Here is an update on Josiah as of 7:30 PM on Friday night.  Once again, we would like to thank you for the outpouring of kindness and love that you have shown us.  It is amazing to know that God has placed each and every one of you in our lives for such a time as this.  So, here is where we are at today:

• The day started early for Josiah as they did another CT scan of his brain.  The bruise that he has on his brain did get a little larger, but not so much that it has caused any concern.  Again, the neurosurgeon says that as of now, there will be no need for any surgery.  This is a huge answer to prayer!
• Because there was no significant increase in the bruise size, they were able to start weaning him off of the ventilator.  This is a slow process, but he is responding pretty well.  They will need to reduce the level of sedation that he is under starting tomorrow to continue the process.  This is the first step to getting everything out of his mouth/chest so that they can begin to wake him up.
• After he wakes up, they will have rehab consultants come in to assess him and give a plan for his recovery.  I am really looking forward to this part, but it is a ways off as of now.

Some great things happened today:

• He was much more active today.  He moved around a lot more.  This is a very good sign.
• The ophthalmologist visited Josiah today to take a look at his eyes, Of special concern was the right eye because the right eye socket has a fracture.  The Dr. said there was no apparent damage and that all looked good!
• During one of the times when he was active, I asked Josiah to squeeze my hand… and he did!  He actually did this two different times.  This made my day!  My boy is in there!  I cannot wait to talk with him and not just to him! (Edit: he just did this for the third time as I was posting this!)

Some things to pray for over the next 24 hours:

• Pray that the CT scan in the morning comes back with positive results.  This will be a key step in getting the breathing machine reduced/removed.
• Pray that Josiah takes over the breathing on his own.  He has responded so well in other areas.  He body is naturally taking over things that were being externally controlled by medicine.  This is a huge step!
• Pray that as he wakes up that confusion and irritation will be minimal, and instead that he will be filled with a peaceful and quiet spirit.  Many times a head trauma patient will be irrational and very irritated.
• Pray that we will be patient.  We want our boy back as he was, and as quickly as possible, but this takes time.  It is hard to sit here and watch him like this.  As a parent you want to make it all better, but we know that God is the only one capable of this.  This fact reminds me of a verse found in the book of Psalms:

Psalm 70:5  “I am poor and needy, but you, the Lord God, care about me. You are the one who saves me. Please hurry and help!”

Again, we thank you for all you have done.  We are grateful to God and His grace, power and love at a time like this.  It is amazing to see the body work as it restores and heals itself.  We truly are fearfully and wonderfully made!