Dear Family and Friends,
Joe is making miraculous progress! I'm not sure where to start.
He wrote a lot more today, and most importantly he was speaking today. The respiratory therapist plugged his trach opening, told him to take a deep breath and then he was able to communicate with us, even with his jaw being wired shut.
Questions and Joe's Answers:
1. What is your first name?
Joe
2. What is your last name?
Leahy
3. What year is it?
2010
4. Where do you teach?
U. of Maryland (where he got his Ph.D)
Then he said: Univ of Alabama in Huntsville
Then he started to talk without waiting for a question. He had his own agenda!
He asked about taking a shower
He was asking Ginny about bringing him his lessons and activities
(earlier in the day when we weren't in the room, he told the nurse that he needed to get his rest because he needed to get up early to give a test on Tuesday)
He said he had 2 boys and then Ginny told him that his parents were at the house taking care of Stephen and Keith, incase he was worried about them. After learning about the folks being at the home, he said "Good, follow the rules" That cracked us up! We were both laughing and crying at the same time. We've had so many emotions during these last two weeks!
We are in a whirlwind right now, due to Joe's unexpected quick rate of progress, and we are needing to make many decisions and hold many meetings to plan for the transition to The Shepherd Center in Atlanta, Georgia. Given that, Ginny has asked that no one visit tomorrow (Friday) so we can catch our breath and plan for this move.
Love to all,
Praise God!
Lisa
P.S. I forgot to blog yesterday that Joe leaned up and kissed Mom too! (I got the business for this omission this morning-:)
He
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Hi Everyone,
ReplyDeleteJoe and I were probably at the U of MD doing PhDs at about the same time. He at least was wise enough to get his in an area of science!
Know that from your core strength drift concentric circles of people pulling and praying for all of you.
What a great blessing! I don't know what to say. This (Joe's progress, obvious strength of will, faith, everyone's faith, the good care he's getting...) is all so amazing. All I can do is praise God for His great Goodness and all His graces. And I wish I could send you-all a big cheer: Whoo-hoo! Go Joe! (& Ginny, and everyone) And I'll keep praying! Bless you!!!
ReplyDeleteMany prayers going up for you and your family from a native Alabamian who is a Mississippi State alum, who now lives in Pennsylvania! Praise God is right! Thanks for this blog!
ReplyDeleteHow wonderful to hear of Dr. Leahy's progress! Praise God for His many blessings!
ReplyDeleteFYI - The Shepherd Center in Atlanta is a fantastic place....it will be the best rehab care that Joe can receive.....
ReplyDeleteGreetings, Leahys and everyone! I've heard great things about the Shepherd Center, even in my short time in the area. I'm so SO excited to hear about Dr. Leahy's progress!!
ReplyDeleteThere was a big meeting on Tuesday with all the grad students - where everyone basically congregated to talk to the current faculty and begin discussions about committee members, lab hours, etc. I happened to sneak into the back (I'm not a grad student... YET... just a senior for another year or so, but they made me welcome and didn't shoo me out)... it was incredibly heartwarming. This blog address and Steffi's CaringBridge address were both written on the board (by Dr. Boyd). The faculty gave the students lots of encouragement... and then the students turned it around, basically saying, "yes yes, we get support, that's nice, but what do YOU guys need??" It was quite moving to see such a close camaraderie, with so much willingness to contribute and help.
On another note:
I don't know how Dr. Leahy is for puzzle-type games, but I've got a card game called "SET", which is a very simple logic game - the cards have big colored symbols on them, and it wouldn't be hard to display the cards so that Dr. Leahy can see them easily and pick out the sets... plus, it's a very low-impact reasoning exercise. I'd like to bring it to you, but I'm not sure where/when. The rules are very simple, it's not got any little pieces or moving parts or whatever, just cards.
Could you email me (elfnow@gmail.com) to let me know how to get this to you?
In the meantime, if Dr. Leahy wants something to do, have him ask Brenda for some papers to grade... ;) (BYS 321 / Microbio just took our first lab prac exam and turned in our notebooks for review...)
Hang in there, and I hope to hear from you soon. :D
--Emily Nuzum
W0W! What amazing progress in less than 2 weeks!
ReplyDeleteThank-you so much for the up dates. We look forward to hearing about continued improvement!
You are all in our prayers..God bless!
Reading this blog is the highlight of my day. Thank you for making the time to do it, I am so grateful for every step of progress Dr. Leahy is making, he always amazed me with his energy so I guess I shouldn't be surprised! God is so good, I hope you all have a wonderful or should I say a wonder-filled weekend.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds as though Joe may be running The Shepherd Center when he arrives :-) Thanks once again for passing on all of the great news. Prayers coming your way...as always. Special hugs to Ginny & the boys.
ReplyDeleteI had a friend who was injured in an off riding accident and was sent to the Shepherd Center. They were AMAZING! You will definitely be in good hands! :)
ReplyDeleteI check this blog daily--I had never had Dr. Leahy but am UAH Alumni (2009). I'm so proud and amazed to hear of your wonderful progress! Keep up the great work!
-Christina Mathis
Dr. Joe & Families,
ReplyDeleteWe are so thankful for the Miracle Healing of each cell from His Hand....Our humble gratitude for Dr. Joe's scientific research of Frank's "out-of-the-box Healing Juice" - NASA. Our continued prayers, blessings and love in his positive journey of healing.
Frank and Marion Defalco
oclafed@yahoo.com
Lisa,
ReplyDeleteI write for the Exponent( the UAH newspaper). With your permission, I would love to update the readers on Dr. Leahy's progress and recovery. Please let me know if it is ok. Thanks. robinsjrenee@gmail.com