UPDATE 9/28

"STOP THE PRESS"
"Michele is going home"

Yes this is correct. Michele received a therapy pass to visit home this weekend. That means she will come home this Sunday for a 2-3 hour visit. I asked her last week before we started this venture if she was ready and she gave me the thumbs up. I explained that this was going to be a short visit and she was not able to stay long and that she would have to accept this before we even asked for the visit. I wanted to make sure she understood and she did not get the wrong impression as she will probably want to stay once she gets home but that is not good for her long term healing. The reason for the visit home is to help motivate her and spark her mind to get better for the ultimate reward of being home with her family.

I have a van scheduled to pick her up Sunday morning at 10am in her wheel chair and we should be at the house by 10:30am. I think it would be great if everyone possible in the Denver/Boulder area could come and support her first visit home. My hope is to have a strong presence of family, friends and neighbors outside the house when she pulls up in her van. I have arranged to have ballons for everyone so each person can write a note or well wish on them and when she gets out of the van we will release all of them to the heavens. Michele's sisters Amy and Cindy are working to arrange this home coming celebration and they can be reached by email at: Amy.McAlister@emersonprocess.com
email.cindy@comcast.net

I would love to see everyone at the house Sunday morning to help my family and I welcome Michele home for the first time. This of course will be very overwhelming to Michele and therefore I cannot invite everyone into the house but we will spend some time outside in the front yard for everyone to have the opportunity to see and speak to Michele if you wish.

Michele had her hair colored today and she is ready for her visit home. I do not want to create a situation that she cannot handle. Michele is aware of everything we are doing so that nothing suprises or scares her. The goal is to make it a very positive experience and to help motivate her to work hard and get better. That is why everyones participation is greatly appreciated. Just imagine how she will feel to see so many people showing up to support her. That alone will help her in so many ways.

I look forward to seeing everyone that can make it this weekend. This will be the pinacle of Michele's last 8 months and I want her to share it with everyone that can make it.

John

UPDATE 9/24

Sorry for the wait but this week has been a very long week and very eventful in many ways. I received a call last Friday that Micheles feeding tube was not working and she was on her way to the Boulder Emergency room. Last minute struggles from work took me some time to get going but I made it to the hospital about the same time Michele did. Her feeding tube has been giving her trouble for the last 2 weeks and I felt this was going to happen. This is of course her second tube at this time and she and I have been through this already 4 months ago. Once she arrived at the hospital I asked for a long term solution and not a "Band-Aid" solution. This meant she needed an operation to replace her feeding tube. After several hours the doctors in charge of the procedure to fix it were not available over the weekend and it would have to wait. This is the story of our lives as we have yet to meet a doctor that actually works on the weekends or holidays. It appears that in less you are close to death the sick do not get coverage on the weekends or holidays.

Well enough of my complaining, Michele got her feeding tube cleared on Friday and we were out of the ER and back to the Manor. By Sunday her feeding tube was cloging again and Monday found me calling the doctors to find that she could only get a visit with a doctor in 2 weeks. Tuesday morning I got the call again that she was cloged and off we went again to the emergency room and this time it was for good. We were not able to unclog this time and she needed a new tube inserted. After a long 10 hour day her tube was inserted and I am happy to say she is back at the Manor and well.

This recent experience was very difficult for Michele and the family as we tried so hard to do what was right for her to only hit a brick wall at every turn we made. I felt that she truely had no medical doctor that cared for her well being and she only got pushed aside for the appropriate time. This has occured several times over the last 8 months and it is very frustrating.

Last night was probably the most wonderful time I have spent with Michele in the past year. I got a call that she was going to have a shower and I rushed to the Manor to help. Once I was there I worked hard to get her ready and off we went to the shower. Michele was ready and willing to participate and she held her bowl of soapy water while I washed her. Once back to the room I got her nestled in her bed and began to speak to her as I usually do but last night she was very interactive. It is hard to explain but she was Michele! She challenged me during conversation using her hands in sign and really showed interest in everything I said and did. She gave me a big hug and rubed MY arm and back and conforted me while I was expressing my feelings to her. We talked about what she needs to do and what her medical concerns are and she acted like she was going to take it all on and overcome her challlanges. It was like we were having a conversation but without her speaking. I knew what she was thinking and she of course knew what I was saying to her.

