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

Joye's Update 6/23/08

Another good day today. Andrew weaned for 10.5 hours today, and for 4 of those hours, he was up in his chair . . . and, he went through 2 hours of therapy at that same time. He was very tired tonight when I left, but feeling very proud of himself. I'm very proud of him too. He's doing very well with his breathing and is looking forward to getting off the vent and getting on to more rigorous physical therapy. We continue to pray and are keeping our faith in God to heal Andrew, and we thank you for your continued prayers and faith in God's healing. Good Night and God Bless you all. Joye

Joye's Update 6/22/08

Another good day today. Andrew weaned for 9 hours, 10 minutes. He was going for 10 hours, but started falling asleep, and although he can definitely breath while he sleeps . . . he still gets uncomfortable with it, so he decided to stop at that time. He's still concentrating hard on his thumbs, so keep those prayers coming on the thumbs. We still continue our faith in the Lord healing Andrew and we so appreciate all of your prayers and words of encouragement. Good Night and God Bless. Joye

Joye's Update 6/21/08

We have another record! Andrew weaned for 8 hours straight today. He was tired when he was finished, but not over tired, which is good. The kids and my family left this morning, so I was pretty sad most of the day. I will really miss having them around and so will Andrew. Hopefully they will be able to return soon. We thank you all so much for all your prayers. God is hearing them and is healing Andrew; I just know it. Even with some of these set-backs, Andrew still has complete faith that the Lord will heal him. Andrew has been concentrating very hard on trying to move his thumbs . . . (one thing at a time). Please pray for Andrew to have the strength and the focus to begin to move his thumbs. It's kind of like building a new path through the spinal cord . . . it's how numerous people with spinal cord injuries have gone about getting movement back, and Andrew has committed himself to this. So right now . . . it's all about the thumbs :) His breathing is obviously doing great and is right on track with that (thank God). Good night and God Bless you all. Joye