Update: 11/30/10 Good news and bad news.

Today's update from his parents...

Today started out a little shaky for Ronnie. After his wound care the physical therapist put him on the moveo table. He did great, but was exhausted. Then Ron and I brought him some bbq brisket to eat for lunch. He really liked that and ate one piece. About an hour later they came to stretch his right side. He tends to lean to the right side so the new skin there is not stretched out... so they have to roll him on his left side and stretch his right arm above his head to stretch the skin on his side out. VERY PAINFUL!! Of course that was not much fun for him. When they sat him back up, he wanted a drink of boost and choked and subsequently threw up. This was pretty traumatic for him so they let him rest for awhile. About 4:30 they were able to get him up to walk and pivot into his chair! He did great with that.

The not so good news is that his skin grafts on his right palm and forearm did not take at all and will have to be regrafted soon.
How to pray for Ronnie:
*pray that he will be able to eat more food so that he can have his feeding tube removed.
*Pray that he will be able to understand the need to push himself through the pain of therapy.

Update: 11/29/10

An update posted by Ronnie's parents...

Yesterday (Monday) Ronnie made a few big strides in his progress! He has not been able to eat like they want him to eat. He has struggled with nausea and swallowing. They had me run to McDonalds to get him a cheeseburger tonight!! He ate al...l of the m...eat and cheese. As a reward they allowed him to drink a very small amount of water. (he told me he would just about kill for a drink of water!) He really needs to do better with his eating. Pray that he will be able to eat more calories than he has so far. For PT they had him get up in a Moveo tilt bed. It has platforms for his feet and allows him to do "squats" with his legs to build up his leg muscles. Then they sat him up in a real chair (for the first time) for about 5 hours. The best news was that he stood up and took a few shuffle steps from the chair to his bed today! Ronnie's first steps!! Needless to say he was exhausted by the end of the day and was ready to sleep for the night. Thanks for all your prayers! We couldn't make it without them!

11/25/10 Thanksgiving

Ronnie had a nice little thanksgiving meal for lunch. He didn't have a huge appetite, but tried a little bit of everything. He is recovering well from his surgery, too. They opened up his bandages around his donor sites to allow them to air out a bit. He was nervous about the whole thing as he was already in incredible pain. They knocked him out with some heavy drugs to do the procedure and allow him to rest pain free while the sites dry out. Pray Ronnie will be well rested and pain free when they bring him off the drugs tomorrow.

On a thanksgiving note: I am so thankful for my family and friends who have been more than amazing, for my fiance who is willing to push himself beyond what I can imagine, and a God who has shown his protection and provision in mighty and miraculous ways. Happy Thanksgiving to all; don't take for granted what you have. Each day is a blessing and each life is a miracle.

11/24/10 The Surgery.

The Dr. said everything went well in the 5.5 hr surgery. Most of his spots are filled in now and his hand has been completely covered with his own skin. Also, some of his donor sites have taken and did not need recovered. The skin will later slough off with his own new skin formed under, but for now, no new patching. Still no decision on his pinky at this point. Dr. hopes ronnie will be out of ICU in 5-7 days and may only need to be in the hospital for a few more weeks! Pray he is out by xmas!

Update: 11/23/10

Today was a much better day for Ronnie. They did a swallow study on him. It was very interesting to watch. They put a camera in his nose to see how his epiglottis and vocal cords are functioning while eating and drinking. One of his vocal cords is not quite closing as much as it should, causing the other to move more to close off his airway. Although the speech therapist said that it is better. She did clear him to drink liquids without thickener and eat regular food. No more food from a blender. Yea! It's just the little things that are exciting. They tried to have him sit on the side of the tilt table to see how his blood pressure did. He stayed for about 15 minutes then it dropped again so they laid him back down to stabilize it. So he did not stand up, but all in all he did great. Tomorrow will be surgery around 10 a.m. They will concentrate on the right hand and places on his side and chest, and a few other patches that the grafts did not take. Thanks for lifting Ronnie up in prayer.

Just another day, Just another miracle

So, I had to share this one....

As I mentioned yesterday, I rented a car for a day but then returned it and was given a company car to use for the remainder of the week free of charge. If this was not a miracle enough, God did even more. When I returned my car after less than 24 hours of having it, I was given a receipt. I glanced at it and asked the clerk, "so this is what I owe? $169?" He glanced over and mumbled, "guess so," and off I went without another thought. Last night, as I was reflecting on my day, I got to thinking, "That was awfully expensive for one day..." So I checked the receipt. I was surprised to find that it said -$169 but there was no total on the receipt. So I called the company. I explained what had happened and the clerk told me where to find the total. When I told her there was no total, she promptly looked it up in the system. She was baffled. There was no total.

"Did you have bad customer service?" she asked me.
"No," I replied, "in fact, he gave me a free upgrade...."
"I'm showing here that you got a free car..."

