Better Day Today

Dad had a better day today than yesterday. They were able to control the fevers today and he is on antibiotics for the fluid on his lungs. His white blood cell was at a dangerous low today of 0 and they worked hard at getting it back up. His platelets were also low, which caused his blood vessels to break around his eyes (because he's been coughing from the tube irritation in his throat). The broken blood vessels therefore gave him black eyes. I joked with him some, getting him to laugh; that mom had finally had it and socked it to him :) He had platelets put back in, which they usually give him benadryl with the transfusion; so he was out for half the day. When he woke up, he knew it was shower day and wasn't looking forward to it. But mom got the shower and whole bathroom steamed up nice and warm for him and got him cozy blankets for when he got out. It made the experience much better! Thanks mom for always taking such good care of my daddin'... not just the must-do's, but the precious, thoughtful ways. After dad got out of the shower and cozy again, he did some walking around the room. I had to laugh, because mom said that dad went straight for the window. She heard him moan about something; and when she went to look and listen to what he said, he had spotted a Coke vending machine in the far distance of the hospital courtyard. She finally understood him..... "Loooooook.... Coca Cola!" Oh what a presh! He just wants his coca cola! Bless his heart; its been two weeks since he's had any food or really any drink. Yet he still never complains...... just only on occasion spots something and moans for it (maybe twice:)

Recently, I've found myself feeling like this week is taking forever, and just wanting the PET SCAN to occur with some results. But then I'm reminded of one of my favorite verses:

Philippians 4:6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

All I can do is continue to pray and wait on the answerer.

Thank you for continuing to join me!

"Bottoming Out"

Today was a day that the nurses call "bottoming out" on chemo. Dad had a day full of fevers and did lots of sleeping. He was looking yellowish my mom said and the doctors found fluid on his lungs. He's not complaining still!

My mom and I talked today about how much my dad loves us, and how he's striving so hard to fight for his life to continue enjoying his life with his wife, kids and beautiful grandkids. He's such a special man.

One of the quotes mom and I really like and were talking about today is this:

"We may not know the answers, but we know the answerer"

We continue to rest in that....

Keep praying for a miracle!

Still The Same

Things are looking pretty much the same today for dad. The only update was that the doctors think that the swelling is continually going down because this medicine is working to shrink the blood clot. We are praying that tests will show that to be true.

Thanks for all of your prayers, support and love.

Things Letting Up A Bit

The last two days, things have begun letting up a bit. The rash on dad's back is gone now, the sinus problems dried up, dad's blood work came back showing that his kidney, liver and eyes are okay. The blood clot in his leg is completely gone after getting shots to take care of it. The swelling in dad's arms is still there. His feet had swelled up so big, they were worried but has now gone down. As I had said before, the swelling is caused because of the blot clot in his neck which was caused by his hick-man catheter. After meetings these last two days, the doctors decided to try putting dad on a drip to shrink the blood clot. He began that tonight, so please pray that it works. They are trying to avoid surgery at all costs- the hick-man being removed or a stint being put in. Dad really enjoys having his hick-man, so he doesn't have to be poked in his arms anymore. Today he had a platelet and blood transfusion to get his levels up. He also began coughing up blood, which caused some concern but they know he is okay now.

The nurse did explain to my mom that my dad is in no condition to be leaving and that they will be spending the holidays in the hospital. With the new conditions that daily come up, they are much better treating dad in the hospital.

Mom and Dad enjoyed their last two days together, where they cherished every moment they can together. It's literally non-stop for them with all of the doctors, tests, meetings, results, transfusions, changing out tubes, cleaning ports, etc..etc.. etc...Please continue to pray that the chemo is working and that all of these new issues that keep popping up will subside. Thank you very much!

Rough Day/ New Request

Today was a day that the meaning of "when it rains it pours" felt so real. To start it off, dad's nose began running in the morning. With a tube in your nose, its very difficult to control a runny nose and can become frustrating especially .

Next, dad has been on an eye drop medication for the duration of the chemo. A side effect from chemo is blindness, and the eye drops are supposed to help with that. But today his eyes began burning painfully.

The swelling has still not gone down, so the doctors began dad on lacix, which will cause the fluid swelling to drain through urine. They have tried to get him set up to move easily to get out of bed to release the fluid. A nice thing was the doctor added six feet of line to dad's tube to his stomach. Before, he was unable to move out of bed unless the nurses came to disconnect it. This gives him the freedom to move a little further and be able to sit out of bed with mom also.

Because they have noticed the swelling not going down, they went ahead and took an ultrasound today. The ultrasound showed the exact reason for that. They found a blood clot in dad's neck. They know the clot is caused by the hick-man catheter; that does sometimes happen. Their first option is to give him a bag of medicine that will flow through a tube to try and disintegrate the clot. If this does not work, they will be doing surgery on his neck to remove the clot.

