Good morning!  We are up and getting ready for therapy today, counting down the days until our discharge on Thursday!  Again, we are so very thankful for all of the progress that has been made during our stay here at HealthSouth.  Although being away from home has not been ideal, it has been great to get the intensive therapy to help Cody's recovery get a jump-start before going home.  To be honest, I am blown away by the progress made since our check-in on June 28th.  

Cody's long-term memory has seemed to return fully, without the confusion that we were seeing before.  He is very oriented and aware of where we are everyday, why we are here, and has anxiously been waiting for Thursday!  His short-term memory continues to improve, but it is a bit more difficult to remember each detail from the previous day or two.  This is something I was warned about and was told that this should improve over time.  His confabulation has seemed to be corrected, as everything he says is sensible and makes sense in the conversation.  In addition, the past few days have shown a lot of progress in his showing emotions and the sense of responsibility. All of you that know Cody well can only imagine how much he is itching to get back to work, as he does not sit still long.  He is not enjoying having to rest so much.  It has been tough getting him to believe us that that work is a while down the road.  While his progress has been amazing and a true miracle, he still struggles mostly with weakness and tiring quickly - again symptoms that I was told are expected with a brain injury.  We enjoyed our day out of the hospital, and were able to sneak home for a few hours.  It was so nice to sit in our living room with the kids and eat lunch at home!  However, it really drained his energy and he was so tired when we got back to the hospital that night.  Luckily, when we are discharged we will not have therapy every single day so I believe when we get home he will get rested up and get better rest in his own bed.  As for his left eye, the vision in that eye continues to improve, but he is still struggling to open the lid and the pupil is only slightly reactive.  Thankfully, he is getting more movement back in the eyelid and is able to slightly open the left lid (maybe a quarter of an inch).  We were told that the strengthened and improved movement was a good sign that these injuries may heal over time, but nerve damage is slower to heal.  Dr. Dhingra encouraged us to give the eye about 6 months to see how much healing it will do on its own before seeking surgical or other medical options.  We are continuing to pray for 100% restoration of Cody's health, so I trust that God will cover this injury in His time:).  

On a spiritual note, it was such a confirmation and so encouraging to hear the Doctor say the 6 month time frame, as in my prayers and conversations with God, I kept getting the sense that it would be a 6 month recovery to complete restoration for Cody's health.  For whatever reason that was the time frame God was giving me to expect Cody to be completely restored.  Not only did Dr. Dhingra give us that time frame, but yesterday in a conversation with a very dear friend and sister in Christ, I was sharing Cody's successes and progress (but never mentioned that time frame), and her words to me were "..I have no doubt in 6 months from now it will be like this never even happened.  Which may seem like a long tie but in the grand scheme of things is really amazing!".  I couldn't have said it better myself.  This friend has been such a cornerstone of faith for me in this journey, so the fact that God used her to confirm his promises was even more encouraging for us!  I just love and appreciate how much God has guided, comforted, and encouraged us on this journey and given us such faithful friends that have prayed with us throughout!  

Again, a lot of these requests we have seen work being done in these areas, but I will leave them listed to keep them covered in prayer until we are able to see them in every aspect since we are trusting in the complete restoration:). Thank you all so very much for the prayers, it truly is powerful!:

THANK the Lord for all of the blessings he has bestowed upon all of you.  I cannot begin to express how amazing it is to know there are so many friends and family checking up on Cody regularly.
THANK the LORD for all of the progress Cody has made so far!
THANK the LORD for being such a forgiving and merciful Lord.
PRAY for God to completely restore Cody's physical and cognitive health.
PRAY for God to restore Cody's reasoning, judgement, and decision making.
PRAY for Cody to be completely restored in his memory, personality, and emotion.
PRAY for Cody's short-term memory to improve.
PRAY for God to help Cody improve his ability to move and open the left eye.
PRAY for God to restore vision as it was in the left eye.
PRAY for Cody's patience, strength, and understanding throughout the stages of recovery.
PRAY that Cody's cognitive restoration progresses quickly as he works through therapy.
PRAY for Mattox and Kaydi.