May 3, 2010 Lisa

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KEITH!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

I've attached a picture of Joe and Keith as well as one with Joe with the family. Tomorrow is surgery #3--Joe HOPEFULLY getting the external mandible fixator removed as well as his surgical braces. I believe this will mean that Joe will be able to get back to regular eating. I know he is anxious to have the feeding tube removed.

Other surgeries in the future (not sure when) include repairing the bone structure surrounding the damaged right eye to prepare it for an eventual prosthetic eye--currently the eye is drooping due to the extensive damage to the bone structure supporting the right eye. Dr. Tau, who did the original surgery on the brain will ultimately put in a metal plate to protect the soft indentation where the debridement occurred. Not sure about anything else right now.

Joe's schedule of appointments with doctors is daunting and I admire both his fortitude as well as Ginny's in going from one place to the next, especially as some of the appointments require a 1 1/2 hour drive to Birmingham. We are grateful that both sets of parents are still alive and able to help out. Mom and Dad Leahy have been staying with Joe and Ginny and running the household--they haven't left the south since the incident on Feb 12, so have to admire their stamina as well. Happy that Mom and Dad Leahy able to come to Phil's graduation in two weeks and that Ginny's parents coming down to help. Sad that Joe and Ginny, who had planned on coming to Phil's graduation, can't come now. Phil is also a trackster and I noted yesterday that he wrote "Charge On" on the top of his running shoes--wanted to smile and cry at the same time. By the way, Stephen deserves to be congratulated for his 4 X 800 team's school record time and 7th place finish in state. I also posted a picture of Joe with the track team and an accompanying article in the high school newpaper. Everyone looks great!

Probably the biggest concern is Joe's vision in his "good" left eye as he can only see a narrow sliver of the visual field and needs to be prompted and practice "scanning Left" If you show Joe a piece of paper he sees only the right half of the paper and once he scans to the left he sees the left half of the paper but the right half then disappears. Reading is quite frustrating for him, but everyone is encouraging him to continue to practice this new adaptation of scanning left. He is going to a low vision clinic in U. of AL-Birmingham for therapy of sorts for this problem. Please continue to pray that new connections and/or adaptations can be made.

Lastly, I was so grateful to hear that Joe was able to walk up to the priest to receive communion this past weekend, another first!

Please pray that everything goes well with the surgery tomorrow.

Blessings to all,

Lisa