Dear ones,

Andrew is stable today on this life-saving machine, ecmo. Jim and I are staying with my aunt and uncle in Houston who have opened their home and arms to us. Andrew's doctor is a lung transplant specialist, so we couldn't ask for more earthly wisdom. Pray that our great Physician will heal his lungs, body and mind, and take care of our other loved ones while we are apart.

Love,
Laura

Andrew made it through the procedure hooking up the ECMO machine. Doctors plan on keeping him hooked up to it for several weeks, which means he'll be sedated for a while to prevent panic or irritation on his part. His blood oxygen is now about the highest it's been his whole life. We hope this will assist his body greatly for recovery.

This morning, Andrew is undergoing a surgical procedure to set him up on an ECMO machine. This machine can be used to take over heart and lung function while the organs recover. In Andrew's case, it will only operate as lungs since his heart is fine. His blood will be run through this machine constantly, oxygenating it for him. The lungs will have total rest, and work will be taken off some of his other organs (such as kidneys). This procedure is only available for adults at a few dozen places in the US, exactly the sort of advantage to having Andrew in Houston. His doctors agree that this is the best treatment option for the moment. It can be sustained for days or weeks, depending on what the patient needs.

The trip to Houston was hard on Andrew, but at least he's there and can be given the best possible care. My parents also made it safely. Thank you for remembering and praying for them on their journey.

Answer to Prayer

Last night, we received confirmation of an open room for Andrew in Houston. During the night, his blood oxygen level improved slightly in answer to our prayer for strength for the journey. He was flown into Houston early this afternoon where my parents were waiting for him. As I write this, they are going in to ICU to visit him and see his condition from the trip. He's already had an x-ray since his arrival there. I'll post if any results show from that.

Doctors there have had some success with steriods at this point in such an illness. It is still a very experimental thing to do, but it is not risky to the patient. The blood sugar levels have to be monitered closely, but no complications are expected from it other than that. Andrew was put on such steriods last night right before we heard news of the room in Houston. They plan to continue this treatment now that he's arrived.

Andrew's condition remains critical, but the Lord is faithful in providing this opportunity for special treatment. Please ask the Lord for healing in Andrew's lungs that he may receive the essential oxygen for any kind of recovery to take place. Pray also for my parents who are now away from home in such a time of uncertainty.

Much love to you all,
Sarah

Dear friends,
We are not in Houston yet. Everything was on standby for the trip Friday, but no bed opened up in time. If one opens tomorrow and Andrew is well enough, we will make the trip. He will be flown there escorted by an EMT and a nurse. Mom and Dad will drive to meet them there.

We had a scare yesterday, but Andrew is holding steady. His oxygen levels went down. The oxygen purity was turned up as high as possible, but nothing can be done to force his body to absorb it. Some of the doctor's believed he would not live but a few more hours. Others were more optimistic. Today, his oxygen is back up a little bit. The Lord has sustained him once again. As long as his numbers do not go down again, the trip to Houston is still the plan. It has indeed been an emotional roller-coaster for all involved.

Please continue to ask the Lord to strengthen Andrew for the journey to Houston. Thanks for your loving support.

~Sarah

Hello, dear ones,

It looks like, Lord willing, we will be taking Andrew to Methodist Hospital in Houston on Friday. Pray for strength for him to endure the trip and supernatural wisdom for his new doctors. Also, pray that we will decide on the perfect place to stay. I am comforted by Psalm 139.

Love,
Laura

Going to Houston

Dear friends,
After today's tests, Andrew's doctors in Alexandria have recommended, along with other family and friends who are doctors, that he be transported to Houston, Texas. It's time to go to the specialists and technology available in Houston where they see a very unique array of patients. His doctors in Alexandria have been most exceptional in their skill and devoted to his care.

It will take several days of paperwork, doctor transfers and an available ICU room in Houston for Andrew to leave Louisiana. If all goes smoothly, he will most likely be moved early next week. Our prayer is that Andrew be strengthened for the journey. We are doing the most humanly possible by moving him. He is in the Lord's hands.

