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Relay for Life....Team Judd

2010-02-04T21:04:00.003-06:00

Hello everyone! One of my dearest friends is raising money for the American Cancer Society Relay for Life. It is an honor that he has named his team "Team Judd". Please read below...thanks for all the continued support and prayers! Love you all! Michelle

From Connor Porterfield:

"This year, I am helping save lives from cancer by taking part in the American Cancer Society Relay For Life®, at my high school, Vestavia Hills High School. The name of my team is Team Judd. My team is walking in memory of Steven Judd. And I’m hoping you will support my team by making a donation in memory of Steven. No donation is too small. Every dollar counts in helping to find a cure for cancer. It is so easy to make a donation.

Go to http://www.facebook.com/l/913e2 or www.RelayforLife.org/vestavia.

Click on "Donate" and then you search my name, and from there the website explains everything. Although most people donate online by using a credit card, if you would like to make a cash or check donation, you can give it to me or my mom at church and we will mail it in to the American Cancer Society. Checks are made payable to the American Cancer Society.
Thank you so much, Connor"

Back to Work!

2009-06-10T09:23:00.004-05:00

First of all I would like to thank everyone from the bottom of my heart for the prayers, cards, visits, and concern through Steven's illness and passing. Everyone has been wonderful to me and the kids and I will be forever grateful. To bring everyone up to date, we are doing good. We are getting adjusted to our life. Even though Steven is not physically with us we talk about him like he is. Pierce and Peyton watch the video of their daddy daily which is bittersweet.

This is my first week back at work. Another change to get use to but every day is getting easier. They are keeping me busy which is great. During the summer at daycare the kids get to have waterplay weekly and the ice cream man comes on Friday. That is their highlight of the week! Pierce gets to go on weekly fieldtrips now that he is in 4K. He told me they were going camping this week so I better check into that one. Peyton is trying to keep up with her brother. She is not afraid of anything as long as it does not make a loud noise. Her vocabulary is increasing daily.

I will try and do a better job of keeping everyone up to date. Despite the events we are staying busy. I will also try and post some pictures. Again I can not thank you enough!

Love,

Michelle

Many Thanks

2009-05-07T22:35:00.003-05:00

I just wanted to personally thank everyone for today! It was amazing to see all the people who cared and loved Steven so much today at the funeral. The singing was amazing! Michelle and I both commented to each other during the singing how wonderful it sounded! The service was so nice and many of you drove (and flew) a long way to get here! Thank you! Also, for the ladies/men who helped with the meal for the family and out of town guests today...it was great! Steven would have loved the Ole Miss colors! After this post, I am going to turn this blog over to Michelle. I'm sure in time she will post things about her and the kids! She truly is one of my closest friends. Many of you asked me today how we knew each other....we have gone to church together for the past 5 years. Also, my husband left from Ft. Hood, Texas for Afghanistan last July and I came home to Alabama. I started living with them approx. 2 nights a week because their house was 5 minutes from my work...and my parents house was 1 hour from my work! Steven and Michelle have truly been a blessing to me through this deployment. They really have made my life easier this year. As I head back to Texas soon to welcome home a deployed soldier, this friendship I have had with Steven and Michelle will never be replaced and will continue to grow with Michelle for many years to come! May God Bless You All! Love, Beth Soechting

Directions

2009-05-06T17:07:00.002-05:00

Here are the directions to the church building for out of town guests and family after the service:

DIRECTIONS TO THE
HOOVER CHURCH OF CHRIST
3248 Lorna Road205-822-5610

From the funeral home turn left onto John Hawkins Parkway (Highway 150)

Cross Highway 31 and the street name changes to Lorna Road

Go approximately two miles and the church will be on the left at the corner of Lorna Road and Patton Chapel Road. (A Chevron service station will be on the opposite corner also on the left at this intersection)

Letters from Ole Miss

2009-05-06T09:42:00.003-05:00

To the Judd Family,

The Ole Miss family would like to extend our heartfelt sympathy in the loss of Steven. By what I hear, Steven was a HUGE Ole Miss Rebel fan.

We send you our love and prayers to give you strength during this time.
We cannot ask why these things happen, but accept them and know that he is in a much better place.

With great personal sorrow, I ask to share your loss and to extend my heartfelt sympathy.

Sincerely,

Houston Nutt
Head Football Coach
University of Mississippi

To the Family and Friends of Steven Judd:

Margaret and I extend our deepest sympathy to all of you in your recent death of Steven. No words of ours can remove the pain of the loss you have experienced, but we hope that your happy times together and your wonderful memories of those times will be comfort.

Please know that our thougths and prayers will continue to be with all of you.

Warmest Regards,
Robert C. Khayat
Chancellor
The University of Mississippi

Out of town guests and family

2009-05-05T19:01:00.003-05:00

Michelle would like to invite all out of town guests and family to come to Hoover Church of Christ after the service to eat dinner with Michelle and Steven's family.

