January 18, 2012

Bro. Dale's appointment today with Dr. Bevering went well.  The doctor was very pleased with how Bro. Dale is doing.  The surgery is set for Tuesday, January 31.  They won't know the time until the day before. The surgery should last 1.5-2 hours or so, with the bulk of the time being spent on just sewing up the scalp and abdomen.  He will stay in ICU the first night and assuming all goes as planned, he will be moved to a regular room the next day.  They hope for him to be back in Baldwyn by that weekend.  The doctor doesn't believe that the surgery should set him back any at all in his recovering process.  He expects him to be sore and have a headache for a few days, but beyond that, he should do fine.  They will go back next week to the hospital for pre-op stuff. 

Today he was able to get back to Baldwyn in the afternoon in time for some rehab.  The speech therapist is able to get him to open his mouth easily.  Today he said very clearly, "wow...good!"  Mrs. Doug thinks he was saying that because the therapists are always telling him, "Wow, Bro. Dale, that's good!"  And we know that God is good and faithful to answer our prayers for Bro. Dale to get his speaking back!  That's so exciting to hear!  The speech therapist also asked Bro. Dale to smile today.  He's been giving her these thin lip smiles but today he gave her his best big crooked-grin smile, teeth and all! 

He also had some visitors this afternoon that he was pleased to see.  His cousins Patsy and James Howard Easley and Cheryl Hendrix came by and that really meant a lot to him. 



"¹ Praise the LORD!
Oh give thanks to the LORD, for He is good;
For His lovingkindness is everlasting.
² Who can speak of the mighty deeds of the LORD,
Or can show forth all His praise? 
...⁴⁸ Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel,
From everlasting even to everlasting.
And let all the people say, “Amen.” Praise the LORD!" Psalm 106:1-2, 48