So we have been out of the hospital for a week…YAY!!!  Andrew is not throwing up as much which is great, but yesterday was vomiting blood.  Now that freaked me out.  The doctor thinks it is because he is throwing up so much that he got a tear in his stomach and since his blood counts are low it is not healing.  He is feeling better now that he is taking Rolaids to help coat his tummy. 

On another note, we are asking that some of your prayers go to our family which is going through a heartbreaking crisis.  I have seen the power of prayer from the many people who follow this site, please help use this power to help comfort myself and my family through this trying time.  Thank you again for all the support and following Andrew through this trial in his life.

Andrew is still in the hospital, but we are hopeful he will be released today.  He has a lot of complicated medications and antibiotics he is on and it made sense to stay just a day more until they are complete.  His bowels are still messed up as is the problem with his stomach not emptying, but after all the tests we are sure it is due to the chemo he is receiving and will just need to be endured.  He has had a lot of visitors and fun nurses that helped pass the time, and as you can see from the pictures made him smile. 

Momma and Andrew

Dustin and Andrew

Dustin was only one of many who enjoyed Andrew’s wheelchair when they came to visit. 

Emily and Andrew

Murse Joe and Andrew

Nurse Jim and Andrew

Last night we found out that Andrew has another infection in his blood.  Therefore we are needing to start another round of antibiotics.  His feeding tube was not able to get unclogged with coke or warm water, or even a wire so it was replaced.  We also met with a specialist to discuss his digestive tract issues. The doctor listened to his stomach and bowels and said that they were not moving and that your bowels should always be moving.  He told me about some possibilities of the reasons and that we would be having a lot of blood tests run this morning to figure it out.

So this morning Andrew threw up twice within a matter of hours and it was all that he had eaten two days ago (jr mints, chips, and a popsicle).  After meeting with the dr, it was decided that he is not ready to leave the hospital with the continued vomiting, diarrhea and the infection, and him still not feeling well.  She said that Andrew is not able to digest food in his stomach so we should not be pushing for him to eat anything, and there is a possibility we need to put a tube in his stomach to empty out the acids regularly since it will not empty unless he throws up.  I will update again with I have more news.

Things have finally slowed down enough to update.  So I thought I would go into Andrew’s memory issues he has had this week.  Yesterday he was convinced he was done with his chemo treatments, and for those who know him, you will know he “knows” exactly when he should be done and corrects people all the time.  The Dr and I could not convince him that he was not going to be done until November or December.  That was the most concerning, other little things were like him demanding his sister come home because she is missing school and reprimanding me for “making” him drink orange juice when he requested it and drank it without my input at all. 

He is still in isolation, and unable to leave his room but others can enter his room, they just cannot visit other patients with the risk of spreading something.  His feeding tube has become clogged and we have been trying to clear it since 10 last night to no avail.  So we have not been able to see if his body can handle his feedings.  He was able to eat fruit loops, jr mints and some chips yesterday but is not interested in food or drink today.   He is pretty cranky and tired, but we are hoping it is short lived.  He will be meeting with a specialist today to review his digestive tract issues and we are hoping we are able to figure some of this stuff out.

Andrew had an allergic reaction to the antibiotics he received yesterday which caused some serious issues, and pushed everything back.  Because of his illness he is on quarantine and not able to leave his room and his nurses have to wear gowns every time they enter to ensure they don’t spread anything.  He started getting his blood transfusion at 10:00pm and it went through the night.  He is feeling a little better today but still has diarrhea.   He just got re-accessed for his port and the nurse missed his port with the needle 2 times. 

We just saw the Dr and Andrew will be in the hospital until at least Friday.  He is having memory loss and confusion which we are hoping are related to the antibiotics.  We will try to start back up his feeding tube at a very slow rate tonight and hope he doesn’t react poorly.  We tried to start his feeds twice and he started throwing up immediately so we will see.

Andrew is still in the hospital, so far we have gotten back one test result, the stool, and it came back negative.  He had a very rough night and threw up 5 times yesterday.  We have not seen the doctor yet today, but we are hoping that we find something to help make him feel better.  We will give another update soon.

Andrew went to the Dr on Friday to see if things had improved from Tuesday when we started the IV treatments on top of the tube feedings.  His blood counts had all dropped, and he was still vomiting a lot.  His fatigue has gotten so bad that we had to order a wheelchair for him for whenever he is up for any prolonged period of time.  We tried a new anti-nausea medication which had the opposite effect and let’s just say Friday night was very unpleasant.  Saturday and Sunday went better still vomiting but have now added diarrhea and times of discomfort.  The doctors have decided we need to have him admitted today to try to get him back to a good place.  I will update when I know more.  Thanks for all the comments and fun things people have sent, he loves them!

Andrew had a doctors appointment yesterday and due to his increased vomiting and fatigue he needs to have iv nutrients on top of this tube feedings.  He did not take the news very well, it is not very often that Andrew cries but he was very upset and just cried.  The TPN that he is getting is a lot more concentrated then before so he needs to have his blood sugar levels tested as well, which he hates too…stupid lancing.  He could really use some cheering up so any fun stories or comments please forward on to him…he needs it.  Thanks!

Happy late 4th of July!  Andrew was lucky enough to celebrate two nights of sparklers, firecrackers, and fireworks. 

Sparklers

Andrew said that this was the best 4th he has celebrated since we moved to Boise, however he missed his sharing it with his sister Taylor, who just left for Colorado on the 3rd.  Andrew is throwing up about 3 times a day now, and has decided it is not worth eating food just to throw it up so he is getting 100% nutrition from the feeding tube.  Despite his pukiness he is still his fun goofy self whenever someone will laugh with him.  He actually threw up during our 3rd of July celebration – quite literally.  He was sitting in part of the circle around the fire roasting marshmallows and hot dogs and lost in all over the middle of the circle.  Believe it or not he quickly composed himself and was ready to play with some sparklers, but chose to sit in a chair and watch as we set off little fountains and fire crackers for his amusement. 

As always thanks for visiting, and for your thoughts and prayers!