Super Bowl Sunday Come Early. . .

Saturday night was a little wild. Joey was trying to help the nurse in his room clean up a spill on his tray, when he accidentally pulled out all three of his medication lines, including his pic line. It was pure chaos because Joey immediately starting bleeding out from the holes where the lines had come out. The nurse in his room reacted instantly, tackled Joey like a pro powder puff football player, and began applying pressure on all the open areas on his arm. She wrapped Joey's arm and applied pressure firmly until the blood flow slowed down and began to clog. Joey mentioned after the fact, that the whole ordeal was pretty crazy and chaotic, but getting tackled by his nurse Super Bowl Style was pretty cool ;) That's why we love our Joey! :)

Joey was taken down to Radiology this afternoon, where they re-inserted all his IVs and a new pic line. He also had his wound changed on his amputated leg. Changing out the black spongy material from the hole in his amputated leg is extremely painful, but Joey said it went better today than it did a couple days ago. Joey received a special gift from Tim, a good friend, who works in wound care at EIRMC. Tim went out and bought Joey a Boise State blanket and pillow days ago, when he was in extreme pain, to help cheer him up. Thank you Tim for being so thoughtful and wonderful!

Joey is doing great. He is still on blood pressure medicine, but his kidney doctor has taken Joey off his special diet. Yeah!!! Joey was ecstatic about that. Joey's friends all came into the hospital this evening and watched the Super Bowl game with him. They brought lots of food, and Joey's favorite---buffalo wings!!! So Joey had great company, good food, and an added bonus----the Saints won! Yeah!! I know Joey was touched that his friends would miss their big Super Bowl party to spend the evening in the hospital with him. Thanks guys!! :)

Tomorrow Joey will be taken in to have his dialysis catheter removed permanently. Yeah!!! We won't miss that, and I know Joey won't either!! Goodbye dialysis catheter, and hello Kidneys!!

Last item of business: Joey has requested that I post pictures of the hole in his amputated leg (2" wide X 8-1/4" deep) and the overall process of the fasciotomy on his arm (at his friend's request). Only because I love Joey, have I agreed to post the pictures. Joey, you know I love you. I do need to warn readers though. They are extremely graphic, so if you have a weak stomach, you may not want to scroll down. Enter at your own risk!!!

Post Time 11:15PM


Here is a picture of the bruising on Joey's arm from all the IVs he has had over the last month.


Here is a picture of the open fasciotomy on Joey's arm after the black spongy material was removed, and the doctors started the process of closing the wound back up.


After the wound was stitched closed. Joey got to keep his tatoo :)


Here is a picture of the hole in Joey's amputated leg. This picture was taken while the wound was being cleaned out, and the black spongy material and tubes were taken out.

ANOTHER MIRACLE

Miracles happen everyday--unexplainable miracles, ones that cannot be explained with all the modern medicine in the world, ones that cannot be comprehended by us as human beings on this great earth, what a beautiful mystery they are to us when they do happen, these tender mercies sent from a Father up above.

Joey's kidneys are---WORKING!!!! Doctors were positive that Joey would require a kidney transplant. He would have to be on dialysis for one to two years before he could even be put on a list to be a receiver of such a beautiful gift of life from another, a second chance at life. He had ZERO kidney function, and has had ZERO kidney function for weeks, for the last month. His labs came back last night, and his doctor said the words. . ."Joey's kidneys are working. He will not require dialysis any more." The words hit---and I stopped everything---even breathing---for moments---and stood in wonder and in awe---what a beautiful miraculous gift that has been given to us---to Joey!!!

Joey has been given a second chance at life, a second chance to live and function a normal life, a second chance to make a mighty change, and to make a difference in this world. Joey is still with us today, which is nothing short of a miracle in itself. The odds were not in his favor, doctors did not give him much of a chance for survival in the beginning. Many were surprised he made it twenty four hours. . .and here he is today, several surgeries later (I believe nine or ten), three full blood transfusions later, going from multi-organ failure and on full life support, to full organ functions. Here we are a month later, with Joey, continuing to improve everyday--living, breathing, and loving.

Then another miracle---a precious gift, a true tender mercy from a loving Heavenly Father above---kidney function. Joey's doctor said that the labs are up enough, he may not even have to be on his special diet---AMAZING!!! My heart is full, and I am---GRATEFUL!!! SO GRATEFUL!! I can't help but kneel down and give thanks as I have done many times in the past, with a full heart, and cry tears of gratitude because---he knows us, he hears us, he blesses us, he heals us, because we are one of his own--- and because he LOVES us!!!

Thank you Heavenly Father for giving Joey a second chance at life, for comforting us through this whole roller coaster ride of ups and downs, and for comforting Joey, and giving him the strength to continue here on this earth. Thank you for hearing our prayers, our pleas in times of need, for bringing us together as friends and family, and for taking us in your hands this last month, and providing the miraculous gift of healing and love to one that we love so much, and taking him in your gentle arms as one of your own, while at the same time, loving and healing millions of others in this same world at this same moment. Thank you Father---I am GRATEFUL!

