Joye's Update 5/21/08.

Well today was a "mixed" day with regard to news (a little good news a little not so good news). Andrew has been having an enormous amount of pain in his throat, basically ever since he got his tracheotomy done. It's been far enough out since that surgery that he should not be in the amount of pain he's in. And, because of this pain, he's still having to have a lot of pain medication which is making him sleeping and just sort of "out of it," making it difficult to continue with important rehab stuff like weaning and gym activities. So, he had what's called a broncoscopy which is where they put a tube down his nose with a scope on it to let them look at his throat and lungs. He had many of these while in the CCU at Thunderbird and these things are not pleasant to say the least. So on to the good news first. They found that (amazingly) his pneumonia is GONE! Prayer works . . . that's all I have to say about that. The not so good news . . . they found nothing wrong with his throat that would be causing this pain. Everything looked fine, so they are sort of perplexed about that. They are going to do a different type procedure on Friday that will allow them to take an even better look (I can't remember what they called it). So . . . our prayer request for tonight is that whatever is causing this pain in his throat be healed and gone for good. If Andrew can get off of some of these pain medications, he could really concentrate harder on weaning and getting off the vent and then on to some really hard work with physical and occupational therapy. God is hearing these prayers . . . He heard the prayers to heal the pneumonia (that's just so obvious to me), He has given Andrew the ability to swallow, and He got Andrew to this wonderful hospital, and really so very much more. God is working on this for Andrew, there is no doubt. I was also able to read chapter 2 of "The Miracle Man" to Andrew tonight. It's such a great book. Thank you again for your prayers, it's making the difference! Good Night and God Bless. Joye

Joye's Update 5/20/08

Another great day today! Andrew had a swallow test today and he passed; he can now eat! The test was done in radiology where he was given all different kinds of foods with different kinds of textures (and liquids) to swallow and they viewed it on an x-ray to make sure he was not aspirating the food (sucking it into his lungs). He did great with every swallow. And he was in complete heaven eating those foods and drinking the liquids. His eyes were so lit up and he was just smiling and smiling. He was so excited and I could tell he just wanted to say something to tell me how great it felt, so he mouthed "I love you" to me to show me his excitement. It was so sweet and a really precious moment. He was up for 4 hours today in his chair, which tired him out a lot, so he wasn't able to eat his dinner tonight because they didn't want him to eat his first meal while being so tired as that can be dangerous. He was okay with it though; he just wanted to sleep. And, he will still be receiving his tube feed at night until he is able to eat at least 3,000 calories a day in food. So his first meal will be breakfast tomorrow. He was also too tired for me to read another chapter in the book I'm reading him "The Miracle Man," but I was able to read through the 7th chapter on my own (I couldn't help it). I cannot tell you how similar the experiences that this man endured are to the experiences Andrew has gone through while being hospitalized. Not everything is the same, but a lot is. I can't wait to read more to Andrew. God is awesome and He is listening and He is healing Andrew. There was a time when we were told that Andrew would not be able to eat as his swallow reflex and gag reflex were not there . . . God is healing him, it is evident. Thank you for your prayers and your blog posts and for the personal emails we've received; they mean the world to us. Good Night and God bless you all. Joye

Joye's Update 5/19/08

Another pretty good day today. Andrew weaned twice (30 minutes each), and they were going to try and get another wean in tonight after I left for the night. I wanted to begin tonight having Andrew listen to the audio book I have for him "90 Minutes In Heaven," but instead, he wanted me to begin reading the other book I had ordered "The Miracle Man" written by Morris Goodman. It's a true story about a man who crashed a small airplane and should not have survived and though he did he should never have been able to do anything but lay in a bed on a ventilator. He not only survived, but he now breaths and walks and has recovered beyond anyones (including doctors) wildest expectations. I will read Andrew a chapter each night; Andrew listened very intently tonight to the first chapter. It's a very inspirational story of a mans will to recover. I know that Andrew (too) has the will to recover and with his faith in God, I have no doubt he will be the next miracle man. I told him that when he recovers we will write his own book called "The Miracle Black Man." He laughed and thought that was a pretty good idea. Please continue to pray, God hears our prayers. Good Night and God Bless. Joye

Joye's Update 5/18/08

We have a new record! Andrew weaned today for 30 minutes straight. He was very tired after, but it is a really great thing that he's able to do this now. He also sat up in the chair for 2 hours. He did end up with a headache, but I rubbed him and coaxed him into relaxing a little and the headache didn't last as long. I know it doesn't seem like a lot is happening, but these little improvements are really huge. It will take a little while, but I know Andrew can get off the ventilator . . . he's improving everyday with it. His determination is amazing and he's keeping the faith. Thank you for your prayers and encouragement. God is good and is his healer. Good Night and God Bless. Joye

Joye's Update 5/17/08

Andrew had a pretty good day today. He weaned twice and was up in his chair for 2 hours. He had a headache for a small portion of the day, but is learning to relax his shoulders better to help with that. They've determined that his headaches are as a result of a lot of tension in his neck and shoulders. Andrew has to remember to relax and let his shoulders down to keep the headaches from happening. I rubbed his shoulders a lot today and that seemed to work pretty well at getting rid of the headache. Andrew still has an iron will and he is still very determined to beat this. We've had a lot of opportunity in the past few days to communicate, and Andrew has relayed to me that his faith in the Lord is still as strong as ever and he believes God will heal him in His own time. Andrew also said that he feels very blessed that so many people are praying for him. Thank you so much for that. Good Night and God Bless. Joye

Joye's Update 5/16/08

Another pretty quiet day today. Andrew had a headache again today. He still was able to get up for about an hour and then he was pretty wiped out the rest of the day. It will take a while for him to get over his headaches until his neck and shoulder muscles are in better shape as he's getting up regularly now. Hopefully he will feel better again tomorrow. Thank you all for continually lifting Andrew in prayer . . . it's what is needed most at this time. Good Night and God Bless you all. Joye

Joye's Update 5/15/08

Andrew is back on track again. He felt much better today. His head still hurt a bit, but nothing like it was yesterday. He got up in his chair for 2 hours and 10 minutes. He then slept for a while and then he did a vent wean. He is scheduled to have a swallow test early in the morning to determine whether he has use of the right muscles to swallow correctly and then hopefully he will soon be able to eat food again. They will just have to put a different kind of trach in to allow this function. So lets pray he has use of the right muscles for that. He is also scheduled to be up for a longer period of time tomorrow and he should have at least 3 different vent weans scheduled as well. The book (90 Minutes In Heaven) should be here tomorrow and Andrew's actually looking forward to listening to it. The TV in his room has not been turned on one time since we've been here; Andrew's had no interest in watching it so far . . . which, for those of you who really know Andrew know this is completely out of character for him. I asked him why he doesn't want to watch anything and he says he just doesn't know why, only that he doesn't want to. He was in a pretty good mood tonight, joking around with everyone; so I know he's definitely feeling better. He still prays all the time and he continues to have 100% faith that he will walk again . . . his strength is amazing. I didn't think it was possible to love him anymore than I did, but I love that man more and more everyday as I watch him fight this fight; he's so wonderful. Okay, I got gushy there for a moment :) I was able to finally catch him up after a few days on your posts today . . . he was happy to hear from you all. Thank you again for all your prayers and words of encouragement, it is making such a difference in his recovery. Good Night and God Bless. Joye