Turns out, in order to give me the free upgrade, the guy credited my bill the upgrade amount times 11 days... the amount of time I was supposed to have the car. I asked the lady what I needed to do to fix the problem and she replied that she could fix it on the spot, but quite honestly didnt want to. She spoke with her manager who agreed. They kept the bill the way it was... free. All-in-all, three complete strangers, knowing nothing of my current situation, blessed me in a way they will never even realize. It was just another day and just another miracle that touched my heart and blessed my life. Thanks, God.

God is SO Good

I am back down in Texas again with Ronnie. I can not tell you how good it feels to be able to hold his hand again. We had so much to talk about when I got in last night and he fought through his tiredness to make sure we had the time. We talked for a couple hours!

Today was a good day too but, just as yesterday, Ronnie has been very drowsy. He dozes in and our throughout the day no matter what he is doing. They got him up on his tilt table and slowly inclined him until he was standing. While his blood pressure did drop a little, he did a great job and managed to stay up for about half an hour. Afterward, they put him into his chair. I fed him his dinner a little bit ago too. He is on a puree diet, but it is kind of funny because they mash up all his food, then put it into molds to make it look like the food again! We got a kick out of that. Anyways, he managed to force down some mashed potatoes, some soup, and juice, but cleverly avoided the "meat." He did a great job on dinner. His nurse said it is the most he has eaten in quite some time!

I also wanted to take a minute and tell everyone how AWESOME God is. He has brought so many strangers into my life, each who have touched my life in the way only an angel could do. I was gifted plane tickets round trip from Indiana to San Antonio through an army affiliated organization. And while housing seemed out of the question, the day before my trip, a room opened up in the Powless house here on base across from the hospital! And on top of it all, the day I got into San Antonio, some amazing new friends connected me with a company car (a little Toyota Prius hybrid) to use for the remainder of my trip! But these are only a few of the "angels" that have touched my life recently. there are so many others...
*My work managers and co-workers who have granted me time off whenever needed
*Hospital volunteers who talk to and pray for me
*Friends who have sent notes and cards to me and Ronnie
*Military personnel who have made calls and gotten information for me
*Senators who have visited and encouraged Ronnie
*Family who have loved me and supported me to the ends of the earth
*Teachers who have graciously moved tests and assignments for me
*Advisers and department heads working with me on my school schedules to make them flexible
*And so, so many others...

It is almost overwhelming how incredible the body of Christ has been. Thank you Lord God for showing me your hand.

I left my heart in TX... but not for long!

Yesterday was not a bad day for me neither. I had a showing at the condo in the early afternoon and, thanks to a lot of help from Cori, the condo was perfectly in order for the affair. During the time in which I was to be kicked out of my house, I went shopping with Mom and Cori. Isn't that a wonderful alternative?!? I thought so. Afterward, we went out to Qdoba for lunch. What a great afternoon. It was nice to be able to relax and let loose a little bit.

After classes and a late night at work, I came home and packed until the wee morning hours. I cant wait to leave for Texas tomorrow! I miss my army boy.

Update: 11/17/10

Wednesday was a full but very good day for Ronnie. Below are the posts from his mom.

He had a short wound care today since they did a huge one yesterday morning. Then PT was in to keep all his joints bending to prevent tightness. They had him sit on the edge of the bed today too! Pastor Johnston flew all the way from Tulsa just to visit Ronnie! He recited Psalm 121(since paper is not allowed in the room) The Lord is your keeper, the Lord is your shade at your right hand!... Very encouraging words for Ronnie and all of us! We were so encouraged by his visit! On the heels of Pastor's visit, Texas State Senator Brian Birdwell came to visit. He was burned at the Pentagon on Sept. 11th. He was able to encourage Ronnie about the future! It has been a tiring, but blessed day for Ronnie and us! Thank you for your continued prayers.

We had such a great visit with Ronnie tonight! He was very talkative and so much more alert! He said he wished he hadn't been doped up when Pastor Johnston visited! Medically Ronnie is doing great! He had a chest x-ray that showed some ...patchy areas still, but his lungs are stable. His skin grafts are adhering very well. Of the skin grafts that are his own skin (auto-grafts) 97% are "taking" leaving about 3% to be re-grafted. 5-7% of his burn is still cadaver and will have to be grafted with his own skin. So all in all about 10% of his burn is left to be re-grafted! He is not healing as fast as they would like, but they are still very pleased with his progress. His liver enzymes levels have been high due to a medication he has been taking, so they have cut back on that medication. They are still giving him zophran every 6 hours for nausea. The speech therapist suspects that his vocal chords have become "paralyzed". With therapy the damaged vocal chord may function normally in time. Ronnie's temperature has been normal for the last 5 days after surgery! (high risk time for infection) Ronnie is dealing with so many issues... continue to pray for him to have strength to work his way through this ordeal. They are concerned with the fact that he lays so stiff and doesn't want to move around much. He is starting to acquire some pressure sores! But... overall they are so pleased with his progress and disposition!! Sorry about the long update, but there are so many issues to report! We love you all and thank you for lifting Ronnie up in prayer!!

A more complete version of the article on Ronnie. I'm actually in this one....
Tulsa World