Afternoon report:

The screw poking up is not coming loose. It is at the part of his back that curves the most, so it sticks out farther than the others. They will remove the screw, and do some fancy plastic work to pull muscle and skin over that area. They will also remove the screw above that one as well since it sticks out a bit, too. This will not affect the stability of his rods. The surgery will have to wait until Chuck's front side is in better shape. He still has healing wounds. He'll be on his stomach for the surgery, so it must be in better shape. Now, if the screw breaks through the skin, all bets are off and he goes straight to the O.R. I'll keep you posted on his progress.

He has been on the trach collar for eight hours now. He'll get a break, and then back on he goes! His gut is still misbehaving. They changed up his meds, hoping to get his intestines to do their thang. So, GREAT report for breathing ... and decent report for the gut...he gets an overall B average.

Thanks for your prayers!