April 30 8:30 pm

Good evening to all, Wow, the news here gets better and better. The plan is for Neil to go to Health South Monday. There was discussion that Neil might go tomorrow. However, the orthopedist wants Neil to stay and to put the wound vac back on one of the pin sites. The doctor said the trach will be pulled in the morning. All systems are go right now for Monday. Isn't that wonderful? We are so very grateful for Neil's progress. Please pray for Neil's lungs, leg and his continued breathing with the oxygen support.


Our good friend, Janice Strickland, fell and had surgery on her knee today. The doctor wired her knee cap together and is optimistic. Please pray for her full recovery. Please remember Bob Robertson from Dothan as he will have surgery tomorrow. We so pray he will get a good report.

We saw Shannon, her mom and her family today. They will have a meeting with the doctors tomorrow. Please pray for Shannon's full recovery.

Please continue to pray for Sue, Daisy and our other friends here. Thanks to all of you for your love and support.

April 29 8:30 pm

Good Afternoon, What a good day at Baptist South. Neil was up in the chair for over 4 hours today. The infectious disease doctor came by and said Neil was doing great. He did away with the Merrem as he said it was not needed. The orthopedist came by and is very pleased with Neil's leg. The splint that was brought yesterday did not fit. One was brought today and it works well. Neil's breathing is wonderful and he is coughing much less. This has been a grand day. Please continue to pray for Neil's lungs, leg and his continued breathing on his own.

Great news as Mr. John Ceyfus was moved today to Jackson Long Term Hospital. His wife was told he would be there about 3 weeks and then he will be able to go home. Isn't this wonderful? I know his family is grinning from ear to ear. We sure are. I still have more good news. Shannon was moved to a room. We went to visit. My goodness, she is as pretty as her mom. The doctor is talking with them about moving Shannon to Spain Rehab Center in Birmingham. Wow, Shannon has made progress. We went to see Sue at Health South. She was asleep and looked beautiful. I am thinking all that working out wore her out. Please pray for the full recovery of Sue, Shannon, John, Daisy and our other friends here.


Please remember the family of Mr. Rudolph Crook. We are so sad to learn Mr. Rudolph died this morning. He was sure a friend to all of us. We send our love to his precious family.


Please remember Ms. Minnie Alice Cox from Montgomery in your prayers. She is a sister of Mr. Frank Clark, a special friend to us. Ms. Minnie Alice is in ICU.


Neil has been here for 9 weeks today. That is hard to fathom. His progress is moving faster and faster each day. I must brag about his patience and sweet spirit throughout this journey. Neil and DeAnn have managed this without complaint and have more than arisen to the occasion. We have been blessed each day by your love and support. Please continue to surround the Andress family with your prayers.

April 28th 8:45 pm

***This is from the October 06 Talladega race. We know that the race was yesterday but with Neil feeling bad we just didn't get a chance to post a picture! See part of the track in the background!! Sunday's race was only the 2nd race Neil and his dad have missed in Talladega in 10 years.

Hello to all, As you know weekends are slow in the hospital and Neil did not feel good. Last night he ran a temp and was nauseated . Now for all the good news and it is amazing. He started off feeling better this morning. The orthopedist came by and said Neil's leg was doing great and the x-rays looked great. He said he was going to get Neil a splint and the leg would be weight bearing. He also said physical therapy would be here and would get Neil in a chair. The doctor then came by. He changed Neil's trach to a 4 which is the last step to removing the trach. He had respiratory therapy cap the trach so Neil has been breathing on his own all day with a little assist with a nasal cannula with some oxygen. The doctor ordered the feeding tube and the catheter be removed which was done. My goodness, aren't these blessings? Neil was up in a chair for about 3 hours. This was the first time Neil has been out of bed since February 26. He said was wonderful, but was tiring. Neil asked the doctor when he might be going to Health South and the doctor said he was ready for Neil to go, but it was up to the orthopedist. I guess you can imagine Neil is ready to talk to him. This has been a banner day. Neil is aware he has some real work ahead of him and is ready to begin. We have loved today and look forward to tomorrow. (Because Neil felt better today, I ran home to get things I needed, such as summer clothes. HA. It has been a long time and was a good trip. However, I was ready to get back to see all this progress. Again, I told Neil I would leave any time if he was going to do all these good things.) Please pray for Neil's lungs, leg and his breathing on his own.

More good news. Nelson left today to go to UAB. We are so pleased for Nelson and his family. Your prayers helped get him to Birmingham. I have not heard from John or Daisy today but hope to hear from them tomorrow. Also, we will check on Sue. Now listen to this, Shannon is breathing on a trach collar and may be moved to a room tonight or early tomorrow. She responds some and her family is thrilled. Please pray for the full recovery of Sue, Shannon, John, Daisy, Nelson and our other friends here. My goodness, we are all so blessed with your prayers and support. Please continue to surround Vicki and her family with your love. Also, let's keep the Andress family in our prayers.

April 27 8:30 pm

Good afternoon to all, Neil did not feel good most of the day. He had temperature off and on. The doctor on call came by and said the cultures indicated Neil had serratia. (You will remember he has had this off and on.) He added an antibiotic, Merrem, for this. We sure hope this will take care of this bacteria. Neil was nauseated most of the day. It is difficult for him to eat and drink feeling like this, but he sure gets an A for effort. Dang, he tries so hard. To say we are proud of him is an understatement. Now for the good news!!!! He is feeling 100 times better right now (his words). He ate dinner and even had some cobbler with ice cream. The nausea is gone. Yea!!! We cannot wait for tomorrow. Please pray for Neil's lungs, leg and continued breathing on and off the trach collar.

Please continue to remember Vicki and her family.

Guess what, Susan, Sue's daughter came to visit us. Please continue to pray for Sue's full recovery. She is on oxygen full time right now and we sure want her to be able to breathe on her own some. Dang, it was grand to see Susan to hear from Tommie Lee and the children. We have been so blessed here with such special friends. Other good news is Nelson continues to improve daily and may be moved to UAB tomorrow. John's wife is so encouraged today by his progress. His family is so special. We saw Shannon's mom today. Shannon continues to breathe well. Please pray for Shannon to wake up. She is doing so much better in every other way. We saw Laura, Daisy's friend. Daisy is back her with pneumonia and now she has a staff infection. Laura is so optimistic about Daisy's recovery as we are. Please pray for all our friends here.

Thanks so each and every one of you for your prayers, love and support.

April 26 8:30 pm

Good Saturday to All, Neil has ended the day better than it began. He just did not feel good this morning. There was nothing specific, just overall not so good. He was nauseated for a while. Eating was not so good, but he was able to drink several things. As you know weekends are slow in the hospital. Neil's "PT" team was available for him. He has has a little temperature off and on today. We are not sure what that is about but thus far it has returned to normal on its on. This would be one of those days of rest and healing. Please continue to pray for Neil's lungs, leg and continued breathing on and off the trach collar.

Good news here as Nelson was moved to the floor. They hope he will be moved to Birmingham soon. Shannon has had a good day and is doing better and better on the Pap. John has had a good day. He did run some temperature today but is improving. Please pray for the full recovery of Shannon, Nelson, John and our other friends here.

Please keep Vicki Bandstra and her sweet family in your prayers. We are so sad for her.

Thanks so very much for your love and support. We are so grateful for each of you.

April 25 8:30 pm

Hope you all have had a good Friday. Neil has had a good day. The infectious disease doctor came by and said Neil's lung x-rays were significantly better. He is very pleased that Neil does not have a temperature today. He said he feels much better and will check on the cultures next week. The wound care folks came by and changed the dressing on Neil's leg. He is looking much better and there is new skin growth and granulation. Physical therapy came by and did a range of motion routine with Neil. Starting today the tube feeding is turned off during the day so that Neil will have some appetite. This seems to be working as he was able to eat some at each meal and supplement the meals with Ensure (his particular favorite is strawberry) and Gatorade. Neil's trach collar was capped about 3 pm and he is doing great with this. He will probably take the cap off to sleep with the trach collar and will cap it again in the morning. He has had no problems with his heart rate, blood pressure or elevated breathing since the medication was changed. The Oxycontin is managing the pain in his leg. He gets this at 9 pm and 9am. He only had to have the Oxycontin IR once today and that was when they were changing the dressing on his leg. Yea!!!! Please continue to pray for Neil's lungs, leg and continued breathing on the trach collar and his breathing on his own.

Please pray for Vicki Bandstra and her family. She lost her sweet husband David today. We are all so sorry and love her so much. We will continue to keep her in our hearts and prayers.

There is some good news here at Baptist South. Shannon is off the ventilator and is completely on the Bi-Pap. Her mom says the doctor is talking about moving her to a room soon. How wonderful is this. I saw Mrs. Ceyfus and she said John was asleep the last visit but had a good day. Nelson continues to improve, thank goodness. Please pray for Shannon, John, Nelson and our other friends here. I have not heard from Sue today. Please remember her in your prayers.

Thanks so much for your love and support.

