Yesterday was Mom's birthday. She has been by Ryan's side, sleeping in a pull out chair for 80 days straight. She barely leaves for an hour on Saturday's to let us take her to eat. My mother has shown us the true meaning of unconditional love (don't get me wrong, my entire family has shown unconditional love due to their prayers, strength, and commitment). But being her birthday, she is allowed to be recognized for her amazing strength. I admire her. I know that she would not want to be anywhere else than sleeping on a hard bed, in a cold room, next to her youngest son. A special Happy Birthday Mom, I know that this year will be filled with miracles and blessings for you and our entire family. Thank you for everything that you do.
Proverbs 31:25-30 Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she laughs at the time to come. She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue. She looks well to the ways of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness. Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her: “Many women have done excellently, but you surpass them all.”
The doctors have placed orders to remove Ryan's neck brace in order to strengthen his neck muscles. In theory, this a great idea but in reality, not the best. Ryan is constantly moving, he does not rest often. With the neck brace off, he has more tendencies to pull out his trachea. Ryan is curious, he wants to know what the feeding tube connected to his stomach is, as well his trachea in his throat, unfortunately his "curiosity" can be very dangerous to his health. With Ryan's neck brace off, there has to be someone right by his side at all times; this makes it difficult for one to use the restroom or even eat. So we have convinced the doctors to allow Ryan to wear the neck brace occasionally and throughout the night, so it will protect the trachea.
Ryan is still Ryan, and will be better than he was before when this is all over with. I say he is still Ryan because the actions that he makes. For example, one evening I was talking to him in his bed and he gave me a huge hug and patted my back for about 7 seconds, then he pushed me away. This IS Ryan. He is still my hard-headed younger brother, and I love it! He will give his big sister a hug, but the minute I get all "mushy" he's over it, very typical behavior. Yesterday, Ryan was very sweet to Nana. He grabbed her hand and kissed it three times!! Mom tried to get him to do it to her, but he pushed it away (again, don't expect too much lovey-dovey from a 17 year-old boy!) Later though, Mom was trying to work with Ryan on speaking and asked him to say her name. No sounds came out, but he did mouth the word MOM. Ryan is breath taking. He is blowing us away daily. I am in love with God's love for our family.
Please pray hard for Ryan tonight and tomorrow. He will head to Methodist Hospital tomorrow morning and be staying overnight. We will not know exactly what the surgery on his throat will entail until they begin. Our prayers are that the surgeons will be able to clear the blockage in his throat with the least-invasive procedure as possible. God can work miracles, He has proven this to us, even though we didn't need the proof from the beginning (but we definitely appreciate it! :) ) Ryan is going into surgery with a 90% blockage, but we know that he can come out of surgery with it completely clear Lord, you are the ultimate physician, we are blessed to have you on our side!