Tuesday, April 22, 2008

We're fine

Sorry to those of you who've asked how we're doing and had no reply! Andre and I have both been down with stomach flu...not very pleasant.

But, we've made a full recovery from that.

Andre is also doing much better overall--thankfully! The blood clots in his neck and lungs have not become symptomatic which indicates that the blood thinners are doing their job. He'll be on that medication for 6 months.

Today he finished the strong antibiotics for the MRSA infection in his knee, so hopefully that's gone.

He will be seeing the vascular surgeon (blood clot), the infectious disease doctor (infection) and the orthopedic surgeon (knee repair) in about 10 days so we'll have more updates then, and hopefully news on when his next knee surgery can take place.

He is able to get around a lot better now, using just one crutch. Although he still has to rest for most of the day, he can drive and is starting physio therapy this week. Hooray!

Thank you to all of you who have prayed for us and shown us such care through meals and notes and gifts. We have been cheered and encouraged by each of you.

Wednesday, April 9, 2008

Home

Andre is home and able to receive visitors for short periods of time. Thank you for all the prayers.

Monday, April 7, 2008

Praise the Lord!

Andre had another procedure this afternoon to investigate the blood clot, and from what the doctors could see, it is mostly dissolved.

What a miracle! We are overwhelmed by the prayers of our brothers and sisters in Him all over the world. Over the last day or so, we have heard from friends and family in New Zealand, South Africa, England, Japan, India, Ireland, Canada and Australia! Thank you all so much for lifting Andre up so faithfully. We know that it is due to these prayers that we have felt the presence and peace of the Lord with us both. And now we know the Lord has indeed answered in the way we all prayed!

We don't know how long he'll be in the hospital as they want to monitor him carefully for a few days.

Sunday, April 6, 2008

Photos

For those of you who were wondering how Andre is, he's still smiling! He is really tired now, but has had a good day considering his condition. He goes in for another operation tomorrow at 3:30 pm to see what the blood clot is doing.

Here are some photos from today. Here are a few of the friends and family who came to visit us. Thanks to everyone for coming!


ICU

After a 10 hour stay in the ER (!!), Andre was finally admitted to hospital because of a massive blood clot in his neck and chest area. He was given blood thinners and the swelling in his arm decreased slightly over the course of the day, thankfully. He had lots of visitors, all of whom had to wear these funny yellow gowns and gloves so germs don't get traded--we all ended up looking like yellow Easter chicks! Thanks so much to those of you who came to visit him.

He went into surgery early this morning and the vascular surgeon has just come out to let me know what's going on. Apparently the clot is even bigger than he thought and extends all the way down Andre's arm. Because of this, they were not able to pull it out through the vein as they had originally hoped to do, but have to put a cathetar in his chest to pump the clot full of blood thinners. This is a more risky procedure but the best option for right now. There is a risk that he could have internal bleeding due to the amount of blood thinners he will be receiving.

Please pray for him. He will be in ICU for 24 hours and then reevaluated tomorrow afternoon.

Saturday, April 5, 2008

At the ER

Yes, we're at the ER because Andre's arm started swelling and turning a nice plum color this evening. We've been here since 10:30 pm and it's now almost 5 am. To quote the ER doctor, Andre has "the mother of all blood clots"! It extends from his arm all the way to the base of his neck and down his chest...a hospital stay is certain, but we're still waiting..why do things take so long around here?! The doctor came in and talked it over with us and then said she'd be "right back" to tell us what to do. That was an hour and a half ago!

There is a lady next to us who came in for restless legs. The doctor keeps going back and forth getting her prescriptions and information...isn't a blood clot slightly higher on the "life-threatening scale" than legs that won't let you sleep?! Ah well, we wait..