July 4 AM Update

Josh is doing much better. He was able to eat lunch on his own today, and they’ve removed some of the more troublesome tubes and such from his arms, so he has a lot more range of motion which is amazing.

As you can imagine, he’s annoyed to be flat on his back, but in otherwise good spirits. His mom, dad and spouse (that’s me!) are taking turns staying with him. His troponin levels, an indicator of continued heart muscle strain and stress, are trending downward. He is still on a heart pump, that is helping give his heart a chance to rest.

His next step is open heart surgery, which is scheduled for early next week. It takes time for the medicines and blood thinners they gave him on arrival to clear out of his system. He will likely be recovering for several months, but doctors feel really good about his chances for a full recovery. The surgeons, doctors, nurses and staff here are amazing; everyone has gone out of their way to make Josh comfortable.

We probably won’t have much news over the next couple of days, but I will still keep you updated as I can.

If you have any photos of you and Josh, please send them my way so I can print them out and hang them in his room. I would appreciate it if you didn’t send flowers; he won’t be able to have them in his room, though the nurses at the front desk would be happy to take them home.

Josh and I appreciate everything everyone has done for us, we are so blessed to have all of you in our lives.