I have a bathing suit at the Manor for when I help Michele shower and last night when Michele was back in bed I began to change from my suit to my jeans. While trying to do this quickly before a nurse came in the room, jumping up and down like a kid putting on my jeans with wet feet made Michele laugh. It was so nice to see her laugh and apparently all the staff and family now know about my "strip tease" and it is the talk of the Manor. I told everyone I will only do it for my wife though so dont look for it on Utube yet. Last night by far was the most amazing I have seen her respond and it made my night.

The pictures below are right before her operation to replace her feeding tube. She was a trooper all day even though she was unable to have any meds since her feeding tube was cloged. She just struggled through 10 hours of discomfort and pain and barely made any complaints. She truely is the strongest woman I know.

John

UPDATE 9/15

Michele has moved to "The Manor" which is a skilled nursing facility just 8 miles from our house. She has a wonderful large room and it feels like home. She moved on Monday and yes as normal we had many issues with getting her settled in but after 2 full days I think she is all moved in and ready to start her next journey to recovery. Michele will have much more therapy at her new place and she will be pushed every day to get better. I have included some picture of her new pad as well as a few of her working out the first day. Yes she is sitting with her feet on the ground.

Her daily routine right now is to get dressed in the morning to get ready for her therapy. She has her workout clothes which include a tank top, shorts or long sweats and socks with the little grips on the bottom for traction. She gets her teeth brushed and her hair brushed and she gets lifted into her wheelchair. All of this right now just about wares her out but then she has to do 1-2 hours of therapy after this. It is a little hard to see what she has to go through and the fact she would just rather lay in bed but we all know this has to happen and she needs to be pushed each and every day.

Michele has increased her range of motion quite a bit in the last week and her legs are moving quite a bit. I will not be surprised if she can walk in the next 60 days. I hope and pray I am right and we will have to wait and see.

What Michele needs now is visitors. If any of the local friends could take the time to stop by and say hi it would mean a lot to her and myself. If you want me to be there on your first visit please contact me and I will work out a time to meet you there. She is at the Boulder Manor off of baseline road and she can have visitors from 9am to 6pm. She is in room 106. If you do stop by please write you name and any info you wish in the 3 ringed note book in the room. It has a green cover and help the family keep track of who visits. You can add comments of you visit. Please remember Michele cannot communicate very well but she can answer yes or no questions by shaking her head or doing the thumbs up "Fonzie Style".

Michele is starting a new milestone and therefore I have decided to change up my format as well as my emails were starting to get blocked by the network since it thinks they were spam. Please also know you can always go to the miraclemichele.blogspot for all my past emails to catch up or just for your ready pleasure.

Thanks for all the support during the past 7.5 months. I hope and pray we are in the final stretch.

John

UPDATE 9/9

Today was a great day! Michele and I headed out at 8:30 am to visit her brain surgeon and get her shunt adjusted as well as an x-ray to verify that we did the adjustment right. Go figure the doctor does not do the adjustment instead it was the PA, myself and Michele’s father had assisted to get the job done. Like I said before if I only had access to the machine myself this would never be an issue as it is a very easy process. The good news it is finally done and she is adjusted to 160. We will see over the next few days what this really means and if we are actually going in the right direction. Like I have noted before either direction is the right direction as it will not hurt her but we learn each time we adjust her and my hope is to make as many adjustments as needed to get through this learning process.

I called the hospital this morning to alert them to get Michele dressed in full gear for the first time and ready for her trip in the ambulance. When I arrived she was fully dressed in her workout pants, tank top and fuzzy socks. Michele was actually brushing her teeth when I arrived and was soon ready to hit the road. I have also included a few pics from the other day with family and Michele showing her wave.

