Tears of sorrow, slowly turning to tears of joy here mate.
Prayers and best wishes to everybody involved.
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Tears of sorrow, slowly turning to tears of joy here mate.
Prayers and best wishes to everybody involved.
WOW is your son a fighter, more strength to you and to his wife and kids
All that good energy and vibes going your way is working, Karma at its best
fight the good fight not long to go now
Would a pad and pencil help out
Good to hear some positives Tony really hope things keep turning upwards from here. Really really wishing you guys all the very best mate must be so tough but sounds like everyone is doing an amazing job.
I have refrained from saying much on this thread as I don't know what to say. Anyway I have helped a little on the fundraiser and am so glad to see an improvement, albeit small at this stage. I am not big on relegion, but have a friend who is and she has I think the entire Irish Catholic community of Perth or maybe even WA praying for your son.
Hi Terry,
I am so sorry to read about your sons battle with cancer.
From the McTernan family, wishing your son Andrew a speedy recovery, it is a amazing feeling getting a second chance at life, i live every day for my wife, children family and friends. Wishing both you and wife the best too Terry!
Kind regards,
Paul
Not sure who Terry is,Quote:
Originally Posted by PMC
Cheers, Tony.
Today was a great day for my son as he got to spend some time outside the hospital for the first time in over 5 weeks, the smile on his face was incredible.
Over the past week Andrew has been amazing the staff at the RPA with his recovery, he has gone from having no chance of survival to being able to sit up and have his ventilation turned off for periods of time. He has slowly been weened of the heavy sedatives and pain killers and has been able to communicate with us by writing and typing on a tablet or phone.
All the ICU staff at the RPA keep coming into his room and saying how impressed and happy they are with his progress. The head ICU nurse said they have a policy of patients leaving ICU in a wheelchair but with Andrew they want him to walk out as that is fitting for him and the strength he has shown.
He has been frustrated and impatient as he wants the tracheotomy and feed tube gone so I have keep telling him to be patient, he desperately wants to talk and eat and drink.
To think 2 weeks ago the doctors were telling us we should choose a funeral company, should never give up hope.
Attachment 65134
That is bloody great news, Tony. Give Andrew my best wishes.
Great news Tony, must be such a relief to the whole family.
Holy Shit mate!! 2 weeks ago they told you to say goodbye! you were going in to turn the machines off! Extraordinary mate. Fantastic! you must be beside yourself with happiness and wonder!! you breed em tough bud!! Must be all that Red Wine!!
that is fantastic news mate -
well done that boy of yours
keep up the good fight
Absolutely amazing news mate, really great to hear
G'day TPC,
Give Andrew a big hug from the McTernan family!
PS, god speed to both you and your family!
Regards,
PMC
Great news i have been following from day dot have shed a tear or two for you but not knowing what to say but found that my thoughts thinking of you daily wondering and hopeing that the next time i opened up the thread that there would be good news and not bad he is a fair dinkum fighter just goes to show you should never give up hope all the best for the future .Dave.
Great news Tony.
You and Andrews wife must emotionally exhausted by now.
Again prayers and best wishes to all involved.
Tony, that is incredible. Well done Andrew!
How excellent!!
Sent from my iPhone using My thumbs
Cool news Tony, He must be one tough cookie your Andrew!
….................... On the move
Mate that is awesome. What an amazing recovery. All the best and like you said what a fighter he is.
Hip Hip Horay WoW theres a movie right there.
So happy for all involved keep the fight going,,
The light at the end of the tunnel is getting closer
Kick this cancer to the curb I say , awesome Tony awesome
You can start my mornings like this every day lol
I feel there are a few smiles now to replace tears
Great news Tony no going back now
By geeze mate that is a awesome turn around.
Holy shit I can't belive.
That is amazing
http://www.nissanpatrol.com.au/forum.../2016/03/1.jpg
Courtesy of Michael Leunig.
This is great news my boys are following your journey
and send their wishes to you as well, who said that
prayer and good wishes never works. All I see is good
Hi Tony after going to hospital and seeing the great work nurses do,
I thought about your son, I was thinking it is progressing slowly and all is good
As always nothing but good thoughts going your way
Hey tony.
Not sure why I haven't still got your number.. I was also wondering how your son and the family are traveling..
Are things still on the up?
Andrew is still recovering but has a big battle ahead.