Improvement On A Friday

Joey started off the day with breakfast and dialysis. Two hours into dialysis, Joey's kidney doctor called and said that the labs have shown some improvement and look pretty good. The doctor decided to take Joey off dialysis at two hours instead of running the full hour hours! Yeah!! We are so hopeful that this is an early sign of some kidney improvement. Only time will tell. For now, Joey will continue having dialysis every other day until we hear otherwise. Joey will also remain on his special food diet until his kidney doctor says otherwise. This will put a damper on Super Bowl Sunday, as Joey would really like to top off the game with some buffalo wings.

The doctors came in today to change the black spongy dressing and the tubes out of the hole in Joey's amputated leg. This will have to be done every couple days. They numbed the site, but the pain was still excruciating for Joey because of so many exposed nerve endings, and the process of replacing the old spongy material with the new.

In addition to the pain, seeing an empty hole in his leg two inches wide by eight and a quarter inches deep made Joey and everyone else a little queasy and dizzy. Jared stood in front of the mirror during, so that Joey wouldn't have to watch the entire procedure being done on his own leg. Suprisingly enough, Jared also was able to watch the procedure and remained upright the entire time :) Joey was relieved when the procedure was complete.

Joey has been resting most of the day, but is doing well. He certainly is a trooper, and is growing stronger both physically and mentally everyday. We love you so much Joey! Keep up the good work!! XOXOXO

Last item of business--Joey will be cheering for the Saints---so GO SAINTS!!!!!

Post Time 5:30PM

The Sun'll Come Out Tomorrow. . .

Joey was pretty sore today. The surgery he had on his amputated leg yesterday was causing him a lot of pain today. Joey tried to get some rest for most of the day, and tried to get comfortable enough to sleep.

This evening the doctors put Joey on a morphine drip to try to ease the pain, because his other pain medications weren't curbing the pain, from the large hole they cut into his amputated leg yesterday.

We are hopeful that in the next few days, Joey will start feeling better, and the pain will be more manageable.

We want you to know Joey that we all love you. We wish we could divide up little pieces of your pain amongst us all, and make these big trials smaller. Unfortunately, this is your mountain to climb, and although it is a monster of a mountain, you can and will make it to the top---and we will be here for you---cheering you on with every step of the way.

You can do this! You can conquer this beast! We love you so much! It hurts to see you hurt, but together we can get through this! We all love you Joey! You have so many people that care--friends and family, thinking of you, praying for you, and just loving you. Hang in there! Sunshine is coming. . .

Post Time 9:00PM

Surgery Today

Joey had surgery today on his amputated leg. His leg was swollen, retaining fluids, and had dead muscle that needed to be removed. The doctors cut a hole in the bottom of his amputation about two inches wide by six inches deep. They put a black spongy looking material in the hole, and connected tubes to the material to more efficiently drain the fluids. More than likely, Joey will have these tubes in his amputation for a couple weeks. The amputation needs to heal from the inside out.

As you can imagine, this was a hard day for Joey. He was in extreme pain, and was given additional medications, to help him sleep through the pain until this evening.

Joey also had a round of dialysis this morning. He is having dialysis every other day for now.

We love you Joey! You are going to get through this and pretty soon, you will begin to have more good days than bad. You are stronger than you know!!! We love you!!!!

Post Time 11:45 PM


This is a picture of Joey's fasciotomy that was done on his arm. This is a similar procedure to what was done on his amputation today.

Sunny Day

Today was one of the best days that Joey has had in weeks! Roger, Joey's dad, got Joey out of bed and into his wheelchair, and wheeled him outside into the fresh air and sunshine! Joey was ecstatic and loved every minute of it!

Joey also had a pleasant surprise when his uncle Nate brought in his TV, XBOX, all his games and some movies. His brother, Jared, got everything hooked up for him. Now Joey will have a way to spend the long days.

The topping on the cake was when Joey's nerve block finally started to kick in! Hallelujah!!!! We were all so happy and relieved to see Joey finally getting some relief from his pain. The nerve block can last anywhere from one to six months.

Hopefully, this will be the first of many great days to come. We love you Joey and are so proud of your strength!!!

Post Time 10:15PM

Nerve Block In Place

Joey had a big day today. He was given a new pick line today. The one he had was getting old and starting to leak out his antibiotics, so the doctors put a new one in. Joey also had a round of four hour dialysis today, so he was pretty tired and slept for awhile.

He also received his nerve block today, which is great news! Inserting the nerve block was not a pleasant process for Joey though. It involved two extremely long needles almost a foot long, inserted into his back. The process was pretty time consuming and painful, but we are hopeful that Joey will notice a significant decrease in his pain, and it will be manageable.

Joey is still experiencing Phantom Pains. Joey's pain management doctor stopped in today to visit with Joey, and also Dr. West came in this evening to drain more fluids from Joey's amputation.

Joey--we love you! You are an inspiration! We love your smile, your drive, and your desire to fight this thing and get better! We love to see you laugh, give you hugs and kisses, and tell you that we love you--because we do--so so much!!!! Lots of love, and keep up the fight! XOXOXO

Post Time 8:10PM