to thank everyone for their continued prayers and support.  We love you all!
 
God Bless!


September 29, 2009

Hey everyone!
 
Jeff got up this morning and was not feeling well at all.  His stomach hurt and he was nauseated.  I think it is partly because his appetite really is not up to speed and he is taking so many medications, that I think he is really doing it on an empty stomach.  Anyway, he did not feel like eating any thing for breakfast since he was not feeling well, but still took all of his morning medications.  This just made it worse.  He went back to bed for a while.  He then got up later and we headed into hand therapy.  We did not arrive until about 11:30 a.m. 
 
As the day went on, he really did not feel any better.  I went and picked up a prescription for medicine to help with the nausea, but it really didn't help.  His doctor came up to look at him and the good news is that he has no fever, chills, etc.  So, they do not think anything is really wrong other than an upset stomach.  The doctor ended therapy early and we came back to the hotel.   He ended up eating some toast and drank some tea.  He said that he felt better later on this evening, so we will see what tomorrow will bring.
 
The rest of this week will be a busy one since we are getting ready to leave.  Jeff has to have a CT scan on his arms tomorrow, an ultrasound on Thursday and he will be doing an interview with the local TV stations Thursday afternoon concerning our departure.  Friday, we need to get all the information that we will be taking back with us, so the next few days will be a whirlwind. 
 
But, we are so looking forward to getting home on Saturday.  We just can't wait.
 
We are so blessed by all of you who have been keeping this journey in your prayers and just ask for them to continue as this week progresses.  We thank all of you for everything you have done.
 
God Bless!


September 28, 2009

"And my God will meet all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus."  Philipians 4:19
 
Praise God!  Praise God!  Praise God!  What a wonderful Lord we serve and what wonderful gifts we are given, our prayers are heard, when we have faith.
 
Well, as you can probably guess, we had wonderful news today.  It is amazing, when we rely on the Lord to provide, oh how He does.
 
We received a phone call from Jeff's main doctor this afternoon.  All of the team was sitting together and wanted to talk with us on what they had gotten worked out so far.  It is amazing what can be done when you have the right motivation.  We talked with them for about an 1/2 hour and they told us that they have confirmed a hand therapist in Augusta.  As far as we know, it will be the one we wanted over at Doctors' Hospital, so that will be convenient.  Jeff will start on Tuesday, October 6, 2009.  He will continue his normal schedule and go all five days a week.
 
They will finalize tomorrow where he will have his blood work and central line dressing changes done (this may be done at the house by a visiting nurse - we are not yet sure) and that they feel Jeff will only need to do this twice a week, instead of the three times we are doing it here.
 
They still need to confirm who will do the biopsies on Jeff's arms and they are contacting our family doctor to see if that is something he would like to do.  If not, they will make other arrangements.  We have told them the status on Jeff's current medication supply and they have worked out everything with the pharmacy here to do mail order, on a three month basis.  WOW!!!!!! How many prayers have been answered.  Jeff's doctor for all of this will be Dr. Lee's friend who is at MCG.  So, we will have to go and see him from time to time to follow up.
 
So, we will definitely be heading home on Saturday, with everyone's blessings (most importantly, Our Lord's)!!!!!  We plan on leaving Pittsburgh around 6:00 a.m.  Since I will have to do all the driving, we will probably have to stop a little more often, plus Jeff will need the breaks.  We are hoping to return to our house no later than 5:00 p.m.  YEA!!!!!!!!  We just can't wait to be back in Augusta!
 
Jeff's blood work was good again today, with his FK level remaining steady.  They do not want to make any changes at this time as they know, sometimes, blood levels will change with Jeff coming home.  New routine, food, etc, so they are just going to wait and see what his first few weeks are like at home, before any decisions are made.
 
Hand Therapy continues to go well.  I do have some new pictures from therapy to add to the website, along with the ones we took in Lancaster, so hopefully I will get to those tomorrow.  The best thing today was that last week, one of the therapist wanted Jeff to try and play the game, Trouble.  He could operate the "Pop-o-matic" in the center, but was not able to pick up the games pieces and move them.  Well, today, when I was able to go back and see him, we played Trouble.  He was able to pick up the pieces, using either hand.  It was great!  Especially since I won!  Really, it doesn't matter who wins our games, I am just so thankful when he is able to play them or just do something that he could not do before.  We have such a good time.
 
I am not sure yet when I will be able to return to work.  I will still need to make sure that everything is set up with Jeff and that he will be comfortable and taken care of.  We will still have some logistics to work out, since he still needs assistance with daily hygiene and eating, but we will address those issues once we get back.
 
We just thank all of you for being so diligent in praying for us.....obviously, He hears and answers our prayers.  We have been so blessed so far in this journey and we look forward to the wonderful and miraculous thing He still has in store.   We just look forward to being able to see our friends in Augusta and also, still keeping all of you informed daily of what is happening.
 
We just asked for your continued prayers for the same items as last night, that the last minutes things will be worked out, along with our other prayers concerns.  We also asked for your prayers for traveling mercies as we set out for home.
 
Thanks again for all that you continue to do for us.  We thank the Lord each and every day for all of you and His continued blessings in our lives.
 
God Bless!


September 27, 2009

Hello Everyone,
 
We are just getting back from Lancaster and we are so glad to say that we had a great weekend.
 
After Jeff's guest appearance at CORE Thursday morning, we headed out to Lancaster.  We spent Thursday evening with my sister.  We went to dinner at Olive Garden and we had a great visit with her.
 
Friday was spent with Jeff's father and his siblings.  We went out to breakfast with all of them and then we headed over to his Aunt's house.  Throughout the day, we had a parade of visitors and had a great time catching up with all of them.
 
Saturday was spent with Jeff's mom and his brothers at his mom's house.  We had a great dinner with them and it was really nice that his brothers were able to join us along with his nephew David, and his wife Renada.
 
We left this morning to come back and we had to drive through rain all the way back, but we made it safe and sound.
 
We are looking forward to this week as we are very excited to be leaving on Saturday.  Yes, we still plan to do so and we sent another email to Jeff's doctors last night expressing our intent to do so.  We just continue to pray that all blocks will be removed this week.
 
We just asked for your continued prayers for:
 
1.  That our continued prayers for infection and rejection to be bound will continue to be heard and answered.
2.  That our continued prayers for no adverse side effects of the anti-rejection medication continued to be heard and anwered.
3.  That Jeff's body will continue to do well on the Prograf and the dosage can continue to be reduced.
4.  That Jeff's legs will continue to become stronger with each day and one day this week, he will be able to walk totally unassisted always.
5.  Please pray for all necessary arrangements to be made for our return to Augusta will be taken care of this week, so that our departure on Saturday will be realized.
 
Thanks again to everyone for their prayers, support, cards, calls, emails, and gifts.  We truly continue to appreciate all the things that you continue to do for us, especially the prayers.  We continue to thank God each day for all of you.
 
God Bless!


September 23, 2009

Hey Everyone!
 
Jeff had another normal day today, which right now in the scheme of everything, is good.
 
All of his blood work came back fine.  His FK level is holding steady, so they are not changing his dosage and they have cleared him to go to Lancaster tomorrow.  Praise God!  We cannot wait to get out of Pittsburgh.  With the G20 Summit, this has turned into the place for idiots.  So far, most of the protestors have been downtown, but tomorrow, they will start to move into our area since all of the G20 delegates will be in Oakland for their big dinner tomorrow evening.  Things are already boarded up.  It is a mess and it is so sad to see people acting this way.  So, we are very happy that, after Jeff speaks at the CORE meeting, we will be heading out of this hoopla.  We will return on Sunday.
 
Since we will be out of town, I will not be sending out any updates as there will be nothing to update you on.  Jef will start back to therapy and the clinic on Monday, so I will resume then.  But, you all can still reach us at this email address if you want to keep in touch.
 
Jeff's hand therapy went well today and he is now up to pulling 5 lbs of pressure with his left hand.  This is a great improvement from the 2.4 lbs previously.  He is definitely making progress.  I will try and get some of the new pictures uploaded to the website.  The uplink in the hotel has been slow again, so I have been having trouble getting things on the website, but I will keep trying.
 
Jeff was walking again unassisted in PT today, so that continues to go well.  He will probably use the walker in Lancaster more than the wheelchair, so that will help him get some additional exercise.
 
Thanks again for all of your continued prayers.  Again, please remember to send any further correspondence to our home in Augusta.  We are still praying, and planning, on leaving for home on Saturday, October 3rd, so please continue to pray that all necessady arrangements will be in place by then.
 
God Bless!


September 22, 2009

Hello everyone!
 
This will probably be a short update since there is nothing new to report this evening.  With it being Tuesday, Jeff had hand therapy all day.  Things continue to go well, with no significant changes from yesterday.
 
Tomorrow will be lab day and as long as every thing goes well, we will be heading to Lancaster on Thursday.  Since Jeff was still holding steady on Monday, they don't expect anything different for tomorrow.  So, if everything is good, we will head out after Jeff speaks at the monthly CORE meeting Thursday morning.  We plan on being there through the weekend and will return on Sunday.
 
There is also nothing new to report on our current situation as everyone is out of town or away from the hospital.  But they have received our email stating our intentions to leave on Saturday, October 3rd.  So, I am sure we will hear about it Monday when everyone gets back.
 
Please just pray for the Lord's guidance through all of this.  We pray that He will open the doors that are currently closed and pray that our hearts will be open to His guiding.  We need to come home, but also cannot put Jeff at risk.  We do strongly feel that the only way to get anyone moving is to leave so that they know we are serious.  Please just pray that we do the right thing and what the Lord wants us to do.
 
Also, please do not send any further correspondence here to Pittsburgh.  We are not asking that you stop with the cards, letters, or support, but that you just send them to our address in Augusta. Since we are planning on leaving here shortly, this way, we will make sure that nothing is left behind.  Also, in the case that we end up staying longer (please pray that this is not the case), we will have whomever is getting our mail to put together a package and send as needed.  For those of you that need it, our address in Augusta is:
 
The Kepners
28 Eagle Pointe Drive
Augusta, GA  30909
 
Thanks again for all of your continued prayers.
 
God Bless!


September 21, 2009

Good Evening Everyone,
 
Jeff had a good day today in that his blood work continues to be stable.  His FK level this morning was a little elevated, but the doctors have not changed his dosage, so that is good news.  Everything else continues to look fine.  Praise God.
 
In Hand Therapy, there really is not much new to report.  Things continue to progress well.  Jeff's strength and mobility continues to improve.  The therapists continue to show me new things, or I should say, old things that Jeff is now doing better.  His hands look great and they are also impressed with the progress that he is making.

The great news is from PT in that Jeff walked today without any assitance whatso ever.  The therapist had him walk over the carpeted area, using his walker, to the tiled area by the elevators.  She then took his walker away and placed it down in front of him.  He then walked, without any assistance, to his walker.  Once he got there, she moved it further away and had Jeff walk to it.  She continued with this until he had walked all the way over to the other side.  He only had to rest once.  He then repeated it back the other way.  Praise God for another answered prayer.  Jeff said his legs felt good and his knee seemed to be stable.
 
 
We thank you all for your help and prayers in this situation.  Please pray for a quick resolve in all aspects.
 
God Bless!


September 20, 2009

Sorry that this is late in coming for the weekend.  Sometimes my computer just gets an attitude and won't work right.  I think, when there are so many people in the hotel, the internet just gets overloaded.  It ends up being so slow that nothing will load, so I am just going to have to do a recap from Friday.
 
Actually, Jeff's day on Friday was pretty normal.  We started out with regular blood work in which everything is still fine.  His FK level (anti-rejection medication level in the blood) is still at an acceptable level, so they are staying with the current dose twice a day.  Everything else looks good.  Praise God!  We are just so thankful that everything with Jeff's body continues to do well on this medication and that all of the side effects have been bound!  We are just rejoicing!
 
