Joe was up at 2 am vomiting this morning & again after trying to eat breakfast this morning. Still complaining of pain under the right breast & thru to his back. He has tried to walk a bit more today. Maybe tomorrow will be better...with God's help I know it can...Joe & Sandra

It's bedtime Wed. night...Joe is still feeling pretty rough...he slept really well night before last, but not too good last night..A few minutes ago started complaining of hurting really bad in his back...when I checked his blood pressure it was 167/126 h/r 120..I gave him something for pain & called a few people to pray...within just a little while his blood pressure and heart rate came back down to normal.. He did walk about 5 minutes at one time today..so thats a good thing..
Guess it's just gonna take time....thank you all for caring & praying for us...Joe & Sandra

It's Saturday morning & we are home...Thank the Lord...If anyone has tried to call & not gotten us, think nothing of it...our home telephone is "out-of-order" & Joe's cell phone has broken at the hinge. Land line supposed to be repaired by Tuesday. Joe is still extremely weak...and not sleeping very well..., but he is eating better & looking a little better to me...yesterday was extrememly hectic here and I didn't quite know what to do first (went in circles...didn't accomplish much)..just took care of Joe. He has still run a low grade fever every night since leaving the hospital...so please continue to pray for us...Joe & Sandra

Sweet Home Alabama

Hello Dear Friends,
If nothing goes wrong, we're headed for Alabama first thing in the morning. Joe has been running a slight fever & is very weak. Just hoping & praying that this fever is not the start of something bad. I think we fear the worst...because of all the "pot holes" we have hit so far.
We saw Dr Mehran today & he gave us his blessing to go home. They did blood work & x-ray of the chest...Red Blood cells up..white were a little up but within normal range.....We feel that the Lord worked it out that Virgil & Jackie (Joe's cousins) were flying home to Texas the same day Regina was to fly out to help us get home. Pray for us on our trip tomorrow......Joe & Sandra

Keep Praying...

So far so good this morning....no vomiting and no fever!
Praise the Lord!!!!!!!!!!
God is able!

Pray-pray-pray

Joe is vomiting and has a fever tonight, please earnestly pray that God will intervene in this so they can get home.... The drain tube was removed and he was released from the hospital tonight. They are back at their home away from home.
Thank you and God bless everyone.

Plans: Coming Home!

Guess What...the doctor has changed his mind on a couple of things! He says that Joe's lung is looking some better...PRAISE THE LORD! Instead of waiting two more weeks the doctor decided to remove the drain tube today and Joe is going to be released from the hospital. However Joe will see the doctor again on Wednesday and be checked out to make sure everything is good. If so, they will be heading home on Thursday morning! Regina will be flying out and driving them back. Please pray that everything moves forward with no more setbacks and also pray that Joe's appetite will increase and the vomiting will stop. He has lost somewhere around 30 pounds since the surgery. Everyone (including the doctor) feels like Joe will get better at home. They can't hardly wait!
They are counting on your prayers and God's great wonderful help. .....sounds like a miracle in the making to me.
Love to all from Joe & Sandra
by Sherry

If any of you have called Joe's cell phone & not gotten an answer....please don't feel bad at us.
Since it is broken & difficult to open (to answer), we just left it in the motel room Monday night when we left for the emergency room.

It is around 10:30pm & Joe seems to be sleeping well at the moment...maybe with a good nights rest everything will look brighter to him in the morning. Love you all.....Sandra

Joe say's he is "just worn out" and I know that he is down & discouraged. I think if he can start sleeping "at night" & his lungs get better, he will start feeling much..much..better. He has gotten up and walked twice around the nurses desk today..complained of being a little dizzy..so he is back in bed. His heart rate is absolutely wonderful... Last night it was around 100 ..today I've seen 80's at times. The nurse just checked his blood pressure at 157/90. Even though nothing is tasting good to him right now, we are so thankful that he CAN eat and drink. We're hoping that by next week he'll be so much better we can come home.....Pray it is so..Joe & Sandra

11:25pm on Friday, August 14

I apologize for not getting another update on here today but I suddenly went out of town and wasn't back until 10pm.
They took Joe in for the heart procedure at 5pm and was finished in about 2 hrs. He made it thru and the cycle was broken so it was SUCCESSFUL! They did not put him to sleep for this (don't know why) and he says it was AWFUL BAD. Anyway since then he has been in respiratory distress. He is receiving oxygen at 8 level, which is a lot if I understand right. He was expected to be transported back to MD Anderson Hospital tonight after the sheaths were removed from his arteries in the groin area. Joe's heart rate was around 100 bpm at around 9pm and the blood pressure was still elevated somewhat. All this is expected to change when he is out of distress. The procedure on his lung has been cancelled. They are still begging for prayer so please keep remembering them.
Love from Joe & Sandra
by Sherry