April 24 8:00 pm

Good Evening, Hope everyone has had a good day. Neil has had one of those "boring" restful days. I always think of these as a day of healing. Last night his heart rate, blood pressure and breathing were all elevated. During the night he had a temperature of 101.3 but it returned to normal later. The infectious disease doctor is doing cultures on everything to be sure this is not the beginning of anything. During the day, Neil's temp went to 100 but returned to normal. The pain management person came by and discussed changing medications as the doctor thinks the elevated heart rate, blood pressure and breathing might be due to the length of time Neil has been on all of the medications. Tonight he will start on Oxycontin at 9 pm and the dose is for 12 hours. She will check on Neil in the morning to determine if the level was managing his pain. She states this drug will not cause the drowsiness he experiences with the other medications. He will be able to have Oxycontin IR (Immediate Relief) every 4 hours for break through pain. We are very optimistic this might provide the pain relief without the other issues. I did not tell you they discontinued the TPN. Now Neil is still getting the tube feeding, but is also eating. His appetite is not robust but he gets an A for effort. Tonight he had several bites of potatoes, green beans and fried chicken. He even took a bite of sweet potato pie. The wound care folks changed the abdomen dressing and the doctor came by to look. He was very pleased with the progress. He said he still needs more time before he will close this wound. The goal is for there to be good tissue growth all over the wound. Last night as Neil was having a bit of a difficult time the respiratory therapist came by and suggested he go back to the trach collar. Neil resisted this for about an hour but then decided it would be the thing to do. He coughed for a period of time and there was a lot of secretions. The respiratory therapist is consulting with the doctor. It seems tomorrow they may cap the trach for 3-4 hours and then go back to the trach collar for a similar amount of time. Please pray for Neil's lungs, leg and his breathing on the trach collar.

Sue's son in law came by and said she was doing well. We are so very pleased. Please keep her recovery in your prayers. Nelson's brother said Nelson has had a good day. He is more and more alert. What a blessing. Shannon's mother said Shannon is doing well on the Bi-Pap. The doctor is discussing the possibility of moving her to a room. Shannon is more alert on some visits. When the doctor said this about moving her, Shannon gave him the thumbs up. Wow, Shannon is a miracle and we are so pleased. The sad news is Daisy has had to return to Baptist from Health South as she has pneumonia. Please keep her and her sweet friends in your prayers.

Please pray for the full recovery of David Bandstra. We are sending our love and prayers to him and to Vicki.

Thank you so very much for your love and support. Each of you have blessed us.

April 23 8:45 pm

Good evening, Hope you all have had a good day. Neil has been busy again today. Physical therapy came by and tried to assist Neil in moving to a chair. That did not work out very well in that his right foot was on the ground and it is "no weight bearing". They are going to do some brainstorming as Neil's left side will not support the right side at this time. His heart rate , blood pressure and breathing rate has been up most of the day. The doctor came by this evening and changed some medication that should help this. The doctor will come by tomorrow and check Neil's abdomen as the wound care folks change the abdomen dressing. Again, this has been a day of healing. We look forward to tomorrow. Please pray for Neil's lungs, leg and continued breathing on his own.

Please pray for the full recovery of Shannon, John, Nelson and our other friends here. We are keeping Sue in our prayers and will try to hear from her tomorrow. Nelson is more alert and is much pain. We pray he will be stable enough to move to Birmingham soon. John had a good day yesterday and his wife is hopeful he is improving. Our best news of the day is that Shannon is on the Bi-Pap. Yea!!!! We are so excited about this next step for her.

Please keep David Bandstra high on your prayer list and pray for his full recovery. He is at Southeast Medical Center. Also, remember his sweet wife, Vicki.

Thanks so very much for your love and support. We could have never managed this without each of you.

April 22 9:00

Good evening, it is as good an evening as it was a day. I know Reese gave you all an update and some of it bears repeating. Neil's trach was capped this morning at 8:50 this morning. He is breathing on his own with a bit of oxygen. My goodness, this is wonderful. Of course, doing this he can talk. What a beautiful sound!!!! You know all the good news from the infectious disease doctor and the orthopedist. It just does not get better than this. Now, I have been gone last two days to work out of town. I told Neil I would have left two weeks ago if I had known the progress he would make it I left. We cannot wait until tomorrow. Please pray for Neil's lungs, leg and HIS breathing on his own.

Daniel and Kenneth tried to see Sue off but missed her. They are not sure how and went all over the hospital looking for her. Well, I went by Health South on my way in tonight to see Sue. She was asleep so I just threw her a kiss. She is in a comfortable room with a roommate. I am sure everyone over there will know her a "Queen". Nelson continues to improve. His brother is just beaming. Please pray for the full recovery of Sue, Shannon, Nelson, John and our other friends her.

We have a praise report. Our sweet friend, Pam Baker, was released from the hospital today. We are so pleased she is home tonight. Please add David Bandstra to the top of your prayer list as he awaits reports from biopsies.

Thanks so much for your love and support.

April 22 1:45pm

GOOD afternoon and I really stress the "good", this is Reese writing by the way. Actually I guess I should say "GREAT"!!! Neil woke up this morning and one of Neil's respiratory therapists came in capped Neil's trach off and gave him oxygen through his nose. Which means that he is breathing like we all do! This was at 8:50am. He called Mom and said good morning and he later called me and talked to me for a good morning. The wound care team came in to check on Neil's leg and they came in and said that his leg looked 1000 TIMES BETTER!!! This is such great news and the days wasn't even 1/2 even over yet. Just a few minutes after the wound care doctors started looking at Neil's leg his orthopedic surgeon came by and said that his leg looked FANTASTIC! He didn't know that Neil's trach was capped off and he had been gone on a fishing trip for a week and so Neil asked him "Hey doc, where's my fish?" He about flipped out and with a big grin on his face said they were definitely on their way! Neil is having a great day so far. I know you have cut back to only one post a day but we couldn't make you wait on such great news!

ALSO Mrs. Sue's trach is out and she is heading to HealthSouth today. She just couldn't let Neil do everything before her and she's bustin' out of the joint today. So we told her to learn the ropes and we'll learn from her. We sure will miss her and Mrs. Susan and Mrs. Tommy Lee but can't wait to join them all at HealthSouth VERY SOON!!! See you all and missed you all!! Thank you all very much for your prayers!

***I tried a few times to post a photo but there is a problem with this application on blogger right now. I promise I'll make Mom post one soon!

April 21 8:50 pm

Neil and DeAnn had a good night. They seem to be able to sleep for longer periods of time. Today was DeAnn's birthday. Neil put in the speaking valve and sang "Happy Birthday" early this morning. He told her to open one of the drawers and he had a card and a present for her. Yea!!!! The orthopedist was very pleased with Neil's leg. He x-rayed and we should hear from this tomorrow. The orthopedist said he would be sure to get physical therapy here. They did in fact come and Neil sat on the side of the bed for about 7 minutes. They came back later and did range of motion with him. The infectious disease doctor came by and is very pleased. He will come by when they change the dressing on Neil's leg tomorrow. The wound care folks came today and changed the abdomen dressing. Respiratory therapy will probably try to cap the trach tomorrow. All in all this was a very good day. Happy Birthday, DeAnn. Please pray for Neil 's lungs, leg and continued breathing on the trach collar.

Sue has had a great day. She no longer has a trach. She looks beautiful and is feeling good. Sue will be going to Health South tomorrow or the next day. She is one of the miracles of the SICU Waiting Room. Shannon is now on the pressure support ventilator. We are so proud for her and her family. Please pray for the full recovery of Sue, Shannon, John, Nelson and our other friends here.

Thanks so very much for your love and support. I will post again tomorrow night.

April 20 8:45 pm

Neil has had a good Sunday. It has been another restful, healing day. It seems he has gotten lost in the physical therapy rotation. We mentioned this to the physician's assistant and the nurse but have not seen physical therapy since Friday morning. The nurse called and was told the physical therapy was discontinued. We will work on that again in the morning. Neil is still coughing and has some nausea. This should get better with time. The doctor said maybe in the next couple of days he will change the cannula in the trach to a smaller size. After several days of that, he will consider capping the trach. He wants the coughing and the secretions to get less before taking the next step. We sure look forward to tomorrow. Please pray for Neil's lungs, leg and continued breathing on the trach collar.

I sure do have some good news about Shannon. She was more alert today than she has been at all. The doctor is now manipulating the ventilator and Shannon is responding to this. We are so thrilled for Shannon and her family. Her parents and family love her so much and are so supportive. Sue has had a great day. She has been in her chair and has had visitors off and on all day. Her daughters just walk around grinning. I saw John's family and he has had a good day. They are so supportive and love him so much. Nelson's brother said Nelson is about the same and we are praying his lungs will begin to improve. Please pray for the full recovery of Sue, Shannon, John, Nelson and our other friends her.

Please pray for the full recovery of Bob Robertson. He will have surgery coming up and we hope everything goes well.

Tomorrow there may not be a post until evening. I will get it done as soon as possible. Please continue to support the Andress family. Thanks to all of you for your love and support.

April 20 10:30 am

Neil and DeAnn had a good night. Of course, you know that means they were able to nap between nursing visits. Neil ate several bites of grits and eggs. He got sick fairly quickly after eating. As we understand this, he coughs more because of the trach collar. When he coughs, he sometimes becomes nauseated. I am continually amazed at what a finely balanced sytem the body is that each minor thing can cause other things to not work exactly right. So, Neil needs to eat to come off the TPN and the tube feeding, but because of the coughing and nausea, it is difficult to eat. Respiratory therapy folks and physical therapy folks will be by today. We are so pleased with the progress Neil has made. We are reminded often that the doctor said this would take a long time. Also, we are clear that a long time does not mean two weeks. (That is how my mind works!!!) Please continue to pray for Neil's lungs, leg and continued breathing on the trach collar.

