Warning...giddiness ahead

Hi again! WARNING...giddiness ahead. If you don't have a high tolerance for that, you'll want to skim this email:)

Gary is doing so good today! The night nurse talked to Alyssa and I as we were leaving and she said, "Can you believe he had BRAIN SURGERY 48 hours ago?" I said, "Can you believe that he trimmed at 8 ft hedge and bundled it for the trash just two weeks ago with that thing in his head?" She said he's like Superman.

Today we could really see Gary coming back. He admitted that he is "swallowing, but it doesn't count until he can swallow coffee and ice cream". He also took the night nurse by surprise by answering her in a dry, sarcastic way about some comfort or pain question. She was startled and was beginning to explain that she couldn't fix that and I had to let her know that there would be much more of this to come. Then she gave as good as she got by scolding him for a worry he has..."There will be no Eeyoring in one of my patients' rooms!"

He actually sent the nurse to the waiting room to ask for one of his worship team buddies today. I'm still trying to come to terms with the fact that he sent for a buddy before sending for me...;). I just talked his ear off for an hour this evening. Poor thing kept trying to sleep and I just kept talking! And guess what, as most of you know, talking into his right ear meant talking fairly loud before all of this happened. Well, I whispered a couple of I love you's and he answered back. Yep! Apparently huge tumors can effect your hearing too. And his tinnitus is better also.

There is so much I want to say, but I'll start winding down....I'm home for the first night, supposedly to get extra sleep. Alyssa and I are both running on a lot of adrenaline and it is hard to get to sleep.

Please pray for wisdom for the Drs. as they decide tomorrow when Gary should leave ICU. Pray for the swelling to go down in his throat so he can get off the breathing treatments. They are very uncomfortable for him and they bump his pulse and blood pressure quite a bit, so they're having to give him more medicine to counteract that. Pray for his "worry" from above...that his whole throat, mouth and neck area will return to normal, so he can still sing on worship team. I was telling the nurse that he sang and played many instruments and he said, "Well, I used to..." (That earned the Eeyore comment.)
Pray for Alyssa's stamina as she heads into a week where she will be spending hours preparing for a huge dance event...that she can sleep and eat enough and still get to be with her daddy as much as possible. Pray for our sweet Amy, who does not have the incredible support system of friends that her sister and I have. Her dad is who she leans on for the big stuff.

Thanks many times over to the amazing teens who are Alyssa's support system. Don't ever forget the power of "being there" and laughter. You are all truly are rare in your ability to give up your own daily pursuits to sit in a hospital waiting room, talk to a bunch of adults, listen to a sleep-deprived wife of a very sick man rattle on, and on, and on. And make Alyssa feel so incredibly loved and comforted.

Thanks again to all of you for your prayers, for coming to visit us, for texting to check on us and for all you offers of help. Special thanks to my dad for some amateur sleuthing and my prayer warrior friend, Cathy. Gary's glasses had been sent to the wrong ICU section and no one was even bothering to discover who the "Gary H." was. They will be vital over the next few weeks when he can only read and watch movies and I was panicking about how we were going to get bifocals made when he can't go try the glasses on.

Okay, I will finally end. I know that we still have a way to go, but I'm excited to see what plans God has for Gary in all this.
Love,
Kay