When I returned to Kindred around 11am Michele and I spent some time reading emails. One in particular made a big impact today. Someone sent a song to Michele and I told her I would play it. I turned it on and within 5 seconds Michele started to wave her head from side to side to the beat of the sound and looked right at me and smiled. She knew the song and loved it. Myself of course took a few more seconds to even recognize the song but I do remember this is a song that she loved. Her emotions were something I have not seen to this date and I know she had no way of doing what she did before today. I do believe the shunt adjustment was already showing its results within 1 hour. I laughed at her and praised her for what she was doing then I asked if she could sign the song and I got a very sad face real quick. So I said lets work on that later lets just enjoy the song for now and she started moving her head again to the beat and grinning at me. I can tell you that this is the most emotion I have seen from my wife since January 29th before she took a turn to the worse. She has been able to tell me she loves me through her eyes but this is actually the first time since then that she has actually smiled at me and acted somewhat silly on purpose.

The other really good news is that Michele should be leaving kindred on Saturday and heading to Boulder Manor. I will have more on this once I get the final word but my sources tell me it will happen with any luck. I also added a picture of the 4 mile canyon fire we recently had to show how close it was to our house. The pictures I took are on the road back from Denver and are still 2-3 miles from my house.

I spent the evening today paying my respects to a dear friends Mother that passed last week. I participated in saying the rosary and at the end of the ceremony I made my way to the deceased to find that she was wearing a beautiful saint bracelet. I know Michele has touched so many lives during this tragic time but our family has also been touched by so many by the love, prayers and acts of kindness. Just to see someone wearing one of these bracelets is overwhelming.

John

UPDATE 9/5

Well it took the doctors 1 full week to just read Michele’s last CT scan to only find out exactly what I said in my last email that her ventricles are too large and she needs to be adjusted from 180 to 160. No kidding! If I had the machine I would have done it myself a month ago. Michele is scheduled for this Thursday to have her shunt adjusted as the doctors are all on vacation and apparently it is not a rush to them. Yes Michele had to wait 2 weeks for a procedure that should have occurred in the radiology room at the hospital within 5 minutes. Once this is done she will be ready to leave Kindred within 2 days. Michele will be heading to Boulder Manor which is a skilled nursing facility. Michele will continue with a more enhanced therapy schedule to include 7 days of physical therapy, and 6 days of speech and occupational therapy. Once Michele can master her therapy for more than 3 hours a day at Boulder Manor she will then head to Craig for 30 days of intense therapy prior to heading home. This is 2-3 months out at this time.

Yesterday my family celebrated my Fathers birthday as we normally do by getting a balloon for each person, writing notes to Dad and PaPa and sending them off into the sky. Our once a year ritual is a way for the children to express their love for their grandfather and to keep his memory alive in them. This year’s ritual seemed a little more important as we as a family have spent the last 7 months asking for my fathers help in watching over Michele. You will notice only 5 balloons in the sky as John John’s popped just after he finished writing on it. So I help him write his note on mine as well and we sent them all up in the sky. Michele held on to hers and let it go last as she normally does.

Today Alyssa, John and myself went to the hospital to get Michele dressed up and pretty. Alyssa painted her nails her favorite color purple and I brought a tank top from home so Michele could get into some clothes for the first time in 7 months. Once she had her shirt on I asked her if it was ok and she quickly gave me the thumbs up to say it was good. We are going to try other clothes this week to help her feel more comfortable.

For those of you that have not seen the website for Michele please take some time to check it out www.miraclemichele.blogspot.com Michele’s best friend Dori Ariniello has taken the time to add every email I have ever written as well as all the pictures I have sent. You can order the saint bracelet on the website and also add comments that go directly to Michele’s email account. My emails are often blocked as spam and the website always has my latest email on the 1st page. It is a good way to keep updated and you can check it anytime.

