2/19/05 at 8:30 p.m

First of all, we want to thank everyone involved in the raffle and race for Jess last weekend. A special thanks to Sun Valley Ski Club, Bob & Lynne Nicholson, Ned Wheeler and Paul, Linda & Kelsey for selling so many tickets. I cannot believe almost ,000 was raised for Jess' benefit. This community we live in is truly the best with so many generous loving people living here. We just keep hoping Jess will recover quickly so we can pass on the love to others in need of help, too. We can't thank you enough.

Congratulations to Kelsey's dad Kevin for winning the trip to Mexico! What a wonderful surprise to hear he had won the raffle!

Jess is very tired. We returned home from Salt Lake yesterday after a 3 day trip to visit the Primary Children's Hospital again. We had several appointments and very full days. The first appointment was with a neuro opthamalogist who determined that, yes, Jess can see and that his eyes are ok. He suggested we have a test that would show whether there were blockages in the optical nerve to the brain. The test is like an EKG but extracts the measurements out to show how quickly light is transfered through the optical nerve. Jess' was a bit slower than what ours would be but not enough for concern. We then visited with a nutritionalist who measured, weighed and tried to take a fat measurement on Jess. He weighed 146 pounds which was exactly what he weighed 6 weeks ago. She said he has very little fat which is good because when someone is not using there body alot calories can turn to fat. She was amazed at his muscle tone and said his diet and blood test was perfect. Next we had another swallow evaluation. He did pass this one but it was suggested we cautiously start giving him water and nectar juices. The speech therapist is using an electric stimulator on his throat now to help stimulate his swallow. We continued on to spend 3 hours with an educator, the PT, OT and speech therapist discussing new equipment. Jess needs a better wheelchair, a standing machine, assistive technology with computer programs to help with his eye gaze and possibly switches to help with communication. They were surprised at how quickly Jess responded when I asked him to wiggle his toes and move his legs. More good news! They all agreed he was "in there" and that again it will just take time. The doctor mentioned that none of the parents she works with have ever initiated all of the suggestions she makes as quickly as we have. She felt school, the horse therapies and all of our therapists coming to the home were making a great difference in Jess' progress. She did reiterate how important it is for Jess to be able to be a teenager and spend time with his friends. She is a bit concerned about the strength in the one-sided neck turning that seems to be out of Jess' control. We all feel it is a channel that has opened up only on one side and is making it difficult for Jess to control his neck movement. We just hope that the other side wakes up soon to balance his neck control. We just have to keep holding on and stay positive that he will recover. Eight months seems like such a very long time but yet...there are not enough hours in a day! Good night...