Joye's Update 6/16/08

Andrew had an okay day today. His muscles in his neck and jaw are quite fatigued; therefore, causing him some pain. He tends to tense up in that area when he breaths on his own. He did not wean this morning, due the pain, but he was able to wean for 5 hours tonight. Andrew's enjoying having the kids here as well as my sister and her husband being here for him to visit with. It's been nice having my brother-in-law (Billy) here because he likes to get up early and spend time with Andrew in the morning, giving me a chance to sleep in a little. Billy likes to tell the nurses that he's Andrew's brother. Billy is a 5'8" (white) man :) Thank you for all your prayers and words of encouragement. Good Night and God bless. Joye

Joye's Update 6/15/08

This is Jennifer posting for Joye tonight. I'm Andrew's niece. My mom, (Joye's sister)my dad, and Bobbi (Joye's Daughter) all arrived this evening and are staying for a week. We drove from Wickenburg, Az which seemed like a never ending drive. When we got here we went straight into Andrew's room and when we walked in he smiled. My parents had their share of time talking to him, and when it was mine and Bobbi's we stood next to his bed and he winked at us :) we talked to him for a few minutes but he couldn't talk because his jaw was hurting. Since he was weaning we didn't stay for long so that he could concentrate, but when we went up later he was still weaning so we sat in there to keep him company. Andrew only weaned for an hour and a half this morning because he was tired and his neck and jaw were hurting so they thought that it would be better for him to spend the day resting. Tonight he weaned for 5 hrs and was still working hard when we left the room. He also fell asleep while he was weaning which is good news. Thank you for all of your prayers. Goodnight

Joye's Update 6/14/08

A pretty good day today. Andrew weaned for 4 hours, got up for 2 hours, and then weaned again in the afternoon. He was very tired and went to bed early tonight. The kids and I printed out some pictures that Drew's aunt Tawnee took of the kids (thank you Tawnee), and we put them in frames for Andrew's room . . . for Father's Day tomorrow. We will try our best to make tomorrow a special day for Andrew. Andrew is supposed to do a full wean tomorrow while sitting in his chair, and by the first of next week they are hoping he will get in a full 8-hour wean in. After he masters that, he will begin doing weans in the night while he's sleeping. Thank you for your prayers . . . I believe it's so obvious that God is hearing all of our prayers and is answering them as Andrew is doing so much better than anyone (except me) expected. Our faith is in the Lord and that He will grace Andrew with this miracle. Good Night and God bless. Joye

Joye's Update 6/13/08

This post is being composed by the kids (Drew and C.J.); I'm typing because I spell better :)

This morning Andrew weaned (Drew says winged) for 4 hours . . . Drew also says, "What a weaner." Andrew also talked today because they put a special thing on his trach tube that allowed him to speak. We (Drew and C.J.) were in Andrew's room and Andrew had us call Joye so he could speak to her and he told her to come over to the room so he could talk to her in person. Then Joye called her sister (Darla)for Andrew to talk to her and he joked around and called everyone "crack heads," as usual. Then Andrew got up in his chair and went to therapy and was up for 4 hours, and during the time he was up we gave him his homemade juice. We left the room tonight while Andrew was still weaning, so we'll find out how long he weaned tomorrow. Thank you for praying for Andrew and please continue until he walks again. Drew and C.J.

Joye's Update 6/12/08

Andrew did well again today. He weaned for 2.5 hours this morning, was up for 2 hours for physical therapy, and then he weaned for 3 hours tonight. He's very, very tired and I'm sure he'll get a good night's sleep tonight. He's doing great and his faith is his strength. Thank you all for you prayers and words of encouragement. Good Night and God Bless you all. Joye

Joye's Update 6/11/08

Another successful day! Andrew weaned this morning for 2 hours, got up in his chair for therapy for 2 hours, and then weaned for another 2 hours this evening. He ate scrambled eggs for breakfast and had some freshly brewed (organic) vegetable juice and fruit juice for lunch. He was too tired to get up to eat or drink any dinner tonight. His tube feed is only going half time now (as of today), so that should increase his appetite. He is definitely the talk of the floor with the doctors and nurses with how well he's doing on his weaning . . . everyone is very impressed and surprised at how quickly he went from doing 20 to 30 minutes to 2 hours. It's much harder for patients with only half their diaphragm working to wean and eventually get off the vent, and he's obviously doing much better than expected. I'm very proud and very relieved for sure. I thank God for this improvement and I thank all of you for your many prayers and faith. Good Night and God Bless. Joye

Joye's Update 6/10/08

A pretty decent day today. Andrew's early (2) weans were not as good as he's been doing because they are now trying to incorporate weaning and getting up in his chair at the same time. It is much more difficult to push the diaphragm up while sitting up in a chair, so this too will take some practice. I'm actually in the room with Andrew now as he's weaning his third wean today and it's been 1.5 hours so far and his goal is 2 hours. He's having no trouble so far. I've been reading (as usual) about spinal cord injuries and how important nutrition is to recovery; therefore, I've decided (with Andrew's and his dietitian's okay) that I am going to take over his nutritional needs. It's not that the hospital isn't feeding him okay food, but it is "hospital" food and from what I can see, not so nutritional (weird huh). Andrew really has very little appetite and because he still does not breath through his nose or mouth, he's unable to smell and taste is quite limited as well. Of everything I've read, it appears that juicing organic veggies and fruit is the most beneficial way for him to get good nutrition (easily). So, I immediately bought a juicer and ordered a juicing book for healing recipes. I will also do my best to get organic "lean" meat into him as I can, but he has a hard time chewing with his c-collar on (which he still has to wear while sitting up). Legumes, some dairy, and whole wheat products are also quite important and will be incorporated into the menu as well. Everything will have to go through his dietitian as it's also VERY important for Andrew not to gain weight as extra pounds can cause stress on his skin and Andrew has only lost somewhere between 15 and 20 pounds since his injury, so he has no room to gain at all. I'm very excited to get started on this, and so is his nurse as she's been trying to get him off the feeding tube for a while now, but has been unable to because with his low appetite he isn't consuming enough calories to warrant it. We're still keeping the faith and have no doubt that in His time, God will heal Andrew. We're so happy to hear and read that so many of you are praying; so many of you have touched our hearts deeply. Good Night and God bless you all. Joye. PS: In 10 more minutes it will be a 2 hour wean (another record) :)