Hi, all. Haven't checked in for a while. Miracles do happen, though, I want everyone to know! Rusty has been steadily getting back to normal. The news is still good; he just needs to put his weight back on. He had the trach removed in early July and another good ct report. He immediately began eating orally (first time since January) and has been eating constantly ever since! Of course, he has problems with certain foods but has been very fortunate in not losing much of his sense of taste. His brother sent him 24 pints of gourmet ice cream and he ate 21 pints in 7 days ... hmmm. Going for PEG tube removal TODAY !! We have been so very fortunate throughout all of this and, of course, it's not over, but we are seeing some good changes. Rusty had a tough week last week as he took himself off of the duragesic patch "cold turkey". Was a tough week for him but he's through it now. Is down to medium-level doses of pain medication an is working with a pain mgt doctor on ear pain. Making slight progress there. The real miracle is that he's singing! I don't know if I mentioned it in earlier posts but he is a singer by trade so this was especially frightening to him, with the chance of losing his voice. He has been back to work over the past few weeks. Doesn't sing as many songs but is playing and singing about 1/3 as many. We had a huge welcome back party for him last Saturday and his fans and friends just made it so special. God looks after us all and has certainly been watching over us these past months. Thank you all for your support and I will check back in as time goes on. I keep a list of folks from these forums to pray for and hope that my prayers are answered each day. Mother Theresa once said (probably not the exact quote here ..) God only gives us what we can handle; I just wish He didn't trust me so much. Millie