Again, bless you all for your fervent prayers. If sheer number of loving friends and prayers guaranteed a person's health, Andrew would be singing and dancing right now. As the Lord promised, he is guarding our hearts and minds in peace as all of this by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving is being lifted up to Him.
~Sarah

Results

Well, the bronchoscopy went fine, but nothing was found to explain Andrew's breathing difficulties. A CAT scan of his skull and chest was performed as well just in case something might show up. We'll have those results in the next few days.
Andrew's white blood cell count is still elevated. That means that there is an infection somewhere in his body, even with him on so many antibiotics and such. They are checking everything they can. We were hoping this test would show something to explain it all. The next step is unknown at this point. Perhaps the CAT scan results will show something helpful. We'll keep you informed. Thanks so much for your prayers.

Bronchoscopy

Each time the pulmonologist lowers Andrew's respirator breaths below a certain point, Andrew is unable to compensate for the difference. This causes him to have sort of anxiety/panic attacks, and the respirator must be turned up again. This problem has presented itself over and over again in response to weaning him off of the respirator. As far as the doctors can tell, it is the lack of oxygen that causes these attacks, not the other way around. In other words, Andrew is not simply panicking to the point that he is unable to breathe well. Rather, something is preventing him from doing so. Unable to pinpoint why this is happening in Andrew's exact case, his pulmonologist has ordered a bronchoscopy for late tomorrow morning. He will go down into Andrew's lungs with a small camera to see if any fluids or other unwelcome guests are present which could cause such a problem. The respirator still remains one of if not the biggest hurdles to Andrew's recovery. If they can find the culprit tomorrow, it could lead to a big step in jumping this hurdle. Please pray that the Lord would be pleased to reveal the problem to Andrew's doctor's. He alone knows what it is. What a reminder that even medicine/science is a blessing given to us by the Lord and that it is no match for the vast wisdom and knowledge He possesses of His universe, the sparrow that falls to the ground or His child like Andrew sick in the hospital.

Another Try at the Respirator

Today, Andrew's respirator was turned down the tiniest bit. His doctor is going to try a different and slower approach this time. He is given full support by the machine, but it will allow him to take breaths whenever he wants to himself. Before, the respirator simply took over his breaths whenever he started one. We are told that the longer he is on the respirator, the harder it will be to wean him off of it. He is very dependent on it now and gets panicky if it is turned down too fast. This new weaning approach will at least allow him to excercise his lungs when he is alert or simply feels up to it. Some excercise is better than none, of course.
Today seemed to be one of his better days in a while as he is adjusting decently to the new seizure medicine. He even felt like watching an episode of one of his favorite tv shows, Stargate Atlantis, on the little dvd player we brought up there for him.

Andrew's new medicine has kept him seizure free since Tuesday night. This is quite an answer to prayer since he was having seizures daily, and we were running out of treatment options for it.
It is a relief to have him watched more carefully back in ICU though he seems anxious to be doing something more physical as when he was in the rehab portion of the hospital. Please ask the Lord to preserve Andrew's physical strength while he is restrained from much movement.

What's Going On?

A number of people have expressed confusion about Andrew's condition. Is he better, worse, going nowhere? It seems that we have shared all the progress and encouraging news possible on this blog while neglecting to say that his condition remains very serious. It is still a battle for his life at times. Recent complications are mainly from being bed-ridden for so long - kidney stones, urinary infection, skin rash from medication, etc... They are treatable, but they slow his recovery and weaken his body as time and medicine are spent trying to figure out the problem instead of working toward physical rehabilitation. We do not want Andrew to lose strength of mind and heart as he waits for a chance to move forward again. The quality of Andrew's life will never be the same, but we do not want it to be an unbearable quality of life for him, even today.

If the Lord desires Andrew to live on, please pray that His mercies in preserving Andrew's quality of life would increase greatly. Andrew needs renewed strength from Him whose mercies are new every morning. As always, his condition is wholly dependent upon the Lord. It remains a mystery what God has planned for Andrew, and as his family, we simply thank Him that today is another day with our dear son, brother, grandson, friend.

Thank you for your continued prayers for Andrew. He is back in the ICU because of seizures. The monitoring is constant, so we are somewhat relieved not to think we have to be alert to every little change ourselves. Yesterday's prayer for Andrew's doctors can be found in Daniel 2, and God did shine His light on the problem.

Love to all,
Laura