I spoke with Gina a moment ago. Billy is having a good morning. He was off of the ventilator for 14 hours yesterday, but they put him back on the ventilator last night just to be sure he’d be able to rest. He still breathed on his own for the most part. They look forward to removing it altogether in a few days.
Gina was really excited about one thing that happened this morning. She was talking to him, and he started to pucker his lips as though to kiss her. She is still wearing a mask because of her bronchitis, so she couldn’t kiss him, but it was a great blessing to her.
Also, one thing I meant to mention yesterday is that they’ve had some success with using hand squeezes to communicate with Billy — i.e. “squeeze my hand once for ‘yes’ and twice for ‘no’.” I’m no expert, but that sounds like a really promising development to me — not merely following an instruction (“squeeze my hand”), but evaluating a question, arriving at an answer, and counting — even counting to two — shows a lot of brain function. We certainly hope for much more in days and months to come, but it sure seems promising to me.
As you all know, I print out emails sent to gina.patty@yahoo.com, and take them to Gina. I got one today from someone who is active in the work of Big Creek Missions. She said that people in the community are concerned about Billy’s welfare, and I know those who are Christians are praying for him. It also reminded me that there will be more people doing work in that community in the months and years to come. We need to keep them and their safekeeping in our prayers.
I also want to be sure that everyone who has sent emails to Gina understands that she’s not able to reply. She doesn’t have a computer at the hospital — I took her a laptop, but we couldn’t get it to connect — so there’s simply no way for her to reply. I just want to be sure no one feels as though their message wasn’t received or wasn’t appreciated; Gina cherishes your words of encouragement.
I want to also ask you to say a little prayer for Leah and me. We are going through some difficulties with one of our grown children, and have some decisions to make. Pray that we will be wise as we deal with the situation.
Thank you all for your continued prayers for Billy and Gina and their families. I know God will honor your loving concern, and pray that he will return it to you in full measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over!
-joe
