Hospital officials say Lawrence County Sheriff Joel Thames hasbeen upgraded over the weekend to “stable in good condition” atUniversity of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson on Monday aftercollapsing in his home Thursday morning.

>”He’s doing much better,” said Undersheriff Willie Wallace.”He’s been up reading the paper and doing normal stuff.”

Wallace said the sheriff still has a tube in his throat thatallows him to breathe, so he’s not able to speak audibly yet.

Thames, who is in his third term as sheriff, has battled throatcancer in the past, and colleagues say they believed his collapsewas due to throat swelling that inhibited the sheriff’s breathing.He had been having trouble with his voice early last week, and adoctor had told him it was laryngitis, officials said.

Tests and bloodwork will be going on in the next few days,Lawrence County officials said.

“I think what they’ll do today is a little looking around, thedoctor’s going to see what he can find,” Wallace said. “I thinkthey’re going to take the tube out of his throat today too.”

Wallace said doctors monitored Thames’ progress over theweekend, and hopefully should be able to tell more about whatcaused his airway to swell within the next few days.

“We’ll know more today probably,” he said. “We think hopefullyhe’ll be okay.”

And, Wallace said, sheriff’s department officials are glad thatthe weekend was a quiet one in Thames’ absence.

“We’re doing good here, everything’s been real quiet,” hesaid.