Recovery is a process! Some things are easy, and some things take much longer.

Judah is having his “usual” recovery issues – he tends to retain a lot of fluid, particularly in his lungs. That makes breathing harder to do, and there are some non-invasive ways of dealing with that, and some more invasive ways if we need to. So far, we’re trying some diuretics and it seems to be helping. We’ll have to see if Judah needs any more help in getting rid of excess fluid.

He’s also still on quite a cocktail, and may be for several weeks. He spent a LOT of time on a very high dose of several addictive medications, so it’s a process to come off of them. For his last two surgeries, Judah had his tracheostomy! That meant that he didn’t need a breathing tube – the tube means that he needed a lot of pain medication because they are painful! So this is a part of the healing process we haven’t had to deal with in many years. As FORMER Trach Parents, we’re going to have to get used to a lot of new things these days!

Even with some hiccups and the slow recovery process, Judah has had moments of enjoying cartoons, playing with toys and sitting up to look at the world. He definitely does his best to shake off all his medications and has been fighting taking naps, which is the Judah we know and love.

We’d like to send a special birthday shout out to our Grammas Luba and Raya! We can’t wait until we can play again – and maybe even go swimming this summer! Have a wonderful day, and a year full of happiness, good health and love. We love you very much!

Once again, thank you for all the prayers and good thoughts. They TRULY work wonders, and help us heal! We love you all, family, friends and fans!

JNJ

Mama Bear