June 20, 2009
Andrew had a great week. Praise God! It began Monday with his first out-patient office visit with his TIRR doctors since leaving TIRR in January. The doctors documented noticeable improvement in Andrew's recovery. His good news was followed by an exciting week in therapy. On Thursday, Andrew was helped into a 'walker'. His feet were placed on pillowcases on a tiled floor. With straps supporting his hips, the therapist used a towel to help pull his left leg forward sliding on the floor. Andrew was able to slide his right leg along the floor on his own. All glory to God! Please continue to pray for Andrew and his healing.
Thursday, May 1
Andrew is home! It will take some time for his arms to heal - then he will return to rehab to work on his arms to restore movement. Continue to pray!!!
Tuesday, April 22
Andrew is scheduled to come home on Wednesday, April 30th! He still has a long road of recovery, but this will be a great time of rest for him and his family. He will be home for a couple of months and continue exercises that he and his family are being taught over the next few days.
The main purpose of coming home is to allow his body more time to heal. Later this week, his arms will be put in casts which will limit movement further. Once he gets his casts off, then he will return to rehab at which point they will be able to work him further. His breathing is continuing to improve. He is gaining more movement in his arms and he is continuing to have signs of movement and feeling in his legs. Keep Praying!
Saturday, April 19th
2:00pm: Andrew is in rehab and ready for some short visits. Please read above for visitation information.
Friday, April 18th
3:00pm: He is undergoing tests today. Occupational and physical therapy will start on Monday. Emotionally, Andrew is doing quite well now that most of the stronger meds are out of his system clearing his head. Not to mention he is now eating food!
Thursday, April 17th
9:15pm: Andrew was moved to the rehab facility today!
5:00pm: Andrew will be moved to a rehab facility soon! This is great progress. He continues to be able to move his toes and give some pressure from his foot when asked. All other movement is about the same. The greatest request is to continue praying for his breathing and the strengthening of his diaphragm. And yes - he is eating some now! Thank you for your continued prayers and lets pray for the rehab therapy that he would have the strength to go above and beyond.
Tuesday, April 15th
5:15pm: Andrew passed a "swallow test" today which means he is able to start eating some food. You can only imagine how excited he is about this! The next step is a transition to rehab. The family will be meeting with a rehab facility this Thursday and Andrew could be moved as early as the end of this week or sometime next week. Continue to pray for his breathing - his diaphragm needs to be strengthened in order for him to breathe normally. He has been getting better rest each day.
Monday, April 14th
7:15pm: Sorry for the late post. Andrew had the surgery on his arms and doctors reported that it went well! The surgery ended around 2:30pm. He will now be moved to a room in intermediate care - this is a praise as it is one step closer to a regular room.
Sunday, April 13th
7:00pm: Still seeing some signs of improvement! Andrew is still in ICU, but is waiting on a room in intermediate care. He is scheduled for surgery tomorrow on his arms - Please pray!!!
Saturday, April 12th
8:30pm: Huge praise: Andrew was able to move the big toes on both his feet!!! This is the first movement we have seen in his legs. Please pray that God would restore all movement. The family is "cautiously optimistic" to see the the movement in his toes. May God bless you in worship tomorrow!
10:25am: God is good - the doctors mentioned this morning that they are surprised at his progress last night! Andrew is moving his left arm fairly regularly and is able to move his right when asked. He has also been able to grip some with his left hand. He is awake and watching a movie. Talking and even prayed some! They are planning to move him out of ICU, but not yet to a regular room. Great praises - Thanks for your continued prayer!
Friday, April 11th
7:15pm: Andrew did good sitting in the chair. He is still having difficulty breathing. He does wake up from time to time and recognizes family and those close to him - but goes back to sleep quickly. The family has asked us to pray that he would fight. We need him to prove doctors wrong and there is a small window of opportunity to do so. Lift Andrew up that he would have the strength to fight and that the Lord would heal!
4:10pm: Join us for a worship and prayer time tonight in the Student Center from 7pm to about 8:30pm. Andrew is sitting in his chair, but Taco says he is pretty out of it. They will let him sit in the chair for a few hours to see how his body responds.