John

PINNACLE BUSINESS CAPITAL

Pinnacle Business Capital is the name of our business and we provide financing to small and large companies looking for capital equipment. Examples are a restaurant adding a new stove, fitness company adding a new tread mill, a hospital adding a new CT Scan, the federal government adding new computers to the social security administration, a school adding on a new wing and needs desks and chairs, a farmer needing a new John Deer tractor or accounting software for a Doctors office. Yes it is just about anything a business would purchase. In this economy businesses need help and the banks are not being very helpful. My company has the lending ability to help all forms of companies from small mom and pop organizations to large companies like IBM, federal government, schools, municipalities and non profit companies. All of these entities burrow money every day and need my type of services to survive.

I would like to graciously ask that I get the opportunity to be a subject of conversation to your employer, purchasing agent, owner, friend anyone that may be a potential person that I could help by providing the best that my industry has to offer. I am confident in my products and services and I will treat every opportunity with utmost respect and professionalism. The truth is Michele and I do need help and my business is the only way I see it fair to ask for that help. I am good at what I do and can prove it and would like the opportunity to do so. My web site and business email is below and will be posted on www.miraclemichele.blogspot.com .

I am also interested in new sales representatives. This position is a commission only job that can be done from a home office therefore anyone with sales experience would qualify and would need to send me their resume by email.

John O’Donnell
johno@pinnaclelease.com

Pinnacle Business Capital
http://www.pinnaclebusinesscapital.com/

UPDATE 8/27

7 months today! I really had thought we would be in our home stretch at this point in time but for some reason God has decided otherwise. I guess I will understand his plan eventually but for now we continue to fight to keep Michele in a positive direction. It is hard not knowing what to expect, no prognosis, no case studies to compare to and no real direction to follow. I continue to have Faith, Hope and Love to fight this battle and that will never go away. Michele had her CT scan today and everything went well. I will get the results early next week and I expect to have her shunt adjusted one way or another. I have the disk of the scan and I have gotten good at looking at the scans to know that her left ventricles are a little large. So I suspect that the doctor will adjust her from 180 to 170 but what do I know. They could do the opposite and honestly I will be fine with either way as all I want is progress in either direction. That means we could possibly go in the wrong direction but we will learn from it and change it in a matter of time. This is expected and it could take some time to get it right. I just want to move on it and not sit still as usual. Michele had her trach taken out on Monday and it was as simple as taking off a band aid. It was 30 seconds and I actually watched her throat slowly close on its own to a pin point. We put a bandage over it for a day and now it is just a small wound with no bandage over it. In time you will barely notice she ever had it. Michele is experiencing some irritation in her throat due to this but this should only last a week and she should be fine.

I have finally been able to get back to work full time. Since I have been home I have only been able to work for a few hours a day due to the fact of helping Michele and dealing with the children and the new life we have without Michele around the house. I mentioned it a few emails ago but you really understand what your spouse really adds to your relationship when they are no longer around and I can tell you all that Michele was an incredible worker and always got the job done weather it was with the kids school, cooking for a fleet of kids and neighbors, handling business or being a wonderful wife and mother to her family. She was always on the go and always had things done without the need for help from others.

This brings me to a point that I would like to explain what Michele and I do for a living. For the past 19 years we have owned and operated a finance company that specializes in lending money to businesses. We lend money to companies that need new capital equipment or software. We started this business 1 month after we were married and just like most entrepreneurs we have gone through the good years and bad but we have always stuck with it and always prided ourselves in our service to our customers. I can tell you that while I ran the company as the president, Michele was our operations manager and one of the top sales representatives. This tragic event of course has put us in a serious financial crunch since both Michele and I work together and both of us have been a large factor in our company wide sales each and every year. Michele will never be able to work again and even if she could I do not think I want her to as I want her to spend her time healing and with her children. I would like the opportunity to explain in more detail what we offer to businesses in hopes that I can earn referrals. I do not expect any hand outs and I do expect to earn business in the proper form of proposals just like anyone else. However I would appreciate the opportunity as my company provides financing to all businesses therefore anyone that works for a living in America is a potential customer to us.


