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

Joye's Update 5/28/08

Not too much to report today . . . just a lot of rest for Andrew. They changed his trach today to see if a different type would be more comfortable and help ease his throat pain that still persists. So far there has been no relief, but it could be a day or two before he feels a difference. He was still able to wean today and (thankfully) will be able to continue that part of his rehab even though he has been ordered to bed rest until his blood clots are gone. He may actually be off the ventilator before he's able to get out of bed . . . which is fine, breathing on his own is still the number one focus right now. Andrew is setting one goal at a time as to not overwhelm himself, and his primary focus for now is breathing. He will tackle everything else one thing at a time, and he has vowed that he WILL get to everything. Andrew will do the hard work, but the glory will be to God for healing him. Thank you for your prayers and words of encouragement . . . God is good and will work all this out in His own time. Good Night and God Bless you all. Joye

Joye's Update 5/27/08

It was a very long day today. I do have some news; however, regarding why Andrew continues to develop blood clots. Andrews hematologist has discovered that he has a blood disorder that causes his blood to clot easily and then is unable to break the clot up as normal blood can usually do. He most likely has had this disorder for his entire life. The good news is . . . this is treatable and they are now treating it. This will slow his recovery down a bit; however, with all of this going on, Andrew still weaned today. He's doing excellent with his vent weans. The worst news is he will have to remain in bed with his head below 20 degrees for the time being; therefore, he will be unable to eat until his head is able to be up above 80 degrees again. He will, of course, also be unable to get in his chair for a while too. He's not discouraged, just thankful they found the disorder and are able to treat it. Although the clots in his legs are quite serious, his doctors are encouraged that he will get beyond this "bump" in the road. Please keep praying and please keep posting and emailing . . . it helps so much. Good Night and God Bless. Joye