I am a heart felt member of team Joseph!
GO JOSEPH!!!
Praying in Odessa,Texas

+1
So glad to hear he is making progress.

Richie, that is great news. I think he is very blessed to have you and so many others that will help him recover from this. The fishing community should be proud.

New update from Willie (Josephs grandfather):

As I said in the earlier email today, this afternoon the doctors and therapists all had a conference to discuss Joseph's progress and prognosis.

They said he is progressing very well and if he continues to progress at this pace, he should be able to be discharged next Tuesday. That is beyond our expectation, we are so thankful and excited.

They reported that his strength is good, but he has problems with impulsiveness and that concerns them. For example he will jump up to go to the bathroom very quickly and scoot across the floor before anyone can be ready to assist if necessary. They said they will work with him on awareness of his surroundings, such as what hazards may be on the floor in front of him or for example if there is a car coming before crossing the street. They will begin to expand his area of comfort and allow him to take walks outside with assistance as part of his therapy.

He is able to read at about a 5th grade level, but that is improving daily. Joseph commented today that they asked him to read something the other day and he couldnt figure out what it said, but now he remembers what it said. They ask him math related questions such as providing change and he provides the correct answer almost always. They said he will likely need an adjusted school environment.

I suspect that he will continue on the anxiety medication, but that was not specifically stated, I dont believe. It still seems he has a much clearer head, thought process and more self-confidence early in the day and trails off a bit as the day wears on.

He will need to continue outpatient rehab that is specific for brain injury patients because it is quite different than other rehab protocols. He will also have follow up visits with a neurologist I believe.

Each day he is moving about the room and managing his task such as eating, dressing, showering and carrying on conversations a little better. He is definitely getting very good with his wheelchair and with walking. But he does tire easily. The therapists have commented that he will talk about being very tired and weak but if they manage to distract his thinking to a new task, he manages quite well and doesnt say anymore about being tired.

Today, for physical therapy, they did a scavenger hunt about the hospital which utilitzed both floors. He had a descriptive checklist of things he had to locate which he then wrote down. He told me that he really liked that and he hoped they did it again tomorrow.

He has been sleeping well at night also.

Today Becca's boss, Margaret, came for a visit and brought the biggest platter of cookies I have ever seen, all kinds. I commented how good they smelled as soon as she came through the door. She replied that she had to drive 2 hours with those in the back seat. Jo has been sharing them with the nurses and I suspect he will offer them to the therapists as they come in tomorrow.

His step-mom, Kylie, was here for about 5 hours as well and that was a very good visit also. He asked her some questions about the accident and said he didnt really remember it. The child life therapists have been playing games with him that are designed to get him thinking about things he might be confused or angry about, etc. He said that they asked him to name one of his favorite things to do and he said fishing. Then they asked him to say 4 things that he liked about fishing. I dont remember all of them, but I remember that one was that he did it with his Dad.

Tomorrow morning his brothers, David & Will, are coming and will stay here in Dallas for awhile. They will be allowed to hang out with Joseph and their mother at the hospital during the day but will stay with me at the Ronald McDonald house at night. That is considered an important part of Joseph's therapy.

Tomorrw he also has an appointment with the surgeons (I think they will take out his stitches, but I may be wrong about that) in addition to all his other therapy. This is expected to be a one time follow-up as I understand it. He will be transported to/from that appointment.

Thank you again to all of you who have prayed, called, sent cards, brought gifts, visited, taken care of David & Will, filled the gap for those of us who have been here with Joseph, cleaned houses, worked to raise money, donated money, . . .

Willie, Kathy, Becca & Joseph

Very Good!!

Thanks for passing along the information Richie

That is great news. Thanks for being there for the family Richie.

Continued Prayers for all involved.

Great to know that he is making progress and has top notch medical care in place. Thanks for the updates.

Thanks for the up dates. I am glad that he is doing better.

Do we know how old he is? It breaks my heart following this thread but I am thankful that things are getting better.

Such great news! Continued prayers.

God Is Good! prayers sent

GO JOSEPH!!

I enjoy reading the progress he is making. Thanks for passing it on, Richie.

It's hard to believe how much he has improved in just over 2 weeks.

Yesterday was another busy day for Joseph, but a very happy one. His two brothers came to Dallas yesterday for a few days of visiting.

They arrived about 30 minutes before he was to leave for his offsite appointment, which turned out to be with the plastic surgeons and had nothing to do with his stitches. That kept Joseph & Becca busy until about 2:30pm. They discussed options for reconstruction of his ear and told him there was no reason to be in a hurry about it. He decided he would like to just wait and think about that at a later time maybe.

There was pretty much continuous giggling, hugging and making plans all afternoon. Joseph took great pride in showing his brothers all around the hospital. The first place was the outdoor play area where we had seen the anole. Joseph dribbled a basketball and showed off his shooting skills to the other boys. Will kept trying to dunk the ball, the rim was about 4-6 inches out of his reach and one time he finally managed to get the ball way up on his fingertips and it went in. He was very proud and kept trying to do it again, but never succeeded.

Joseph had pushed Will in the wheelchair down to the play area and he pushed David back from the play area. He also introduced them to various therapists and nurses that he saw in the hall and in the gym. We watched about half a movie while Mom took a nap in the room, but they didn't get much out of it, because of silliness. David and Joseph also worked on a puzzle together.

He now has a Wii available to him in his room, but he didn't even notice it yesterday. The evening was rounded off with a pizza party and all were very tired. I think all three boys were asleep in the room by 7:30pm. We woke the two brothers and I took them to Ronald McDonald House with me. They are still sleeping.

After his last therapy session of the day, Joseph told me he had been cleared to go anywhere in the hospital he wanted. I informed him they hadn't told me that and he was indignant. I told him I would check it out and the nurse verified to us that as long as he informs the nurses station where he is going, he is free to go 'in his wheelchair' anywhere he wants to go.

I have to tell one other story on him. When they brought him back to the room from the last session, which was a PT session, they said he was really tired and worn out. He crawled into bed, turned over on his side facing the window, covered himself up and appeared to go to sleep. As soon as the therapists closed the door, he jumped out of bed, gave his brothers a big hug and said he just wanted them to leave because he didn't want to do any more therapy that day.

Willie, Kathy, Becca, Joseph, David & Will

Yeah...he's gonna be OK! LOL

GO JOSEPH!

I am so thankful for your updates Richie! Thank you and if there is anything I can do for you as you are our eyes and ears please don't hesitate to ask. I would love to meet Joseph and visit at some point in the future. He is truly an inspiration and I want him to know God has BIG plans for him.