Sue has had a good night. My goodness, she looks beautiful this morning. The doctor will cap her trach collar Monday. She is on her way!!!! I have some very good news, Shannon is the most alert this morning she has been. She was awake the entire visit. Let's keep praying her awake. I saw John's family this morning. He is still running a temperature and the doctor does not know the cause of this. His pancreas is still inflamed. Please pray for the full recovery of Sue, Shannon, Nelson, John and our other friends here.

Thanks so much for your love and support. A young friend stopped by this morning. She is doing a great job as she is well on her way to recovery. We are thrilled with her progress and admire her determination. There is no looking back for her now!!!!!!

April 19 8:30 pm

Neil has had a good day. Honestly I would describe this as an uneventful, boring day. (A great, restful day of healing.) He continues to have no temperature. Yea!!!!! You will smile when I tell you DeAnn brought him a cheese quesidilla for dinner. The nurse is encouraging Neil to eat more food. She said this is the way to get off the TPN and tube feeding. We cannot wait until tomorrow. Please pray for Neil's lungs, leg and continued breathing on the trach collar.

Sue has had the best day ever. She is talking over her trach without the speaking valve. Please continue to remember her in your prayers. Please pray for the full recovery of Sue, Shannon, John, Nelson and our other friends here.

Thanks so much for your love and support. Neil received one of the most special calls tonight. One of his friends (this is Neil's second family) got married tonight. He called Neil and all of the brothers talked to Neil as well as several friends. The band played Sweet Home Alabama and sent their love to Neil. There was not a dry eye in this hospital room and we sent our love to all.

April 19 10:50 am

Good morning to all, Neil, DeAnn and Reese had a good night. The physician's assistant came by and said the doctor was writing an order for physical therapy to get Neil out of bed into a chair. Also, he will talk to respiratory therapy about changing the trach cannula to a smaller size. When asked about Neil moving to Health South, he said he will discuss this with the doctor. The question seems to be if Neil can move prior to his abdomen being closed. Please pray for Neil's lungs, leg and his continued breathing on the trach collar.

Please pray for the full recovery of Sue, Shannon, John, Nelson and our other friends here. Please remember Shellie Sharp, Ruth Mack and David Bandstra in your prayers.

Thanks so very much for your love and support.

April 18 9:00

Good evening to all. Neil has had a good day. The wound care folks changed the dressing on his leg. You will remember this is the incision cite and has pulled apart some and it has the vacuum like his abdomen. This wound does look better and is definitely improving. To change these dressings takes a couple of hours. The doctor's physician assistant came by and said Neil was going to be like an Olympic athlete. Neil's assignment is to eat, sleep and exercise. This has been a good day. Each day is a day of healing. I think Neil, DeAnn and Reese are going to have a "spend the night" party. Please pray for Neil's lungs, leg and his continued breathing on the trach collar.


Please pray for the full recovery of Sue, Shannon, John, Nelson and our other friends here. Sue went down for a minor procedure. They changed the cannula in her trach to a smaller size. She did very well and her daughters are waiting on her to return to the room. I saw John's wife and he had his gall bladder removed. He did very well with the surgery and we hope this was a major part of his medical problem. Please pray for Nelson's lungs and for Shannon to wake up.

Thanks so much for your love and support. We cannot wait until tomorrow.

April 18 2:30 pm

Good afternoon, I am so sorry this is late. Neil and DeAnn had a good night. (As good as you can have in a hospital.) This morning has been busy. Physical therapy came in and Neil sat up for a few minutes. The infectious disease doctor came by and was very pleased Neil has no temperature. He feels very good about how the antibiotics have managed the infection. Neil's leg is painful and is managed by medication. The medication makes him sleepy. He and DeAnn are napping as I write this. Physical therapy is to come back by and wound care is to change the dressing on his leg today. The speech therapist came by and evaulated Neil's swallowing again. He "was promoted" to a soft diet. This is sure progress. He is not very hungry and he is getting the TPN and tube feeding. Please pray for Neil's lungs, leg and his continued breathing on the trach collar.

Please pray for the full recovery of Sue, Shannon, John, Nelson and our other friends here. Sue had a good night. The doctor cannot pull her cannula out as planned. They will take her down to surgery for this brief procedure. If all goes well, they will possible close the trach. Goodness, that would be wonderful. Nelson's brother said Nelson had a bit of a set back due to lungs. He had taken two steps forward and maybe this is only one step back. I saw John's wife and John has gone down to surgery and his gall bladder will be removed. I did not see Shannon's mom after the visit but will check on her this evening. Please pray for each of these.

Also, please remember Shellie Sharp in your prayers. She lives in Atmore and has had some health problems for several years. Her sweet family loves her so much and they are so supportive of her. Shellie is doing better right now and we pray this continues. Please remember Ruth Mack and David Bandstra. They are both from Elba and are in the hospital in Dothan.

Thanks so very much for your love and support.

April 17 7:40 pm

Neil has had a good day. Wow, his new room is better than the other suite. It is actually two adjoining rooms. Neil has a small refrigerator, microwave and coffee pot. Now we are talking about a resort room. This is great as we can make Neil the "hot shot" milkshakes and other things he needs. He is still nauseated some and the nurse thinks it is the medication, pain and lots of moving around. Neil is still amazed the doctor wants him on 5000 calories a day. Neil is still receiving TPN (Total Parental Nutrition) and tube feeding. It is very difficult for him to drink more as he is full. The tube feeding is being stopped about an hour before meal time to try and help. Each day this should get better. Physical therapy did not come by today so tonight Neil wanted to sit up. He did this for several minutes with his "PT" team (us). The wound care folks came by and changed the dressing on his abdomen and are very pleased with the progress. This wound is getting smaller. They have asked Neil if he was willing for them to document the progress as they have not seen many wounds like this with the ileostomy so close. They plan to use this if they have the opportunity to present at a Southeastern or National Conference. DeAnn will be able to stay with Neil at night. Thank goodness!!!! All in all this was a good day. We cannot wait until tomorrow. Please continue to pray for Neil's lungs, leg and continued breathing on the trach collar.

I will try to see some of our friends later tonight. Listen to this, you all just prayed Daisy out of the hospital. Daisy left about 11 this morning going to Health South. Her sweet friends, Roger and Laura, have been so faithful to stay with her. They have been a blessing to us as we observed their loving care of her. Sue's day started off great and then she tired out early in the day. Please continue to pray for her. Please pray for the full recovery of Sue, Shannon, Nelson, John and our other friends here.

Hope you all have a wonderful evening. Please know each of you are in our hearts and prayers.

April 17 12:30

What a parade again today as Neil came out of SICU. He is in a room. He will be on contact isolation while he is here. There is still no visiting for the time being. We sure hope that will get better next week and we will let you know. Neil sure is glad to be back in a room.

This is short but wanted to share this good news as soon as possible. Hope you all are having a great day. Thanks so very much for your love and support.

April 17 10:15 am

Yea, yea, yea. We are going to have another parade in just a few minutes. Neil will be moving back to the floor. He had a good night. Neil is still coughing but the bleeding is resolving itself. We are so pleased. Please pray for Neil's lungs, leg and his continued breathing on the trach collar.

There is other good news. Daisy will be going to Health South this morning. How wonderful!!! Nelson's brother got good news in that maybe by Sunday he will be off the ventilator. I visited with Sue this morning. This will make you laugh. Her daughters told the nurses not to take her vitals during the night because she needed a good night's sleep. She got that good night and is feeling much better this morning. Shannon's mother said Shannon is on the pressure support ventilator. Please pray for the full recovery of Sue, Shannon, Daisy, John, Nelson and our other friends here.

Please surround the Andress family with your love. Thanks to each of you for helping us so much. To say thank you does not feel adequate. We so appreciate you.

April 16 9:00 pm

Just visited Neil. He is doing well but sures wants to be moved back to a room on the hall. He hopes this will happen early in the morning. Neil still has no temperature. He is still coughing a lot and we hope this subsides soon. Please pray for Neil's lungs, leg and his continued breathing on the trach collar.


Please pray for the full recovery of Sue, Shannon, John, Daisy, Nelson and our other friends here. It sure has been a busy day here. Shannon' parents continue to be optimistic and we are for them.


Thanks so very much for your love and support. My goodness, we have such a wonderful support group. You are an amazing group of people.

April 15 6:00 pm

We were able to visit Neil. We are all so pleased to know the cause of the bleeding. Neil is still coughing frequently. Doggone it, he is doing such a good job. All of his vital signs are great. He will stay in SICU tonight and maybe be moved back to a room tomorrow. He was able to drink some (guess what?) apple juice and then he was able to manage a sprite. We cannot wait to see him at 8:30. Please pray for Neil's lungs, leg and his continued breathing on the trach collar.

Please pray for the full recovery of Sue, Shannon, John, Daisy, Nelson and our other friends here. I saw Shannon's folks. The great news is the CAT Scan indicated everything was good. They are waiting for her to wake up. Let's pray for her to wake up. Sue has had a good day. She was up in the chair enjoying her daughters. Daisy is still a bit disoriented. Let's pray she will be able to settle down and rest. John's family said their visit was good.

Thank you all for your love and support.