Friday, Aug. 14 @ 10:25am

Joe has just got through with the first thing of today....ALL WENT WELL with the test where the camera was placed down thru the esophagus to check on the heart before surgery and there are NO BLOODCLOTS!!! Aren't we so thankful... His blood pressure is down some also, at the moment it is 144/95 and was much higher earlier...the heart rate is 154 bpm. He is about to be transported to the heart hospital for an ablation procedure so please keep praying. The doctor feels confident that they will fix this. They are counting on God to bring them thru this and back home again.
Love and thank you from Joe & Sandra by Sherry

Well it didn't last...heart rate got fast again around 150 beats per minute & blood pressure went up. We finally were put upstairs in a room around midnight Wednesday night. They are transporting Joe by ambulance tomorrow to "Herman Memorial Hospital" to do ablation proceedure on his heart. Then back to MD Anderson to drain more fluid from left lung area.
Please keep praying for us .....Joe & Sandra

We are back in the hospital again...Joe's heart rate was running way too fast (around 150's) and left drainage tube started running infection again. We came back to the ER Monday night really late...and would you believe we are still in ER..? This is one place I don't like...They have started Joe on new Meds & now have his heart rate around 70....Just hope it will remain steady.
Let's don't rock the boat...They took out the Right drain tube yesterday. They still have to see about the left one thats showing infection. (said it grew another bug..one she'd never heard of).
Yesterdays blood work looked good. White count good..Red count up (good). Please keep us in your prayers.................we still wanting to come home...Joe & Sandra

Today has been a better day for us. Joe's blood pressure & heart rate have also been better. He said he didn't sleep as well last night, but has still felt better today. Anxiously waiting for Wednesday. We're so ready to come home. Love you all. Joe & Sandra

Joe slept very soundly last night..didn't even wake up when I took off the feeding tube. It's already bedtime again & I hoping he sleeps well again tonight. I'm thinking a few nights of good sleep will help him in other ways as well. He has really been depressed & discouraged...because of all the bumps we have hit on this path we are traveling. Please continue to keep us in your prayers...want to get home...Joe & Sandra

So sorry to say...Joe & I had another bad night. He may possibly have slept 2 hours. His blood pressure & heart rate have been crazy after we left the hospital & arrived at the motel. His heart would slow down for about an hour after meds, then go crazy again. This afternoon around 4pm I finally called the hospital. They seem to think "reglan" may be the culprit thats making Joe so jittery and anxious. I had been giving heart med & reglan at the same time. I stopped it immediately (hope they're right). I do believe he looks just a bit better this afternoon than he did this morning. He got to eat a good breakfast ( egg & cheese biscuit) and lunch (grilled chicken sandwich). He's still on the feeding tube at night from which he'll gradually be weaned. Hoping & praying tonight will be restful..peaceful..& healing..Love you all..Joe & Sandra

Please accept my apology.....I was so upset yesterday...we hadn't slept well in a couple of nights & both of us were extremely tired. They came in telling us that Joe had to have 2 units of blood & then they took him down & had a drain put in his right chest cavity (in his back). He had an infection in the left side called "alpha hemolytic strep". We were so depressed...it seemed like a dark tunnel with no light at the end. Thank you all for praying for us...we needed it.
Dr Mehran came by today saying we can leave the hospital tomorrow, but not to leave the area. Will still have both drain tubes w/bags & antibiotics. He will see us on the 12th to remove tubes, do bloodwork, etc...We get to start home next day..Aug 13th. At least we have a plan...We are looking forward to coming home...Please keep praying for us that we won't hit another bump in the road. Joe & Sandra

Don't have much to say..we're both very tired & want to come home. Joe ate a couple of chicken fingers tonight & they've made him sick. The doctor tells us that Joe is doing well, just a minor set back. He may put another drain tube in the right side...afraid it has infection as well. I just want them to get the infection out completely before we start home. CT is scheduled for Mon., I guess they'll put the other chest tube in then. Please pray for us...I know we are nothing special, but I want Joe to get better so we can come home...We are so tired of this place.......Joe & Sandra