My sister Deborah arrived in Washington DC yesterday and she reports that Andy sat up on the edge of his bed for 5 minutes todayay! This was surprising to the PT...she said it usually takes a week to work up to 5 minutes. Go Andy! Precision in his movement of his arms is increasing as is his strength. The right arm, which was lagging behind the left a good bit, is definitely improving.
My Aunt (daddy's only sister) and Uncle came to visit on Wednesday--they live in Maryland and came in for the day. My Aunt is a nurse who got her start in the Army.
Andy's team of doctors are anticipating a move to a normal room (non-SICU) as soon as the inflammation of his pancreas is under control again. There was some progress in that area--enough to allow the surgery to proceed--but as soon as one of the antibiotics was cut out, the fever came back. The feeding tube complicates matters in the pancreas.
Decisions about a rehabilitation center are looming in the near future. Daniel and Andy will be considering all the options in the coming days and making a selection. If I recall correctly, the options are San Diego, Tampa and Maryland. Pray for wisdom in the selection process for Andy and Daniel.
Mom, Dad, Daniel and Deb are sharing the rotation of spending time with Andy. Continue to pray for each of them--for their strength and health and stamina.
It seems that as the meds clear out of Andy's head he's beginning to deal with reality a little more, and that's not an easy thing. I wish we could know more about what he's understood and felt these last 2 weeks. I'm sure there's alot of confusion and that may be a gift.
Wow. It's been two weeks. I hadn't even thought of that until I just wrote it. When I was there it seemed as though time passed at a quarter of it's usual rate. An hour seemed like four. A day seemed like four days. Now, as I've pulled back a little, by virtue of being at home and on a somewhat normal schedule with my family, time is back to normal but it stops intermittently...every time the phone rings and when I'm reminded of something Andy said or did.
Today I remembered that at one point when I was there Andy asked for some S'mores. He was unusually insistent that he needed more chocolate bars to make more S'mores. I feel sure that wherever he was in his mind, the S'mores were tasting really good and that he was in good company.
Blessings to you all,
3 comments:
Awesome!
Thanks again for the posting. Oh for the chance to be there and just hug him or touch even his toe. That old mothering instinct is hard to put aside. We thank you for including all of us in your family--- Most of all we Praise God for His touch, love and encouragement. We mostly continue our prayers for Andy, and then all the family. We'll be anxious to hear where and when he is going to head for the next level of his journey. Blessing to you all, JoAnn or Grammy Jo as some say !!!
Sarah,
I just had a new grandbaby, and haven't been able to catch up on your blogs until now (though I have talked to Daniel and Deborah during this time). Reading about Andy needing more chocolate for S'mores...At the Gleatons' annual get-together on October 31, we always have S'mores. Daniel (Gleaton) and Andy used to mount up on the horses when everyone else was on the trailer for the hay-ride, and head up the road to reach the dummy they had rigged to come falling out of a tree and scare everyone on the trailer . It was fun watching the anticipation on their faces waiting for the truck-drawn trailer to take off. I can smell the bonfire now, and hear the squeals of the girls as the dummy was falling out of the tree and the horses were overtaking the trailer....and I can just taste those S'mores that Andy and all the other kids were making...
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