April 16 12:45 pm

Dang, I sure hate to write this. Neil has been coughing up blood off and on since yesterday. The doctor and respiratory folks think it might be the trach in this throat causing some irritation. In that it has not subsided, Neil is back in SICU. The doctor has done a bronchialscope (?) which has determined the trach is the cause of the bleeding. Neil will have to stay in SICU tonight and maybe will be moved out tomorrow. Thank goodness this is the cause of the bleeding. We continue to pray for Neil's lungs, leg and the breathing on the trach collar.

We did see Sue this morning and she had a good night. She had to go to x-ray because there is some concern she might have a bit of bleeding. Her daughters are not alarmed, but want to determine the cause of this. Sue and Neil have sure had some parallel issues. Please pray for the full recovery of Sue. I have not seen Shannon's folks today. Please pray for Nelson. They have put him on the rotary bed as he is having lung problems. Please pray for Daisy, John and our other friends here.

I do not think I mentioned yesterday was 7 weeks since the accident happened. Neil has made tremendous progress and we are thrilled. There is no way Neil could have managed this without your love and support. We so appreciate each of you.

April 15 7:00pm

Well, here we are in Neil's room. I think I told you earlier Neil and DeAnn had a good night. Today has been busy. The wound care folks have done a vacuum wrap on his leg just like his abdomen. They are trying to pull the incision together. This will be changed on Thursday this week and they will then go to a Monday, Wednesday and Friday schedule. His abdomen dressing will be changed on Monday and Thursday. He has had no temperature today. Yea!!!! The orthopedist wants Neil to get 5000 calories a day. Because of the TPN and tube feeding, Neil is no always hungry. He said there has never been a day in his life when he was not hungry. The orthopedist suggested some supplements, so Neil's dad and uncle went shopping. They came back with some "hot shot" supplement, a blender and some strawberry Ensure. We made Neil a mikshake which worked relatively well. All in all, a very good day. Thank goodness, he had little nausea today. Please pray for Neil's lungs, his leg and his continued hard work on the trach collar.

We have some great news. Sue lead the parade coming down the hall going to a room. My goodness, she looked beautiful. She made the nurses stop and put her speaking valve in so she could speak to the crowd. I must say there were more than a few tears. Sue is a "miracle" from the 6th floor SICU waiting room. Hey, you will smile when I tell you both of her daughters are spending the night with her. Sounds like a "girls night out". Shannon's mother said Shannon is doing well on the ventilator and they have lowered the settings, but she is having a problem moving to the next step. Please pray for the full recovery of Shannon. Please pray for Nelson. He is having problems with his lungs and we know how scary that can be. I saw John's wife and she had a good visit with him. We are so pleased. John is so blessed with family. I have not seen Laura this evening and I hope Daisy was moved. Please pray fo Daisy

Now that Neil is in a room, we are going to determine how best to manage the blog. We are thinking we will post twice a day, mid morning and late afternoon. We hope by next week, Neil can have visitors, at least for a few minutes. He still needs lots of rest and when he is awake, there is physical therapy, wound care etc. Also, within the next week or so, Neil will be able to talk. Soon the trach collar will be capped. It will stay like that for a short time and then the trach will be removed.

Thanks to each of you. You all are a part of this move for Neil and we so appreciate it. Please continue to love and support the Andress family.

April 15 10:30 am

My goodness, Neil and DeAnn had a good night. They both agree this is much better than SICU. Neil does not have any temperature. The infectious disease doctor came by and is pleased with the progress with the infection. He will continue to hear from cultures. Physical therapy came by and sat Neil up and he was able to hold himself up a couple of minutes. This is great progress. Please pray for Neil's lungs, leg and continued breathing on the trach collar.


Sue cannot let Neil get ahead of her, so she is "busting" out of SICU today if there is an available room. She is doing great and we cannot wait to see her on this end of the hall. Also, Daisy is doing very good and might get a room today. We are so pleased for her.




There are no words to describe how grateful we are for your prayers and support. Thanks so very much to each of you.

April 14 9:00 pm

What a wonderful day!!!! Neil did get moved to a room on the floor. As he came by from the SICU, it was like watching the grandest parade in the world. He is settled in his room. There is a super view of the parking lot and at night with all the lights it resembles a resort. The nausea has been lousy today and the doctor is trying to figure it out. For tonight, the tube feeding is stopped. They will start things back tomorrow and maybe determine the cause. Neil does not have temperature tonight, thank goodness. So, the way I think, this is a GIANT step. He still has the VRE and the doctor is doing more cultures.

For now, Neil cannot have visitors but we sure hope within a week or so that will change. I am sure all of you will understand that none of us want Neil to get any other infection, nor does he want to share with you. We will continue the blog but will figure this out as we go. I am going to keep you posted with our friends so we can continue the prayers for them

Sue has had the best day yet. You will notice the last several days have been her best days. Listen to this, she will be moved to a room tomorrow. Prayer is so powerful. Not only Sue, but Daisy has had a very good day. The doctor is talking about moving her out tomorrow also. Nelson is doing a bit better. Visits with his brother have been good. I have not seen John's family today. Shannon has had a good day. The ventilator setting has been reduced from 8 to 4 and she is moving toward the BI-PAP. When her dad walked in and said her name, she opened her eyes. Her mom said she lightly squeezed. Please continue to pray for the full recovery of each of these and our other friends here.

We cannot tell you how much we appreciate all of your prayers. You have prayed Neil out of SICU!!!!! We so look forward to tomorrow.

April 14 1:30

Neil has not moved yet. He has been very nauseated all morning. The visit is being delayed as they have given Neil some medication to see if this will settle down. The nurse said the move to a room is on hold for the time being. They have stopped the tube feeding and are trying to determine what is causing the nausea. His throat is very sore from all the coughing. Neil does not have a temperature, thank goodness. Please pray for Neil's lungs, leg and his continued breathing on the trach collar.

Please continue to pray for the full recovery of Sue, Shannon, Daisy, John, Nelson and our other friends here. Shannon's eyes were open this morning. They are trying to wean Shannon off the ventilator. She is trying the Bi-Pap. We so hope and pray Shannon will wake up. Daisy was sitting in a chair this morning, but is so very weak. Sue has been up in a chair since the 10 am visit. She had a good lunch and is going to take a nap this afternoon. She is doing just great!!!! Isn't that wonderful? Nelson's brother said he can respond by squeezing his hand. It seems that Nelson may have to be moved to Birmingham in the next week or so.

Thanks so very much for you love and support.

April 15 10:30 am

We have had the last 10 am visit in SICU as Neil will be moved at some point today. His night was good. His throat really hurts and he coughs frequently. The coughing is a result of the trach collar as we understand this. His temperature is 99 this morning. The doctors have seen Neil. The infectious disease doctor said the Zyvox is covering the VRE. They are waiting on other cultures and will proceed based on those finding. With the infection Neil has, his room has to be labeled "Contact Isolation". So, we have to suit up to visit. I think we all look good in yellow. HA!! Please pray for Neil's lungs, leg and his continued breathing on the trach collar.


Please pray for the full recovery of Sue, Shannon, Daisy, John, Nelson and our other friends here. I did not see our families after the visit. Will update you on the next visit.


Please surround the Andress family with your support. Both the Andress family and us so appreciate your loving us through this.

April 13 9:00 pm

We just saw Neil for the last time today. This has been a good Sunday. The physical therapist came by and gave Neil a great workout. He sat on the side of the bed for about 10 minutes. This is the longest time he has been able to imagine. I think this is a great step. Neil continues to cough frequently. This is so good for his lungs but sure hurts his throat. Please pray for Neil's lungs, leg and his continued breathing on the trach collar.


Please continue to pray for the full recovery of Sue, Shannon, Daisy, John, Nelson and our other friends here. Today has been very busy here with more admissions. That makes us sad for the patients and their families.


Thanks so very much for your love and support.

April 13 5:30 pm

Just visited Neil. He sure has had a good day. He has a temperature of 100.4. This is the first temperature he has had today. Neil continues to breath well on the trach collar. He is still watching the Masters. Please pray for Neil's lungs, leg and his continued breathing on the trach collar.

Please remember Sue, Shannon, Daisy, John and our other friends here. I just saw Vernell and her husband, Clinton, continues to improve just a bit each day. He is now eating some. Sue and Shannon have had a good day. Please pray for Shannon to wake up. Daisy slept through this visit. We think sleeping is healing. John's family said they had a good visit. We are so pleased because they have been so worried. I am smiling right now as I watch one of Sue's daughters go flying down the hall with some Blue Bell ice cream. Wow, Sue will have a great snack at 8:30.

Please add Nelson Colon. He is from Birmingham and has been in an automobile accident and is here in SICU. His brother and family are from Enterprise. His family is so supportive and is so worried. Please pray for Nelson's full recovery.

Hope you all had a great Sunday and we sure look forward to tomorrow.

April 13 1:30 pm

Today is the Masters and Neil is watching as I write this. This picture was a fun day for Kenneth, Neil and Reese.

We just saw Neil. He has had a good morning. Neil is more than a little anxious to be moved to a room on the floor. There is not a room right now and the doctor will not let Neil be moved to another floor. The doctor said there is not a room for Neil today so he will remain SICU at least through tomorrow. He continues to do very well on the trach collar. My goodness, he is so blessed. Please pray for Neil's lungs, leg and his continued breathing on the trach collar.

