He's Back!!!!!!!!

Good evening everyone! Today was another milestone day. When Mary(my mother-in-law) and I arrived this morning Dad was getting an eye examine. The doctor said he was just checking his eyes especially the left one to make sure everything looked okay. He dialated them and then took a light to look inside of each eye. He said they looked pretty good and he didnt think there was any permant damage to either eye. What a relief! About an hour later the speech therapy girl ( kristin) came in and put in the valve to let him start speaking! She had him say hello everyone and say his name which he did very well. His voice is obviously very weak and sounds a little different but she said that will get better with time. Aunt Cheryl and Jen came in at this time and the fun began! He playfully gave Jen a hard time and wouldnt say her name. He kept calling her Sarah just to get a rise out of her. He then said you are Heidi's sister. Which Heidi loved by the way! I asked him if he knew me and he said " I dont recognize you at all!" He smiled and said you are my daughter. The relief I felt just hearing his voice was almost overwhelming. I knew he was in there and I finally had my Dad back! I called Mike and let Dad say hi to him. He said " Hi buddy I love you and tell the kids I love them and miss them." It brought tears to all of our eyes. Rich- I told him what you had said on your comment about using the Cub towel on his head. I said what do you think about that and he said tell him "I do still have a brain!" This sent us all into tears of laughter! It was such a great day for all of us there to hear his voice after almost four weeks. He only had the valve in for about 45 minutes and they had to give him a breathing treatment. The speech therapist said since it was only the first day they should give him a break and she would be back early morning to place it back in for the day.
I cant tell you how exciting this is for us and him to be able to communicate with words! I can't wait for tomorrow to see what he comes up with.

When they gave him the breathing treatment his heart rate went up and he started shaking. The doctor came in and said she has noticed that this starts mostly with the breathing treatments. She said that they would change the medicine in the treatments and only give them from now on as needed. The shaking and the increased heart rate are both side affects of the medicine in the treatments. He was having a reaction to them and they would cut back on them. Thank God because this was a very hard thing to watch. He said he wasnt in any pain but to watch him you could tell he was obviously having some sort of strange reaction. Mary and I left shortly after this so I could get home to spend some much needed time with my family. Aunt Cheryl and Sarah I mean Jen, JK, stayed with him until about 730. They explained they would be leaving but he would be in good hands and Sarah and I would return in the morning . Jen said that her and Aunt Cheryl tearfully said goodbye and he peacefully waved goodbye to them. Overall this was another great day and I hope there will be many more to come! Love you all, Amy