[Epley Update] April 25, 2006 Russ Update

[Russ and Flossie Epley]

Dear Praying friends,

Today was a joy-packed day! When I arrived at Russ' hospital room I 
could see right away that the tube in his nose that went into his lungs 
had been removed. In place of the respirator he is now on a nebulizer 
which is much less intrusive. The mask over his nose and mouth can even 
be removed for short periods of time to do things like wipe his face. 
This is a huge step towards breathing on his own. Russ seemed so much 
more comfortable today. I'm sure getting over the fever he battled for 
several weeks is also a big factor in his increased strength and 
comfort.

I felt like Russ had been waiting for me to come since shortly after my 
arrival he pulled out his left hand and tried making sign language 
letters. The timing of it made me think he had been practicing. At 
first the letters were very random so I suggested we work on the 
alphabet. By the end of today he was able to sign A, B, C, D, E, and F 
unassisted! I would say the letters of the alphabet in order and he 
would sign them. The first time he was able to do that without my 
putting his fingers in place, I did a short victory dance in his room. 
(Yes, he has a private room!) He practiced over and over. I talked 
about words that begin with the various letters. He broke out into a 
very wide grin when I said "F" stands for "Flossie." If he weren't 
always so obvious about it, you'd think he liked me! He kept signing 
"F" so I told him my favorite letter was "R" for "Russ." That also 
earned me a grin.

In fact Russ seemed to track very well with me today. The last two days 
he had moments of getting very agitated that he couldn't communicate 
and fixated on some object (a drawer one day and his shaver the next). 
Today he spent his energy trying to learn and seemed better able to 
focus on his progress. He definitely had moments of being tired, but he 
didn't do anything strange.

Even before I left the house, I had a new reason to rejoice. It 
occurred to me that our utility bills are paid automatically through an 
account that Russ regularly deposits money into. It's been almost a 
month now since Russ' stroke so I thought I better be sure we had 
enough in the account to cover this months' bills. I found the 
necessary passbook. Inside was a note that Russ had written telling 
exactly how much is needed each month to be sure the bills are covered. 
I have never done it before. Why did he write that note when he does it 
every month and surely knew what to do? I believe it was God's way of 
helping me to figure out what to do and to give Russ another way to 
tell me he loves me even when he is rather helpless.

Have you noticed? We have had four days in a row with improvement. 
While I realize there will probably be more setbacks in the future, 
it's like a breath of fresh air to see so much progress. I praise God 
for all He has done and is going to do.

Rejoicing in God's gracious provisions,
Flossie