Please continue to pray for the full recovery of Sue, Shannon, Daisy and our other friends here. Sue had a good night as did Shannon and Daisy. We love all this progress.
Please add Mr. John Ceyfus to your prayer list. He has been here, in a room and in SICU, for several weeks. He had surgery yesterday and the surgery went well. He had a temperature this morning which is concerning. He is a husband, father, grandfather and great grandfather. His family is so supportive and love him so much.

Thanks so very much for your love and support. Please remember to surround the Andress family with your love and prayers.

April 13 10:30

We just visited with Neil. I did not tell you yesterday about a celebration we had. The ventilator was removed from Neil's SICU cubicle. Yea!!!!!! That was not a baby step, but a giant leap. The nurse said he had a great night. He has no temperature this morning. Thank goodness!!! Please pray for Neil's lungs, leg and his continued breathing on the trach collar.


Please continue to pray for Sue, Shannon, Daisy, John and our other friends here in SICU.


It is a lovely Sunday morning here. Hope you all have a grand day. Thanks so very much for your love and support.

April 12 7:10 pm

We had a good visit with Neil. Every visit with Neil is a good visit. His temperature was 100.4 this morning ,99.4 this afternoon and 98.6 tonight without any tylenol. It is grand when his temperature goes down with no intervention. All in all this has been a good day. Each day we know Neil's lungs are getting stronger and he is getting better. Please pray for Neil's lungs, leg and his continued breathing on the trach collar.


Please continue to pray for the full recovery of Sue, Shannon, Daisy, John and our other friends here. Listen to what Sue did. Her daughters have been so worried about whether or not her vision was impaired. One of the grandsons had written a note on the board in her room. Sue was looking around when her daughters were there and said, "What about that note that says, Memaw, Get Up!!!!" Well, needless to say, Sue's vision is great.


Shannon's sweet parents shared their dinner with us. One of their friends, a local caterer, brought a platter of chicken salad and a wonderful fruit platter. We are going to be sad when we tell our children we gained 50 pounds while they were in SICU.


Hope you all had a wonderful Saturday. Thanks so much for your love and support.

April 12 6:00 pm

This picture is of Dad and Neil at the Master's. We thought it was very appropriate since it was Master's week!

Had a good visit with Neil. The infectious disease doctor said Neil had vancomycin resistant enterococcus. He has Neil on zyvox and Neil is still on the arithomycin for his stomach. The doctor said this is "doable". We are so pleased!!! According to the nurse, this is a direct result of the massive amounts of antibiotics Neil has been on, but we recognize those were necessary to save his life. The nurse said this was always a risk on the backside of saving his life and the good news is we are on that backside. Please pray for Neil's lungs, leg and his continued breathing on the trach collar.

Sue's daughter had a good visit. She said Sue had a good appetite and ate her dinner. She is getting better each visit. Please continue to remember her in your prayers. Daisy is now on her normal medication and was sleeping during the visit. It is so good as she has been very agitated. Let's remember her in our prayers. Shannon has had a good day. Her parents will not hear from the CAT Scan until Monday. Please pray for Shannon's full recovery. I did not see John's family but the earlier visit was good. We pray he will continue to recover from the surgery.

Thank you all for your love and support.

April 12 10:30 am

Just visited Neil. He sure did have a good night. When I called this morning to check on Neil, the nurse said Neil's night was "GREAT". This is the first time that word has ever been used. The infectious disease doctor will come by to review the cultures from Neil's leg to be sure levaquin is the appropriate antibiotic. It is very doubtful Neil will be moved to a room today, but not because of his condition. Neil will continue to need nursing care for a while because of the trach collar and his leg dressing must be changed every day. The dressing is more sophisticated than a normal wrap and the pin sites must be packed. Today they are not sure there is an available room and the nurse patient ratio is 1 nurse to 9 patients. Another nurse is to come in but the doctor will not move Neil until he is sure all his needs can be met. Again, there might not even be a room. So, Neil is discouraged but understands the issues. We continue to be so pleased with Neil's progress. DeAnn and Reese have washed Neil's hair. There is a pressure ulcer (small) on the back of his head. This one and the one on his right heel are from the rotary bed. (It is amazing there are only the two.)
Please pray for Neil's lungs, legs and his continued progress with the trach collar.

Please pray for the full recovery of Sue, Shannon, Daisy and our other friends here.

Daisy is having a difficult time with the medication. She has the most faithful friend in the world with her. We should all have a friend like Laura is for Daisy. Let's continue to pray for her recovery. Sue continues to make progress. Last night she had mashed potatoes, some type of meat and carrots. She is not on a soft diet, she is on pureed food which is better. How wonderful is this? Please keep Sue in your prayers. Shannon's parents have been told to be patient. They are doing such a good job with this. Please continue to pray for Shannon's full recovery.

Thanks so very much for your love and support.

April 11 9:00 pm

Just visited Neil. Wow, he is doing such a good job and we are so proud of him. There is no looking back for him with the trach collar. His breaths are still rather quick but he is feeling fine. His leg hurts quite a bit and this is being managed with medication. There is a pressure ulcer on his right heel and this is amazing this is the only one. This happened when he was on the rotary bed for so long. That bed was pretty dang rough but it was part of the miracle that saved his life. He is getting another unit of blood tonight. Neil sure is counting on moving to a room on the 6th floor. We cannot wait to see him in the morning.


Please continue to pray for Sue, Shannon, Daisy and our other friends here.

Ms. Daisy will probably be in SICU until Monday. She is doing better and the doctor is trying to adjust her medication. Shannon had to go down today for a CAT Scan. We sure hope the results are going to be great. Sue has had her best day. She has been on the trach collar all day and the goal is 18 hours today. Each day she had increased her time on the trach collar by about 3 hours.


We so appreciate your love and support. Please remember the Andress family in your prayers.

April 11 6:40 pm

Just had a visit with Neil. His afternoon has gotten better and better. He seems to feel as good today as every. Neil has done excellent with the trach collar and is looking forward to moving to a room tomorrow. (We so hope there is a room available tomorrow.)

Sue has had a very good day. She had a chocolate milkshake today. Yea!!!!! We are so pleased with her progress. Please continue to pray for Sue and her recovery.

Please continue to pray for Shannon, Daisy and our other friends here. We are blessed to have such wonderful folks her with us.

Thanks so very much for your love and support.

April 11 4:00 pm

I am so sorry this is late. As Neil has gotten better, the nurse have let us have more time to visit. Neil is having a good day. The orthopedist changed the dressing on Neil's leg. There are two pin sites which have some infection. These areas will be packed every day. The doctor said the dressing on Neil's leg must be changed once a day for about 2 weeks. He is doing so well on the trach collar. Neil is counting on being moved to a room tomorrow. (We sure hope there is available room on this floor.) Please pray for Neil's lungs, leg and his breathing on the trach collar.

Please pray for the full recovery of Sue, Shannon, Daisy and our other friends here. All of our folks here are having a good day. This waiting room is full of blessings.

Thanks so very much for your love and support.

April 11 10:30 am

Hey Folks, I am writing this from Neil's room in SICU. We brought the computer back here so Neil could check on the golfers at the Masters. He has been on the trach collar for over 24 hours. He is earning his wings to a room on the floor out of SICU. He is doing a great job. The doctor's physician assistant came by and said Neil was doing great. The orthopedist has not been by yet. Neil's temperature is 99.1 and the nurse is not concerned. They have extended the levaquin for 10 days and have discontinued the ancef. Please pray for Neil's lungs, leg and his continued breathing on the trach collar.

Sue had a good night. Please continue to pray for her full recovery.

Please continue to pray for Shannon. The respiratory therapist is going to try her on the Bi-Pap. We so hope this will work well.

Hope you all have a good Friday. Thanks so much for your love and support.

April 10 9:00 pm

We just had our last visit for the day with Neil. When we see Neil in the morning he will have been on the trach collar for 24 hours. Neil has had a very good day. He has been on the trach collar since 7:30 this morning. You go, boy. Dang, we are so proud of him. He has had a busy day but was able to keep an eye on the Masters. He is sure rooting for his favorite player, Boo Weekley.

Please pray for Neil's lungs, leg and an extra prayer for Neil to keep doing such a grand job on the trach collar.


My goodness, this has been Sue's best day. She followed up the Wonderful Wednesday (she had previously had all bad Wednesdays) with a Terrific Thursday. Her daughters are "acting out" with excitement. Please keep Sue's progress high on your prayer list.


Shannon's parents continue to be encouraged by her progress. She is working with the trach collar and is doing such a nice job. Please pray for Shannon's full recovery.

Please pray for the full recovery of Daisy Crawford from Evergreen. She is in SICU due to an aneurysm and has had very serious surgery. Ms. Daisy is 83 and has the sweetest friend here that treats her like a daughter.

Thanks to each of you for running this marathon with Neil and us. We did not know what we were asking of you and we so appreciate your faithfulness.

April 10 6:00pm

Neil and Kenneth have been able to watch the Masters this afternoon. They have had a very good visit. The dressings on Neil's abdomen and leg have been changed today. The leg has some infection at the pin site at the knee. Neil is on antibiotics for this and his temperature is now normal. Lots of cultures have been done and we will hear from that is a day or so. Neil is doing well on the trach collar and is at 12 hours. Yea!!!!!!! We cannot wait to see him at 8:30.


Sue loved her yogurt. She enjoyed several bites of it. Please continue to pray for her full recovery.


