Sunday June 14

We continue to look for any and all signs of even the slightest improvement with John and we do see them daily. I think that when we first heard that John was in a coma, we certainly thought that at some point he would simply wake up and be fine. What we are learning is that the journey from comatose to fully alert is a long, and tedious process. We have seen some definitive changes from last week this time and learned to derive great encouragement from the slight differences from one day to the next. We can tell he is trying and we are willing to wait.

John is no longer on assisted oxygen of any sort and is able to maintain his level of oxygenation all on his own. Physician's have also removed his feeding tube which although didn't seem to bother him was still a tube going up his nose and down his throat. Tomorrow, they will perform a procedure to place a feeding tube which will originate from his abdomen. This will give John more flexibility in terms of movement and although we approach this with trepidation because the procedure will require some sedation to keep him comfortable throughout, we know that this has to be done. The premise is that it will be so much better to do it now and work on getting John stabilized with this tube than wait longer and take the chance that there would be further problems. The good part about these kinds of tubes (called PEG tubes) is that when he longer needs it, they simply remove it without pain or additional sedation. Although we wish John could enjoy eating a perfect steak or another of his favorite meals right now, this will allow him to continue to heal and receive proper nourishment until he can do it for himself.

There was a good turnout at John and Holly's church today and thanks to everyone else who went to their own church or simply said a private prayer or meditation for John today. We continue to receive an amazing amount of sustained support and do not forget how blessed we are daily to have such a great foundation of love. John has been a basketball and a football referee over the past few years and belongs to the professional organizations which oversee these sports including the Texas Association of State Officials (TASO). Some members who are friends of John were at church with Holly today and she really wanted me to mention their kindness.