I just got back from the hospital from an incredibly uplifting visit with Carson. When I arrived he was awake, though he had been sleeping most of the day and was still pretty wiped out. Again, thank you everyone for your faith and patience. Carson was astounded by the many letters we got from people around the country saying they were fasting and praying for Carson today. What an encouraging feeling it brought to him. He thanks everyone for their prayers. (But you'll see that in the youtube video that will soon be posted!)
A bunch of ward members at church today wrote Carson notes on thin strips of Carson's favorite colors of paper. (Blue and yellow, "but not pee yellow!") They made a paper chain to decorate his room with notes from people. There will be sheets in the room for people when they are able to visit so they can add to the chain. Sadly, it is still not okay to have visitors right now. Hopefully we will get to that point soon! Thank you for your understanding. The rest has been invaluable for Carson.
Tonight he was more awake than I have ever seen him before, he was vibrant, alert, and witty as always. Our visit wasn't too long, and by the end he was pretty tired. He also received a visit from one of his former nurses in the ICU. She was so kind to come and visit after her shift. You can tell she had such a great love for Carson and missed him a lot. It is true that Carson has had angels as nurses. You can see an immense love in his eyes when he speaks to them!
His mom shared a quote with me of something that he had said earlier in the day. He said, " I have three short term goals for today. 1) That I won't feel death in my neck when I sit up. 2) To be able to eat. and 3) to pass my bloody swallow test!" Those are good things to pray for specifically as we are going forward.
Carson was very conversational today and very optimistic, his mom asked him, "Carson, is it hard to be so chipper?" He said, "No, if I'm chipper I'm chipper. If I'm not chipper, I'm not chipper. This isn't a show." I can testify that is true. It truly seems that his spirits are high. While he was awake and attentive we read him a couple letters. He loves hearing from people. Thank you for everyone's letter writing. Keep them coming, you can write Carson as often as you'd like. There have been a number of writers that have been very faithful. Keep up the great work!
The rest of the night we were able to just chat. We chatted like old times, as if we were sitting on a park bench just passing time. There was something so familiar about our conversation. It was great to see him so comfortable with talking. I asked for his advice on a number of things and he gave me such insightful and thoughtful answers. We laughed, we cried, and laughed some more. He just has this way of making you feel like the most important person in the world while you're speaking with him. That kid will never cease to amaze me!