Please pray for Shannon's recovery. She has had a good day. I saw Vernell, Clinton's wife. Clinton has been moved to a room but is having trouble eating. Please remember Clinton in your prayers.


We so appreciate your love and support.

April 10 1:30 pm

Just visited Neil. Neil said he felt the best he had all day. His temperature is down to 98.6. Thank goodness. We are so pleased. DeAnn was able to stay with Neil until the 1:00 visit. Yea!!!! Shhhh!!!! Kenneth is back with him to watch the golf tournament. How much fun. Please pray for Neil's lungs, leg and his tenacity in hanging with the trach collar.


Please pray for the full recovery of Sue, Shannon and our other friends here in SICU.

Sue's daughters have run down to Chappy's to get Sue some yogurt. How neat is that? That is progress. Please continue to pray for her full recovery.

Shannon's parents said Shannon was tired, but they loved seeing her. Please pray for her recovery.

Please pray for Jay Wilson to gain back to his birth weight or what we call his "fighting weight". Jay has a wonderful, supportive family and is a blessing to all of them.


Thanks so much for your love and support.

April 10 10:45 am

Good morning. Hope all of you are doing well. Neil is already hard at work. He moved to the trach collar at 7:30 this morning. The doctor said he expects Neil to be on the trach collar from now on. The thought is Neil might be able to move to a room here possibly Saturday or Sunday. Wow, this is Neil's goal as well as ours. His temperature was 101.5 but the doctor is not alarmed as he attributes this to the surgery. The wound care folks are changing Neil's abdomen dressing now and the dressing on his leg will be changed later today. Dang, Neil is working so hard and we are so proud of him. Please pray for Neil's lungs, his leg and his tenacity in tolerating the trach collar.

Well, this morning Sue is back in her chair. She is making more and more progress everyday. Her sweet daughters are so excited as are we. Her swallowing is being evaluated as I write this. Let's pray that she makes an A+ on this test so she can have some ice cream. You go, girl.

Let continue to pray for the full recovery of Shannon. She is sure trying to wake up. Her parents are so pleased. We are so encouraged by her progress.

Thanks so very much for your love and support. We could not ever have managed this without you all. Please surround the Andress family with love and support.

April 9 9:00 pm

Just visited Neil. He has had a long day. Each time he sat up, he extended the time. The last time was for 2 minutes. This is certainly progress. Neil has temperature of 101.3. The nurse is not alarmed and said this is due to the surgery. They will start a culture if the temp reaches 101.5 . We cannot wait until tomorrow. Please pray for Neil's lungs and leg.



Guess what??? I have been reluctant to mention this, but today is Wednesday and it is almost over and Sue has had a Wonderful Wednesday. You will remember every Wednesday she has had a bump in the road, but not today! In fact today has been the best day she has had since being in SICU. Thank goodness, it is time. She has been in the chair and has had good visits. I am thinking she has "turned the corner". Please continue to pray for her full recovery.


Shannon continues to respond when her parents are in the room. We are so hopeful she will continue to wake up. Let's pray for her continued progress.



Tonight friends of ours and Neil's brought dinner that was prepared by the Hickory Pit in Elba. Not only did we have a delicious meal, but we were able to share with our friends here in the SICU waiting room. To say we are blessed with friends, family and community is such an understatement. Thank you all so very much.

April 9 6:40 pm

Just visited Neil. He has worked hard on the trach collar. He has just come off the trach collar and is going back on the ventilator. His leg continues to hurt and the pain has moved from the knee to the middle of his leg. The nurse thinks the pain in the knee is from the pin site for the external hardware. This has been a very productive day for Neil in that he was on the trach collar for 10 uninterrupted hours. This is a huge start to weaning off the ventilator. We cannot wait to see Neil at 8:30. Please pray for Neil's lungs and leg.

Sue and Shannon have had a good day. They are making progress every single day. We are thrilled and cannot wait until 8:30 for another visit.

Thanks so very much for your love and support.

April 9 1:50 pm

Just visited Neil. The nurse is able to manage the pain with medication. Neil wanted two people to pull him up so he could sort of sit up in bed. The first time he was able to sit up with this help for 1 minute and 10 seconds. Before the visit was over, Neil wanted to do this again. He was able to stay in this position 1 minute and 50 seconds. I think this is another baby set which will lead to a giant leap. Shhhh! Neil and his dad are back there together. They are going to watch the Master's Par 3 together. Neil and his dad have watched the Master's together for years. In fact, you might remember the first thing Neil asked about was Boo Weekly. Neil thought he had slept through the Master's. His dad will be able to stay back off and on during the tournament. Yea!!!!

Please pray for full recovery of Sue, Shannon and Ruth and our other friends here. We keep hearing good things from all.

Please know how much we appreciate your love and support.

April 9 11:00 am

Just visited Neil. We saw the doctor. My goodness, things change as I write this and it is all good. The doctor said if Neil can continue to manage the trach collar, all day today and maybe all day and night tomorrow, he will consider moving Neil to a room here. The doctor said his rule of thumb for being concerned about infection is 48-72 hours but he could not speak for the orthopedist. Neil's leg is wrapped and the orthopedist will unwrap it tomorrow and check his handiwork. Neil's leg is very painful. The good news is this pain should be time limited. (That is easy for me to say because it is not my leg. Also, pain is the thing I had worried about in the very beginning, because I had no idea what was going to happen. So, six weeks later Neil is having to deal with the most pain he has had.) The other good news is the doctor is now thinking Neil will stay here in a room and then maybe transition to Health South, rather than having to go to the Long Term Hospital at Jackson. Neil is very, very pleased about this prospect. Neil is drinking some gatorade this morning. Please pray for Neil's lungs and his leg.

Oh my, I was able to meet Sue this morning and love on her just a minute. She was in a recliner and was able to speak a bit. My goodness, I now know where her daughters got their beauty from as Sue is lovely. All the nurses were in the hall clapping and visiting with her. She is the Queen in her family and the Queen of SICU. What a blessing. Please continue to pray for her full recovery.

Shannon's parents continue to be encouraged by her progress. The staff infection is gone. Yea!!!!! The doctor has said her parents must be patient and they are doing such a fine job with this. Please pray for Shannon's full recovery.

We continue to be amazed at the progress of the patients in Baptist South SICU. We attribute their progress to your love and prayers. We cannot thank you enough for your faithfulness. Hope you all have a good Wednesday.

April 8 9:00 pm

Just visited Neil. Neil is tired and a bit groggy. He is on the ventilator and is being given some breaths. They will reduce the breaths in the morning as he is more alert. Neil said his leg is throbbing. (I would think mine would be killing me.) DeAnn went and got Neil a slushy and he said it was very good. Please pray for Neil's leg and his lungs.

Please pray for the full recovery of Sue, Shannon, Ruth and our other friends here. I visited with Ruth's family and she is doing very well. They hope she will go home tomorrow. There is always some good news in this waiting room.

Thanks so much for your love and support.

April 8 6:10 pm

Just visited Neil. The surgery is complete and Neil is back in SICU. He had an uneventful trip there and back. The orthopedist said the surgery went well. He was able to "plate" the bone. He put the bone together, put a metal plate around this and screwed this into place. (This is the social worker's understanding.) He did have to do a bone graft as he said there were about 14 fragments from the bone. The orthopedist is hopeful there will be no more surgery but is not convinced the actual foot will not need something later. The biggest concern from the orthopedist now is infection in the leg from the surgery. Neil will start on ancef for a couple of days to help with this. Neil is still on leviquin(?) for the serratia. Neil is alert but groggy. His leg is wrapped big and this will come off Thursday. We cannot wait to see Neil at 8:30. He thinks he wants a sip of milkshake at that visit. Please pray for Neil's lungs and his leg.

This has been a good day for Sue and Shannon. Both have done well on the trach collars. We are so excited for both. Hey, I saw John Greshaw in the truck going home being driven by his wife. Let's continue to pray for the full recovery of Sue, Shannon, John and our other friends her.

Early on in this experience I learned a valuable lesson from a good friend of mine. She taught me how to do what I am going to share with you. I have just prayed for a miracle for Neil to NOT have an infection in his leg and I have just thanked God for answering this. We continue to thank God for his recovery. Thank you all for loving us.

April 8 1:30 pm

Just visited Neil. The surgery should be about 3:30 pm. We will be able to see Neil a few minutes before they take him down to surgery. We cannot wait!!! We are so pleased Neil is well enough to go down to surgery. He continues to be blessed.

Just talked to Sue's daughters. Sue is having a good day. She was on the trach collar for 12-14 hours yesterday and has been on it since early this morning. Sue has the speaking valve in and uses it some. This sure does make her daughters smile. Sue's progress is just so wonderful.

Shannon continues to squeeze hands when asked. Her parents are so pleased as Shannon seems
to be slowly waking up. Shannon is also on the trach collar several hours a day.

Thank you all for your love and support. Hope you all have a great Tuesday.

April 8 10:30 am

Good morning, Just visited Neil. He had a OK night. (He reminds us that the the hospital is not a good place to rest.) The orthopedist came by and said the will do the surgery this afternoon. He said he will put the bone together and put a plate over it and screw the plate into place. He said he might have to do a bone graft as there are 14 or so bone fragments. The orthopedist said the surgery would take a couple of hours. Neil is ready. The physical therapist came by and sat Neil up for a few minutes (remember the medical term for sitting up? Dangling). She showed us the exercises for range of motion. Please pray for Neil's lungs.


