Had not been much change, a few good signs Monday, set back Tuesday, rest day Wednesday and yesterday was AWESOME NEWS. I cannot imagine the feeling Annika must have but still a long road ahead.
From his Fiancé last night....
As of today, Thursday March 16th, 2017 Andrew made a huge jump and one we all have been anxiously waiting for. As quickly as these tragic situations can turn for the worse, they can turn for the better also. At 7:45 this morning we were saying our "good mornings" to Andrew and spoke with his Nurse for the day and his spoke with the Neurologist to get the game plan. Within in a matter of 30 minutes, he had successfully completed his 2 breathing tests, passed his blood work and they were going to try and remove his ventilation tube. We left the room, nervous, excited, frantic, not knowing if we we wanted to sit down, stand or jump up with joy. Before we even had time to let the nerves set in, 3 minutes later, his nurse steps out and says, "ok come on in, he's done". Walking in that room and seeing him without all the tubes and the look of agitation in his face, our hearts melted.
He was able to recognize our voices and who we were for the most part throughout the day and that in itself is a blessing. The biggest blessing of all was when I asked Andrew how he knew Annika, he said "she's my daughter". Heather and I just smiled at each other with relief.
His throat is extremely sore of course and he struggles to talk, but he wants to and is trying. One of the 1st things he said was "toothbrush" and "water". Lol. I immediately thought to myself how many days has he been dying for a toothbrush and water
The Nurse had noticed throughout the day, he is favoring his right side and not using his left side as much, so we are trying to focus his attention by standing on the left side when we go in to visit.
His memory is touch and go, mostly with dates and places. According to Andrew this morning he has been 24 yrs old and 35 yrs old and goes to the gym 3 x a week, so we will go with that for right now.
Throughout the day, he stayed awake alot more than we thought he would so hopefully he will sleep good tonight and get some good rest. The medical teamed mentioned tomorrow working on some physical therapy with his legs and attempting to get him to stand up/walk if he could. From this point, he has several small steps to take in order to be moved out of ICU. Swallowing, breathing, coughing, walking, using the bathroom on his own and continuing to follow commands are all crucial to moving forward.
Today has been a great day so far and we are very thankful for the not so little but HUGE victories he has made. This is going to be a slow recovery and full of baby steps of baby steps of baby steps....hence teaching all of us one of the main virtues of life, patience.
Thank you all again for your thoughts, prayers, messages, texts and overwhelming support. Keep the prayers coming.
#stronglikeandrew #hesmyfavorite