Jeff's hand therapy continues to go well.  He really has the same schedule of activities each day.  The therapists document exactly what he does, how long he can do it, how far his fingers move, etc, etc, etc.  This way, they can see the progress that he is making on a daily basis.  He did have some great improvement in his cone stacking abilities.  In the past, when he has had to move the cones from one stack to another, after he has grasp the cone, he has had to turn his wrist over so that the cone does not fall out.  He did not have enough strength to keep it in his hand if the cone was straight up and down.  Well, you guessed it.  Friday, we was able to stack the cones without having to turn his wrists.  He was able to keep enough grasp on the cone to keep in his hand while the cone was vertical.  Praise God!  I have some pictures of this and when I get them loaded onto the website, you will be able to compare the old cone stacking to the new.  It is such a neat thing to be able to see his progress. 
 
I did get to see some things on Friday because Jeff was interviewed by a Japanese TV station (yes, from Japan).  They had interpreters with them from New York City and they came to Pittsburgh to do some footage on what is going on in Pittsburgh to show in Japan.  This is for the G 20 Summit which is here this week.  They will show this back in Japan as to what the medical community is doing here in Pittsburgh.  It was kind of fun watching this one.  Even Jeff was laughing. 
 
As to the G 20 Summit, what a mess this is going to be.  Austrailia is staying here in this hotel, along with two other countries.  Since the Prime Minister of Austrailia is going to be here, security is going to be a nightmare here in the hotel.  As for the Summit, there are so many street closings and protests planned, we will not be going to therapy on Thursday or Friday as we will not be able to get near the hospital or it will be very difficult.   
 
Because of all of this, we have asked to get out of Dodge so that we do not have to put up with this.  Jeff's doctors have tentatively agreed to let us go to Lancaster on Thursday and we will not have to be back until Sunday.  This is, of course, hinging on the outcome of Jeff's blood work on Monday and Wednesday.  If all of his levels (especially the FK) remain stable, then they will let us skip Friday's blood work and we can go.  Jeff has to meet with CORE (The Center for Organ Recovery and Education) people at their monthly meeting on Thursday, outside the city.  They have invited Jeff to speak at this meeting.  Once we are done there, we can leave for Lancaster.  Please pray that everything will be fine and that we will be able to get away for a weekend.  This will be our last chance to see Jeff's family and my sister before we head back. Once, we get back to Augusta, I am not sure when will get back up to see everyone since I will have no leave.  Please just pray that everything will work out this week for us.
 
We just again thank everyone for the continued prayers and support.  We know that God has a plan for us and has seen us through to this point.  We just pray for His continued guidance and thank all of you for your faithfulness.
 
God Bless!


September 17, 2009

Good evening everyone!
 
Jeff had a relatively quiet day today.
 
He had a special lab day this morning due to the doctors continuing to check his FK level.  Jeff found out this afternoon that it is going down, so it is headed in the right direction.  They have decided to keep Jeff's dosage at the current level and check it again tomorrow on his normal lab day.
 
Jeff's hand therapy went well again today.  He is gaining strength and mobility in both of his hands as is shown by the measurement testing they continue to do with him.  Again, with all of this, it will be small steps, with some giant leaps thrown in.  But, all in all, Jeff is progressing very well and they are extremely pleased with everything.
 
Please continue to pray that the planning for our return continues to go well.  There are so many things to be taken care of and we just pray that it will all fall into place.  We found out today that Quest Labs, one of the places that they were looking at to do the blood draws for Jeff three times a week, cannot do them because Jeff has a Central Line and only an RN or DR can do them, which Quest does not have.  So they will have to look at a hospital or come up with another plan for that.  We still do not know about a hand therapist as they are also still hammering those details out.  We just ask for your prayers, for in the course of the next week, they will be able to finalize everything for a smooth transition and that there will be no glitches that will hold up our return.
 
We just really thank all of you for your continued prayers and support.  We know all of you have played such a vital role in this journey and we know that it will continue with our return home....just another phase of our journey.  You all have been so faithful and we thank God every day for your faithfulness, love, friendship, and compassion.
 
God Bless!


September 16, 2009

God is Good - All the Time!
 
Jeff had a great day today!  It was a normal Wednesday in that Jeff had to go for his blood work at Clinic this morning and then, of course, hand therapy.  But, the good news just continues.
 
Jeff's doctors have lowered his Prograf medication dosage which is an answered prayer.  The level of this drug in his blood started to rise late last week, so the solution was to lower the dosage.  As we have said, this is great news in that the less of this drug Jeff has to take, the better for his body.  Well, as of today, the level was still elevated, so they have lowered the dosage again.  Jeff has to go in for special blood work tomorrow to continue to check this level, but, WOW!!!  There is not much room left to go down.  This is wonderful news.
 
Jeff's doctors saw him at hand therapy today and they were telling him how unbelievable it is as to what is going on with Jeff and this transplant.  They just got back from a transplant conference in Spain.  Of course, they have been doing these types of transplants in Europe for quite some time.  Jeff's doctors presented his case during the conference and the doctors over there pretty much called Jeff's doctors liars.  They cannot believe that:
 
1.  Jeff is on such a low dose of Prograf so soon after the transplant (just under 4 months).  Normally, patients do not see this dosage until years from the transplant and that he has had no adverse side effects.  It is just unheard of.
 
2.  Jeff has shown so signs of rejections what so ever and has no episodes of rejection to deal with so far.  Most patients during this time show some signs of rejection in the skin (it looks like a rash), which is taken care of by a topical medication.  Jeff has had none and there is no indication that he will have any.  His skin looks great, blood flow is good, and everything is working as it should.
 
The doctors were just in awe.  He is just breaking all the rules.  Do you know what we told them?  From the very beginning, we have prayed (and have continued to pray), and have asked all of you to pray (and continued to pray), that infection and rejection WILL BE BOUND, that the anti-rejection medication WOULD HAVE NO ADVERSE SIDE EFFECTS on Jeff's body, and that Jeff WOULD RESPOND WELL to the medication.  OUR PRAYERS HAVE BEEN HEARD AND THEY HAVE BEEN ANSWERED!!!!!!!   God just continues to work miracles in this journey.  He has from the beginning and just continues to do so.  As we have said before, if someone does not believe in miracles and that the Lord has things planned out, they just need to talk to us!
 
Jeff is also doing well with his hands.  They did some measurements today - all different things - but the one that impressed the doctors the most was that, with Jeff's left hand, he can pull 2.4 lbs of pressure with his fingers.  This is really great and a big improvement.  His right hand of course is still a little behind, but the swelling has gone down alot and things are improving for that hand.  His thumb in his left hand has finally started to twinge a little (another answered prayer as the thumbs are the last to move) so Jeff had a lot of great news today.
 
We cannot leave PT out.  Jeff had that this afternoon and his walking is getting much better.  The therapist really feels that he can now walk most of the time with the walker and not use his chair.  We have also noticed (Jeff and I) that when he has to stand (changing clothes, going to the bathroom) he is able to stand on his own and take some steps without assistance.  Our prayers are definitely being heard and answered.  Wow!!!!!  It is just so unbelievable.
 
We just asked that you continue to pray in all of these areas for we know that we need to keep Jeff covered, for his healing to continue, and for miracles to happen each day.  I know that the reason he is having such great results is because all of you have him covered each and every day and because of that, he is soaring.  Please continue to keep him in your prayers in all of the mentioned areas and even those unspoken.
 
I do ask for your prayers for me.  You see, all of the above information that I have given you, I have gotten from Jeff since I am not allowed in any of Jeff's therapy sessions.  I only get to see him at the very end and it is always the same things I get to see.  I do not see him with the doctors nor do I see any of the improvements or measurements that they do during his sessions.  This is really weighing heavy on me and causing me a lot of distress.  Jeff and I have talked about it and he understands.  He is going to talk with them all tomorrow, but I really don't see any change when I am told when I can come into his therapy.  I don't know when the doctors are there, nor do I get to choose when I can come in and see what he is doing.  This is very difficult for me and I am trying to keep my spirits up (not to mention my temper in check.)  Please pray for me in this area and pray also that they will see how important this is to both of us.
 
God Bless and Keep Praying!  It Works!!!!!

 
September 15, 2009

Hello to everyone!
 
Jeff had  a rather uneventful day today.  Since it is Tuesday, he just had  hand therapy scheduled from 9:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m., so there really isn't much to report for today.  Especially since he was only at therapy until 12:15 p.m.
 
He had another interview scheduled this afternoon with Pitt Magazine, which the publication for the University of Pittsburgh, so we spent the afternoon talking with one of their reporters.  Not sure when their article will run, but we will see if we will be able to send it out to all of you or post it on the webpage.
 
Other than that, it was a short day.  Tomorrrow will be clinic in the morning, so we will see how his FK level is doing and if it will need to be adjusted again.
 
We just thank everyone for their continued prayers.  We thank all of you and just ask for special prayers for both Jeff and I.  Since we are coming to the end of another stage in this journey, we are just getting anxious about returning home (can't come soon enough and praying that the date does not change) and praying that all plans will be worked out for a smooth transition - in all areas from 1. hand therapy, 2. doctors that will take over Jeff's case, 3. labs that will do his blood work, and
4. when I will be able to return to work.  So many things....we just asked for your prayers that the Lord will continue to provide, as He has, and that the next transition (the big one back home) will be smooth and that we will just be open to the Lord's guidance in all things. 
 
God Bless!

September 14, 2009

Jeff had another great day today.  His FK level (anti-rejection medication) remains stable, so Jeff's dosage will remain unchanged for the time being.  The level is still above the desired leve in his blood, so the possibility still exists that they may drop the dosage (and this is what we are praying for), but we will just have to wait out the week and see.
 
Jeff's hand therapy went well today, but was interrupted for a short time.  He did another interview with one of the local papers here (kind of a follow up to his transplant and what he is doing in therapy).  Right now, they plan on publishing the article on Sunday, September 27, 2009.  If this ends up being the date, I will let you all know so that you can pull up the article on the paper's website.
 
Jeff's has another interview tomorrow with Pitt Magazine, which is the local magazine for the University and Hospital.  I will see if they have a website or if they will email me a copy so that I can send it out to all of you.  Busy week for interviews. 
 
But, his therapy continues to go well and his mobility and strength continues to grow little by little.  As the doctors have said, it will probably take up to a year (next May) to get everything going as it should.  We just pray, as we know all of you are doing also, for extr ordinary healing in all areas in this miraculous journey.
 
Jeff had PT today and the therapist is very impressed with his increased strength.  As I said, we just have to get him using the walker instead of the wheelchair.  It is just more tiring for him, and we understand that, but it will definitely hlep him in getting back to walking without any assistance.
 
Jeff really enjoyed a visit from some friends from Texas this past weekend.  Red Meyers and his wife visited with us.  Jeff knows Red from his Air Force and softball days and it was great for them to catch up on some old times and I know that Jeff really enjoyed it.  We just pray for traveling mercies for Red and his wife as they return to Texas this week.
 
We just continue to thank everyone for their pryaers and support.  We thank God each day for all of you and cannot tell you how much we appreciate everything you all continue to do for us.
 
God Bless!


September 12, 2009

Well, nothing too exciting today.
 
Jeff went into the clinic today for his blood work to check his FK level.  His doctors called us later on today and told us that his level was down.  So, it was decided that Jeff's dosage would remain at the current dosage.  They still would like it to be lower, so, if next week, it still remains high, the probability exists that they may lower the dosage still again.  YEA!!!!  Please pray that this will be the case.
 
