A Big Week for Andrew

This has been a big week for Andrew. First, he will have his skin grafts done on the first of Feb. We spend a lot of time at different doc apts. Dr. Downey, his surgeon, was very pleased with his progress. Andrew has gained weight thanks to the pic line and tpn. He commented that this is the first big medical progress that he has made since the hospital. Andrew moves forward all of the time. Andrew went to a scout activity. They played pool at a neighbor's house. When he left, it felt like the first day of school for me. He walked out of the house with Connor and Gavin. I watched him walk down the street with them. He had a great time. The next night, he went over to Connor's house. Mike took them out to get a pizza. Then Andrew started his outpatient physical therapy. I found a great PT, Kurt Leske at Mountainland PT in Layton. He evaluated Andrew's strength. He was surprised at how strong he still is. He gave him a workout. I was amazed as I watched his determination. He really wants to get his muscles back. Andrew will go three times a week. Andrew really enjoyed it but he took a big nap afterwards! Have you ever received a bill for $824,000? We did on friday. It was for just the hospital's portion. We now have about four inches of bills for Andrew. We believe he will be worth around 1.5 million. It was interesting to look at the charges. Andrew received $8,000 dollars worth of blood/blood products the first day! It cost about $6,000/day just to be in the PICU. It get's complicated. You have to be careful to use insurance-contracted docs. When a trauma happens, you lose control of these decisions because things are happening so rapidly. The doctors make the decisions. But this week we have been referred to a GI doc and I have to make sure that he is contracted! This will lower our out of pocket expenses. We also have a prescription for Andrew that the insurance won't cover. It is going to be about $600 @ $7/pill. You hear these stories, but when you are in the boat it is quite amazing! Overall, we stay busy and we solve our issues one day at a time. Today, Andrew is going with the young men to the temple. He can participate in the confirmation part. It is amazing! We were driving along one afternoon and I looked over at him. I felt very grateful to still have him in my life. I said, "Andrew, I am so glad that you are still alive!" He smiled. A strange thing to say, yet true!

New Year, New Possibilities

Andrew has been home over a month and we feel grateful that we haven't done anything wrong in his care. It is complicated taking care of someone who has been through a trauma. Lately, Andrew was put on a pic line and tpn. They put him under for this and a wound vac change. This is an iv that he can be on during the night for 12 h0urs. The doctor decided that this would help him get 3,000 calories a day. It seems to be working because he has gained three pounds. For my part, it is a little scary. The pic line goes to the heart. You must keep things sterile. So every night we hook him up. It is a bit of a family affair. We do it before family prayer. The other night we had problems with the machine and air bubbles. The whole family was in on solving the problem. I looked at the faces of each of my children as they hovered over Andrew. I really appreciated how much they care about their brother. I suppose that we have done something right! They really love each other. In the morning, I guess I got up too quickly. I went to disconnect him from the line. I have to flush the line with saline and shoot some heparin into it. I sat down and began the procedure. I felt all the blood leave my head. Andrew told me that I looked weird. I was about to pass out. Luckily, Randall hadn't left for work yet. I ended up going to bed for a nap with Andrew napping too. While we were asleep the wonderful ladies, came and cleaned my house. (Leslie Clark, Julie Simmons and Karen Greenwell). I woke up to things in order. I can't tell you the relief that I felt. They are angels of mercy. I really need and appreciate the help. So things are progressing. The plastic surgeon is getting ready to skin graft Andrew's front and back. He will be able to sucture some of it. Andrew will have a five day stay at PCMC for this procedure. I also notice that I am running the "Andrew" business. Each day I have calls to make, appointments to schedule, supplies to order, and prescriptions to pick up. I had no idea that it would entail so much. You know when you see someone use a handicap parking spot and they walk out of their car just fine. You might feel a little annoyed. Now I understand why you don't need to feel annoyed. Caring for someone really takes time, effort, money and energy. I am so grateful to have the option to park in a handicap spot. I am so exhausted by the worry and all the work. It is a great help. The worry continues. Randall and I confessed to each other that we often check him when he's sleeping, so see if he's breathing. Just like a newborn. My knee decided to go out on me a couple weeks ago. It has been swollen, weak and very sore. We laugh because Andrew's walk has been stronger than mine. I think God wanted me to have some pain to help me be a little more understanding of Andrew. Andrew is doing well. Ariel and I took him to KJH to meet with Principal Stromberg, Mr. Brown and others. I have always thought KJH was an exceptional junior high. Now, I see how much they care about the kids. They are really interested in helping Andrew. There is a new program to do school on the computer. Andrew may be out the rest of the year so he can work from home. It is great because Andrew got a great computer screen for Christmas from the people at Randall's work and we went in on it. He also received a new processor from Prime Systems. Keith Duncan at Prime Systems is really great. We have been doing business there for years! Andrew can even lay in his bed and use his computer. This will be a big help for him to keep his school work going. Andrew enjoyed going to his locker and checking a book out. It felt weird to him to have people see him. He has lost a lot of weight. I know that people wish him well so he doesn't need to worry. Saturday, Andrew made it through Avatar, the never-ending movie. He really enjoyed it. I thought it was a little long! I look at the year ahead of us and hope and pray for things to go well for Andrew. It is my wish that he will be put back together so that he can start his sophmore year at Davis. Last night when I was up most of the night with him, I prayed for his continued healing. Andrew is a great kid and a big fighter.