Joye's Update 5/23/08

Today was a very quiet day. Andrew had the upper GI done this morning and was back to his room by about 1:45pm. He was very sleepy from the anesthesia and he slept most of the afternoon. The results of this procedure came back as negative, so they've ruled a gastric problem out for causing Andrew the pain in his throat. Again, our prayer request to you is to please ask God to cure his pain in his throat so that he can move beyond this and concentrate on getting off the respirator. I'm sure tomorrow will be a better day and we thank you for your prayers. Good Night and God bless you all. Joye

Joye's Update 5/22/08

Well, although it was an exciting day in weather here in Colorado, it really was pretty quiet for Andrew. For those who don't know, there was a tornado about 50 miles from Craig Hospital today. Andrews nurse had to leave a little early today as it went right through where her home is. Andrew ate a pretty good lunch today (his largest meal to date since being here). He had a big turkey leg, potato cheese soup, cantaloupe, strawberries, and Gatorade to drink. He did well, but didn't have much of an appetite for dinner, which is to be expected for a while. Andrew will be having an upper GI done tomorrow so they can take a look and see if his sore throat is being caused from acid coming up from his stomach. It could very well be as Andrew has battled acid reflux for quite a few years now. If it is this, they feel confident they can get it under control and it will most likely take care of itself as he's eating now. Believe it or not acid can be a bigger problem when you have noting in your stomach than when you do. Other than that, Andrew is still enjoying my reading his book to him and he's still praying and has 100% faith that the Lord will heal him. Thank you again for your continued prayers and encouragement. Good Night and God Bless you all. Joye

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