Afterwards, we returned to the room and spent the day watching football.  It was kind of rainy here in Pittsburgh, so we decided to stay in.  Of course, tomorrow will be the normal grocery and laundry day, so I will be out and about.  Jeff will probably watch football and golf.
 
We thank everyone for their continued prayers and support.  We love you all and can't wait to see you.  We pray it will be soon!
 
God Bless!

September 11, 2009

Well, another week down and we pray, just 2 1/2 - 3 more to go.  WOW!!! 
 
Today was a good day.  We started off, as usual on Fridays, with Jeff's blood work at the Clinic.  We usually have Saturdays and Sundays off, but unfortunately, we will have to go in tomorrow, but it may be for great news.  Today, Jeff's FK level - this is the level of Prograf (his anti-rejection medication) -  in his system was high.  The doctors want this number much lower than what it was.  Jeff was been able to maintain the previous level by taking his previous dosage of Prograf twice a day (a very low dosage by all accounts.)  Today, for some reason, his level shot up.  So, night, they lowered the dosage and Jeff will have his level checked again tomorrow.  The reason that this may be great news is that if Jeff can maintain the desired FK level, it means that he is working in the right direction.  Every time that he can take less Prograf, the better.  Remember, one of the points of this clinical trial was to work towards getting patients on lower dosages of anti-rejection medication, or eventually, removing them from the need for the medication at all.  For Jeff, this seems to be the case and they are very hopeful.  We just continue to pray, as we ask you all to do also, that Jeff's body is working well with this medication and that the need for it will continue to drop and that any side effects will be bound.
 
Hand Therapy continues to go well and I took some photos of Jeff tossing a football with one of his doctors.  I will be loading some new photos on the website, hopefully tomorrow, so please check them out.  They are definitely working at getting his fingers to do more.  We just ask for your prayers that mobility and strength will come quickly and without haste. 
 
The doctors here are in the process of trying to set everything up for our return to Augusta.  As, I have said before, Dr. Lee has a colleague there that is willing to take Jeff on as his patient.  They are just now looking for a hand therapist, someone to perform the needed biopsies, and the necessary daily blood work.  They feel that they can get one of the medical labs to do the blood work, so it is really just getting the other two items in place.  They feel that all will be accomplished in plenty of time for our return.  We just pray for a smooth transition.  The doctors have told us  that they will want Jeff to pretty much continue his routine that he has here.  That means blood work three times a week and hand therapy from 9:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. daily.
 
We just thank everyone for their continued prayers and support.  We are so blessed by each of you and we thank God every day for all that you do for us.
 
God Bless!


September 10, 2009

"O God, it is true that no eye has seen nor ear has heard what wonderful things you hold in store for your children." 
 
Sorry that my last few updates have been short.  I haven't had too much to write about, but I will probably overdose you all tonight.
 
As I read my daily devotion this morning from A Guide to Prayer for All God's People, I just had to stop and meditate on the above passage.  Wow, what a promise we have and what surprises we have in store for ourselves because we just cannot fathom what God has in store for each of us.  We just need to place our faith and trust in Him completely and know that He has everything under control and planned out.  So you would think we shouldn't have to worry at all.  Well, we shouldn't, but we do.
 
It seems that the past few days, for me anyway, have been difficult ones due to having difficulty sleeping.  I just can't seem to turn my mind off.  I am so tired when I go to bed, but as soon as the lights go off, my brain goes into high gear and I am thinking about what I didn't get done, what I need to do, what I need to plan for in the future, what about this, what about that, ect!!!!!!!  Before I know it, I am wide awake and worrying, usually about things I have no control over.  I have come to the conclusion that I simply cannot keep going on like this.  How silly of me - you all knew that already and, of course, so did I. 
 
I have been reading, and rereading a terrific book sent to me by a friend of ours in San Antonio.  It is written by a woman named Dondi Scumaci and it is entitled "Ready, Set....Grow!  It is a wonderful book about changing things about yourself, overcoming your fears, and creating the life you want (can't take credit for the paraphase, it is on the front of the book cover!)   Anyway, there is a chapter on worrying and she must have been able to read my mind all the way down in Texas because it is exactly what I do and what I am continuing to do.  But I took her advice to heart and I am really trying to change because as Scripture states, "Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?"  (Matthew 6:27).  As she stated, and I already knew, I cannot change most of what I am worrying about, at least not right now.   Please just pray for peace of mind and continued strength.  I know that God has a plan and know that there is no need to worry because He already has things in place and it will all work out.  
 
Jeff has been doing great with his therapy and continues to progress gradually day by day.  The doctors did give him some great news today in that his sugar levels seem to be returning to where they want them to be.  This is very good news and we know that your prayers in binding the diabetes are working.  We are praying that his medication can be changed shortly to cut the dosage in half and then for him to be off of it completely.  What answered prayers!
 
All of his other blood work is coming back fine so we feel the doctors have finally found the right levels for all of the medications.  Jeff still remains on a very low dose of the Prograf, which is the anti-rejection medication, so that will always be great news.  The less he can take of that, the better.
 
Jeff's walking is also improving and, again, the goal is for him to start using the walker more than the wheelchair.  Starting next week, he will have to decide what times he wants to walk instead of ride (such has walking from the hotel room to the truck or from the truck to therapy, etc.)  The goal is to cut out the rides and increase the walking.  We will just have to see what is best and the most productive.
 
We just contine to thank all of you for your prayers and support.  Your cards lift Jeff's spirits and he really enjoys reading them and your emails.  Please continue to pray of him in all areas.
 
By the way, I have found a great way to fall asleep and to keep from worrying.  It does work most of the time.  I just keep singing "Amazing Grace" in my head and I don't allow any other thougths to get in the way.
 
Thanks again for all the prayers and God Bless!


September 8 , 2009

Good Evening Everyone!
 
It was a pretty uneventful day.  Jeff had to go into the clinic today to have his biopsies done along with the blood work that goes with it, so we were there early this morning.  Afterwards, Jeff went to hand therapy as usual. 
 
Tomorrow, it is back to clinic for his regular Wednesday blood work and then he has PT at 3:00 p.m.  His walking is improving, so we are still praying that he will be walking by the end of the month.
 
Please continue to pray for extraordinary healing in Jeff's hands and legs, for strength, and that the tiredness and any rejection will be bound.
 
We again thank everyone for their continued prayers and support.  We asked for your prayers in that the Lord will continue to guide us and be with us constantly on this journey.  We pray for His guidance and provision and that we will look to Him for guidance in all the decisions that we are making and will have to make in the future.
 
God Bless!


September 7, 2009

Just a quick update for the weekend as nothing much was really going on.
 
We didn't do anything at all this weekend, except relax in the hotel room.  I had laundry and grocery shopping to take care of, but other than that, it was an extremely quite three days.
 
Jeff had to go to clinic today to get his usual Monday blood work completed.   Everything was fine and we returned back to the hotel around 9:00 a.m.  Today was rather rainy in Pittsburgh so we stayed inside and watched golf.
 
Tomorrow, Jeff is back on his normal schedule with clinic and hand therapy, along with PT on Wednesday and Thursday.
 
We pray everyone had an enjoyable holiday weekend, or at least a quiet one!
 
We just ask for your continued prayers for Jeff's healing and God's continued guidance and protection in our lives.
 
God Bless!


September 4, 2009

Hey everyone and Happy Labor Day Weekend! 
 
Today was a typical Friday with lab work this morning, followed by Hand Therapy at 9:00 a.m.  There is really not much in new developments.
 
They did tell us that Jeff's Potassium levels are back up above normal, so he is to cut back to the twice a day dosage that he was on the beginning.  Everything else is looking good.  Even with that being said, Jeff did not get a pass for missing his normal Monday morning labs.  So, he will have to go to the hospital on Monday morning between 8:00 - 8:30 a.m. for labwork and then we can return to the hotel afterwards since he does not have therapy due to the holiday.  Oh, well.  We just guess at this point, it is better to remain being closely monitored so that there are no problems.
 
Otherwise, we just enjoyed a relaxing night in the hotel.  We are not sure what we will do over the weekend since Jeff's options are so severely limited, but we will think of something.  Even if it is just rest and relaxation.  Of course, I will have laundry and grocery shopping to take care of as those things never go away!
 
We continue to look forward to coming home.  We are so anxious to see Jordan and to be back in our own home.  It will be such a Godsend.  Our own beds, not having to go to a laundromat, not having to eat out constantly.....the list goes on.  And of course, being able to see so many of you, we are so looking forward to it.  I can almost say I am looking forward to mowing the lawn again (Oh My......what am I thinking!!!!!!!!!)
 
We again thank all of you for your continued prayers and support.  We are blessed by each of you!
 
God Bless!


September 3, 2009

Good Evening everyone and, again, this will be a short update as again not much else was different today and unfortunately, another migraine is setting in.
 
Jeff's OT continues to go well and when I went in to see him this afternoon, he was working on writing his letters and numbers.  They looked great!  It was really unbelievable how good they were.  He is holding the pen with the help of an ace bandage wrapped around his fingers, but the writing is coming much more easily to him.  We played a couple of games of Hang Man and then Tic Tac Toe.  This is the board where the Xs and Os are made out of marshmellow-looking materials and Jeff works at grasping them between his thumb and forefinger.  He does pretty well with it.
 
After that, we returned to the hotel where he did is daily walk up and down the floor.  We will not have PT until next Wednesday (because of the holiday on Monday) so we will be doing it ourselves until then. 
 
Also, unfortunately, we will not be heading to Lancaster this weekend.  Jeff is still tiring too easily and it is just still a little to early.  We are hoping that we will be able though to make the trip on one of these weekends coming up.
 
Thanks for the continued prayers and we love you all.
 
God Bless!


September 2, 2009

Hey everyone!
 
Jeff had another good day.  Again, not too much is different today.  His bloodwork was completed this morning and now his Potassium level is low so they have added an additional dosage during the day for that drug.  But, otherwise, Praise God, the rest of his levels were good.  His doctors told us today that if his levels remain stable on Friday, they may (may being the operative word) give Jeff a break from having to come to the clinic on Monday (Labor Day) for bloodwork.  Normally, the clinic is opened seven days a week, 365 days a year and we must stick to the Monday, Wednesday, Friday schedule.  But since the Hand Therapy Clinic will be closed and Jeff will not have therapy on Monday, they are trying to save us a trip into the hospital for just bloodwork at 7:00 a.m.  Don't know if it will fly but we can pray that it will.
 
His PT session went well and he seems to be doing better walking.  His therapist wants him to increase his walking time, so we are trying to come up with some times that he can walk, using the walker, instead of the wheelchair.  The goal at this point is to get him to use the walker all the time and not use the wheelchair at all.  He is not to that point yet, but if we can add some walking times during the week and take out the wheelchair, this will obtain the goal.  The ultimate goal, of course, is to be walking without any assistance by the time we leave at the end of September.  But, their goal will be to definitely have him walking with the walker when we leave and not using the wheelchair at all, except for long trips as before.
 
We just want to thank all of you, as always, for your continued prayers.  They mean the world to us to know that we have so many strong prayer warriors lifting us up each day.  That is such a comfort.  Please continue to pray that the healing in Jeff's hands continue at a record pace, that the swelling will go down and we will see extraordinary movement like never before.  Please pray that the strength will continue to return to his right leg and healing for his right knee.  Pray for his blood levels to remain right where they need to be and for any further diabetes and signs of rejection to be bound.
 
God Bless!


September 1, 2009

Well, it is the end of another day and another step closer to that happy day when we will be able to return home to Augusta, GA.  We just cannot wait.  We miss Jordan terribly, and of course, all of you there.
 