They have been putting a special adapter in line with his ventilator to allow him to talk which has made things much easier. They took his feeding tube out a few days ago and he is now eating or drinking high energy food to sustain himself and hopefully put on a bit of weight as he has lost so much. His has lost most of his muscle mass so everything is very difficult to do, he has been working with the physio's to try and improve his strength but it is a really slow process and is getting him down. To make things worse he is having withdrawal from being taken off the drugs causing him to be depressed, emotional, tired and affecting his sleep. He is also very scared about how long his recovery will take and what fitness he will end up having, he may always require oxygen to survive. I am sure he will be a lot better after he is over his drug withdrawal.
I am still really happy that he has survived after being told he would die but it has been a really long and draining couple of months. I spend about 4hrs in the hospital every day and this is very hard as he is so unhappy and that stresses me, I do everything I can to cheer him up. We have a roster for visiting him as he wants someone with him for all visiting hours.
The doctors are now talking about sending him to Adelaide as soon as he can get off the ventilator and can walk, he would probably have to spend some time in an Adelaide hospital but that would be much better as he would get different visitors, would be better for us too as the accommodation costs up here are killing us.
I remain positive that he will come out of this and live a long and fulfilling life, and most importantly be there for his partner and kids.
Holy Shit!!! Andrew is so so lucky to have LIFE. These next challenges are small steps in his journey back from the grave mate! Just Awesome! Seriously! Awesome!
We only told him a few days ago how close he came and he said how happy he was to be alive and will do anything to keep it that way.Quote:
Originally Posted by MudRunnerTD
I can`t do any thing physically to help mate, but my thoughts and prayers are on going to Andrew, his partner and children, and also to you and your family.
Again if you or any of your family need any thing you have my phone number, day or night.
Getting him to Adelaide would be a boost to him and everyone, but as you said, it will be a slow process and you don't want to rush things. Andrew has shown he has an incredible will to live and the love and support you all have given him has sustained him greatly. Please let him know I admire him very much for fighting so hard and that patience is the key to allow himself to heal.
Good stuff Tony you have your son back and that must be the best feeling in the world,
As MR pointed out all the big hurdles have been jumped, now get Andrew to Adelaide so
some his mates and other family friends can see him and give some more encouragement
Again only good thoughts going your way. Even my wife is following Andrews journey as
wishes only the best for Andrew
Great story of human endurance. Your son's story and this thread has given me lot of inspiration.
Prior to reading this, I was thinking of no return visit to Belgium if I'm to be in a challenging situation like that.
Now I'm thinking all different.
I wish I can know the medical details of your son's condition.
I hope somebody in Sydney can help you with accommodation.
I wish all the best to your son Andrew and the rest of the family.
Take care mate.
Hi All,
Have had a few PM's asking how things are going so thought it would be best to update on here.
Andrew has made some good progress in the last few weeks, he has been taken off the ventilator and had the tracheotomy removed. The hole left behind only took 2 days to close over. He was moved out of ICU last Thursday into a ward with the intention of being released from RPA on the 11th and continue his rehab in Adelaide as an outpatient. I flew to Adelaide on Saturday to get a car and drove back to Sydney and the plan is to drive him home over 3 or 4 days, we have to drive him because he has been told he may never be able to fly again as his lungs cannot take the pressurized air.
Last Friday everything changed, he had a CT scan and it showed that a fibrotic section of his lung that all doctors said cannot heal has started to heal, they are at a loss as how this has happened as they have never seen it before. They have now decided to keep him in a bit longer and have attached a drain to reduce the pneumothorax (air pocket) next to his lung with the hope his lung will expand into the space.
He has already had two articles about his case written for the medical journals and there will now probably be a third.
We were all looking forward to getting back to Adelaide and this is also delaying his physical rehabilitation but we are happy to be stuck here a little longer if it means his long term lung capacity will be improved. He will probably still require oxygen, a wheel chair and walking frame when he is released but hopefully after about 6 months of rehab he should be able to walk around normally and may only need oxygen with excursion or possibly not at all.
Thanks everybody for all your well wishes and PM's, really appreciate it. Also thanks for the donations to Andrew's Mycause page.
Far out! Talk about going from tears of despair to tears of joy!!
Best news I've heard this week
Sent from my iPhone using My thumbs
Give him a hug from a stranger (me) Tony.
It's nice to know that miracles can happen.
Positive thoughts to you & your family, i hope the good news continues.
Well done Andrew with every day you get stronger wont be long now mate
Tony that is absolutely sensational news..
What a come back..
Big smiles here mate..
Hopefully he's in town when we come threw mate. He deserves a few beers...
Same as always mate if ya need anything sorted just give us a yell..