Dad's biggest request right now is that the clot will go away and that he won't have to have the surgery. Please pray for that! Another huge request from my dad is this: He appreciates all those who have visited them in the hospital thus far; but he is requesting until further notice on this blog, that there would be no visitors. Him and mom are really not feeling up to visitors right now, as dad is really struggling and having a hard time. Mom needs/wants to spend all of her time helping dad right now, especially with how frustrating and hard it can be to battle so many problems at one time. Dad and Mom really appreciate the past visitors, with all of your help, love, hugs, care packages, etc. and really appreciate your respect towards them in honoring this request. The best thing you could all do is just be on your knees for each of these different areas that dad is struggling with, on top of battling stage 4 cancer.

Thank you all for your understanding, love and support towards my family.

Last Chemo Finished

This is my mom and dad's wedding photo; it sits on the table next to dad's hospital bed. Its sweet memories like this, along with our whole family photo that keep dad fighting to make more memories. Aren't they so cute!!! Wow, 32 years ago... they were just kids ;)

Mom, all gloved up and completely covered, showing me the photo

Was on skype when the nurses were switching shifts and checking all the many tubes

I love his legs in this photo; he just looks so cozy and resting. I just want to crawl up in that bed with him and rub that hair that's coming back in. Mom says its coming back in brown and his eyebrows are also coming back in. I joked with him telling him "see your still so young, its coming in brown and not grey."

And my fave: my handsome dad with his iphone reading through 56 text messages from his buddies at the sheriffs department. The Sheriffs Department had their annual Christmas party, which dad and mom always enjoy attending, and around that time is when he got all of those text messages. He thoroughly enjoyed reading through each one of them. Mom said he hasn't been very into electronics in some time. Thanks to Dad's wonderful friends!!!! You made his day!

Dad did finish out the chemo. He wasn't too into the idea, but fought hard and decided to get up and take a shower. Its quite a process to get all those tubes taped up and the energy to even get there. But it was really good for him. The doctors say that taking a shower helps stimulate blood cells and helps against bacterial infection. The nurses and mom helped him a lot with taping up the port and catheter. To top it off, he walked around the bed a little bit. He's not allowed to walk out of the room, so he did his little half circles and did some knee lifts and arm rotations. He's still got that "Eye of the Tiger."

They found a red spotted rash on his back, which is a side effect from the chemo. They are treating it and keeping an eye on it. The swelling is the same; not going up, but still not going away.

My dad and Koda got to interact a little today. Dad asked Koda about his Christmas tree that we just decorated. Dad asked Koda if he sounded funny (because his voice is different and raspy with the tube in it). Koda said, "ya grandpa, your speaking tamil." (Tamil is the language we are learning to speak here in Sri Lanka.) We all got a good laugh out of that, and I love seeing my dad's big smile. Something about your grandkids just does that for you I guess :)

My dad's brother Carl came to visit today and also dad's Lieutenant/Friend Lana. She brought a sweet care package. Dad's blessed by the endless support and love.

Its been a week now that my dad has not had any food orally. He hasn't been complaining about food, but he does fantasize about Sprite :)

His PET SCAN will be in a week to see what has happened after this chemo.

Please pray for the mersa to go away, pray for strength and enough rest this week, swelling to go down, bowels and tubes to work correctly, and most importantly a miracle for the cancer to be gone!

Thanks for faithfully loving my family and giving of yourselves to pray!

Exhaustion Setting In

I talked to my mom shortly this morning, as they were going straight to bed early. With so many doctors and nurses in and out of the room throughout the night, they are not getting the sleep their bodies need. Mom was so exhausted, it brought her to tears. Please pray that they get the rest that their bodies need.

A few things have happened throughout the chemo. Something felt weird in my dad's stomach yesterday. They did an x-ray and realized the tube through his nose to his stomach had dislodged. They had to pull the entire thing out and re-due it again. My dad is such a trooper; its very painful. They got it set in place. But then this morning he vomited, which is weird because the tube should be sucking that all out. They immediately put him through an x-ray to see if the tube dislodged again, but it hadn't. They realized the vomiting was just due to the chemo. He has also been swelling a lot. They have reduced his fluid intake, and might possibly have to give him what they have before to relieve all of the fluids. The only problem with that is dad can be hooked up to 9 different tubes at one time; so maneuvering to the restroom is quite hard and with having this problem he will have to go a lot. Please pray the swelling goes down with the fluids being decreased.

Please pray for my dad to keep up his strength. They have moved him to the other hospital building, as room allowed. Its much quieter and hoping they can get rested. Chemo will be over by 4 pm Sunday.

Thank you for all of your prayers throughout all of this. Still praying for a miracle.

Blessings to you all!