The bright part of this picture is the cerebellum. The brighter white part on the left part of this picture is actually DEAD and not functioning. The little circle above the cerebellum is the brain stem and a small part of that is also white, which means it is DEAD. There is not a large portion of the brain stem damaged, but still a significant amount for its size.
This next picture is of his room and my Mom talking to him next to his bed.
So I got here yesterday, with my Mom's parents. We drove in and arrived around 6:30 at night. I got here and he had so many visitors here for him. He is really loved. My Mom is completely overwhelmed and she describes herself as if she is in a "fog" and doesn't comprehend what is going on. Within 30 minutes, she had 10 missed calls. I have tried to take over for her. So please call my phone and I will try to answer. 303-903-2105. She has been updating visitors, taking them back to his room, guiding people around.. so she is very busy.
There is no change with my Dad. They sat him up this morning and he got so sick from the change in levels. He complains that his mouth is very dry, since he is talking so much. He took 3 sips of apple juice and then had to stop because he felt so nauseated. He says nothing sounds good to him. So he doesn't want to eat. They gave him anti-nausea medicine but he says he feels worse with it. He won't even move his head because he says it hurts so bad.
The doctors have told us it would take 3 days for him to start to feel any better, and today is the third so we have high hopes.
He has asked me about 4 times to read all the emails from everyone to him, but right now he is just so tired he can't even get a full sentence out. But please keep writing. I have all the comments from the blog and emails and text messages saved to read to him in a few minutes.
I wanted to add a note for everyone to KEEP praying. THE PRAYERS ARE WORKING. As some of you know, my Dad found out about a month ago he would be laid off at the end of December. Well his boss, Scott, (what an amazing man.. he is here now visiting my Dad again. He is so thoughtful and caring.) came to tell us yesterday that they are going to extend his employment until March and give him severance pay for 3 months after that. What a blessing! I hope that will take some of the stress off of his shoulders. He has been so worried about his job. I am afraid that might have something to do with this condition.
Thanks again everyone. We love you.
Love Steph
4 comments:
Steph and family--I wish so much I could be of some help but I guess the best thing is prayer. We love you all and I hope my "second dad" makes a full recovery!! Hugs and loves--Andria and fam
Thanks so much for keeping us updated and starting this blog. It was such a great idea!! Know that we are thinking about and praying for Joe and for all of you! We love all of you so much! Please let us know if there is anything that we can do!
Shawn and Erica
Ellsworth's, my heart is breaking at the news of Joe. We are on vacation and just heard. Our prayers are with Joe and the family. Your family has been through so much. If there is anything we can do, please let us know. We truely love your family.
Kevin Schult and family
Dear Ellsworth Family,
We are praying for you and will keep praying for you. You guys are such an amazing and strong family that Ryan and I and the whole community really looks up to. Stay close through all of this and look to God and I know that everything will be alright. Joe, you are always the light in a dark room. I remember in high school just listening to you whistle throughout the house even as you were doing all the cleaning that no one else wanted to do. You were such a huge help to Laura when she needed it. You guys have been a part of our lives for as long as we both can remember and we love you so much. Take care and let us know if there is anythng we can do.
Love,
Christy and Ryan Antonio
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