Joye's Update 6/4/08

Another pretty good day today. Andrew was able to get up in his chair for the first time since his blood clots. He stayed up for about an hour and a half. He did have a headache after, which was to be expected as he's going to have to build a tolerance to it again. An ENT (Ear, Nose and Throat) doctor saw him today to help try and determine where Andrew's throat pain is coming from. And, finally, he was able to find something. Andrew has a small scratch in his throat (most likely happened when Andrew first had the tube placed when he first coded, as this is pretty common in emergency situations) which is being agitated constantly from acid reflux and making it unable to heal. Thank Heaven someone finally diagnosed the problem! Andrew will be able to be treated with an inhaler with medicine that should take this thing away within a week. Other than that, we continue to pray and keep our faith in the Lord that He will heal Andrew completely. Because Andrew's "injury" was not a result of a traumatic event like a car accident or a fall or something, doctors just aren't sure how permanent his situation is. This gives us great hope, and with this hope and prayer . . . we hold not doubt that Andrew will fully recover. This is all in God's hands and we know He is working on this for Andrew. Thank you for your prayers and faith in God to heal Andrew. Good Night and God Bless. Joye

Joye's Update 6/3/08

A better day today . . . Andrew's headache was a little better today. He had an MRI done on his brain and neck today which took a very long time. Andrew has blood draws every 6 hours to monitor his blood count as he's on a lot of blood thinner, and due to the clots in his legs and a picc line in his right arm, they are only allowed to draw from the left arm. For his draw this afternoon, the lady drawing his blood chose to do so on the top of his left hand, of which many draws have come from the exact same place before, but today he actually felt her stick him with the needle and draw the blood. It was very exciting. Our prayers are being heard, so please continue to pray for Andrew . . . it's the best thing we can all do for him. Good Night and God Bless you all. Joye

Joye's Update 6/2/08

Andrew had a pretty okay day today. He is still having bad headaches and so another doctor has been brought in to address this issue more aggressively. Andrew had a CT done this afternoon and tomorrow he will have an MRI done on his neck and brain so they can (again) rule out the scary stuff. A bit of good news . . . the blood thinner is finally at the right amount to be working on the blood clots. It takes a while to find that right amount to become "therapeutic" and it's finally at that point. Other than that, he's just looking forward to the kids getting here on Sunday and trying to rest when he can as the headaches keep him from getting good rest lately. Thank you for your prayers . . . Andrew continues to pray and is still looking up to God to take care of this situation for him. Good Night and God Bless. Joye

Joye's Update 6/1/08

Another quiet day, but my wonderful husband made today a very special day. Not that I want to advertise getting another year older, but today was my birthday and when I walked into Andrew's hospital room, I was greeted with a dozen roses and a chocolate truffle cheesecake that Andrew asked one of the nurses to get for me. He's so sweet. Other than that, I was successful at getting Andrew to stay awake during the day and when I left tonight he was out like a light. I was also told today that he is charted to get up in the chair sometime this week as the blood thinners should be working on the clots; so hopefully that will be the case . . . and then he should be able to start eating real food again. Thank you again for all your prayers and thoughtful words of encouragement. Good Night and God Bless. Joye

Joye's Update 5/31/08

A VERY quiet day today as Andrew has managed to get completely upside down on his days and nights. He has slowly managed to stop sleeping at night and now sleeps all day long. I'm going to do my best to get him to stay awake as much as possible tomorrow. I tried really hard to do that today . . . he still ended up falling asleep on me as I talked to him, read to him, put the TV on for him, etc . . . not unlike our life in Yuma (kidding). Tomorrow I'm going to put to good use some of the movies that Ken Hewitt brought to him when we were in Phoenix; hopefully Andrew will be able to stay awake for that tomorrow (thanks Ken!). We still continue to pray for the blood clots to go away, and as always we pray for complete healing. Our faith is in the belief that God will say the Word and it will be. Good Night and God Bless. Joye

Joye's Update 5/30/08

Yet another quiet day today. Andrew is going to have many days like this where his only rehabilitation efforts can be with his breathing, until his blood clots in his legs are taken care of. He seems to be fairly comfortable with periodic headaches and throat pain (still) throughout the day. I suggested today that he try watching a little TV to try and take his mind off any pain he may be having. He watched a few shows and agreed that it did take his mind off the pain for a while, so that definitely helped him through his day. I am able to use the gym at the hospital's wellness center, and was on the elliptical machine tonight when it really hit me how much I missed Andrew being next to me on his own elliptical (going much fast than I) as we did at the YMCA in Yuma . . . I also realize with God's healing, he'll be right there beside me again, very soon (making me look like I'm standing still). Andrew was also moved to another area today, basically because the space became available and it's probably the best area in the hospital as it has windows half way around the room. All the nurses wanted to get him over there to help brighten his day with the wonderful view of the trees and sunshine. It's much more cheerful over there. Thank you for your prayers, please continue to pray and please specifically pray for the blood clots to go away . . . Thank you so much for that. Good Night and God Bless you all. Joye

Joye's Update 5/29/08

Another very quiet day. This bed rest stuff is pretty boring, but very necessary. Our kids are going to be coming in about a week and a half, so Andrew's really looking forward to that. His legs measured about 10 cm smaller today, so that was very good news. His doctor has not given us any time frame as to how long he will have to be on bed rest, so we're praying it won't be too long as to not hold up his recovery too long. Please keep praying . . . God is listening and is working on this for Andrew; and we cannot thank you enough for all the praying you have been doing all along for him . . . it's all in God's hands and your prayers are the medicine Andrew needs for his recovery. Good night and God bless. Joye