Neutral Day

I know the big question tonight is did Matt pass his swallowing assessment. The answer is no. A big disappointment but they will do it again next week. He can drink water okay, but has difficulty with food, where the epiglottis (prevents food from going down the trachea) isn't losing properly. But they are going to give him some exercises to do to see if it will improve. There is also the possibility of getting a surgical tube into his stomach. After awhile, the tube in his nose will start to break down his tissue, so surgery may be the only option. The chest tubes are still in but he still completed 2 breathing trials and did well on both. He was also up in his chair for an hour, which was good. They also moved him back to the main ICU, where he gets his TV back. There was no steps backwards, but none forward either. It is difficult that progress is so slow, but I often turn to Paul's words in Corinthians, about his sufferings in prison. "Indeed in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us."