Things continue to go well here with Jeff and his therapy.  As we have been told, it is always a little at a time.  Today, two of his fingers were moving with much more ease.  Tomorrow, of course, it will be something else.  Baby steps, baby steps.
 
Jeff continues to work hard at everything he is to do.  He has a variety of exercises he is to do for his legs here in the hotel between PT visits and walking whenever he can.  He also continues to work on his finger exercises which he can pretty much do without thinking.
 
His medication regiment has remained constant and we will find out tomorrow at clinic if the changes that were made in his Magnesium and Prograf are doing what they had hoped.  We just continue to pray that they will find a combination that will finally work for both of these two drugs.  The problem is not so much the Prograf, which Jeff's level is doing great and maintaining exactly where they want it to - again on a very low dose which is an answered prayer.  But, the Magnesium is still not up to where they want.  For Jeff, the Prograf just sucks it right out of him.  So, like I said, we pray that the new combination of Mag three times a day and the slight lowering of the Prograf dosage will work.  Please pray with us that this will be the case.
 
Please also pray for me in that I can keep all of this together.  I had a few laspes in memory today and Jeff got two of his medications a little late.  The doctors tell me it is no big deal, but to try and get them on time.  Jeff has seven different pill times throughout the day and some of them are very time sensitive.  UGH!!!!!  I told Jeff I will have to by a watch with an alarm on it so that I can set the times throughout the day until we get this down.  We just get to doing other things or going to other appointments and I get sidetracked.  Just pray for a gentle nudge ( or a slap up side the head) to remind me.
 
Thanks again to everyone for their continued prayers and support.  It means the world to us and continues to help us out when we are in need.  You all are the best.
 
God Bless!


August 31, 2009

WOW!!!!  4 months down and 1 to go!!  Praise the Lord!  God is Good...All the Time!
 
We started our second week of outpatient therapy and everything is going as planned.  Therapy continues to goes well.  Jeff's fingersre working well and there is a little more movement all the time.  They are especially working on his thumbs and wrists to ensure that all the muscles and tendons are working.  We continue to pray the his healing continues and the progression will end with total movement and everything working as it should.
 
Jeff had his first session of outpatient PT today.  He will meet with the therapist three times a week and work on continuing to strengthen his knee and work on his walking.
 
We did get a call from Jeff's doctor this afternoon as they are changing his medications again.  Jeff's body continues to work well with the Prograf, which is the anti-rejection medication.  So, they are reducing the dosage.   Again, this is great news in that the lower the dosage of the Prograf, the better for Jeff.  But, on the other hand, his Magnesium levels still continue to concern the doctors and they don't want to keep giving him Mag by IV, as this is not an option for me.  So, they have decided to give him the Mag three times a day instead of two.  We will see how this all works out and pray that it will meet all the needs of his body.
 
Otherwise, we continue to count the days until we will be on the road, heading home.  We cannot wait.  Even though we will not be able to attend church or other large gathering for a while, we will hope that we will get to see everyone in small doses at our home.  We will definitely work something out.
 
We are just so thankful for all of our continued prayers and ask that you continue to pray for Jeff - for his continued healing of his hands and legs, for the drugs to work properly in his body with no adverse side affects, and for his continued mental well  being.
 
I also ask for your prayers in that when we return to Augusta, I am not sure what Jeff's schedule will be as to doctor's appointments and hand therapy and how that will work out with me returning to work.  Jeff will definitely not be able to drive for a while yet and may not be able to be left alone so that may leave us in a pickel if I have no leave left and I am not able to go back to work.  Please pray for the Lord's provision (as He has done so far and I am sure He will continue to do so as we are in need.)  Please pray for guidance for me that I will know exactly what I need to do and will not worry.
 
Thanks again for everything that you all continue to do for us.
 
God Bless!


August 29, 2009

Jeff had a very good day today.
 
We had a great visit with our friends from August who are here spending the weekend with us.  This morning, we all met in the restaurant downstairs for breakfast.  It was great to get together and just catch up, even though this was a little tiring for Jeff, as he is really not used to doing so much.  Afterwards, he decided to go back to the room and rest up a little.
 
I got him all settled and then I took Tommy, Janice, Mike and Dete over to the Duquesne Incline, which we rode up to the top of Mt. Washington.  What a great view of Pittsburgh from there.  After that, we returned to the hotel and we all visited in the room for a while.  We then all went downstairs again for dinner as this is the easiest for Jeff and they are not really all that crowded.  After dinner, we went out on the patio for awhile before coming back upstairs.
 
They will be leaving early in the morning to return to Augusta so we pray for traveling mercies for them.  We have had such a great visit and Jeff has certainly enjoyed the company. It will be such a Godsend when we can finally make that trip also.
 
Not too much going on tomorrow for us.  I have to do laundry and head to the grocery store, but other than that, we will be watching and cheering for California to win the Little League World Series.
 
Thanks to everyone for their continued prayers and support.  We love you all and thank God every day for each and every one of you.
 
God Bless!


August 28, 2009

Our first week is done!  Praise God!  It was a week of trial and error as we strove to figure everything out.  How long it would take us to get ready in the mornings, how to get all of Jeff's medications right, etc...  But in the end, God had it all worked out for us, AND it worked out for us.  We finally got everything down.
 
Just so everyone knows and can pass on to those who follow the updates on the website, I am still having trouble pulling up the website so that I can add the updates.  Sometimes, it is so slow here in the hotel that I cannot get it to load.  I will keep trying and when I can get it to load, I will get everything load on the progress notes page.  Please tell everyone to just keep checking.
 
Jeff had a good day today.  We had to go in for his Friday blood work today, which was good.  The doctors have decided to up the dosage of his Magnesium and Potassium, which he takes by pill form, to keep his levels up.  Hopefully, this will alleviate the necessity of the IV supplements.  We will find out next week since we just started that tonight.  Otherwise, everything else is going well.
 
His Hand Therapy today went great and he is progressing well.  They are looking at additional splints for a variety of reasons to ensure that his hands and wrists are doing exactly what they want them to do.  So we will just have to change them at different times during the day.  But we are already doing that, so it will be no big deal.
 
We are excited that we have visitors this weekend.  Some friends of ours from Augusta, the Williams and the Crawfords, are here to visit with us this weekend and arrived safely today.  It will be great to have them here with us and we look forward to catching up with all the goings on in Augusta over the next few days, as they will head back on Sunday.  Please pray for traveling mercies for them on that day.
 
We just continue to thank everyone and Praise God for your continue support and prayers.  We are truly blessed..
 
God Bless! 


August 27, 2009

Sorry.  This will be a quick update as I am battling a migraine headache.  They always come at the worst times.  I will also get the updates to the websites as quickly as I can.  I have been having trouble accessing the website to work on it and add updates, but I plan on getting to that tomorrow.
 
Everything went well today and Jeff was feeling great.  He just had Hand Therapy from 9:00 - 3:00 p.m.
 
I will get out a more detailed update tomorrow as soon as I can.
 
God Bless and thanks for your continued prayers!


August 26, 2009

Well, another day down and a few weeks left to go!!!!
 
We had to arrive early at the hospital this morning as it was Wednesday and Jeff had to have his blood work completed.  Thank God, it was not as crowded as Monday morning and things went very smoothly.  We were finished in enough time that we could go to the cafeteria and get some breakfast.
 
Afterwards, I took Jeff up to Hand Therapy and then headed to the Chapel.  I have really come to value this quiet time I have each morning to spend with the Lord in prayer.  It really puts my mind at ease and gets me ready for whatever the day may bring.  And today was no exception.
 
I went back up to the waiting room at the Hand Clinic to wait on Jeff for lunch.  Needless to say, I was surprised when the door opened and Jeff came out around 11:15 a.m.  I asked his therapist what was going on.  It seems that his Magnesium and Potassium levels came back very low this morning and he had to go back down to the clinic.  They were going to give him the Mag by IV and then some Potassium pills.  The Mag level seems to be Jeff's biggest hurdle at this point.  The anti-rejection medication just sucks it out of him.  Of course, you need to maintain a certain Mag level for your heart to work properly, so they cannot fool around with this mineral.  He takes Mag twice a day here at the hotel by pill form but it doesn't seem to be keeping up.  I guess they will probably up the dosage here in the near future.  But today, in order to get it up quickly, they give it to Jeff by IV.  When he was in the hospital, they did it over a four hour period.  Down in the clinic, it is over a two hour period, so needless to say, we ate our lunch in the clinic while he was hooked up to the IV.  The reason we had to stay in the clinic is because sometimes, people have reactions to the Mag.  Jeff has never had one before, but he did today.  They think it is because he was used to getting it over a 4 hour period and this one was faster.  He was not feeling well and they had him lie down.  They also slowed down the IV drip.  Finally, it was done and Jeff started to feel better, but not 100%.  He did not go back up to the Hand Clinic for his afternoon session and we had to cancel his first PT therapy session which was to be today at 4:00 p.m.  That has been rescheduled for Monday, August 31, 2009, at 3:00 pm.  By God's grace, we will make that one.
 
So, we continue to do our own therapy with Jeff walking with the walker in the hallway in the hotel.  It may not be perfect, but at least he is doing it.
 
I just want to thank everyone again for your prayers for Jordan.  She had to stay home today since the doctor said she had to be 24 hours fever-free.  She did not run one today at all, so she will be going back to school tomorrow.  The doctor just seemed to think that it was a cold or her sinuses.  Thank God and we praise Him for answered prayers.
 
Again, we thank everyone for their continued support and especially their prayers.  We know that the Lord is hearing them and we just can't imagine what we would do without them.  God is so Good!
 
Thanks again for all the calls, cards, emails, gifts, and support.  We are truly blessed to have family and friends such as all of you and we thank you for your continued inquiries as to how Jeff is doing.
 
God Bless!


August 25, 2009

Our second day complete and things continue to go well.
 
We did not have to be at the hospital until 9:00 a.m., so we had a less hectic morning.  Jeff's Hand Therapy continues to go well.  We have pretty much the same routine each day.  I drop him off and then go to the chapel for my morning prayers.  I then meet Jeff at 12:00 p.m. for lunch and then he returns to therapy between 12:30 - 12:45 p.m.  I then head back up to the Hand Clinic around 2:15 p.m. when I am allowed to join him in therapy.  We usually end then around 3:00 p.m.
 
Today, we left a little early in that Jeff was not feeling well.  For some reason, he started to feel nauseated and his fever jumped up a little in the afternoon.  By the time I got there, he was feeling much better and his doctors were not too concerned, as when we left, his fever was back to normal. 
 
Tomorrow, we have to be there around 7:00 - 7:15 a.m., as he has his blood work at the Outpatient Transplant Clinic.  We continue to pray that all of his results will continue to be where they want them.
 
We did received some disappointing news today.  As I told you in a previous email, one of the reporters from one of the local papers had gotten us tickets for the Pirates/Phillies game tomorrow evening in their luxury box.  Well, we had a conference with the doctors today and we were told that Jeff will not be allowed to be in crowds for a while, due to him being immuno-suppressed.  They cannot take the chance on Jeff catching anything, including a cold.  Hence, no baseball game.  He was so disappointed.  We were also told that Jeff will not be allowed to attend any functions with crowds or a large gathering of people, that includes church services, for about 3-4 months for the same reasons.
 
Jeff is very upset with this as we planned to go over to Lancaster before we return to GA and wanted to attend Jeff's church there to say hello to everyone.  But, that will not happen.   It will also be the same for Burns Memorial, our home church in Augusta.  Even after our return, it will probably be after the New Year before he will be allowed to attend church.
 
