not a very good week :(

I was so excited to get started with my new blog page last weekend. Then on Tuesday Dave called me. He said "I just got a frantic call from your mom, Steve's had a stroke and he's on the way to the hospital." So, I called my mom and she was hysterical. I felt really bad for her. She asked me to call my brother which I promptly did, several times during the day. He never returned my call. Finally, I had Charlotte text message him from my cell phone and then he called me back. He had already heard the bad news from his wife. He had been looking for a miracle all day and when he got my text he thought OMG Tracey's learned to text! It's a miracle! He said he was glad to hear my voice as he was very distraught. He wasn't sure what to do about coming home because he just started a new job and has no PTO. I told him to pray about it and then go with his gut feeling. He did and got a flight out of Dallas on Thursday morning. He asked me to come to Birmingham also and of course I said yes. So, me and the kids let out on Thursday evening for the four hour trip to Alabama. We stayed at the Hampton Inn with visits back and forth to the hospital and Clark and Vicki's house. Since Steve is in ICU visiting hours are 9am, 1pm, 5pm & 8pm for 30 minutes per interval. My mom never left the patient waiting room unless she was with him. It has been a long week for her. When he first got there he was in bad shape as you can imagine. By the time I got there he was doing much better. He will remain in ICU until he shows more improvement. The Dr. told my mom she would like to see him communicate better than now. He can't speak and we aren't sure what all he can understand, but his blood pressure is down and they are weening him off some of his medications. This is a good sign. You just don't know what to expect with strokes. We are praying for the best. It was a long weekend for us and we are happy to be home in our Non-smokers home (the hotel only had a smokers room on Thursday night.) Hopefully the rest of my entries will be fluffy and much happier. I will keep you updated on my dad though. Have a good week and know someone in Memphis (home of the King-thankyouthankyouverymuch) is thinking about you and loves you. LYLAS, Tracey