Please pray for the full recovery of Sue, Shannon, Ruth, John and our other friends here. We were not able to talk to other family members as we were talking to the doctor.


My goodness, we started this journey six weeks ago. At times it feels like six minutes ago. From the beginning, the medical personnel have said this would be long and hard. I cannot stress enough we did not understand "long". We sure thought a couple of weeks. We are understanding what they meant more and more. The blessing in all of this is that Neil has the time to recover because of all the miracles and the medical expertise which sustained them.


We have been able to adjust some work assignments and others have filled in for us. Our employers have been more than patient and we cannot thank them enough. We so appreciate Sanbuck Insurance, Goodwyn, Mills and Cawood, Inc., First Financial, Elba General Hospital, Troy University and the Alabama State Department of Human Resources!!!


Please love and support the Andress family.

April 7 9:00 pm

Just visited Neil. He is watching the basketball game. He has had a good day all in all. The respiratory therapist tried Neil on a Bi-Pap machine this afternoon in lieu of the ventilator. This was not Neil's favorite thing. He is back on the ventilator. The setting remains the same with 40% oxygen and pressure of 10. He tolerates this very well with his oxygen sat of 98. We sure do look forward to tomorrow. Please pray for Neil's lungs.


Please continue to pray for the full recovery Sue, Shannon, Ruth and John and our other friends here. There is still lots of good news here. Sue was on the trach collar all day long!!!! She is on the ventilator at night, but I bet not for too much longer. Shannon is still able to squeeze hands when asked. Ruth's family had a good visit and are encouraged by her progress. John's wife is very hopeful he will go home tomorrow.


We cannot wait until tomorrow. Thank you for all your support and love.

April 7 6:00 pm

Just visited Neil. This afternoon the speech therapist came by and evaluated Neil's swallowing. Neil can swallow when he is on the trach collar. She said Neil "passed" the test and he could have something to drink besides the sips of apple juice. Neil wanted a chocolate milkshake from Chik Fil A. Well, you can imagine, my CA (Community Angel AKA baby sitter, my youngest brother) and I went flying to Chik Fil A and got 2 milkshakes (one for Neil and one for DeAnn). They were able to have their first lunch together today. Yea!!! He was able to drink several swallows. Again, we are celebrating. Neil was on the trach collar several hours. He is working so hard. The nurse brought him a dinner tray, cream of something soup, jello, pudding, yogurt, etc. He had a couple of bites of jello, sips of tea and then wanted some of the left over milk shake.

Please pray for Neil's lungs.

We continue to see miracles in this waiting room. We are still celebrating Shannon's recovery. Like Neil and Sue, this is going to be a slow process but at least now she has a great starting point. Yea!!!!!

Please pray for the full recovery of Ruth Lewis from Georgianna. She had carotid artery surgery today and had some complications. She is in SICU. Her sweet family is here with us. Ruth is their mother.


Please pray for the full recovery of John Gresham from Millbrook. He had carotid artery surgery this morning and is doing great. Let's pray him home to Millbrook.

Thanks to all of you for the love and support.

April 7 1:30 pm

Just visited Neil. Neil was on the trach collar for about 2 hours. He is still doing well on this. The orthopedist has reviewed the x-rays and does not like the way the bone looks. Neil will have surgery tomorrow to "plate" the bone and possible do a bone graft. It seems to us the quicker they do this, the better. Neil is ready to get the show on the road. Please pray for Neil's lungs.

Wow, we have such wonderful news. Sue is having a wonderful day. The doctors are saying that she will probably be moved to a room here on the floor in the next week or so. Following this, the doctor said Sue will probably go to Health South. Her daughters are so excited. She has made tremendous progress.

We even have more good news. Shannon seems to be waking up!!!!! She was able to follow some commands including to squeeze her hand. Now we are all excited. My goodness, God is good. Her parents are thrilled and we are so happy for them.

What a great day in the SICU waiting room. Thanks to each of you. We are all humbled by the power of prayer.

April 7 10:30 am

Just visited Neil. We saw both doctors this morning. The good news is Neil is doing very well. Neil's lungs continue to improve as done his abdomen. The news that discouraged Neil a bit is the doctor said the recovery process will be approximately 9 months. He anticipates Neil will have to have the colostomy for at least 6 months. I guess we should have realized this, but honestly we had not thought of the process in this time line. However, isn't this a good problem to have? Neil has been on the trach collar since 10:20. He is going to wear this as long as he can today. He was nauseated and the nurse gave him medication for this. Neil coughs a lot when he is on the trach collar. He does a great job but often this causes him pain in the side. The orthopedist is not as pleased as he had hoped with the healing of Neil's right lower leg. The orthopedist tightened the external hardware to keep the leg straight. The femur seems to be healing nicely. The orthopedist said Neil must stay here in SICU for at least about another week. He is also saying he may have Neil moved to a room here. As we understand it, Neil cannot move to a room on the floor until he is off the ventilator. (Please know we listen, ask questions and try to understand. We are so far out of our level of expertise.) DeAnn is back with Neil now. The bone stimulator is on the fractures for 20 minutes at time. We hope the nurses will let her stay a while longer. Please pray for Neil.


Please pray for the full recovery of Sue, Shannon and our other friends here. Today is the beginning of a new week and we expect great things for Sue and Shannon.


I have referred to several days as "Banner" days, but I am afraid I did not mention a real "Banner" day. Friends from Troy University came and brought the most wonderful banner you can imagine. It says "Get Well Soon Neil" from Troy University. It is signed with good wishes from a host of Trojans. We were told this banner has been all over campus. Neil had the pleasure of working with Quik Copy when he was in school and this department became part of his family. The banner is in SICU and all the nurses and doctors have admired it. The notes from the Troy family have meant a great deal to Neil and all of us. We are indeed blessed.

What a pretty day. Hope you all are having a good Monday. Thank to each of you for your support.







Please continue to love and support the Andress family. Without your love and support, we could have never managed this experience.

April 6 9:00pm

Just visited Neil. He was on the trach collar for 3 1/2 hours. This is a total of 7 hours and 10 minutes. He has set a goal for himself of 8 hours on the trach collar tomorrow. The respiratory therapist told him it would take 2-3 weeks to "wean" off the ventilator. Neil says he can do this in less time than that. In fact every time someone tells him how long it will take, he typically says he can beat that time. We continually tell Neil to set realistic goals and he rolls his eyes. He does make us smile with pride. His blood sugar was a bit high today and he had to have some insulin. This is not alarming as this is due to the TPN. Please pray for Neil's lungs.

Please pray for the full recovery of Sue, Shannon, Clinton, John and our other friends here. Please remember Clinton as the tumor removed was malignant and his family is so worried. Shannon has had a good day. I guess the person who takes the cake today is Sue. She was able to use the speaking valve and was able to say, "I love my daughters!", to her two sweet daughters. I am not sure who was most excited, Sue or her daughters. Yea!!!!!!

We have the most wonderful Sunday. This has been a good day for all. Thanks so very much for your love and support.

April 6 6:00 pm

So here is the entire group at the Nativity Scene in front of our church December 07. We so enjoy this. Just looking at this makes me smile. Hope you do.

Just visited Neil. He started on the trach collar at 4:30. During the visit he wore the speaking valve. He was able to tell his everyone hello. Before we left he sang several songs which made us laugh. His sense of humor is amazing. All his vitals are great. We are so encouraged with his progress. We cannot wait to see him at 8:30. Please pray for Neil's lungs.

Please pray for the full recovery of Sue Shelton, Shannon Jones, John Waters and our other friends her. Both Sue and Shannon are having good days. Sue, Shannon and Neil are all using the trach collar. Sue is usually on the trach collar 6-8 hours a day. Shannon will be on the trach collar for 4 hours today. What great progress!!!!

This afternoon for lunch, friends came up and cooked lunch in the parking lot. What a view out the 6th floor window here in the waiting room. It looked like the best "tailgating party" you have ever seen. Instead of yelling for our favorite team, we were going "Go Neil, Go Sue, Go Shannon". These sweet friends cooked for all our friends here in the waiting room. My goodness, we are blessed with the best cheerleaders in the world. Thank so much to each of you for your love and support.

April 6, 2008 10:30 am

We just got finished visiting with Neil. He has been on the trach collar since 8:30 am. He wants to hold out until 12:00. We did some physical therapy exercises with him. His strength continues to improve everyday. We are so pleased that he is able to cough up all the mucus in his lungs. This is really good for him because he is getting all of that out of his lungs, and it builds his lung strength. They took some x-rays of his leg this morning. We're hoping that the doctor will be able to see improvement since we started using the bone stimulator. Thank you all for your continued prayers and support.

April 6 1:30pm

This pictures shows "Three Almost Wise" Folks. This was at the Nativity Scene at our church December, 07. We will show you the group picture in a while.

Just visited Neil. He started his day off busy as you can tell from the previous post, but didn't he do great! Neil's "A-Team" came to work again today, not with physical therapy this time but to dangle him off the side of the bed. He did a great job. He sat up twice for just a few minutes. Neil was on the trach collar for 3 hours and 40 minutes. Please pray for Neil's lungs.

Please pray for the full recovery of Sue, Shannon, John and our other friends here. Bryant is going to be discharged today. Isn't that wonderful? We just saw Brian Phelps' family. They anticipate Brian will be released tomorrow. He will go hope for a while to recover and then maybe go to Health South in Dothan. Oh my goodness, we are soooo pleased for him and them.

