Sunday update... at least I think it's Sunday

Yesterday had it's ups and downs. 

On the upside..

• We had a good visit with Chelsea and Stephanie.
• Jacob had a few hours where his headache was better.
• He switched from narcotics for pain to an Ibuprofen-like drug and tylenol. His pain level is not worse.
• We had great nurses yesterday and last night.  They treated Jacob with TLC...and me, too. :)
• The nurse practitioner was "on it" and very kind when we needed her. Thank you, Lori (yes, she's got a good name!)  
• I was frazzled by last night. I needed some significant TLC.  Jacob thought something new was wrong when he saw me crying and talking to Melissa at 3am this morning.  I was crying because he had just had 2.5 hrs of REALLY GOOD sleep.  I desperately needed that upward swing!  He has had more good sleep since then and is still asleep now!
• We had a good visit with Jocie, PawPaw and NaNa late last night.  She is having a great time with them.  She liked her doctor kit from Stephanie and Chelsea.
• Dr. Rotta came up last night and listened well to my concerns.  My dad was here at just the right time to help me have that conversation in a positive way.
• I mentioned Dr. Morera to Dr. Rotta.  Dr. Rotta doesn't know Dr. Morera, but he mentioned that Dr. Morera's reputation is that he is very loved.  We are so thankful that we have Dr. Morera and his staff when we are ready to go home.

On the down side...

• Jacob's headache came back with gusto.
• He is really stuffy in his nose.  The combination of that with the headache is making it much harder to get up, breathe deep, move around despite the pain.  It is discouraging but he is staying strong and courageous.  He needs some relief from this headache and stuffiness!!
• He needed to start on a new medicine... well it was sorta new.  He had been on a larger dose of it in January.  It's the medicine that led to the ambulance ride from school to the ER in late January.  That thought freaked me out even though Dr. Hubbard started him on 1/4 of the dose.  Dr. Hubbard, our Riley cardiologist who visits in Evansville, had told me on Friday that if we ever needed to go back on it, it would be better with this new pacemaker.  Jacob needed it long before I was ready to test that comment.  I am thankful that she knew that he is extremely sensitive to it.  He did very well on it through the night!!

Tom said last night that he had forgotten how much Riley visits tend to have significant ups and downs.  Today the trend feels upward. We can see what seems like ever-so-slight improvements, but Jacob can't really feel them yet.  We keep pressing on.

Since it's not our style to end on the down side, let me say that we are so very thankful for your continued encouragement.  We trust and believe that God is providing healing even though the process is slower than we like.  We see God give us little bits of laughter and encouragement at just the right times.  Check out the photos below and on the "Our Pics" tab.  Tom keeps adding photos along the way.  He is doing a good job of keeping things on the light side when it's appropriate.

Jacob, Chelsea, and Jocie and their "puccakes" (as Jocie calls them!)

Chelsea brought over the puccakes the Friday night before we came up for surgery. 

At least I think it was Friday night... days are running together right now.

This was Jacob in 1996 a day or two after his open heart surgery. 

He had the same look in his eyes yesterday except he fills up an adult bed

and doesn't need to be tied down. 

He is handling the incredible stress and pain in great ways.

I'm so thankful for his "cool as a cucumber" personality. 

The little red sock in the air showed that off even at 18 months.  

His cute hospital socks are a little bigger this time. :)

Thanks again for coming along with us for the Riley ride!  We need your prayers so that we can continue to keep our eyes on our very big and majestic God who has good plans for Jacob!