Blessings for the day:
Matt IS coming home for Thanksgiving tomorrow!! I can hardly wait! It has been over 2 months since he was at home…we are so excited to just BE at home together! The fact that he’ll be able to partake of the Thanksgiving feast, is just icing on the very sweet cake. Matt has been doing so stinking great…there isn’t anything that he won’t be able to eat tomorrow! YAHOO!!! He’s been working so hard on swallowing and it is just going SO well. They have officially started him on one soft meal a day – lunch. They will be counting the calories he takes in orally, and will adjust the tube feedings as necessary. In the beginning the speech therapist had set a goal for him to be eating 50% orally, and the other 50% through the tube…well she said yesterday that he’s going to blow that goal out of the water! I have no doubt that Matt will leave this place without the feeding tube!!!! YA- Stinking- HOO!!! : ) His eating is getting faster and more natural as well. Yesterday he finished a serving of potatoes w/ gravy, 2 bites of chopped chicken, 1 bite of sliced chicken, some hearty chicken noodle soup with crackers, a few bites of my sloppy joe-like sandwich, some Ensure to drink…and half of a KING SIZE Three Muskateers bar!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He had more potatoes and gravy, chicken, jello, and Coke today. I can’t tell you how good it feels for him to eat REAL food!
The nurses have been getting all of his stuff ready for the trip home. I will be administering his meds and tube feedings while we’re gone…so they’ve been letting me practice here. It’s no big deal…but Matt was laughing at me while I was giving him is meds earlier today. I think he wanted to see if he could get something to squirt back out at me through the tube!! Gross, I know…but it’s just typical Matt! We had a good chuckle over it. I just hope this trip home is an extra motivator for him when he comes back here. I think it will help strengthen our resolve…to really drill it in to us what he is working so hard for. Matt has always worked hard, but having that little taste of home is really going to light a fire in his heart.
My dad arrives from Texas this afternoon…another Thanksgiving treat! I can’t wait for him to see Matt and see the progress he’s made since his last visit in October. I know Dad has really missed us all and it will be so good for him to have some time to visit us. Mom will be leaving with Dad on Sunday. It will be hard to see her go, after so many weeks of helping take care of things at home for me. But, it will be good for us both to get back into our normal lives. Dad and their kitties have really missed Mom! It will be strange not to come home and have her there…but it will be just fine. AND I know that it won’t be too long before MATT comes home!
Matt and I talked about his big coming home party, and we’re thinking it’ll be sometime in January…after he’s settled in at home and the rush of the holiday season has passed. We are really looking forward to celebrating with our friends and family. I’ll keep everyone posted on time/location as the time gets closer. It should be an awfully good time of celebration!!!!
In the meantime, we keep on keeping on. We’re getting through this with your continued love and support. Tomorrow, as everyday, know that we are thanking God for all the blessings in our lives…including wonderful, loving people like you. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving.
Matt IS coming home for Thanksgiving tomorrow!! I can hardly wait! It has been over 2 months since he was at home…we are so excited to just BE at home together! The fact that he’ll be able to partake of the Thanksgiving feast, is just icing on the very sweet cake. Matt has been doing so stinking great…there isn’t anything that he won’t be able to eat tomorrow! YAHOO!!! He’s been working so hard on swallowing and it is just going SO well. They have officially started him on one soft meal a day – lunch. They will be counting the calories he takes in orally, and will adjust the tube feedings as necessary. In the beginning the speech therapist had set a goal for him to be eating 50% orally, and the other 50% through the tube…well she said yesterday that he’s going to blow that goal out of the water! I have no doubt that Matt will leave this place without the feeding tube!!!! YA- Stinking- HOO!!! : ) His eating is getting faster and more natural as well. Yesterday he finished a serving of potatoes w/ gravy, 2 bites of chopped chicken, 1 bite of sliced chicken, some hearty chicken noodle soup with crackers, a few bites of my sloppy joe-like sandwich, some Ensure to drink…and half of a KING SIZE Three Muskateers bar!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He had more potatoes and gravy, chicken, jello, and Coke today. I can’t tell you how good it feels for him to eat REAL food!
The nurses have been getting all of his stuff ready for the trip home. I will be administering his meds and tube feedings while we’re gone…so they’ve been letting me practice here. It’s no big deal…but Matt was laughing at me while I was giving him is meds earlier today. I think he wanted to see if he could get something to squirt back out at me through the tube!! Gross, I know…but it’s just typical Matt! We had a good chuckle over it. I just hope this trip home is an extra motivator for him when he comes back here. I think it will help strengthen our resolve…to really drill it in to us what he is working so hard for. Matt has always worked hard, but having that little taste of home is really going to light a fire in his heart.
My dad arrives from Texas this afternoon…another Thanksgiving treat! I can’t wait for him to see Matt and see the progress he’s made since his last visit in October. I know Dad has really missed us all and it will be so good for him to have some time to visit us. Mom will be leaving with Dad on Sunday. It will be hard to see her go, after so many weeks of helping take care of things at home for me. But, it will be good for us both to get back into our normal lives. Dad and their kitties have really missed Mom! It will be strange not to come home and have her there…but it will be just fine. AND I know that it won’t be too long before MATT comes home!
Matt and I talked about his big coming home party, and we’re thinking it’ll be sometime in January…after he’s settled in at home and the rush of the holiday season has passed. We are really looking forward to celebrating with our friends and family. I’ll keep everyone posted on time/location as the time gets closer. It should be an awfully good time of celebration!!!!
In the meantime, we keep on keeping on. We’re getting through this with your continued love and support. Tomorrow, as everyday, know that we are thanking God for all the blessings in our lives…including wonderful, loving people like you. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving.
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