Joye's Update 6/30/08

It was a good day today. Andrew weaned for 16 hours and was in his chair for over 6 hours. We began our classes today that will prepare us for going home. We will have these classes every weekday for the next 4 weeks. Andrew seems to be feeling positive about us beginning to prepare for going home. I feel that we are so blessed to be in this place that is so well equipped to help us get home with a lot of training and information; I cannot imagine not having this support. I believe that God is seeing us through this very difficult time and I also believe he will heal Andrew in His time. Please continue to pray for Andrew . . . God is hearing you and is taking such good care of us both. We both feel truly blessed. Good Night and God Bless. Joye

Joye's Update 6/29/08

Andrew had another good day today. Mario and Tara stopped by early this morning to say goodbye . . . it was such a good visit and we hated to see them leave. He felt good enough for me to be able to take him to church at the hospital chapel too. However, his jaw has been hurting him lately and seems to be getting worse. The doctors and dentist have looked at it and believe it's caused from straining when he breaths on his own. They say it will pass and they will begin rehabilitation on it tomorrow, but it will take a while. Andrew's nurse gave him a muscle relaxer to help his jaw pain at about 2pm and even while weaning, Andrew fell asleep for about 4 hours. He breathed just fine through the whole nap, but he was so surprised when he woke up. It scared him at first, but he was happy to know he could breath and sleep and the same time. Andrew weaned today for 16 hours. We have a full week ahead of us with classes that are supposed to help prepare us to go home. There's a lot to learn and a lot to plan and we've now begun that stage of this ordeal. One thing for sure, the people here at Craig are equipped with everything we'll need to do and know to get home . . . and Andrew is very much looking forward to going home. My biggest goal is to keep things as "normal" as possible while still being able to care for him. I will also do my very best to remain in the role as wife and not just care giver. They are doing a lot here to show us how to achieve that. And, as always . . . we will continue to pray for a full healing for Andrew, which we believe God will see to in His time. We can only ask that you all continue to pray with us for that healing, and we thank you for that. Good Night and God Bless. Joye

Joye's Update 6/27/08

I have to tell you that today was absolutely the best day that I personally have had with Andrew since he was injured. I didn't go over to his room until about 1:30pm today because I spent time this morning doing laundry and I needed to pick up some groceries at the store. He was already weaning by the time I got there and he had his "talker" in too. He was feeling good and ready to talk to me, which I was very happy about. We talked about the kids, about everything that's happened to him, about Yuma, and about how God is working in our lives. It was a great talk. Then later this afternoon Mario and Tara got here and we all had the best time together talking and laughing and enjoying our friendship. Andrew felt good all day and did so well breathing and keeping his "talker" in. Then I showed Tara the place I've been staying since I've been here and gave Mario and Andrew some "man" time together. I'm not sure what they talked about, but after Mario and Tara left tonight, Andrew told me how great it was to have that time with him. Andrew and I later had some time alone together and we again had such a great talk. We got to talking about all our family and friends and the phone rang; it was the kids and they were so happy when I had Andrew answer the phone. So he talked to them for a while and then after, we got to talking about our friends Barry and Marie Nicholson in Yuma. Andrew has known Barry since he was in the Marine Corp and Barry is also our pastor in Yuma. And so Andrew asked me to call him, which I did, and they were able to have a great conversation and Barry also prayed with Andrew. It was just a great day all around . . . I'm so thankful to God for this day. I'm really looking forward to tomorrow too. Mario and Tara are going to go by Andrew's room early in the morning to say goodbye as they have to return to Arizona, and I'm going to take Andrew to church services at the hospital chapel for the first time since he's been here. I know that God has blessed us with this great day and He has provided Andrew the strength and the healing he's needed to feel so much better and be able to enjoy Mario and Tara's visit. It warmed my heart more than I could ever describe to look at my husband lying in that bed in the condition he's in and to hear him say that he's a lucky man . . . what a blessing he is to me. Good Night and God Bless you all. Joye

Joye's Update 6/26/08

Another good day today for Andrew. He weaned for 12 hours (all they will let him go for now) quite easily. He was up in his chair for about 5.5 hours and had therapy for 2.5 hours of that. He was able to keep his "talker" thing on his trach for about 3 hours today so that he could visit with Mario and Tara. It was a great time for everyone . . . Andrew was cutting up and joking around like usual with us. It's been really great to be able to hear his voice. After Mario and Tara left for the night and Andrew and I were alone for awhile, I climbed up next to him on his bed and we watched TV for a while . . . things really felt "normal" for a just a little bit to be next to him for that time. I know that God is working all this out in His own time. I continue to pray for patience and I have faith that the Lord will grace Andrew with this miracle. I thank you all so much for your faith and your prayers. I believe that Andrew will be healed and he will breath, and move and touch, and feel, and walk again, and this is what I pray for each day. Good Night and God Bless. Joye

Joye's Update 6/25/08

Andrew had a pretty good day today. They limited him to only be able to wean for 12 hours as he was not blowing out enough CO2 towards the end of his longer weans yesterday and the day before. This just means he was getting too tired, so they are a little concerned he's going too long and want him to work a little more slowly towards more time weaning. He was very happy to have a "surprise" visit from Mario and Tara Diaz. It wasn't exactly a surprise because someone (I won't mention any names Denny) accidentally told him they were coming. :)~ I'm more surprised it wasn't me who slipped and told him . . . I'm not great at keeping secrets. It was great to see how happy it made Andrew to see them walk in though, and it was really great that Andrew was able to talk to them because he had his "talker" thing on his trach to be able to speak. Thank you so much for your words of encouragement . . . I know that God is hearing our prayers and will continue to work on this for Andrew. Good Night and God Bless. Joye

Joye's Update 6/25/08

Andrew had a pretty good day today with his breathing. He weaned for 14 hours and was up in his chair for 3.5 hours. They purposely had his time up in the chair limited today because he was very tired today and they are concerned he will get over fatigued. We had our monthly conference today, which involves his main doctor, nurse, physical therapist, psychologist, and social worker. We were able to see Andrew's latest MRI and each person gave a report on Andrew's progress and expected prognosis. Although a lot of the information we received, with regard to prognosis, was not all that great . . . we were told that they are amazed at Andrew's progress and he has far exceeded their earlier prognosis'. His MRI looked very scary . . . he has extensive damage to his spinal cord from C3 to C7. They are also concerned that Andrew may not be able to get off the ventilator. Even with his progress, there are still a lot of other components that have to work properly in order for him to be completely weaned from the vent. These were not great things for us to hear today, and although (after the conference) I really tried hard to help keep Andrew focused and to continue his faith in God to heal him . . . I'm worried the news today will set him back. So my prayer request to you tonight is to please pray that Andrew will persist with his vent weaning and that he will soon be completely free of the ventilator. Please pray for Andrew to breath on his own. Thank you so much for your prayers, we appreciate all of you so much. Good Night and God bless you all. Joye

Joye's Update 6/24/08

Things are still looking great! Andrew weaned for 13 hours today, was up in his chair for 6 hours during the wean, and he had 1.5 hours of therapy during the wean as well. He's really doing great and is well on his way to getting off that ventilator. We're still praying for his thumbs to move . . . he's determined to make that happen. Of all the articles and stories I've read about people who are paralyzed and begin having movement, one commonality with everyone is their will and determination to make their bodies move by starting with one little finger or toe. I've read most of those stories to Andrew and he's really trying hard to focus on those thumbs. Please remember to pray for that . . . with his will and our prayers and everyone's faith in God to make it happen, it will happen. Good Night and God Bless. Joye