Home! Monday April 27

Andrea came home from the hospital Monday late afternoon just before the big 10 inch rain came across Houston. It has been wonderful to be home, and very, very busy trying to find all the right spots to put things into the new house. She continues to get just a little bit stronger every day with exercises and visits from friends who help her. The home health care nurse has already come for her weekly visit and a physical therapist should be by soon.
Many nurses said "unbelievable" when we took Andrea home after almost 3 months in the hospital, but we say "All things are possible with God".
Thank you for your unending prayers, as we can see that God has answered our prayers the way we asked for again. She still has a lot of recuperation to accomplish. She wants so much to walk again, and it may take months for the neurological condition to improve. Love and prayers to all.

Home Monday??

Plans are being made to go home Monday, April 27, but Andrea says that with reservation because she does not want to "jinx" anything thing in the works. However, with prayer, we are making plans that it will happen. The swallow test today was better than that one month ago, which means the neurological condition is improving even if it is slow. She is still having problems with high blood pressure which the kidney doctor attributes to blood vessel leakage rather than kidney function. The kidneys are trying to do their part....somewhat!
Your part in prayer is very critical, so thank you very much. We continue to remember you and your family in our prayers.

Plans

Yeah, feeding tube working again! No more disruptions! We are still making plans for Andrea to go home but do not have a date yet. Please keep those strong prayers coming!

Closer, but not there yet

Andrea is getting stronger and we all keep talking about going home, but in the wee hours of Friday morning her JG feeding tube clogged. They put meat tenderizer in it to clear it, but it did not clear. As of Friday afternoon, she is still on the waiting docket for Interventional Radiology to do something about it. Urrrrr. We are so encouraged by your prayers, and it has been very routine for us to pray for you all daily, too. Oh yes, those dogs do keep us laughing, don't they!!

Biopsy results

Biopsy results showed healing taking place in the "tubes" of the kidney and just a little scar tissue. The filtering part of the kidney was not inflamed. The doctor did not think Andrea would be on long-term dialysis. Since there is swelling in her legs/ankles, he thinks it is blood vessels leaking fluid. This is just one of the many specific details of figuring out how to help Andrea get well. She is still exercising as much as she can, trying to gain strength to sit up and maintain balance.
The fun part is that she did get to see Zeus over the Easter weekend and Mary's new French bulldog puppy.
We appreciate your prayers as we pray for your families, too.

Kidney Biopsy

Andrea had a kidney biopsy today and she could not stay on her "getting well" routine of physical therapy and exercises for now. We will not know the results of the biopsy until Tuesday, but they are suspecting the kidney to be the one not functioning up to par and causing the high blood pressure. Based on the findings, they will adjust treatment one way or the other. Please continue to pray for the neurological condition to improve, as it slowly has. Prayers work! We also pray for you and your household.

MDA day 57

My, how time passes quickly even when it is not so fun. We are constantly busy trying to piece the puzzle together on how to help Andrea get better and go home. She started exercises to make the muscles in her throat stronger so she can swallow properly again. The headaches keep popping up which make it hard to work out in physical therapy as hard as she would like to. The kidney doctor today said he thought the high blood pressure may have to do with the kidneys, so we will be looking at an ultrasound and maybe a biopsy this coming week.
On a sadder note she will be missing Chris and Alicia's wedding which she wanted - oh so much - to go to. She sent hugs via J. since he is in the wedding.
Please continue to pray for the neurological condition to improve, as we feel like that is the biggest hurdle. We continue to pray for all of you dear friends and family too.

MDA day 50

Well, it is day 50 here and we are not "supposed to" be counting anymore. But, that is a way that Andrea knows just how long it is taking her to recover from this aspiration pneumonia gig. We do now know from tests this week that she can aspirate just from normal saliva each day, most likely when sleeping or even nappping when Andrea cannot grab the suction tube to get the stuff out of her mouth before it goes down into the lungs. She has started coughing, (that is good) otherwise it would go straight to the lungs. That is what aspiration is .....when any fluid goes to the lungs instead of the stomach. Anyway, Andrea is getting better, but the steps are smaller than she would like. So, we continue to pray for aspiration to stop and the neurological condition to improve.
Thank you for your prayers as we continue to pray for you and your family too.

MDA day 47

Good things are happening, like seeing Zeus on the outside benches of MDA this past weekend. Oh, relatives were visiting too, which was a great bonus as they could actually talk! But, the visits were good and uplifted our spirits. Andrea also had a "wheelchair fitting" yesterday so she can be more comfortable as she is trying to be more mobile. She is being unhooked from all the meds every day for a few hours so rehab can work with her in their facility at MDA. We are starting talk of "going home" even though no one knows when that will be. A swallow test will be performed tomorrow, so hopefully that will be another step forward in figuring out why this aspiration pneumonia occurred and what can be done about it.
Thank you for your prayers as we remember to pray for you and your families.

MDA Day 43, Spring

Today is the first day of spring and after 43 days, Andrea happily got to go outside in her wheelchair for "real air and sunshine". She is doing better each day with physical therapy. We are real glad that she is sitting up, but she is hard on herself because she is not sitting up "straight". We know that it will happen as she becomes stronger, but it's hard for her to not be able to do that now. (You all know her "can do" personality.....) I am now waking up with a "to do" list for the day, and that makes me happy : ) We think dialysis will either be 2 or 3 days a week, but I'm predicting it will be less sooner rather than later.
Thank you for your prayers as we remember you and yours, too.

