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A photo of John with his infectious smile last Monday 4/21, the day before his surgery.  

John shows more agitation at night compared to daytime, but last night was a relatively good night.  The only reason John remains in the hospital is because of the volatility of his vital signs.  His fever continues to come and go.  It is unclear if it is linked to his infections or his brain stem.  His blood pressure continues to fluctuate as well.  He is on blood pressure medication, but when his blood pressure is under control, he is taken off the medication to see if his body will regulate on its own.  At this point, he has only been off blood pressure medication for a couple hours at a time.  His body has been unable to regulate blood pressure without medication so he quickly goes back on medication to prevent another dangerous brain bleed.  His surgeon continues to go above and beyond her duties and still visits John regularly.  This is the second worst case of recovery she has ever seen.  John still complains of hunger pains.  He will be taking a swallow test tomorrow which they anticipate he will fail.  If he fails the test, they will put John under and make a small incision in his abdomen to connect a feeding tube that he can go home with, if necessary.  John also complains of being cold.  He had been laying on his bed without clothes and covered by a knit blanket, but because of his fever they have switched out the warm blanket to a thin sheet.  John continues to want to sit up on his own which is a good sign, but his body is so weak that he quickly slumps over in the effort which causes a safety concern when the family is sleeping.  John is also stringing sentences together and problem solving ways to move around.  He is wanting to sit in the chairs his family are sitting in, but because he can't he requests to be pushed around in his bed.  There will be setbacks in his recovery, but overall he is trending upwards.  It is a marathon and not a sprint.  

Jason was able to sleep a few hours at the hospital last night.  Erin is still not feeling well this morning so she will be staying home with the older kids today.                     

Please check the Visitation page for updated visitation guidelines.   

Prayer Requests:
- for Erin's health and for her to feel 100% as soon as possible
- for tomorrow to go seamlessly as they start the week relying on friends and family driving the older kids to and from school, activities, the hospital as well as managing routines like homework, music practice, home job duties, bedtimes, etc
- for stability in John's vital signs and for his body to self-regulate blood pressure
- for John to regain strength so he can safely sit up on his own
- for hunger pains and feelings of cold to subside
- for John to pass his swallow test tomorrow so he will not need to go under and connect to a feeding tube
- for a continued upwards trend in John's recovery
- for the swelling in John's brain to reduce