Joye's Update 7/4/08

We had a pretty good 4th of July today with exception to the news that Andrew's X-ray came back that he has a small fracture in his foot from our wreck yesterday. There isn't any really bad swelling and, of course, Andrew is in no pain. There isn't much they can do about it except keep it elevated and they will have to be careful when they lift him and transfer him. I feel just terrible about it, but Andrew is still just laughing and joking about it that it's my driving. The hospital had a barbecue today that we went to and then tonight there was a 4th of July celebration on the roof of the parking garage with music and fireworks. It was nice and Andrew had a good time. It was also nice to know that I can handle things with Andrew on outings without all the support of the hospital staff. I was nervous about it, but it all went fine and I managed not to break any more bones. I pray that Andrew will continue wanting to go out on outings and will be up for that type of thing once we get home. Well, that's all for now . . . I'm exhausted; it's been a very full day. Good Night and God Bless. Joye

Joye's Update 7/3/08

Another good day today. Andrew weaned for 16 hours, had therapies, and rehab on his jaw. They are still working with me to prepare us for home . . . there is a lot to do. We will have to do some modifications to our home and there is a lot of equipment and supplies we'll need as well. They are doing a great job at preparing me for all of that. Andrew is trying to decide what kind of chair he wants, so they are letting him try all the kinds there are to choose from. I was trying to move him from one side of the room to the other today in one of the chairs he was trying and it moved forward and I couldn't get it to stop. I ran him into a cabinet and it turned his foot inward a bit. They don't think anything happened, but he'll have an X-ray tomorrow morning to make sure. I felt terrible . . . I hope it's not broken. Andrew has never broken a bone in his life, and I may have broken his foot while the poor guy was in a wheel chair. He just laughed at me and called me a "woman driver." Andrew's nurse told us many other stories about many other patients who've wrecked in chairs around here . . . it didn't make me feel any better though. His foot hadn't swollen or anything by the time I left his room tonight (thank God). And, his occupational therapist looked at that chair and did find a problem with the attendant driver on it . . . it still didn't make me feel any better either. We continue to pray for God to fully heal Andrew and Andrew's faith is strong in that the Lord will take care of him. We have not given up on God whatsoever . . . by becoming prepared for going home; we just know that we have to go on living and make the best life for us and our family as we can until God heals Andrew. Andrew is doing very well with this and is going to make the best of things; he has no intention of giving up or not enjoying his life or his family. He's at peace with things and knows God will see to it that he is taken care of. He is doing so well with his situation . . . I'm very proud of him. Thank you for all of your prayers . . . God is hearing them and He is working on this, I'm sure of it. Good Night and God Bless you all. Joye

Joye's Update 7/2/08

Another successful day! Andrew weaned for 16 hours, was up for 6 hours, and also had class and therapies. They will keep him at 16 hours for a while longer until they feel he can move on from there. His CO2 numbers are looking good, so I'm sure he will be able to proceed. We have met a lot of other patients and their families here at Craig. Believe it or not, there are many who are in worse condition than Andrew . . . I feel so bad for them and their loved ones. I pray for all of them. There are also a lot of people who are here and have literally lost everything (house, cars, jobs, etc.) due to their injury. We also see many people who are trying to make it through this journey without the Lord. I really pray for them . . . I could not imagine going through a tragedy like this without God. We feel so blessed to have so many of you praying for Andrew and sending your encouragement and love to us each day. We thank God for you. Good Night and God Bless. Joye

Joye's Update 7/1/08

Another pretty good day today. Andrew weaned for 16 hours, was up in his chair for 5 hours, had 2 hours of therapy, and we had 2 hours of class. He also had an hour of therapy for his jaw. He says it's starting to feel a little better, but that will take a lot more time to heal. The classes are very informative and will definitely help us to make decisions of what will be needed for Andrew to be comfortable and well cared for at home. We continue to pray for healing and we have concentrated our prayers on Andrew's weaning. His doctors continue to be amazed and it's so evident that God is answering our prayers. We have learned that it is very difficult for a person to breath with only half a diaphragm for as long as Andrew is able to, and especially doing so without causing the side that is not working to become unhealthy. Andrew's left lung is doing very well, which means he is using his ability to breath in a healthy way by drawing air from his trach, mouth, and nose . . . and most importantly, by not drawing air into the right side that works from the left side that does not. It's very common for patients who only have half a diaphragm to do this and it causes the non-working side to collapse. Andrew is breathing very strongly and is quite determined to get off the vent. We thank God for this and we thank you for all your prayers. Good Night and God Bless you all. Joye

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