This is so upsetting for us as we could not wait to see everyone and personally tell them thanks for everything that you all have done for us.  Hopefully, the dates may change, but as of now, that is the way things stand.  Please pray that Jeff will stay healthy and pray that maybe the dates may change.  We will just have to figure out some other way to see everyone.  The doctors said that family gatherings, such as at Lancaster, would be fine.  So we can visit and see everyone there before we leave.  They told us that we have to give it at least a week or two and then they will give Jeff permission to travel to Lancaster.  The end of September still stands for our return date to Augusta.
 
Please continue to keep Jeff in your prayers for all of the items previously mentioned and that his body will always stay healthy.
 
Also, thank God and Praise Him.  Jordan does not have the flu.  Just something that made her run a fever.  If she goes through the night and wakes up without a fever or any other symptoms, she can return to school.  She will just have to see how the night goes and how she feels in the morning.  Right now, it is just tylenol.  Praise God for answered prayers.
 
God Bless!


August 24, 2009

We made it through the first day!  Praise the Lord, for He made the way smooth, with no problems.
 
Jeff and I arrived at the hospital around 7:00 a.m. at the Outpatient Transplant Clinic.  Boy, was the place full.  The nurses told us that they have never been this busy in years....it seems all the doctors scheduled procedures for the same day.  We just had to wait our turn, but it turned out OK.  We saw some old friends from the other floors that we got to know, so it was nice to catch up with them.  We finally got back to the room around 8:30, so needless to say that we would be late for therapy.  But, the Hand Clinic knows how it can be on 7 West, so it was no big deal.
 
The great news is that all of Jeff's blood work came back with great results, so, obviously, I get the medication thing down over the weekend.  Even test result was right where they wanted it to be, so there are no changes at this time.  Jeff was feeling pretty well and looked good today.
 
After the clinic, we headed up to therapy, where I dropped Jeff off around 9:30 a.m.  I then went down to the chapel for my morning prayers and just had some time to just relax.  The chapel is very nice and it is very quiet, so I could really concentrate on talking with my Lord.  It was wonderful.
 
I met Jeff around 12:00 for lunch.  We are packing our lunches so we just headed down to the Main floor.  We had planned on going outside to one of the table there, but it was crowded.  Thank God we found on in the lobby and we had a great lunch together.  He had to be back within 30 - 45 minutes, but it was still nice to eat together.
 
Therapy lasted until 3:00 p.m.  He did some new exercises today and did well with them.  I can see small changes occurring and I am sure by the end of the week, there will be some major differences.  He will definitely progress with all this therapy now, which of course, is the plan.
 
We finally went down to the restaurant for dinner.  The past few nights we have just eaten in the room.  But, we will probably go back to that.  The restaurant was very cold (for Jeff - felt fine to me) but one of the side effects of all the medication is that Jeff is cold.  Can you believe it?  I told you in the previous email, we have had to get two connecting rooms at the hotel because once we got Jeff and all of his stuff in the room, we could barely move.  So, we now have the connecting room.  We have to pay for two rooms now, but we really had no choice.  With Jeff still having to use the wheelchair and the walker, it was too dangerous for him to maneuver around everything, so it was a necessity.  But, the good thing is that in his room, he has the temp set at 80. It was killing me so in the other room, it is at 73.  But it has all worked out.
 
We will have our first outing on Wednesday.  The Oprah Show did not work out.  They told the media rep here at the hospital that they have decided to take a different course for the show, so they thanked us for talking with them, but that we would not be on at this time.  Oh well, it was no big deal to us one way or the other.  Obviously, it just isn't in God's plan at this time.  So, our outing for Wednesday will be to the Pirates/Phillies game here at PNC Park.  One of the reporters that was at the press conference got us tickets to the newspaper's box/suite.  So, we will be going to the game on Wednesday.  He already warned them that we will be rooting for the Phillies!!!!!!
 
I have a special, urgent prayer request.  Mom and Dad called this evening and Jordan is sick with a fever.  She had said previously that a lot of kids in school were out, some with the swine flu.  Well, she came home today not feeling well and she is now running a fever.  Mom and Dad will take her to the doctor's tomorrow, so please pray that it is just a bad cold or something.  It is very hard on Jeff and I, not being able to be there when she is sick and we are concerned about her.  Please pray that the Lord will touch her and take out of her body any cold or flu virsus and that she will wake up tomorrow without a fever or not feeling well.
 
We thank you all always for your prayers, emails, calls, cards, gifts, and support.  I know that I owe some of you a phone call but please bear with me, I will get back to you as soon as I can.  When you call, if I don't answer, I am usually involved with something with Jeff, doctors, or therapy staff.  But, please continue to leave messages and I will get back to you.  But, also, please feel free to email me.  I can usually shoot off a response quicker that way.  But, if you want to call, by all means, please do.  Jeff and I love to hear your messages and we truly appreciate them.  We love them and they are very encouraging to us.
 
We love you all and thank God each day for all of you.  You are always in my prayers in the morning as I thank the Lord for all the blessings He has bestowed on us.
 
God Bless!


August 23, 2009

Wow!! What a wonderful day to Praise the Lord, especially on His day.  We have to agree with Bill and Lexie when they said that even though we can't be at Burns, worshipping with all of our brothers and sisters in Christ, we definitely Praise Him for all of our answered prayers and that we know that we worhsip Him in Spirit will all of you.
 
Jeff had a much better day today than yesterday.  We got up this morning and went through our morning routine as if we had to go to the hospital, just to see how long it will take us to get ready in the morning.  Well, not our best record (it took us about 2 hours for both of us to be ready), but I am sure that it will decrease as we do through it each day.
 
After we got around, we drove over to the Waterfront.  As I said before, this is a shopping area that has been developed at the site of an old steel mill.  It is really nice.  We had some lunch and then went to the grocery store to get things for lunches this week.
 
Jeff did rather well, although the trip did tire him out.  But we know that his endurance will come.  We have been sharing meals since Jeff still does not eat too much, so actually one meal has been suiting us just fine to split.  We are going to be taking our lunches (sandwiches and such) since Jeff will only have 30 minutes to eat.  It will be nice to share our meals together again.  We just Praise God for Jeff's continued progress.
 
Well, it will be an early night for us since we will have to get up around 4:30 a.m. in order to get around and get lunches packed.  We have to be at the hospital by 7:00 a.m.  This is just on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays since this is when he gets his bloodwork done.  The other two days, we do not have to be there until 9:00 a.m. so we can sleep until 6:30 on those days.  Whoopie!!!
 
We love you all and miss you.  Can't wait until we can see everyone, hopefully at the beginning of October.
 
God Bless!


August 22, 2009

Well, our first day outside the hospital.  Praise God!
 
We really did not do much today as Jeff is trying to acclimate to the hotel.  As I said we had to move rooms and now, we are just trying to get our routine down.
 
I have to figure out all of Jeff's medications.  Some have to be taken at a specific time, some cannot be taken with others, etc.  Wow, it just boggles the mind sometimes.  But we have it all worked out.
 
We are just now trying to figure out how long it will take us in the mornings to get ready so we will know when we have to get up during the week.  As, I said before, Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, we have to be there between 7:00 and 7:15 a.m. for them to do all of Jeff's blood work.  Then on Tuesdays and Thursdays, we will have to be there around 9:00 a.m. for Jeff's hand therapy.
 
Jeff did not feel too well today.  Just so much new activity and adjusting to a new environment.  Please pray that things will settle down and Jeff will feel himself again.  Please pray for just continued good health for Jeff, for his legs continue to grow strong so that he will be walking soon without the walker, pray that Jeff's body will continue to do well on the anti-rejection medication, and please pray for just overall comfort for Jeff during all these changes.  This such a big step in being discharged from the hospital, and a great one, but now we are doing so much on our own, so please just pray that things go well.
 
Thanks again for all that you continue to do for us on this journey, especially your prayers.
 
God Bless!


August 21, 2009

Praise God - Jeff is out of the hospital.  YEA!!!! 
 
Jeff was discharged at about 12:30 p.m. this afternoon.  We had quite a morning with all the doctors that came to visit to discuss last minute items, Jeff's doctors who wanted to go over all of his medications, and the diabetic nurse educator who stopped by to give us the meter and show us how to use it.  Whee!!!  What a morning.  We have so many bottles of pills.  I am now trying to figure everything out.  What medications are due when, some can't be taken with others, some have to have food.  WOW,  my head is just spinning, but we will manage and soon, it will be second hand.
 
Jeff went to OT and still continues to work on all of his exercises and such.  Things continue to progress well and, of course, on Monday, Jeff goes to 6 hours of therapy a day, so they expect his progress to definitely increase.
 
We arrived at the hotel around 3:30 p.m. and proceeded to get settled.  After everything was unpacked, we realized that Jeff was not going to be able to use the shower in that room.  It was too narrow for him to safely get into.  So, we guessed it, we have changed rooms.  We had to move to a handicapped accessible room with an open shower.  So, I started moving the room at about 8:00 p.m. and I finished about 9:30 p.m.  I cannot believe what we have here.  There was so much and I could only put so much on the wheelchair to move it.  But we are done and now relaxing in Room 429.
  
So again, I will say that we are now in Room 429.  If you have mailed anything, don't worry.  They are quite familiar with us here so we will get the mail.
 
Well, we are now embarking on the next phase in Jeff's journey and we want to thank all of you for everything that you continue to do for us.  Please pray that Jeff will acclimate to this new routine and that he will have no encounters with illness, now that he is out and about with people.  Please also pray that Jeff continues to do well with all of his medications and that his body will continue to work well with everything.  Please just continue to pray for his legs as they are still weak.  He will continue with outpatient PT in order to help him with this, but his first appointment isn't until Wednesday, so will use the hallway to do his walks.
 
God Bless!


August 20, 2009

Praise God...it is Jeff's last night in the hospital.  I know that he is really looking forward to tomorrow.
 
Nothing too exciting today.  He went to his last session of PT since they do not have to go when they are being discharged, so they simply worked on Jeff's walking and standing.  We will continue with outpatient PT starting next Wednesday.  That is the first appointment available, so I guess we will set up all of his days then.
 
OT is still going well and they are looking forward to working with Jeff for six hours each day, starting on Monday.  This is what our new schedule will look like at this point:
 
Monday, Wednesday, Fridays:   7:00 a.m.                               7 West for all of Jeff's labs and blood work
                                               9:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.              Hand Therapy
 
Tuesday, Thursday                    9:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.              Hand Therapy
 
Praise God we will have weekends off.  We are hoping that they will let Jeff travel over the weekends so that we might be able to get over to Lancaster before we head home.
 
Please just pray that all goes well tomorrow.  I have a lot of meetings with different people so that we can get all of Jeff's medications, figure out what has to be given when, get his diabetes testing supplies, etc, etc, etc.  We had the parade of doctors today with their last minute visits.  The best news out of all of that is that Jeff will not be taking insulin once he is released.  His sugar levels have been pretty stable and they feel that they can control it with an oral medication that he will take twice a day.  I will have to test his blood once a day, moving the times each day to something different.  They will also be monitoring Jeff's glucose levels when they do his blood work on 7 West.  If anything has to be done, they will do it by changing the amount of his oral medication. As long as his level stays below 120, he should be good.  They want it around 100, so we will watch what Jeff eats and how it affects the daily testing.  But, considering where he started (with his sugar around 200 and taking insulin shots), this is definitely an answered prayer.
 
Thanks for everything that you all continue to do and please pray that all is well once Jeff is released and the next 6 weeks goes quickly.  We are soooooo looking forward to heading home.  Of course, things do not stop once we get back to Augusta.  Jeff will continue with regular follow-ups with a doctor that Dr. Lee knows in Augusta, and he will have to continue his rigorous hand therapy.  They are looking for one now, and we have given them a name, but the ultimate decision will be theirs.  Jeff will not be able to drive until at least the new year, so pray that all this scheduling will be worked out, since I will probably have to return to work before then.  We know that the Lord already has all of this worked out and we need not worry.  Please pray for strength as we will have many new situations as this goes on.
 
