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.