Andy Turns First Corner

After a week and a half, Andy has definitely made his first "real" progress and noticeable responses. While his mother Diane was talking to him last night, he squeezed her hand in response to her request. This morning his sister Vivian reported that "he is even more responsive...he can recognize some voices and faces now," she said. "He responds by squeezing your hand or blinking his eyes to questions."

This morning Andy woke up making signals that he didn't like his temperature--not his own--his fever has gone now, but the temperature of his room. They are working on getting him a fan now and maybe even a pair of those now-famous shorts once they move some tubes connected "down under" into his arms. Word on the street also claims there is a possibility that the doctors might remove his ventilator later this afternoon to see how he responds. Go Andy...Go Andy Go, Dawg!!! After biting down on that trach tube for a week now, his voice might sound like Aunt Gladys from The Simpsons, as he always says, but it will be music to our ears.

LDS Hospital has now approved him to listen to the drum songs he wrote on an iPod so we'll get him one up there this afternoon like he had at UVRMC. If you have songs recorded that we might not have, please send them to "dtmarct@aol.com" -- and keep those prayers and donations coming...they are much appreciated!