Location:
The Hoover Church of Christ is conveniently located at the intersection of Lorna Road and Rocky Ridge Road in Hoover, Alabama (just south of Birmingham). Interstates 65 and 459 are within easy driving distance. We are within minutes of the Galleria shopping mall, the Wynfrey Hotel and the Hoover Metropolitan Stadium (Hoover Met). Please use mapquest for specific directions to the church building.

3248 Lorna Road
Hoover, Alabama 35216
Phone: (205) 822-5610

If you have any questions about dinner, please email Helen at hoovercoc@bellsouth.net

Thank you all!

Funeral Arrangements

2009-05-05T17:48:00.003-05:00

The funeral will be at Jefferson Currie Memorial on Hwy 150 in Hoover, AL. Visitation will be from 12:00 - 2:00 on Thursday. The service will follow the visitation at 2:00 in the chapel of the funeral home. After the service, the family will have a private gathering at the mausoleum.

In lieu of flowers, please make donations to:

Brain Tumor Treatment & Research Program
510 20th Street South FOT 1020
Birmingham, AL 35294

Address

2009-05-04T19:57:00.002-05:00

You all have been so kind to Michelle...many of you have asked for her address...I hope this helps!

Michelle, Pierce, and Peyton Judd
5784 Cypress Trace
Hoover, AL 35244

Info

2009-05-04T14:50:00.003-05:00

As of right now, the funeral arrangements have not been made. They are going to the funeral home in the morning to figure all that out. They are trying to have it on Thursday. Also, many of you have asked how you can help or what you can do. Some ladies from church have put together a trust fund in honor of Steven to help take care of Pierce and Peyton. Also, the paypal on the right side of the blog will be put into this account as well. If you would like to donate to this...please look at the info below or to the right.

Make checks payable to: (Please drop the check off or mail it to this specific bank below)
The Steven Judd Memorial Fund
c/o Colonial Bank (Vestavia Branch)
1034 Montgomery Hwy
Vestavia Hills, AL 35216

For those of you who are out of town and will be coming to the funeral, here is a hotel that is close by:

Hampton Inn
4520 Galleria Blvd
Hoover, AL 35244
205-380-3300

Thank you...if you have any questions about coming in...please email or call me. I will be happy to help.

Beth
205-396-9526
bethsoechting@gmail.com

He's gone Home

2009-05-04T12:14:00.003-05:00

Steven just passed away. He is now in a better place. Please pray for Michelle and the kids. They need many prayers! Thanks for everything...Beth

It's time...

2009-05-04T11:55:00.003-05:00

They are taking the ventalitor out of Steven at this time. Please prayer that he leaves this earth peacefully. Please pray for Michelle to have strength through this.

Praying for peace...

2009-05-03T21:48:00.003-05:00

Michelle has just left the hospital. His pressure is up and there is nothing left to do. Steven will soon be in a better place...please pray that Steven is comfortable at this time. Please also pray for Michelle as she begins this journey. She told me tonight "My heart is broken but peaceful at the same time". Please, please pray for Steven throughout the night...also, please pray for Michelle to have strength and continue to lean on God during this time. I know we all are in constant prayer...Thank you again for all the support you have given them. She cannot thank you enough. I will keep you posted.

Update 7:30 pm

2009-05-03T19:32:00.003-05:00

I just spoke with Michelle. She said that Steven is still the same and that they are meeting with the doctors in the morning. She is completely overwhelmed (in a good way) with all the support from everywhere! Please say an extra prayer tonight for them both! Thanks...

Quick update

2009-05-03T12:31:00.003-05:00

I talked with Michelle's dad a few minutes ago. Nothing has changed since the last post. He is still sedated and they are wanting him to rest as much as possible. I talked with Michelle through a text today and her family from Atlanta is in. As soon as I know more, I will let you know.

Update 4:00pm

2009-05-02T15:55:00.004-05:00

I just talked to Michelle. Everything is about the same. The doctors have sedated him today and tomorrow to help rest his brain. She is at the hospital and will be heading home in a while to eat dinner with the kids. Please continue to pray for Steven and Michelle!!

No visitors please...

2009-05-02T10:17:00.002-05:00

Michelle has requested, as well as doctors, that no visitors come today or tomorrow. Only the immediate family is at the hospital at this time. The doctors are wanting him to rest. Michelle will call me if anything changes. She does not need anything at this time.

The past 3 weeks...