MDA Day 40

March 17 Happy St. Patrick's Day. It was one year ago Andrea received her 2nd stem cell transplant from her sister, Kristin. She's as anxious to get out this time as last year. Andrea had a really good morning. Her bed can be manuvered to a sitting position with her feet dropped down. She stayed that way 2 hours this morning and then the PT and OT came in and moved her to wheelchair. She used her left arm to help the therapist push the wheelchair around the 11th floor. She continued sitting in the wheelchair for a shampoo and stay there until well after lunch. I think she will be sore from so much activity, but knowing Andrea she will count it as gain because of using muscles she so desperately wants to use. The lungs are improving and please continue to pray for the neurological condition.

MDA day 34

I'm sorry it's taken me a week to get back to this blog, but we have been working real hard with Andrea. I had a bad feeling when Andrea was bleeding from the dialysis catheter insertion. She also had too much fluid removed in dialysis that same day and it caused her blood to desaturate (not enough oxygen in the blood). She had taken 5 steps forward in recovery, then with this desaturation, she took 10 steps back. Her goal is get out of the hospital and it is not happening as quick as we would like for it to. Please continue to pray for the neurological issues to clear.

MDA day 27

When I told Andrea it was March 4 today, she said "Wow, I've got to get out of here". Her attitude is refreshing. The lung x-rays are improving, but still showing some pneumonia. Respiratory therapy is helping a lot.
Andrea had a permanent dialysis catheter put just below her collar bone this morning. She was receiving dialysis right after the procedure for putting the catheter in and there was extra blood that a mom gets nervous about seeing, so it was a good time for me to leave so I can be refreshed for my night time shift. She may not need dialysis every day, but at least the catheter is there if she does need it. Andrea is weak but will push herself to the limits for physical therapy. She has some real good PTs.
We are seeing some neurological improvements and those can only come from your prayers. Thank you for your faithful prayers.

Still Struggling

Day 23 at MDA (Sat.), Andrea is still struggling to get her lungs clear. Respiratory therapists are in and out of her room a lot. She is weak, but she will still gather her strength for the physical therapists to help her move about and exercise. It takes about 2 to 3 hours for dialysis each day and it has been helping quite a bit.
Please remember to pray for the neurological condition to clear. We are so grateful for each of your prayers.

Finally!

Finally, about noon today, Andrea had a tube put in lower tummy so she can receive nutrition. She told us yesterday, "let me eat and I will get well". So, by late this afternoon, Tuesday, she can get some formula into her tummy so she can get stronger and help her beat this congestion in her lungs. It really is a difficult battle, because it is hard to have strength to cough up what is in her lungs. She is a resiliant young lady who has your prayers to call upon God for healing, and she definitely thanks God for you all daily.

Last 4 days

These last few days Andrea's kidneys have been responding well to dialysis. However, her lungs are still on a roller coaster of looking better one day and relapsing the next. Tomorrow (Monday) the doctor plans to put a tube in her lower tummy to feed her until the swallowing reflex gets stronger again. Even though she is weak, she insists on physical therapy. That's our Andrea......go for it! We appreciate your prayers so much, especially for the lungs to clear and become strong again.

Regular MDA room

Late yesterday Andrea was able to go to the Stem Cell Transplant floor at MDA. They will concentrate on clearing her lungs, helping the kidneys along with dialysis, figuring out how to feed her since she still chokes some when swallowing and physical therapy. She is encouraged so much by your thoughts and prayers. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

ICU Tues 2/17

Andrea received dialysis all morning today. She coughed a lot last night which is "good" because the lungs are responding to treatment but it did keep her wake most of the night. The doctors are saying she'll go to a regular room "soon". Thank you for your prayers!

ICU Mon 2/16

Andrea started talking yesterday afternoon and this morning she is telling us about all kinds of events. Some of them are very factual and others we have had to tell her that it was just dreams she's been having over the past week. Last night we had the dr. give her Ambien because she has been in such a half wake/half sleep state that she really was sleep deprived.
Today they are taking her off some antibiotics, increasing her tube feedings, and giving her dialysis to help her kidneys. She's been coughing a lot of stuff from her lungs, so they will be watching that too. They want to more comfortable with her lung and kidney capability before they let her go from ICU. I know Andrea is "back" with us because this morning when I was massaging/exercising her feet and ankles, I asked her where she wanted to walk to. She said "Home". I told her everyone is praying for that and it will happen as soon as the lung/kidney function gets in sync. Your prayers are being answered in the way you are asking and what you are asking for. Thanks.

ICU Sun 2/15

Better today than yesterday, but not well enough to leave ICU. Each day's progress brings us hope that not only are Andrea's statistics better but that she actually feels better. She is moving her arms and feet around this morning because she remembers the repercussions of being in bed for too long of a period of time. She still seems very tired and it is hard to get rest in ICU with all the machinery and tests being run in the wee hours of the morning.
Thank you for your prayers.