December 14

Barbara has bounced back from her bad day and has been making some good progress. She seems very alert, and is responding to things we say. She has been smiling at us too, which is wonderful to see. When I told her that Jackie would arrive yesterday afternoon, she smiled. She has also mouthed a few words and has rolled her eyes when told she was about to have another test. She also has moved her legs, toes, and right arm a little. However, she does tire out very quickly, and so her moments of responsiveness are limited. However, it’s a good start. There are some things that still concern me, but we seem to be showing signs that she’s finally coming back around. She’s not out of the woods yet, but days like these restore our hope.

Her respirator oxygen level is now down to 50%, and she is breathing more breaths on her own. The lung doctor is very happy with her progress in what was once the area of greatest concern.

Her blood pressure is back to a good level, but her heart rate continues to be high. She is also bleeding internally somewhere, and they’re having trouble finding out just where or why.

There still are various and sundry things the doctors are trying to figure, fix or find. Infections continue to be an issue and her temperature can raise to 102 with regularity. They are also having a really hard time getting her stomach and digestive system to work again. However, we are quite pleased with the progress, albeit slow.

I don’t believe in “bad luck” or “when it rains it pours” philosophies, but we certainly have had our share of storms lately. Last night, Jackie stayed at the hospital with Barbara and her fiancé Peter came to our house for the night. This morning, we awoke to find that his car had been broken into and many of its contents taken. The passenger side window was smashed, and the trunk was opened. Among the missing stuff was most of Jackie’s clothes and a nice winter coat, her MP3 player, Peter’s digital camera, many books he’d just purchased to begin working on a January class, Peter’s dirty clothes (!!!), etc. Some stuff was left, including a container of brownies, so obviously the thief wasn’t terribly bright! Beyond all the loss of items stolen, this is just a plain old kick in the gut! Insurance will cover the damage to the car, but there is no policy in place that will cover the contents. Keep us in your prayers for this, too.

Our head trustee tells me that this is the first break in at the church or parsonage since it located in Griffith in the mid 60s. So, if you’d like me to send you an autographed piece of broken auto glass to commemorate this great achievement… oh, never mind!

Thank you all for your continued and far-reaching prayers and acts of love.

Greg

PS… Jackie just came into the room and told me that they found her MP3 player still in the car. OK, explain that one to me. They stole the dirty underwear and seminary books, but left the Dell player. They had also torn up his dashboard, but seemed to be unable to get the radio out. They did, however, steal the face plate from the radio. Weird.