June 1, 2000

Dear Family,

"I will bless the LORD at all times;
His praise shall continually be in my mouth.
My soul shall make its boast in the LORD;
The humble shall hear it and rejoice.
O magnify the LORD with me,
And let us exalt His name together."
- Psalm 34

Thank you for continuing to pray for Skylar.
God has been answering your prayers. I want
to share with you the good news I heard
yesterday from Skylar and Suzanne.

When I called Skylar's room yesterday evening,
he wanted to talk to me.

"Guess what, Papa?" he asked.
"What, Skylar?"
"I walked all the way to PT today."
"Wow! That's great!" I replied.

PT (Physical Therapy) is quite a distance from
Skylar's room, I would estimate in the hundreds
of feet. Getting there involves riding an elevator.
Best of all, Skylar is now walking without a walker
and without anyone needing to hold him up! He
walked all the way to PT and half the way back;
then he waited by the elevator while his mom got
the wheelchair.

Skylar also ate some fruit cocktail and some tuna and
drank half a chocolate milkshake. He was out of
bed from 8AM to 4PM, sitting in a chair and walking.
He has begun to have solid bowel movements, which
is very good. It has been two days since he last
vomited.

One of the hospital staff made a "dinosaur sticker chart"
for Skylar and told him that when he gets 15 stickers on
the chart he will get a prize. He gets the stickers as a
reward for doing the things he needs to do, such as
going to the bathroom, using the urinal, etc. Skylar just
started using the chart yesterday, and he already has
seven stickers! So his motivation is improving.

Although we have no certain word yet, there are some
rumors among the hospital staff that Skylar may be able
to go home before long and may not have to go to a
rehabilitation center! He may instead have some physical
therapy at or near his home. Praise the Lord!

Thank you all for your continued prayers. Please pray
with us that Skylar may be able to leave the hospital
soon. I offered to Suzanne the availability of "Nana and
Papa's Rehabilitation Center", and she said that perhaps
after Skylar's brother Chris is out of school it may be
possible. Please pray that the Lord will bring that about!

Pam and I plan to leave Friday night to go see Skylar for
a couple of days. I am really looking forward to that, as
I haven't seen him now for more than a month.

Thank you, and the Lord bless you all!

-Dann