July 20

Hi everyone. Sorry it's been a while since I've updated. The Bertus' are still here and we are all sharing a computer to get online and it is not always possible after work to get in a few seconds. I will try to do better. Mark is gaining a little weight and we are all happy about that. We estimate he is up about 5 lbs. We did not hear anything from Pittsburgh this week. I called them Thursday to check on the status of things and they had not received anything from East Alabama hospital yet. I called and got transferred a million times (an overestimate of course, but it sure felt like it) and finally someone told me that they did send them (the films) LAST Friday as they were supposed to, but they didn't use FedEx, they just shipped them regular mail. I wanted to choke someone because the entire purpose of the conversation with them LAST week was that we wanted them to make us copies so that WE could FedEx them ourselves, but they insisted that they would do it. I then requested a copy of them and we picked them up ourselves Friday and shipped them overnight. They should be there first thing Monday morning for Dr. Bartlett. (I am still doubting whether the first set even got sent as I checked Friday and they hadn't arrived a week later regular mail-seems a little slow to me for a CD to be mailed). That set us back an entire week. We will wait and hear something this week on Mark's surgery now that we have the ball rolling again.

We spent this weekend in LaGrange for Colton's baseball tournament. The kids played well. They got runners up in the tournament. They won 4 of 5 games total and I think they would have been more of a threat in the third game today had they not played 3 games back to back in the heat. They were to the point they could hardly swing the bats. It was pitiful, but we enjoyed it and they kids had fun. The heat triggered a horrific migraine for me, so I spent the rest of the day in the bed and am just now feeling back to normal (everyone else is in bed and I probably won't be able to go back to sleep). Makes for a long work day tomorrow.

Thanks for the continued support. Mark has received a lot of phone calls this week and has been going in the the office and starting to feel more like himself. It is good to see that. We even took a walk in the neighborhood last night. We used to walk 3 miles, but we toned it down to a slow walk around the block. It was a big step for Mark and he did well. Keep Mark in your prayers as always. God bless!!!