Updates

UPDATE FROM MINDEE AND ROY

December 23, 2004

Hello all. Happy Holidays to everyone! Thank you to everyone for the cards and emails. We continue to appreciate all of the thoughts and prayers in our direction.

We have been quite busy this last month since we posted the previous update. Roy still has a physical and occupational therapist come to the house every week. He "graduated" from speech therapy last week, which he is extremely happy about. It was more than just speech, but they worked on his memory and other cognitive taskes as well. Roy says, "Either I'm doing really well, or they just got sick of me." But we all know that he is doing great. He will probably finish up with the other two therapies in the next few weeks.

He is currently working with vocational rehabilitation, which will provide on the job training or schooling for a career that Roy wants to and is able to go into. We think they will probably do some skills testing and other things to test what would be suitable for him. We have an appointment on the 29th, where we will get further information. We will be sure to let everyone know.

We have really enjoyed the time we have been able to spend together, and we've been fortunate that neither of us has had to work through all of this. But it looks like Roy will be back in the work force again here pretty soon, and I am also looking for some part time work.

We were able to go to Arizona for Thanksgiving and visit a lot of family and friends there. It was so great to see everyone! And yes, we still plan on visiting to New Orleans. Hopefully soon after the first of the year.

We have been to several doctor appointments for Roy's eyes and head, but have not received any new information. What they want is to continue to wait and see how much he heals on his own and depending on that there may be more things we can do for his eyes. But he notices improvements all the time and gets more used to the changes as well, so both things are good. We both are continually grateful for what we DO have and for all of the wonderful people that have supported us through everything. Please continue to write and we wish you all Happy Holidays and a Joyful New Year.

Love,

Mindee and Roy

NOVEMBER 14, 2004

Dear Friends and Family,

Hello! Roy and I have been in Utah now for 2 weeks, and we are really enjoying it. We have been set up with some top notch therapists and are so thankful for it. Right now, the therapists are coming to our home to do their therapies. We didn’t know they would be doing it that way, but we like it because it’s quite convenient. So Roy has a speech therapist, occupational therapist and physical therapist that comes here and a manual therapist that we go see for his neck and back.

All of these therapies keep us quite busy. On top of that we go get Roy’s blood drawn once a week and have other doctor appointments. His first appointment with a neuro-opthamologist at the Moran Eye Center is this week on the 17^th, Roy’s birthday! We’re excited to see him and hopefully they’ll have new information for us. We’ll be sure to keep everyone posted on what we find out.

Our lives aren’t quite back to normal, as you can imagine…but we’re getting close. Those of you who saw Roy in the hospital would be amazed to see how he’s doing now. His Uncle Jerry and Aunt Lisa came to visit us this weekend. They knocked on the door and Roy answered it. They were shocked…they thought that he was still in bed and didn’t get up for much. But he’s doing so good, we went out to eat with them and had a great time.

For occupational therapy Roy was assigned to do 2-3 household type tasks a day. So all this week he’s been vacuuming, making meals and desserts, doing laundry and grocery shopping. There’s not too much left for me to do around here!J

We will be in Salt Lake all through December, so if anyone is planning on being in the area please let us know so we can visit with you. We also plan on visiting both New Orleans and Arizona some time soon, so we look forward to seeing everyone. Please keep in touch and we will continue to keep everyone posted. Take care, we love you all!!

Love,

Mindee and Roy

SEPTEMBER 16, 2004

I thought I should add an update since I just came back from seeing Roy and Mindee

a few days ago. (Mindee's parents, Burr and Lois, two sisters Leslie and Amber, and

niece, Kysa went to Colorado to visit.) If I hadn't been there to witness what I saw, I

wouldn't have believed it. Then again, it is Roy we're talking about.

He had been suffering from horrible headaches almost constantly. That kept him from

being able to even sit up comfortably. The doctors adjusted the pressure of the shunt in

Roy's head before we arrived. That turned out to be a very smart move. Roy was free

of headaches almost entirely for the two days we were there! I am SO happy about that.

It would have been hard to see him in a lot of pain.

Instead, Roy was Roy. He was happy, whity, sweet, and hilarious.

My stomache hurt plenty of times, which is as it always is when I see Roy. And Mindee

was absolutely amazing! She rarely left his side. She slept next to his bed each

night and beautifully took care of Roy's every need.

We had a "game night". It was unbelievable. We all played two games and Roy played

right along with us the entire time! We played until about 11:00 pm. One of the games

we played required everyone to write down ten words that dad pulls out of nowhere and

then write down five words we associate with each of those ten words. I thought Roy and

Mindee would just team up for this game. Roy played by himself. He wrote the words

and everything!! It was so awesome to see!

The day we left, we got a call from Mindee. Roy stood up! And since then, he has taken

some steps! Incredible!!

We'd like to mention also that Mindee's sister, Rare (Cari), has moved down to live with

Mindee. She picked up everything and moved out there a few weeks ago. She has found

a part-time job to help with finances. Her help and support have been immeasurable to

Roy and Mindee. Thank you so much Rari!

We love you guys so much! Roy- keep up the awesome work you are doing. We are

always praying for you!

At their reception in St. David

Here is our contact information: Roy and Mindee Jones 3569 Heughs Canyon Cir Holladay, Ut 84121 Mindee;s Cell: 801-403-6571 Roy's Cell: 801-953-4513 Mindee's Email: mints23@hotmail.com Roy's Email: roywonder77@hotmail.com Feel free to write or call with any questions or anything else!