2009-05-02T00:10:00.004-05:00

I have had many people ask about Steven and what happened. I should have made that the first entry, but did not...sorry. About three weeks ago, Steven began to have a leg cramp as they were going to bed. When he stood up to "walk it out", he began to have an intense seizure. He was taken to the hospital, and found out that he had a tumor in his brain that was in a very difficult spot to operate on. He stayed in the hospital a couple of nights to regulate his seizure medicine (he had a few more at the hospital). After that, he went home and began working some. He couldn't drive or be alone, so someone was constantly around him (I'm sure for those of you who know Steven well, it drove him nuts that he couldn't drive!!) He had a biopsy two weeks after the first seizure (last Wednesday). The biopsy went well, and he went home the next day. On Saturday, he began to get sick and was taken back to the hospital. They found a blood clot and decided to keep him in ICU to watch it. This past Tuesday, Steven really began to struggle. He became non responsive so they did an emergency surgery to remove the clot. The surgery went well, but after that, Steven had a few strokes that has damaged parts of his brain. They put him back on the ventilator and he is in a coma. His brain was beginning to swell some when I left the hospital tonight, and his fever had been fluctuating throughout the day. I apologize for not giving more details earlier. Michelle has been reading to Steven all the cards that everyone has sent. One of the nurses told Michelle tonight that in all of her career, she had never seen as many visitors as Steven has had today! I hope I have given a clearer picture of what has happened over the last couple of weeks...and I hope it is accurate (Michelle...please correct me if I am wrong with anything!) Also, please notice on the comments that the head coach from Ole Miss wrote Steven! I thought that was very nice! I'll continue to update you when I know more....
Thanks, Beth

Update 4:30pm

2009-05-01T16:34:00.002-05:00

Steven is still about the same. His fever has gone down and he has a gag reflex ...which is good. Visiting hours are closed until further notice. Steven and Michelle have enjoyed the visitors today. Thank you all!

Visiting the hospital...

2009-05-01T10:43:00.002-05:00

Michelle has called and said that if you would like to see Steven, please come today. Michelle said she would be there at 12:00, so please go to the 4th floor and wait in the ICU waiting room. She will be in and out.

May 1st 9:50 am

2009-05-01T09:52:00.002-05:00

I just talked with Michelle. She went home last night to get some rest. She called the hospital on several occasions through the night. Steven is still the same as he was when we left. I just wanted to keep you all informed. I will let you know more later.

pray for the judds

2009-05-01T02:06:00.002-05:00

The emergency procedure went okay. He did not have as much fluid as they thought he did on his brain. Within an hour or so they did an MRI and it showed more sweling. Steven is now in a coma and his brain is continuing to swell. The next 24 - 72 hours are extremely critical. Please continue to pray for the family.

2009-05-01T02:06:00.000-05:00

Pray pray pray

2009-04-30T22:42:00.002-05:00

Steven is having an emergency procedure to remove spinal fluid that is causing excessive pressure. Please pray that this procedure is successful and that the resulting swelling will recede.

Update 5:30 pm

2009-04-30T17:41:00.002-05:00

Steven has been put back on the ventilator. A CT scan was done and it indicated a light stroke. He had to be sedated to reinsert the ventilator. The doctor does not know what, if any, damage the light stroke has caused and will not until he wakes up from the sedation.

Update on Steven 2:30 P.M.

2009-04-30T14:42:00.003-05:00

I just talked with Michelle. Steven is not responding to the nurses, and they have put the venilator back on. Also, Dr. Wilson has been called to the ICU. Michelle does not know more than that at this time. I will let you all know something ASAP.

A little more manlier...

2009-04-30T14:27:00.005-05:00

Okay...so I had a really cute blog template that I did yesterday that had pink, purple, and green ribbons on it...well...Michelle and I decided that when Steven saw the blog, he would probably say, "Make it a little more manlier". So...I did! I'm still working on it (well a friend of mine is helping me out a ton!)...and will continue to add more info. After this post, Michelle will be the one to write on this blog. I have set the email subscriptions to deliver from 1:00 - 3:00 pm central time. Please go ahead and place the website in your favorites and check often to see if Michelle has updated it. Also, if you have any pictures of Steven, Michelle, Pierce, or Peyton that you would like to post on this blog, please send those pictures to my email and I will load them on the slideshow. (My email address is in the first blog.) Michelle is also going to place this website on her status of facebook, as well as Steven's status on facebook (if she can figure out the password)!!! Please feel free to send this blog address to anyone you know!!! Thanks again...Beth

The Judds

2009-04-29T10:10:00.002-05:00

Hey everyone...it's Beth. I decided that I would start this blog for Michelle to try to help keep everyone updated on Steven's progress. I know she has been posting on Facebook some things, but this gives her a chance to give a little more detail about what is going on. If you would like, please subscribe to this blog (on the right of the page), and when Michelle or myself updates anything, it will be sent via email to you. I think this will help Michelle out a little more. Everyone has been extremely kind to Steven and Michelle and they cannot thank you enough! Please continue to pray for Steven and Michelle as they travel on this long road together. If you have any questions about the blog, please email me....I will be happy to help...

Thanks

Beth Soechting

bethsoechting@gmail.com