It is overcast here, but the SICU is bright with hope and optimism. We are able to be so upbeat because of all the love and support we receive from all of you. Have a blessed Sunday.

April 5 9:00 pm

Just visited Neil. Neil was on the trach collar for 2 hours and 20 minutes. Whippee!!!! He is doing so good. This has been a great Saturday. He has no temperature, thank goodness. Neil is doing great with the tube feeding. They finally found a "recipe" that agrees with him. There is progress in all areas. My goodness, even his blood pressure is within normal limits. He is still wearing a blood pressure patch but has not had to have additional medication in several days. Please pray for Neil's lungs.


Please pray for the full recovery of Sue, Shannon, John, Bryant and our other friends here. Sue has been drowsy most of the day. We hope she has a good night's sleep. We continue to pray that Shannon will wake up. She is making progress every day.

We cannot wait for tomorrow. There is no way we could have managed this without you all. Thank you so very much.

April 5 6:50 pm

Just visited Neil. He is on the trach collar as I write this. This visit lasted a bit longer. We were able to talk to the respiratory therapist and learned quite a bit. At night Neil is not on any breaths on the ventilator at night. He has support pressure of 10 and 5 PEEP at night and when he is on the ventilator during the day. To come off the ventilator is a real process. Neil will have to be able to breath normally (which is much slower than he is breathing now). The respiratory therapist said this would take about two weeks. As she said this, Neil said he could do this quicker than that. My goodness, he is having a good day. Please pray for Neil's lungs.


Please pray for the full recovery of Sue, Shannon, John, Beverly and our other friends here.

Thank you all for your love and support. We so appreciate each of you

April 5 1:35 pm

Just visited Neil. Neil was able to stay on the trach collar for two hours. He is getting stronger and stronger. My goodness, this is a blessing. Neil had a temperature of 99.5 this morning, but it is back down. Wow, we hope all of you are having as good a Saturday as we are.


Please pray for Neil's lungs.


Please pray for the full recovery of Sue, Shannon, John, Bryant and our other friends here.


Thank you all for your love and support. Please continue to surround the Andress family with your love. Be safe in your travels today

April 5 10:30 am

Just visited Neil. I feel like we are Neil's physical therapy team and everything else team rolled into one on the weekend. DeAnn was starting the bone stimulator and Dad was helping Neil work-out his left leg! I can't imagine what we look like but it makes me smile thinking about it. Dad and I just walked out and Neil was starting out the trach collar when we left. He was shooting for an hour again today and we didn't want you to have to wait again that long for the update!

Please continue to pray for Neil's lungs.

Please pray for the full recovery of Sue Shelton, Shannon Jones, John Waters, Bryant Beverly and our other friends here. John is diabetic and his colon perforated. The have done a colostomy and have told the family he is septic. John is from Selma and is SICU. Bryant Beverly has had by pass surgery and is in a room. He has a temperature and is very congested. His daughter is very worried about him.

Hope you all have a grand Saturday. Thanks so very much for your love and support.

April 4 9:20 pm

Just visited Neil. Wow, he has had a busy day. He has been on the trach collar breathing on his own three separate times and each time he was able to do this for longer periods of time. When he is doing this he does have oxygen over the trach. It has been a workout day for him. He does not have a temperature, thank goodness. Dang, we are so proud of Neil. Kenneth says Neil has his own "bow-flex" on his bed. He is able to work his arms with the contraption one of the nurses rigged up. Please pray for Neil's lungs.


Everyone here has had a good day. Sue used the trach collar for over eight and a half hours today. She is getting better and better at this. Shannon continues to make progress. As with Neil we love baby steps.


Hope you all have had a good Friday. We cannot wait until Saturday. Thanks so much to each of you.

April 4 7:15pm

Sorry this is late. Just visited Neil. My goodness, he was on the trach collar for 1 hour and 25 minutes. Yippee!!!! We were able to stay the whole time. All his vitals are good. This is another banner day. We cannot wait to see him at 8:30. Please pray for Neil's lungs.


Please continue to pray for the full recovery of Sue Shelton and Shannon Jones. Both Sue and Shannon have had a good day. We are so grateful. Listen to this. Shannon's eyes are staying open longer and longer and she was able to squeeze her hand. Let's pray hard for her to keep waking up.


Without your support, we could have never managed this. As the storm clouds gather and the news is full of tornado watches and warnings, we do hope and pray everyone is safe. Reese is back with us. Yea!!!

April 4 1:40 pm

Just visited Neil. Wonderful friends from Troy University brought the most fabulous banner you have ever seen. Neil was amazed and thrilled. One of the nurses has hooked up several exercise devices for Neil. My goodness, Neil is doing so well. He is on the trach collar as I write this. He was on the trach collar for 40 minutes this morning. He wants to try for an hour. The respiratory therapist told Neil not to overdo as this was like if you work out too much one day then the next you cannot do as much. She encouraged him to take this as he could. Kenneth and DeAnn are still back with him. His oxygen sat is 97 and his breaths are a bit quick. He works very hard to bring these down.

Please pray for the full recovery of Sue Shelton and Shannon Jones.

This waiting room continues to be filled with blessings. You all are so wonderful to keep us in your prayers and support.

April 4 10:50 pm

Just visited Neil. We saw the physician's assistant this morning. She continues to be pleased with Neil's progress. Neil is on an antibiotic and it will be a 14 day dose. They did a sputum culture and it indicated the same infection as before. BUT, the doctor is not alarmed. Neil's temperature is 99 this morning which is less than yesterday. The orthopedist will x-ray on Sunday and we will learn more about Neil's leg. DeAnn puts the bone stimulator on the fractures twice a day. We think the x-ray will indicate if this is helping. The doctor has lowered the pressure setting on the ventilator from 15 to 10. This setting is more difficult for Neil but he was managing it. Neil sat up on the side of the bed and was able to help with this more. The respiratory therapist moved to pressure setting back to 15 for Neil to be on the trach collar. Neil has been on the trach collar since 10:25 am. He is responding to this. Neil's spirits are good. Please pray for Neil's lungs.

Please pray for Sue and Shannon's full recovery.

Please remember the Andress family in your thoughts and prayers.

Apil 3 9:00 pm

Just visited Neil. He had a bit of temperature this morning, He did not have this at the 5:30 visit or now. Yea!!!! Neil just enjoyed this visit. DeAnn was able to stay a bit. Before we left Neil said, "This was my best day". We cannot wait to see Neil in the morning. Please pray for Neil's lungs.


Please pray for the full recovery of Sue, Shannon and our other friends here. We are all praying so hard for Shannon to wake up.


We have great news from Terri. You will remember she had surgery in Mobile. She does NOT have cancer!!!! All I can say is this is another example of the power of prayer.


My goodness, we have had a banner day here in the SICU waiting room. I was asked what I had added to the blog about us hearing Neil speak. I said I had absolutely no idea what I had said, but I was such I had not done justice to the event. There are no words to describe the joy, pride, elation and thankfulness. A good friend of ours just said, "Well, Neil has been in "park" for a while, but he is now ready to go!!!" He has shown such determination and courage. Wow, we are so proud. This has much to do with your support, prayers and love. We can never adequately express our gratitude.

update from reese

This update is strictly from Reese in Daphne, Alabama. I promise I will be running down the road (under the speed limit-of course Aunt Debbie) tomorrow to hear Neil talk to me. Because today when I got the message today from Neil all I could do was cry and replay the message for anyone in the office who wanted to hear it. I am kind of glad I was in training so that I have the message to hear over and over again since I can't be there until tomorrow!!! Thank you all SSSOOOO very much for your support and prayers! We have been able to feel them and see them working! You are awesome!!!

And this is MY favorite picture of me and Neil! From Talladega of course when Pat Green played at the infield! I just don't think it gets more appropriate than that...other than Alabama winning then football game that day!!!

April 3 6:00 pm

Just visited Neil. My goodness, he is doing such a good job. He was on the trach collar for 45 minutes. During this visit he did not speak, but focused on breathing. He oxygen sat was 95-97 during this time. Neil could work very hard and could bring his breathing down in the 30s. We cannot tell you the experience of watching your husband, son, nephew and son in law breathe on his own. This is in fact a mountain top experience. Wow. Please pray for Neil's lungs.


Please pray for the full recovery of Sue. Sue is getting an unit of blood. The doctor is doing this but he said her numbers were only minimally low. The doctor is taking a wait and see position. We are loving this. She has been on the trach collar for 8 hours today. She had a good visit with her daughters and a grandson and wife. She always seem to show off for the grandchildren. Sounds like a normal grandmother to me. Yea!!!!


Please pray for Mr. Averette as he is having a heart procedure. We are praying for his full recovery.


Please remember our good friend Kim who was in the hospital last week. She totaled her car yesterday trying to avoid an accident with a truck. She had to be cut out of the car with the jaws of life. What a miracle!! She has a few stitches and is home. Miracles abound!!!!!


I do not think I have said enough about Neil talking to us today. I cannot express what a celebration we have had. It is so similar to the day Neil was born. That day we had family and friends gathered and all were crying and celebrating. Finally, one of the nurses asked why was everyone so upset. We were able to explain these were absolute tears of joy. Today was the very same experience for the same young man. What a miracle!!!!!!!!