God Bless!


August 19, 2009

Well, we are one day closer to Friday and we just Praise God that everything has been going well.
 
Nothing much was different today.  Jeff went to PT and continued with his walking.  He also worked on taking some steps without the aid of his walker.  He was able to take about 20 steps and turned around to come back to his chair.  It was difficult in the end, but he did very well.  His leg is still too weak to walk without the walker, but the decision has been made for Jeff to continue with outpatient PT three days a week starting on Monday.  It looks like he will go to hand therapy until 3:00 p.m. and then we will go up to the outpatient gym around 3:30 p.m.  This way they can continue to monitor Jeff and his progress and Jeff will continue to get the treatment he needs.
 
OT was also good today.  Jeff continues to work on his mobility and strengthening exercises.  It is great so see something that was difficult a few days ago for him, is becoming easier.  What answered prayers we have had so far on this journey and we know that we have many more to come.
 
There is a new picture on the home page of Jeff's website.  It is a picture of Jeff and I, our first hug with his new arms and hands.  What a great thing, to feel Jeff's arms around me again.  Yea!!!!  Give Glory and Praise to the Lord above.
 
Otherwise, nothing much else was different today, as I said before.  We continue to prepare for Jeff's release on Friday.  Tomorrow, we are going to meet the staff in the outpatient transplant clinic.  This is where we will go on Mondays, Wednesdays, and  Fridays for them to do Jeff's bloodwork and such.  They are telling us that we will only have to go those three days.  We will not need to come in on the weekends.  Wow, how great will that be to have those two days to ourselves.  Can't wait.  We will also go through some meetings on what medications he will be taking and when he has to take them and, of course, I will have to monitor his blood sugar.  So, we will have to cover all of that before Friday.
 
But, we are so excited that Friday is fast approaching and we can't wait.  Thank you all for your continued prayers and we know that the Lord above is hearing them. 
 
God Bless!

August 18, 2009

Three more days to go and Jeff will be out of the hospital.  Today was Jeff's 107th day in the hospital, so I think it is about time for us to go.
 
PT was a little different toady in that we had to practice Jeff getting in and out of the truck.  So, I drove to the hospital this morning and during his PT time, Jeff, his therapist Nate, and I went down and worked with Jeff getting into the vehicle.  Since he cannot drive yet, he has to get used to getting in the passenger side.  This has proven to be a challenge in that, getting in on the passenger side, means that he has to put all of weight on his right leg when he lifts his left leg up into the truck.  Nate worked first with him to see what would be the best way.  Then it was my turn.  We were doing just fine until he had all of weight on his right leg and waas almost in.  Then his right knee buckled and Nate and I found ourselves catching Jeff before he hit the ground.  Not to fun....actually rather scary.  But, credit to Jeff, he did not want to stop until we (Jeff and I) found a way to do it safely.  And, of course, by God's grace, we did.  We also figured out that this will be easier if Jeff has a curb that he can stand on.  The seat is just a little to high for him to back onto when he is standing level with the truck.  We measured the curb and it will be perfect.  So, we have decided to look for curbing when getting Jeff in and out of the truck.  Also, the PT and Rehab staff are going to look at having a wide wooden block made for Jeff about the needed height, so if we cannot find a curb, we can use that.  It would be such a God Send in that Jeff would not have to put any unnecessary weight on his right leg if he can just back up to the seat and sit down first.  But, we will continue to work tomorrow so that we are all ready for Friday.
 
OT was again great.  Jeff is doing so much better with his movement.  It is great to see it progressing a little each and every day.  His therapist, Kim, took a great picture of Jeff and I and hopefully I will have it soon to post.  But I have posted a new picture on the "Therapy Photo" page.  Jeff's brother Dan, came to visit today and I took picture of them shaking hands before he left.  It is a great picture so please don't forget to check it out on Jeff's website.
 
I took a load of things from Jeff's room back to the hotel in preparation for Friday.  Already the truck is half packed with all the gifts and things Jeff has received while here in Pittsburgh.  I had to clear a lot out of the hotel room also in order to make room for his wheelchair and walker.  Wow, we will need a moving van to get everything home!!!  LOL!!!
 
We continue to be so blessed by all of you and the various things you have done, and continue to do, for us while we are here.  From people taking care of the house, to the Walden's opening their home to Jordan, to all of the continued prayers, we are just truly grateful for everything.  There are just not enough words to thank everyone so I won't even try.  Just know that you are all in our prayers and thank the Lord above for each and everyone.  We love you all and hope to see you soon.
 
God Bless!


August 17, 2009

Today was a really good day, for a Monday.
 
Jeff was able to get back into his routine at PT.  The doctors gave him the go ahead to get back to walking.  He is no longer having any pain in his left arm, so whatever it was, they feel is healing.  Jeff was back to walking today and did very well.  He was also able to walk with the therapist, without the walker, and took about 10 steps.  Praise God for his Mercy and Goodness.  This is such a step for Jeff.  He was a little wobbly, but being able to walk on his own, without the walker, even for just a few steps is such a boost.
 
Tomorrow, we are going to work on transferring to the truck, so I will have to drive in tomorrow.  They just want to make sure that Jeff knows exactly what to do to get into the truck safely.  Also, since we are leaving the hospital on Friday, the therapist talked to Jeff's doctor about continuing PT after he is released.  He would go to the Hand Clinic from 9:00 - 3:00 each day and then, hopefully on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, he would go to outpatient PT at about 3:30 p.m.  Jeff's doctor talked to him about this today to see if that is what he wanted to do and he said yes.  He really wants to build up the strength in his legs and work on walking without the walker, so I think that this will be a go.
 
OT was great today.  As you know, Jeff practices stacking and unstacking cones as one of his exercises.  He is doing this with much more ease and it is great to be able to watch him do something more easily, than in the past, where he had such difficulty with it.  It is just another answered prayer.  The other thing they have him doing which is fun to watch and great for Jeff is they have him bounce a small ball (looks like a basketball) out of one hand and then catch it with the other.  His record is 19 in a row.  But, WOW!!! what  progress he is making.  It is still such a miracle in the works.
 
Well, we just continue to thank all of your for your faithful prayers, calls, cards, emails, gifts, and support.  We, again, are so truly blessed by family and friends that continue to help us in so many ways during this journey.
 
God Bless!


August 15, 2009

Well, we are at the weekend again, so, as before, there is nothing out of the ordinary to report.
 
Jeff went to PT this morning but is still on restriction from putting weight on his left arm.  This is the standing order until Monday.  So, he simply worked on strengthening exercises and some sit to standing positions.  Hopefully, he will be back to walking on Monday.  He really misses it and doesn't want to fall behind.  We just pray that the Great Physician will continue to pour strength and healing into Jeff's right leg.  We are very much looking forward to Friday, as you can imagine, so we pray that there will be no set backs before then.
 
OT was pretty simply as the therapist comes to Jeff's room on the weekends.  They do not have all the equipment that they do in the Hand Clinic available, so again, they work on mobility and range of motion.  Since they are only coming one day on the weekend, he will not have OT tomorrow.  Also, Praise the Lord, that this will be the last weekend that any OT therapist will have to come in to see Jeff as, once he is released, he will not have therapy on the weekends.  We will be free!!!!!  This will be so nice and hopefully, we will be able to get out and about.
 
That is pretty much all for us.  As you know, the weekends are kind of uneventful.  But we do want to send out a big Praise for answered prayers for Haley Van Pelt.  She was moved out of the ICU into a regular hospital room, so we are so thankful for answered prayers in that situation.  She still has a ways to go but we know that the Lord is hearing our prayers for her full and complete recovery.
 
We just thank everyone for their continued prayers and support.  As I continue to say, because it will never be enough, we are truly blessed with family and friends that continue to support and lift up Jeff on this miraculous journey.  You are such a part of all of this and we will never be able to thank you enough.  We just thank God every day in our prayers for all of you.
 
God Bless!


August 14, 2009

We Praise God for a glorious day in Pennsylvania.  It has been absolutely beautiful here and we thank the Lord for this wonderful weather.  It has given Jeff a chance to go outside in his wheelchair and enjoy some of the sunshine.  They have a great flower garden located off the Main Entrance to the hospital and it is just nice to take him out there and just enjoy the outdoors for a while.  He hasn't seen too much of it in the last 100 days.
 
We had a good today.  Jeff went to PT as normally scheduled but was not allowed to walk today.  His left arm, that he injured yesterday, was still swollen and had hurt him through the night.  Even though he was in some pain, the doctors were celebrating this because "HE CAN FEEL PAIN."  Praise God for the fact that the nerves are definitely growing and sensation and feeling are coming around in his arms, his left of course quicker than his right, but all things are moving in the right direction.  Because of this, though, they did not want Jeff putting any pressure on his left arm today, hence, no walking.  So, he mostly concentrated on strengthening exercises and standing exercises.  These went pretty well, but he was bummed that he wasn't able to walk.
 
We still got wonderful news in that they have set Jeff's release date for Friday, August 21, 2009.  They see no reason to keep him in the hospital any longer and this next week should get him to where he needs to be.  His leg will still take some time, but he will be able to walk with the platform walker and can use the wheelchair, so they see no reason to keep him in the hospital.  We were thrilled at the news.  Monday, we will be working on Jeff getting in and out of the truck.  This should be fun.
 
OT went well today.  I was able to see what Jeff had been working on and was amazed at how the strength was building in this right arm.  She didn't do too much with his left arm, but he is now able with the right to turn his wrist over with a weighted stick in it.  He couldn't do that before, so he is definitely making strides in his recovery.  All is going well and, of course, starting the week after next, he will be going to hand therapy 6 hours a day.  Bet he can't wait for that!!!
 
We got some wonderful news from the doctors today as they gave us a progress report on Jeff.  As I have said, God has definitely been with us through this whole journey, and has ensured that, for the most part, the journey has been smooth.  As you know, one of Jeff's biggest worries was how the anti-rejection medication was going to affect him and the dosage he was going to have to be on.  One of the reasons he decided to go through with this was because of what UPMC was doing in this area.  Well, Praise God, for one of the best reports we got today was that Jeff has been maintaining all of his blood counts within normal parameters, including his sugar.  In fact, his blood work has been so good that they have moved his testing to every other day instead of each day and his sugar testing to twice a day instead of before each meal.  This is great news.  They also told us that Jeff's body is reacting to the anti-rejection medication better than they ever expected.  The normal patient is usually on a certain dosage each day in order to maintain a desired level in the blood stream at all time.  Some patients have to take more milligrams each day in order to maintain this level and some have to take less.  Just to show you how Jeff is doing, let's say that a normal patient has to take 10 milligrams a day in order to maintain the desired level of Pro-Graf in their system.  Jeff is just taking 3 milligrams in order to maintain the desired level.  The doctors are just floored at how Jeff is reacting to this drug.  He is almost at an unheard low-level dosage at this point of the transplant.  They couldn't be happier and of course, the less Pro-Graf Jeff has to take the better.  This is an answered prayer as this was an area Jeff was concerned with and the Lord has taken care of it.  Jeff is maintaining the desired level at a very low dosage of medication.  We couldn't ask for more and we give Praise to the Lord above for this.
 
Also, they have told us that since Jeff will be leaving the hospital, they are going to start actively searching for a team to take over for them in Augusta.  They have tentatively told us that we will probably be here through September and we should be able to return home at the beginning of October.  Of course, they told us, this could always change, one way or the other, but we are claiming a homecoming the beginning of October.  They will find the doctors that will continue to monitor Jeff's blood counts and the transplant and also look for a certified hand therapist to continue with intensive therapy once we return.  We were thrilled.  Just to have a date to look forward to is a big boost and we know that it will come.
 