Pinnacle Business Capital is the name of our business and we provide financing to small and large companies looking for capital equipment. Examples are a restaurant adding a new stove, fitness company adding a new tread mill, a hospital adding a new CT Scan, the federal government adding new computers to the social security administration, a school adding on a new wing and needs desks and chairs, a farmer needing a new John Deer tractor. Yes it is just about anything a business would purchase. In this economy businesses need help and the banks are not being very helpful. My company has the lending ability to help all forms of companies from small mom and pop organizations to large companies like IBM, federal government, schools, municipalities and non profit companies. All of these entities burrow money every day and need my type of services to survive.


I would like to graciously ask that I get the opportunity to be a subject of conversation to your employer, purchasing agent, owner, friend anyone that may be a potential person that I could help by providing the best that my industry has to offer. I am confident in my products and services and I will treat every opportunity with utmost respect and professionalism. The truth is Michele and I do need help and my business is the only way I see it fair to ask for that help. I am good at what I do and can prove it and would like the opportunity to do so. My web site and business email is below and will be posted on www.miraclemichele.blogspot.com

John O’Donnell

johno@pinnaclelease.com

Pinnacle Business Capital

www.pinnaclebusinesscapital.com

UPDATE 8/25

Thank you from the O'Donnell's

I would like to state again that I appreciate everything that everyone has done for my family and my wife Michele. Every card, well wishing, prayers, food, charitable donations, care giving, flowers, emails, child watching, car riding, church going, school attending, pat on the backs, phone calls, understandings, pictures, cd’s, places to stay, medical advice, airline tickets, visits to see Michele and many more that I cannot recall at this moment. My strength that so many speak of is only strong through the help of all the loving people that have been by my family’s side throughout this tragic moment in our lives. I am thankful for the friends and family that have continuously been there for Michele, my children and myself as well as the people that we don’t even know that have been a support through email and prayers that we receive everyday that mean so much. I am thankful to all the medical staff that has continuously taken care of Michele. My children have been through so much over the last 7 months. They have grown so much in this time and matured past their age due to this tragedy. They deserve much more than this in their lives and my only hope is for a blessing to be bestowed upon each of them as they truly deserve it. I am also thankful to God for giving my wife the strength and the will to fight this battle. I am most thankful to my wife for keeping her love of her family that continues to strengthen her. I am truly blessed to be her husband.

John

Wow! This came so fast. I was never expecting to have to grow up and take on so many responsibilities so fast. But I stepped up to the plate and did everything I could to make sure everything went smoothly for my self and my siblings. I can only hope I did well enough with my lack of experience. The main thing I have learned throughout this journey is that family is number one. Also, I abruptly found out that my parents are always right. I wish I would have learned this sooner so there wouldn’t have been so many stupid, pointless fights and at this point all I want is for my mom to come home and for her to tell me that she is not mad or she forgives me for all the things I have said that may have harmed her. I want to thank all the people who have thought about my mother and family during this hard time. Every single prayer, dinner, email and act of kindness means so much me and I know without all of your support, this all would be a lot harder. I love my mother and can not wait to have her back at home. Thanks again for everything. I am so grateful.

Love Billy

As all of you may know, at the most important time in my life I have lost the one person to help me through my teen age life, my mother, my friend, my sounding board. She is still with us but I have lost that daily relationship that I truly need from day to day. Reading emails and prayers, receiving cards and delicious food, and getting calls or text is very much appreciated. It truly does make a difference to know that so many people are here to support my family and my mother. Its very heart warming to know that my mother has touched so many people and I am very thankful for that. I want to thank all of you for putting in your time and effort to help us in anyway possible. Please keep following my mother throughout her journey and please keep the emails and prayers coming as they mean so much to me and my family.

Thank you!
Tana O’Donnell

This has defiantly been such a difficult time for me and my family. I can’t even begin to express my feelings for all of the things everyone has done for my family and my mother. Thank you all so much for helping us find our way through this storm! I will continue to stay strong and stand by my mother’s side.

