Mon- Nov 10

Well I didn't leave today so will be leaving tomorrow barring nothing popping up like me not wanting Dustin to feel afraid or alone!! Anyway, I came in this morning and Dustin was all smiles and relaxed. Wow what a great way to start your morning, even better than coffee!He did however have a fever of 102 degrees during the night.

When I came in they (OT and PT) were getting ready to put him into the chair and put on his first yellow scrub pants!! Now this is exciting cause this boy has not had on pants for 6 weeks and every boy should wear pants don't you think???

After all the cleaning and tossing and turning to get him ready to go into the chair, he begin to complain about not being able to breathe and his pulse went up to 150 and would not go down. Well, no more yellow scrub pants, no sitting up in the chair and the very old, nice doctor (has been retired twice but is supposed to be the best one on the unit) came and begin to work on him trying to get him back to normal. Finally they boosted the oxygen to 100% and his saturation levels improved. HIs pulse took a long time to come down but finally did. IN the meantime, the pulmonary doctor came and said they were going to do another bronchoscopy as his lung x-ray on the left side was totally white (no air). Ok here we go again, we know the routine, sign right here, cram this tube down his throat, and suck out a bunch of fluid.

I decided to take a little break and when I came back they had not done the bronchoscopy but instead wanted to do a CT scan to see if there was a pulmonary embolism that keeps interfering with all of this breathing stuff. They got Dustin all rolled and wrapped for the big adventure on the Disney World elevator (ok, ok Dustin and I are trying to have some fun), hoping the elevator would be a really fast one and maybe rock side to side (that was Dustin's). Anyway in good spirits, they took him up there and inserted him into the CT scanner which is kind of scary in itself. Wouldn't you know Dustin came back, did perfect (no fear), breathed great and didn't utter any curse words!!!

He was pretty tired after this, got his "gross" tube feeding (he hates watching them pour that in his stomach) and we practiced, "stick out tongue far as you can, push it back far as you can, put your tongue between your teeth and swallow and finally tighten your throat muscles" (our swallowing exercises) before he finally asked me what time I was going to bed. (It was 7pm at the time). I left early as he was almost sound asleep. We prayed together, reminded him that when he has bad nightmares etc (which he seems to have whenever he goes to sleep) to according to the book of Philippians "think on things that are good". We talked about all of the good things to think about and off he went to sleep. It was really precious.

By the way I forgot to mention that he accepted the Lord today and "wants to be righteous". It was very apparent when he had earlier told the nurse that he wasn't going to curse!! Now he has a short term memory issue but God doesn't! No matter what happens today or anyday for Dustin and Rick and I - we WILL be in heaven for eternity together!!! I have prayed for the salvation of our children every day for as long as I can remember. So a big thanks to God who ALWAYS hears a mother's prayers.

We said our prayers together before I left and of course he said "you pray". I told him to start and he begin to thank God with a very child like faith for Nerina, and mom and Rick and .....

So a day later I will get home but it will be worth every minute for eternity with our son.

P.S. - no word on the CT yet but will keep you posted. We continue to be humbled at everyone's prayers, cards,and emails. My heart has so been softened in all of this. Tears come easily as you pour out your love to us.

Oh yeah - one more thing. I talked to the representative from the Paralyzed Vets who knows every detail to every benefit and how to get it. She informed me that Dustin would be able to get money each month from a veterans pension fund and that he qualified for independent living whereby they come and totally redo your house to meet your needs. Sorry Rick, I guess you will need to do one of the cabins and then when Dustin moves onto his career, home and family then they can come in and do it up !!

This lady who is a paraplegic was also the most positive person in expecting great things for Dustin's recovery. She says that quads have more recovery than paraplegics as the messages from the brainstem do not have to go as far on an uppper level cervical fractures. First time I ever heard that and I actually made her repeat it 3 times. Hope is something we all need no matter what is in front of us.

Please rejoice with all of the angels over Dustin's decision. His Father is now the one who owns the cattle on a 1000 hills not to mention all of the other promises He gives his children. Dustin - son of God. Now I like that !!

love to all
mary pat