8/7/04 at 8:45 p.m.

Today was a mellow day for Jess and family. On the weekends, Jess gets less therapy than during the week. Jess did very well with his new trachea tube and breathed for 4 hours with it plugged today. This is a great improvement from only a half an hour the previous day. My dad came back to Boise from Bellevue tonight and unfortunately I leave for MN in the morning. My stay here has been a good one. I believe my little brother is on his way to recovery although a lengthy one. The care providers have told us that the extent of a patients recovery depends a lot on the family's level of support. If this is true we know that Jess will recover because we have a great support matrix. Thank you to everyone we know and everyone we don't know that has sent prayers, e-mails, guest book entries, and all forms of support to Jess. My mother hasn't been recieving any personal e-mails for the last week because of problems with cox internet server. We will let you know when she can recieve e-mails again. Lots of love to everyone! Joey