11:15am: Surgery has been postponed to next week (Monday at the earliest). After taking Andrew off the morphine, his heart rate raised - likely due to pain - so the Doctors are going to start him back on the morphine. Later today they hope to move him out of bed and into a chair. The movement will help him. He is coherent, but goes in and out some as to be expected.
Thursday, April 10th
4:30pm: After a tough day of little communication and a lot of disorientation, we have a praise: Andrew was awake and talking some - so Taco (Student Minister) was able to present to Andrew the Ipod Touch that the students bought for him. Andrew was very excited and so thankful. The praise is how aware he was. The family and everyone were excited to see him excited and aware of what is going on around him.
3:30pm: Andrew is getting rest now - his fever had went up, but is now back down and he is sleeping well. We do not yet know when the surgeries will be able to take place for his arms.
8:15am: Andrew is still dealing with his disorientation getting worse including irritability. He had a pretty rough night - please pray for this as it could prevent the doctors from performing needed surgery on his arms today or tomorrow.
Wednesday, April 9th
7:20pm: Andrew's breathing is not improving as needed. The family has asked that we all especially pray for this. If the breathing does not improve, he will not be able to have the needed surgeries on his arms. Thank you!
Visit from Houston Rocket: Steve Novak
10:45am: Huge Praise - Andrew was able to raise his arms last night!!! The specific request for today is that he still has fluid on one of his lungs. He continues to have some difficulty breathing and disorientation, but doctors have confirmed that it is common with this type injury. We also pray that God would restore movement in his legs too. It is possible that the surgery on his arms (fractures) could happen as early as tomorrow.
9:30am: Andrew is doing the same and is stable. Thank you for your prayers and concern. There have been over 15,000 hits to this page since Monday - Thank you for caring about Andrew!
Tuesday, April 8th
4:30pm: Please join us for a prayer service tonight from 7-8pm in the Student Building to worship and pray for Andrew. There will likely be no further updates today unless there is a significant change in his condition. Please check back tomorrow around 10am.
3:30pm: Andrew's condition is stable. He is on morphine at this time which helps him to rest - the doctors want him sleeping as much as possible.
10:45am: Andrew is still in ICU and had some trouble breathing last night, but is doing ok. At this time, the family has asked for no visitors except their immediate family. They greatly appreciate all the visits and it has brought much comfort! Right now, they need some time alone with just the family to pray and encourage each other. Thanks for respecting this most important need. Be sure and leave a message for them on this site, they have taken some time to read through those and it has been very encouraging.
Monday, April 7th
8:30am: Andrew's injuries include 2 fractured vertebrae (one horizontal and one vertical fracture), fractures in both arms, bruised lung, and some fluid build-up in his stomach. At this point, please pray for the injuries and for restored movement of his arms and legs. He showed little signs of some movement, but at this point it is undetermined.
10:10am: Andrew will have spinal surgery at noon today. Please pray for the Doctor's wisdom and that the Lord would guide the hands of all who participate in the surgery. Pray for complete healing and that the Lord would receive full Glory.
11:50am: Andrew is next in line for surgery to fuse two of his vertebrae. In about a week or so, he will also need surgery on both arms for the fractures.
4:15pm: Still waiting for surgery. Surgical team in place, waiting on an operating room. This surgery will include some rods that will stabilize Andrew's neck. We had many students come up to the church to pray for Andrew. They circled the tree from which he fell. What incredible support! Thanks for your continued prayers.
4:59pm: Andrew is on his way to surgery - Please join in prayer...
8:20pm: Still in surgery - the surgery is expect to last approximately 5 hours. There is a student led worship service in the Student Ministry Building tonight at 9:00pm. All are invited to come worship and pray.
8:55pm: Andrew is out of surgery and the surgery went well. They did find more instability than expected, but it still went good. It is expected that he could have more surgeries related to his spine - as well as the fractured bones in his arms as mentioned earlier. At this point, doctors cannot determine or speculate on neurological damage. It could take days for this to be determined, possibly a week or so. Please pray for complete healing. Also pray that the family would be able to get some rest. Andrew has been moved to ICU at this time and will get some needed rest and recovery.
Sunday, April 6th
10:00pm: Andrew was climbing in a tree and fell. After the fall, he was unconscious for some time but kept breathing. Paramedics were able wake him and he was later life-flighted to the hospital around 11:00pm.