I was reading any update on Haley Van Pelt, the daughter of friends of ours who was injuried in a car accident.  She is also making miraculous strides in her recovery and we praise God for hearing our prayers concerning Haley and her parents.  One thing that Lexie had written in one of the updates was how they had just put all of their lives in the Hands of the Lord and they know that all will be well.  We just have to have faith.  Well, I just want to add that we  found this to be true long ago, from the very beginning of this journey.  When I look back at all the concerns, questions, etc, we had, God had already taken care of them before we even knew that we would be worried about them.  He has been with us thoughout this journey,  providing a perfect donor (who we continue to pray for his family each and every day), for preparing Jeff's body for the medication, for providing this outstanding team of doctors, nurses, therapist, and staff, and for any other worry or concern that has come along, He has prepared the way. What a wonderful and loving God we have that knows what we need before we do and has already provided for it.  For anyone that still does not believe, you just need to look at Jeff and Haley to see what He has done in their lives and continues to do.  We alone can testify to his miracles and everlasting love and mercy.
 
We thank God for our family, friends, and the many folks that we don't even know that continue to support us and especially, pray for us.  You are a blessing to us and we thank the Lord each day for your presence in our lives.
 
God Bless!


August 13, 2009

As it seems to be with our days recently, we have our highs and lows.  Today was no exception.
 
PT again, went rather well.  Jeff did quite a few walks, with his longest one coming today.  He told the doctors that he feels that his legs are feeling stronger and that he is able to put more weight on them.  This is great news and it looks like, Thank the Lord, that we will be sticking to our projected release date of next Friday, August 21st.  Praise God and give Him all the Glory!
 
After his walks, Jeff continued with his strengthening exercises.  One of them is where they place a block in front of him and then have him step up on the block, first with his left leg, followed by the right, and then back down.  The next time, he has to step up with is right leg first, then his left.  Of course, this one is much harder because he has to put all of his weight on his right knee to pull himself up on the step.  Usually this is accomplished by also using the platform walker with his arms so that he can use that to support himself and help to lift himself up.  Well, things were going great for the first three rounds of this.  Noticed, I said were.....  On the next round (he usually does five on each leg), he was trying to step up with his right leg and was putting pressure on his left arm and we all heard something "pop"!  It was very audible.  We all froze.  Not a good thing.  The therapists all about had a heart attack.  One ran to get a doctor while we got Jeff out of the walker and sitting down.  We could find nothing wrong with his arm.  He could move all of his fingers and wrist, there seemed to be no swelling, etc, but who knows.  The one Rehab doctor came in and found out what had happened.  He immediately stopped therapy and I had to take Jeff down to X-Ray for x-rays of his arm.  It is always something.  Well, after another trip to X-Ray this afternoon for some follow-ups, they feel that everything is OK!!!!!  Answered prayers as I was burning the hot line between me and the Lord for quite a while there.  They know that something did happen as Jeff's arm hurts!!!!  Praise God for that.  I know that may sound strange that we are celebrating Jeff being in pain, but if he is feeling pain in his arm, then the nerves are definitely growing together and moving towards his hands.  But they do not feel that it is anything other than a tendon or ligament.  Nothing is showing on any of the tests so we thank God for answered prayers.
 
OT was cut short due to having to take Jeff back to X-Ray this afternoon.    
 
Jeff's doctor and I had a great talk about Jeff's progress and they are just thrilled with how he has been doing.  We are supposed to talk tomorrow about a long range game plan so, hopefully, I will have more news tomorrow.
 
Thanks again for continued prayers.  We are so blessed by all of you.
 
God Bless!


August 12, 2009

Well, we praise God for another day of being able to stay true to the promise that He is always there and knows exactly what we need.  Everything will be in his perfect time.
 
Jeff did well in PT today.  No problems like yesterday, Praise the Lord!  He did a number of walks and his usual exercises.  The wonderful news today was they had Jeff doing some different exercises where he had to march and do some squats.  This was great in that, when he was marching, he had to put all of his weight on his right leg, and it did well.  He was able to complete 20 on each leg and 20 squats, so his strength is definitely returning.  He is still working on standing on his own, but if all of this keeps up, he will be doing that in no time.  They are still expecting him to be  released from the hospital next Friday, August 21, 2009, so we continue to pray for that date not to change.
 
Today was a celebration of sorts in that it was 100 days since Jeff's surgery.  Can you believe it?  Things continue to go well.  There continue to be no signs of any rejection, movement in his fingers and wrists are where it should be, his body is having no adverse affects to the anti-rejection medication, so all things considered, he is doing better than they expected. 
 
Today in OT, they continue to do certain things to ascertain how far the nerves have grown and if Jeff is getting any feeling in his arms (below the incision point) yet.  As you know, a little while ago, when he was having biopsies done, he could feel pain at the point where they were taking the skin from.  This was wonderful news in that the doctors did not expect him to have feeling there yet.  Well, today was another milestone.  In OT, he was able to feel rough touch on the underside of his forearm on his left arm further down from the incision line.  WOW!  Again, Praise God for the wonderful progress Jeff is making.
 
Thanks for all of your continued prayers as we know that they are being heard and answered.  We are so thankful for such powerful prayer warriors as all of you.
 
God Bless!


August 11, 2009

Well, it was another one of those days today.  
 
Jeff went to PT not feeling very well.  Not exactly sure why, but he even looked pale.  He did about two walks and when he went back and sat down, he told the therapist that he was dizzy and lightheaded.  She asked if they had checked his sugar and blood pressure that morning.  He wasn't sure about either, so I went to find his nurse.  She said that both were checked and seemed to be fine, but even she commented that he looked rather pale.  They came back in to do another sugar test and to give Jeff some thing for the nausea.  He then decided to try and take another walk.  Well, as we were heading toward the nurse's station, the charge nurse, along with Jeff's nurse,  saw Jeff and he was really pale.  The charge nurse immediately stopped the therapist and told her to stop and had me go back and get his wheelchair.  I don't think they liked the way he looked at all.  Well, about that time, his doctor showed up so the conferences were on.  Jeff's sugar test came back very low, almost too low to believe because he should have been comatose, so they did another one.  They are now trying to take the blood from his ear lobe, thinking that always taking it from the central line is causing some confusion in the reading since they always have to flush the line first with saline.  We are thinking that it might be interfering with the readings.  Well, anyway, the decision was made for PT to be stopped for the day and for Jeff to go back to his room until Hand Therapy.  He got back into bed and his doctor checked him out.  They gave him some juice and that seemed to make him feel better.  But, he ate breakfast (the same thing he always eats) so they are not sure what the deal is.
 
He did eat lunch and felt much better when we headed over to OT.  Things seem to be going well over there with his hands.  We is working very hard and is making wonderful progress.  It is slow but it is definitely coming along.  His therapist continues to take pictures when he accomplishes something new, so when she does, we will continue to post them on the website.
 
Please continue to pray for Jeff's overall well being, for the strength in his right leg to continue to return, and that they can figure out his whole sugar thing.  Of course, we just lay all of this at the feet of the Great Physician, knowing that He will know just what needs to be done and when.  We continue to thank Him for the wonderful doctors, nurses, therapists, nursing assistants, and all the staff who help us out each and every day.  What a blessing they are to us.  Please keep all of them in your prayers as well.
 
God Bless!


August 10, 2009

Today was a day for ups and downs. 
 
The day started off great.  Jeff and I were in his room waiting for PT.  Jeff was sitting on the edge of his bed and I was getting his wheelchair ready.  I told him that I was going to go down the hall and tell his therapist that he was ready so that she could come help get him up and in the chair.  He said to hold on for a minute.  He had me put the top of his bed all the way up and then position his chair next to the bed.  He then used the top of the bed to support himself and he was able to stand unassisted.  I was in awe and praising God for this.  I had told Jeff that last night I had a dream where he simply stood up and started walking, so I was claiming this as an answered prayer of great strength and healing entering his legs.  He then used the bed for support and was able to go the few steps to his chair.  I almost cried.  What a giant step.  I know that he had been looking for some sign that he was moving in the right direction and there it was, just when he needed it the most.
 
We had several more answered prayers in PT today.  As I have been telling you, I have been working with Jeff in helping him to transfer.  As you know from my previous updates, this had not been going to well in that Jeff weighs a lot more than I do and we were having problems getting coordinated.  I could not hold him up when I needed to and kind of had to let him fall back on the table...it scared him and I hurt my back.  Well, today, the therapist, who is working with us this week while Jeff's normal one is on vacation, had ask us to start out doing transfers when Jeff was not so tired.  (By the way, she was very surprised when I wheeled him into the PT gym in the chair.  She asked how he did it and she was very pleased.  She said that his legs were obviously getting stronger and he was making progress.)  Well, we tried it again, with about the same results.  Then Jeff had a great idea. (I wonder who put that one into his head!)  Instead of me standing in front of Jeff where I was off balance, hence making him off balance, why not try standing on his right side and supporting him under his arms, with my free hand on his knee.  The therapist said lets try it.  It can't hurt.  Well, praise God for His great ideas!  It worked perfectly.  I was able to support Jeff, stay on balance, and keep his knee braced with my free hand, and he was able to move without me pulling him.  We did that about 6 times and it worked each time.  My back felt fine and Jeff felt stable.  God Is Good!
 
The other great news from PT is that they moved Jeff from the platform walker to a the regular walker with the platforms for his arms that I was telling you about.  This is more mobile and will be the one that Jeff will leave with.  WOW!  He really made some great strides today and I felt so proud of him and his attitude was great.
 
But leave it to the Great Deceiver to step in and try to steal the joy from those accomplishments.  Jeff for some reason had trouble this afternoon with staying awake.  His sugar was a little low but should not have accounted for the terrible time he had in OT.  The therapist just could not keep him awake.  He would fall asleep in the middle of a sentence.  So this afternoon was really hard for him.  He struggled with everything because he just did not literally have the energy to go it.  I was watching him on his one exercise and he started it, did about two, and just nodded off.  We had to keep waking him up.  I got him back to the room and the doctors took a look at everything but still did not seem to know what was going on.  He immediately fell asleep as soon as he got into the bed.  I guess we will just have to wait to see what tomorrow brings since they could not find anything.

Well, it definitely has been a whirlwind tour today.  We just are so thankful that we have a loving and merciful God that hears and answers our prayers so that we know that we can turn to him with whatever prayer concern we have.  Please pray for Jeff that the sleepiness and urination problem will just be dealt with and he will not have to worry about them.
 
God Bless you all for your continued prayers and support.  We love you all and thank the Lord every day that  you all are a part of our lives.  We miss you and hope to be home soon.
 
God Bless!


August 9, 2009

Well, we praise God for another uneventful weekend.  
 
Jeff had another good day of PT, simply continuing with his walking and standing exercises.  We just continue to pray that his right leg will grow stronger than we ever imagined.  We have faith that all of a sudden, he will be able to stand and walk with no assistance, so we will just continue to pray for health and healing of Jeff's body, and that his attitude will remain strong. 
 
We only have one session of OT on the weekends and that was yesterday so there is nothing new to report in that area.  Jeff continues to do the exercises assigned to him that he can do anytime, like watching TV, so he is always working on them.  But of course, tomorrow is the start of another week and we are back to our normal schedule at that time.
 
We just thank everyone for their continued support and ask for your prayers for an unspoken situation.  Some of you know about it, but it is hard to explain in detail, so I am just asking that you just keep us in prayer for a special reason.
 
God Bless!


August 8, 2009

Well, we are at the weekend again, so there is really not all that much going on.
 
