Dear friends, I just returned from a week in Ala w/ Tammy, as most of you know Jim suffered serious internal injuries after falling 25 feet out of a tree stand the day after Christmas. He then unfortunately developed septicemia, and was placed on life support. Jim had a trachestomy done on Wednesday, and still on the ventilator----to hopefully let him wake up without the ET tube down his throat and causing panic attacks. It had been 10 days in an anesthesia induced coma. Thursday morning he started waking up ,and has progressed successfully and calmly to being able to move all his limbs on command, and mouth words to Tammy. This morning the doctor called her and said for the first time he feels that Jim has turned the corner in this whole ordeal. It is still a critical situation, but he is awake and can move. The progress will be slow and deliberate. We are all SO thrilled. Keep up the prayer vigil, for both Jim and Tammy, Colleen

Jim was moved to a private room Wednesday night, and had his first full day out of ICU yesterday!! He still has the trach, and requires assistance from the ventilator when he gets exhausted, his diaphragm muscles are having to regain their strength. Vicki says Jim is Very weak, and it took 2 large nurses, plus Tammy and Vicki to get Jim up and into a chair. Of course he has lost weight and his muscles have atrophied from laying in bed for 4 weeks. So it will take time to regain his strength and get used to being vertical again. Also he ate a Chick-Fil-A and had a coke yesterday, and he is very happy to get regular food ! He is still talking up a storm , and is quite the comedian whether he means to be or not. After being in a coma for 2 weeks, and being given so much anesthesia and pain medications, and not knowing if it's day or night---- Jim is getting more clear about the events and what he has been through. He has told Tammy and Vicki some funny things that he's experienced that seem very real to him but of course aren't--- for example he says that he had several raccoons that lived in his room, and he had to get in the box with them and get down on his hands and knees to drink water with them, because the nurses wouldn't give him any. He told Vicki that those are some "high dollar raccoons! " Also he told Vicki and Tammy that he has been bribing the nurses with a 2 carat diamond that Dudley gave him, to get them to bring him water and pain medication---saying " promising them diamonds works every time! " So the Jim we all know and love is making a come back----he is also cussin' and fussin' with the respiratory and physical therapists that are coming in and making him do stuff. Everything is painful and hard to do, especially with 8 broken ribs. -------With this new progress both Tammy and Jim are exhausted---she is staying in the room with him as much as possible to make this transition. Please hold off on visitations for the time being, and if you do go, please stay only a very short time. Jim is very uncomfortable and has alot of caregivers working on him 24/7, and they are all under alot of stress and strain, emotionally and physically. So please keep up all the prayers and praises that Jim is continuing to make such good progress!