Love,
Alyssa

My name is John John and I want to tell everyone thank you for all the prayers for my mom and family. Thank you for all the emails and letters that you send to my family and my mother. Thank you for all delicious food that you have brought over. My mom gets many flowers that are very beautiful but not as beautiful as she is. Thank you all for wearing the bracelets for my mom as I wear 3 of them every day. I want to thank God and everyone that has supported me and my family and my mother.

Thank you,
John John

UPDATE 8/22

I had a meeting with the entire staff at Kindred on Friday. We discussed Michele’s future for the next 3-4 months. Michele will have her Trach removed on Monday at 1pm and I will attend as I did when she had it inserted. I was told it is simple to remove and the wound will heal by itself in a matter of a few days without stitches. They simply remove it and cover it with gauze until it closes over a 2 day period. My wishes are that this helps Michele speak but honestly this has nothing to do with her speech other than mind over matter. Her inability to speak is solely due to the motor and speech functions in her brain and it will take a long time for that to heal if ever.

Michele is doing well medically and is on the fast track to leave her present hospital. Over the next two weeks Michele is expected to work her way out of the “Acute Care” to a “Skilled Nursing” facility. That means that she will be closer to home, without continued medical care but enhanced physical therapy. The goal is to get her to Craig Hospital over time but she only has 30 days at this hospital and she needs to have it at the proper time to make sure she gets all the help she needs.

Michele will not have her shunt adjusted at this time as the doctor decided to wait and see what happens over the next 2 weeks. This is very frustrating as I have been told several times that the shunt is and would be adjusted in certain directions to only find out that it has not been done. I cannot explain why this occurs, other than this is what the doctors say and it can change at any time. I will have to just hold my feelings and hands to my self until this is all over.

I am working to get Michele 2 procedures, Accumputure and Microcurrent which have been approve by her insurance but I need to get the right doctors to perform these procedures. I believe these both will help her in her healing.

I want to thank all of you that have sent emails over the last 3 days and I am reading all of them to Michele. I have not been able to read them all yet as they keep piling in but I want to ask that anyone that has not sent one in yet please do so as it is a project of mine to get everyone to respond so I can show Michele how much support she has. Please respond to this email even if you do not have a picture as she listens to every email with complete attention whether she knows the sender or not. Even a simple “Hi I’m from Colorado” will do just to show your support!

**Please know that ALL and ANY comments posted to this BLOG get copied directly to John**

Thank you,
John

UPDATE 8/19

Michele is becoming a master at sing language this week. She is learning the alphabet this week and can sign the 1st letter of most of the family’s names. Michele’s CT scan determined that her ventricles were a little large therefore were are now going to lower her shunt to 170 instead of increasing it. This will take place next Tuesday and if all goes well her trach will be removed by next Friday. We hope this will allow her to expand on her motor skills. In the past 3 weeks her mental awareness has grown but the motor skills have diminished or stayed the same. I have a meeting this Friday with the entire medical staff at Kindred to discuss our plan of attack over the next month. My goal is to start some alternative medicine to help aid in her recovery and get her closer to going to Craig for her extensive 30 day rehab treatment.

Please remember to send an email to Michele by simply replying to this email, she truly loves to listen to me read her emails and she loves pictures. If everyone would send just 1 email with a picture it would keep her busy for the next month because I know and suspect that about 3000 people read this each and every time I send out an email. I challenge each and every one of you to send an email for her to see the support she has. Yes all of you not just the ones on my list but all of you that are forwarded to. I hear so many times of all the people that read and follow my dear wife’s struggles. Please email her to show support.