Jeff went to PT this morning.  He only has it for one hour (9:00 - 10:00 a.m.) on Saturday and Sunday so this gives Jeff a little break.  He did well today with his walking and then spend some time working on his standing.  He is doing well with it but still needs assistance with getting out of his chair and cannot stand or walk with the walker.  We still continue to pray each day for the strength to return, and quickly, to his right leg and knee.  It is the only thing that is keeping Jeff here in the hospital.  Please pray that the Great Physician will work a miracle in Jeff's leg and that this week will just be wondrous with healing.  Even though they have moved his released date back to August 21st, it isn't set in stone.  We just pray for miraculous healing his leg and that we will be up and walking with no assistance in no time.
 
Jeff's OT therapist came in from home today as they do one day on the weekends and worked with Jeff in his room.  All continues to go well with Jeff's hands.  The doctor also told us that the biopsies that were done last week came back normal and all looks good.  Tomorrow, his regular hand therapists won't be in so he will have OT in the Rehab Clinic.  
 
We thank you all for all of your prayers, cards, call, emails, gifts, and support.  We pray for all of you each day and thank God that you all are in our lives.
 
God Bless!


August 7, 2009

Well, sometimes things just don't always turn out as planned.  But, of course, it is our plans that go astray, not the Great Physician's, so we have faith that it is His timetable that is being adhered to as He has all of this planned out.
 
We received news today during Jeff's PT sessions that they have indeed moved his tentative release date from the hospital back to Friday, August 21, 2009.  This was really no big surprise to Jeff although I think he was a little disappointed.  He is working very hard in trying to get the strength in his legs back, but it is moving slowly.  He continues to work on his walking, which is doing well, but he still cannot walk without the aid of a device.  This is not really their concern as Jeff has used a walker and wheelchair before.  Their main concern still is the fact that he cannot stand and support himself without assistance.  We cannot take the chance of Jeff falling (not only his arms, but his hips play a part in that).  He needs to be able to stand on his own and at least take a few steps.  The strength is coming. but it is slow.  They just do not feel that he will be ready by Friday, August 14th.  And, even though I am working with him on helping him transfer from bed to chair and back, realistically, I am not strong enough to hold him up if his knee buckles.  We have found that out already and I hurt by back yesterday when I had to let Jeff fall back onto the PT table.  As much as I would like to think that I can do anything when it comes to taking care of him, I have to realize that I simply cannot hold him up.  He is too tall and too heavy.  He has lost a lot of weight while he has been in the hospital, but he is still around 200 pounds.  Guess I had better start hitting the weight pile!!!!!!  After that, I think they realized that he needs to be a lot stronger.  We will of course continue to work on our transfers, but I asked them if I could take a break today.  They said they will start looking at my positioning just to make sure that I don't end up on the PT table with Jeff.  Wouldn't that be grand?
 
Otherwise, both his PT and OT sessions went well today as he continues to work hard.  He is making improvements (although they may be minuet), but that is what they are looking for when it comes to his hands.  Although it is the weekend, there is no rest for the weary as his schedule continues 7 days a week.  But he does not mind for there is a purpose and that is 1.  being released from the hospital to the hotel and 2.  finally being able to return to Augusta.  Boy, we can't wait for that day.  
 
Well, we continue to Praise God for all the blessing he bestows on us through all of you.  Even in our times of doubt, we remain faithful that He has a fullproof plan for us and that we just need to remain on the path and have the faith of mustard seed.  The Lord knows exactly when we need to leave the hospital and that will be the time that Jeff does.  Praise God for He will never leave any of this to chance but has it all planned out to the end.  Glory be to the Lord!
 

August 6, 2009

Well, another day down and Praise God, another one close to August 14th.  We continue to pray that Jeff will be able to leave the hospital on that day.
 
Today was again, an uneventful day as we had no surprises or downfalls.  Yea!  PT is continuing to go well.  Every Thursday is what is known as Gait Rounds.  As you can see from the title, this is where all the doctors, therapists, and staff from the prosthetic companies get together to talk about the patients and how they are walking, to see if anything needs to be done to their prosthetics (if they are wearing them), or what else can assist them in moving better.  What fun  As always, they are pleased with Jeff's progress and did have some suggestions.  Now that his right leg is pretty much healed from the skin graft surgery, they want to put a support sleeve on his prosthetic for that leg.  The hope is that it will help to support his right knee better and help it not to buckle as easily.  The other suggestion was for Jeff to start using a different type of platform walker.  The one he uses now is what I would refer to as "industrial strength".  It is designed for use in the PT gym, can allow a patient to rest a lot of their weight on the platform, and it is not designed for long term.  It is to be used as a stepping stone.  They would like him to be switched to a different one that looks like the one you see elderly people use.  It usually has hand grips, tennis balls on the front to keep it from sliding and two wheels on the back legs.  They would just add platforms were your hands would normally rest so that Jeff would be able to rest his arms there.  Of course, this means that he has to put more of his weight on his legs rather than supporting himself on the platform.  Well, his transplant doctors gave them the go ahead for the sleeve, but Jeff had to have x-rays of his arms to see how the bones were healing before adding any chance of additional weight or pressure.
 
OT went very well today.  With Jeff being in these new splints, his motion in his fingers is improving.  He continues to exercise them even when not in therapy so they are coming along nicely.  His big achievement today was putting together the large Leggo blocks.  Last week, we was not even able to pick one up, let alone be able to control it and place it on top of other ones.  Today, he could build a small tower.  Praise God for these steps.  It is so rewarding to see the progress and I know that this really gives Jeff a needed boost.  Anyway, once he was done, the OT therapist, said, "Okay, now take them apart."  He just looked at her and said OK, and proceeded to knock them on the floor.  She just laughed.  She said, "The next time, I guess I had better be more specific as to how I want you to take them apart."  She has a great sense of humor and they get along well.
 
After therapy, we were told to go to X-ray so that they could get the pictures of his arms.  They took numerous x-rays for the doctors to evaluate.  It is amazing to see the progress from one set of pictures to the next.  I think they look great and you can see what healing has been taking place.  Of course, I am no doctor, but I think they look great!
 
We just want to again say thanks to everyone who continues to support our journey through your prayers, etc.  We thank God each day for all of you and ask that He bless you in return.


August 5, 2009

Today was again a normal day for Jeff.  
 
PT was rather grueling today, and not just for Jeff.  It is now my turn.  We have started to work on transferring.  Since Jeff is still working on strengthening his right leg, he needs that assistance in standing and pivoting from bed to chair, chair to bed.  Usually one of the PT staff does this with Jeff, but I need to know how to do it in case they are not around.  Or, for the fact that Jeff may be released without all the strength in his leg.  If this is the case, I will need to be able to help him.  So, we started today in Jeff and I working together to stand and then pivot.  This is definitely not as easy as it sounds or as it looked when the PT staff did it.  Jeff and I just could not get coordinated.  We did OK, but was glad that the staff was there to help us a couple of times.  We will just have to continue working at it and the great thing about that is, as Jeff continues to work with me in standing, he is strengthening his legs.  We really pray that all of this will not be necessary and that he will have all the strength he needs to do all of this on his own upon release.  He also continued his walking which is going very well.  He concentrates on trying to not put so much weight on the walker and more on his legs.  Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn't.  It is just a learning process and we will just take the victories that we have each day, no matter how small and know that we are working toward the giant ones.
 
In OT he also had a break today in that he had to have new splints made.  His new ones look like some new sci-fi gadget.  He has wires that run on the outside of the splint, over his fingers.  Then leather harnesses are attached to his fingers and these are attached to the wire with rubber bands.  These new splints now hold his fingers up and allows Jeff more exercise capabilities in that he has resistance with the rubber bands.  His fingers are bent at the first knuckle at the palm and then are straight out from there.  The leather harness fits over his fingertips and then he is to pull down on the rubber bands with his fingers straight.   This is really exercising his fingers and working more muscles.  It is quite a contraption.


August 4, 2009

It is so comforting to know that because of our faith, nothing will be impossible for us.  It is such as wonderful promise to know that no matter what we are up against, we will prevail.
 
Jeff started his day having ultrasounds done on his hands.  These are done usually every month to ensure that everything is working as it should.  These were done this morning and everything is great.  The blood is flowing in and out and there is nothing abnormal.  Praise God for starting the day with such wonderful news.
 
Jeff continues to walk and stand each day in PT, working to get his legs strong.  They are still looking at next Friday, August 14, 2009, as a possible release date, so Jeff is working very hard, hoping that he will be able to stand by then on his own and walk with no assistance.  Please pray for this request.  This hospital stay is wearing on Jeff and we truly believe that Jeff's demeanor and overall health will greatly improve when he able to get out of the hospital.  So, please, pray that every day, his strength and balance will improve so much that next Friday, he will be walking out of that hospital.
 
OT continues to go well.  He is starting to have some movement in his left thumb.  They continue to work with all the fingers and wrists.  He can pretty much move all of his fingers, even if it is just a little bit, except for the thumb on his right hand.  But since the thumbs are the last to move and the right hand is farther behind than the left, this will probably be the last finger have movement.  But, again, his overall progress is going well and they continue to be impressed.


August 3, 2009

Praise God for easy days.
  
Jeff's day was rather uneventful with his schedule continuing as normal.  He continues with his walking and strengthening exercises in PT and OT continues to go well.  He finally has a little movement in his left thumb.  Praise God for answered prayers.  This is not a concern, just that the thumbs will be the last to obtain movement, so things are definitely moving along as now he is finally getting movement in his left thumb.  Since the right hand is still a little behind, we are still waiting on that one.

Tomorrow, Jeff has his next set of ultrasounds on his hands and arms to check everything, to include blood flow, etc. so I will hopefully have additional information for everyone tomorrow night.


August 2, 2009

Jeff continues to do well in all of his therapies.  He did his walking yesterday, although he was a little light-headed and dizzy.  They still feel this is from the blood pressure medication and they are working to get it all worked out.  Please just pray for guidance for all of his physicians.  There are so many of them, with all of their hands in his case, that we just pray they are all communicating properly with each other and one "hand" knows that the other "hand" is doing.  Of course, we know that we have the Great Physician overseeing all of them and we constantly pray that He guidance them all in the right direction and treatment.
 
We are so blessed to have the doctors, nurses, therapists, and staff taking care of us that we do that we know the Lord put them all in place before we ever arrived.  We also know that He put us where we  needed to be throughout our lives in order to have all of you in it.  To be in our family, to be our friends, and most importantly, to be our brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus.  You all have blessed us so much we will never be able to thank you all.  But we continue to thank the Lord each day for all of you and ask that He bless each and every one of you and your family and friends.


August 1, 2009

We continue to Praise God for the wondrous things He does in our lives, for answered prayers, and for the comfort and grace, mercy, and salvation we know that is given to us freely, without any cost, because the price was paid for us when our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ died for our sins on that cross so long ago.
 
Jeff's day today was about the same as the ones previously.  He did a great job today in PT, as he continues to work on his walking and strengthening exercises.  He is able to stand a little better each time with no assistance, so we are praying that the strength in his legs and hips continue to grow and return with each day. 
 
Jeff did not have OT today as Dr. Lee has given the go ahead for Jeff to have only one day of OT on the weekends instead of two.  The therapist coming in for the weekend can decide which day it will be, so we will see Kim tomorrow.  This is to work at getting Jeff used to the upcoming schedule that he will be on once he is released from the hospital, as he will not have OT therapy on the weekends, just during the week.  We are so looking for, and praying for, that day to get here as quickly as possible.  They are still looking at August 14th, but we know that it has to be God's plan as well, so we will continue to pray for God's guidance in all things.
 



 
 
  
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