Oct. 24 10:59 (Kelly)

What a day! I came home last night and visited with the children. This a.m. I did "normal things" like dishes, laundry, grocery shopping, several phone calls, etc.etc. It is a little bit of sanity, let me rephrase that, normalcy. I don't think I've really ever had sanity!
I went to the hospital with Jen then came back home to have Morgan's "dinner party". Jordan and Ali made the dinner and the cake. Jordan then ran Hillary to work, Emily to a Drama Club Halloween party, and David off to a scout sleepover/Super Saturday event. This was not the end yet. Jordan and Ali invited Morgan to spend the night at their apt. They left. Then for various reasons too entailed to share now, they came back, then left, then came back, then left. Then David came back a couple of times to get "stuff". Now it is quiet. Emily is back and sleeping and I'm just waiting for Hillary to call for a ride home from work. I'm ready to go back to the hospital and get some rest!

I want to clarify that Levi is off the vent. They are, however, putting the Bipap mask back on for a little while. This is the positive flow device that helps him take deep breaths on his own. There is no tube down his throat, he is even off the little bit of oxygen they had him on.

Last night, after the operation, he began sweating profusely and his skin was ice cold. His temp was down so the nurse put warm blankets on him. After a little while his temp began to come back up to baseline. When the nurse came in to check his glucose level, she pulled back the blanket to get his hand and there was blood every where. I'm glad she chose the left hand to check. He had pulled out his IV...again! This makes 4 times I think. The nurse had spent a good deal of time trying to place that IV. She said he has a lot of valves in his veins and he had already blown the good spots. She finally got this one placed and the other nurse asked if she should tie the restraint again. Levi's nurse said," no he seems pretty calm and they are about to take him down to surgery so it should be o.k." I suggested they might want to tie the restraint as she had worked so hard to find the seemingly last spot for the IV. He is very cunning and deliberate in the removal of his lines! They agreed. I think what may have happened is The surgical techs didn't tie the ties tight enough when they returned him to his bed after surgery and we didn't catch it. I forgot to check where the line is now.

I think I've kind of gone on auto pilot now. I talk to him, crochet, wait in waiting rooms, eat meals, sleep, blog,...... I will be sooo glad to have him moved closer. I will miss the staff in Provo. They have been great! Tomorrow marks three weeks so we have had many of the nurses rotate through. We have been blessed to have a few of them stay for three days or nights in a row. As I'm coming in or leaving the ICU they ask about him or say "I hear he is improving. That's great!"

It is amazing how much and how many people care. What terrific people we are surrounded by. It's like that perfect world at Christmastime. Thank you for all your support and prayers especially. I know everyone wants to do something to help. Let me say, if you have prayed you have helped bring him all the progress he has made. The Lord has blessed us from the smallest things, that could have gone another way, all the way to Levi standing at his beside this morning. I have known from the time I was a child that God hears and answers my prayers. I learned early that those unselfish righteous desires are granted. A little later I learned that at times we must yield to the will of the Lord. Somewhere along the way I realized that I no longer have "faith" in the power of the priesthood and for the Lord's love for me, as faith is that which is hoped for but not seen. I know of a surety that God lives and that he loves us so much as to give us the authority to exercise His power here on earth through the Priesthood. I am so grateful to Him and for all of you and your faith and knowledge of the power you posses. May I just quote my mother ( if you are saying "no" I can't hear you-too bad) who said "We Mormons don't have a monopoly on prayer". So everyone again keep up the good work. We love you ALL.