You can also add your notes to the following blog that she also gets. This blog has over 24000 hits in the last 4 months. It has all the emails I have ever sent and also includes her favorite songs as you read. http://www.miraclemichele.blogspot.com

Thank you very much for your prayers, love and support,

John

UPDATE 8/16

I have been out of town for the past week attending my God Mothers funeral; she passed away after a 2+ year battle with stage four lung cancer. Upon me return I was excited to see for myself the weeks improvements but unfortunately Michele has not progressed very much in the last week. I feel this is because she still needs her shunt adjusted and I have not been able to convince the doctors to make this last adjustment. Michele had her CT scan done on Thursday but I still do not have a reading on the scan. I also hope to have her trach taken out early this week. Michele can still move both hands and feet and she continually tries to sit up and act like she is trying to say something however nothing will come out of her mouth. It seams to aggravate her that she cannot talk. She tries so hard to speak and nothing happens. I will be setting up a meeting with her doctors this week to try and get some answers and progress. I have attached a picture of Michele’s head. This is the first one I have sent just to show how well she is healing and how good it really looks. Her hair will grow over her scar and soon you will never notice she had 5 surgeries in the same place over a six month period. I hope to have more and better information later this week.

John

UPDATE 8/6

Well Michele continues to get better each and every day. Her range of motion continues to expand and she is actually moving her right hand now. It has been quite some time for this but she seems to be getting all of her movement back slowly. She can hum but cannot speak yet. This very well may be the last thing that returns but I feel it will in time. We have the smallest insert in her Trach to allow her to speak. She will keep her trach in for a while longer since she has a history of choking. We do not want to loose the ability to suction her when needed until we are certain she can handle it on her own. Michele is again aware of her surroundings and enjoys the emails and pictures each of you send. Even the complete strangers are no longer strangers to our family as we have received many emails that have lifted our spirits from all. Michele is due for another CT scan on the 12th and we are waiting on her final shunt adjustment. Yes they told me it was at 200 but it is actually only at 180 right now. I feel once they move it Michele will start moving even quicker.

The children finished up their Junior Golf league this week and all of them took home trophies. John for 1st place team scramble, Tana 2nd place team scramble and Alyssa 1st place parent putting contest. Yes I am actually a good putter but Alyssa got 2 hole in ones. This has recently been Michele’s favorite sport and she enjoyed seeing her kids do well and she enjoyed playing with her kids. I keep telling her that she will be able to golf next year but she has to work hard to accomplish this. I know her well and I know she will not stop trying until she is able to once again golf with her family.

This week I also had to register all four kids in school which was a daring task for someone that normally leaves this task to his able wife. Being in 2 places on once “2 schools” is possible I just did not know it until I had to do it. Last year Michele had to register all 4 kids in 3 different schools and some how accomplished it. All of the children helped out completing forms and showing me the way but at the end of the day we all did it as a family and they are now ready for school. Have you ever thought of trading places with your spouse and whether you could do it better! Let me tell you now it’s not something you want to try even though it has been rewarding for our family. Never think you can do it better just say thank you for their effort.

John

UPDATE 8/2

Michele was moved back to Kindred Hospital Thursday afternoon. She was not ready to move however the hospital she was at needed the room so we had to move a few days early. Michele is still getting settled in her new room including all new check ups and evaluations. It is like she was never at the hospital. She is treated like a new patient and all the test that come along with a new patient. Once it is all done I will get an update as to what is going on. The medical records showed she got the Brucellosis back however I do not think this is a correct diagnosis and I will get the straight answer Monday afternoon. If all goes well Michele will have her trach out sometime tomorrow. She can move her left hand and right toes just like she did when she last woke up. She seems to be a little more depressed right now and I will be talking to the doctors about that tomorrow. As you can see in the pics Michele has 2 TV’s in her room. The one on top continues to play the same picture “It a love story” and the one below came from home so she can actually see the TV. Michele and I have 10 orchids in our house but they have never bloomed since we first purchased them over the years. For some reason they are all blooming this year so I took a picture of 2 of them that are currently blooming. Michele loves her orchids. I continue to read all email to Michele so please continue to send them. If you have pictures please send as well, she loves to look at pictures and really concentrates on them.

John