MORE PROGRESS

Thanks to Mom's mad cooking skills and endurance, Dad has put on about 12 pounds since he came home from the hospital. Mom has put 3 Ensures a day in front of him and feeds him whatever meals his appetite calls for. She's amazing!

Dad is feeling really good and starting to get around well. Brooklyn came from Thursday through Tuesday and had a great time with them. Mom and Dad loved it, too. Dad was able to go on a few short outings while Brooklyn was here, which really boosts him. As for work, Dad's boss has been very protective of Dad and doesn't want Dad back at the office until we find out from the MD Andersen doctors what's going on. Mom and Dad will be there for tests starting next weekend. We are anxious to know what's going on inside Dad's body.

Mom is "lucky" enough to be due for another colonoscopy to see if all is well with her. She is a pro at this by now, but it doesn't make it any easier. She still gets a little bit of anxiety whenever she is tested and prodded to determine if cancer is lurking. We're optimistic that all will be well. Her colonoscopy is next week.

We're so grateful that Dad is responding to the antibiotics and feeling more normal, and we're so glad that he has Mom to feed him good, nutritious meals. We'll have more to share when they return from Houston. Thanks so much for all of the love and concern!

PROGRESS

Dad is still recovering, although it is and will be a long process requiring a lot of patience. Chris was here until Sunday night, and Mom and Dad ate up every minute they had with him. Chris got them technologically caught up, and they got to spend a lot of quality one-on-one time together.

I'm lucky enough to have bought a plane ticket back in August that allowed me to be here yesterday and today. Dad started going on short walks last week, and I got to join them for one walk down by the bosque to enjoy the fall leaves along the river.

Dad had another follow-up apppointment with the oncologist this morning, and he didn't need any fluids of any kind. Yahoo! They told Dad that he could start going to work soon on a VERY LIMITED basis. Dad was excited to hear that, as he has really missed his work. They still want him to be on guard in public and to never go where there will be a lot of people, especially children. Dad is eating a lot and drinking 3 Ensures a day, trying to get some meat on his bones. I think we would all like to see the weight come back quicker, but the nurse reminded us that it will take months and months to feel "normal" again (we're not sure what that will mean for Dad).

Brooklyn flies in tomorrow and will spend the next 5 days here. It has been awesome for Mom and Dad and us kids to get one-on-one time with each other. There are definitely some blessings that come with trials, for sure!

STILL DOING WELL

Dad continues to recover. He had an appointment yesterday with the oncologist and all is well. Dad is still stable and gaining strength.

Chris has been there since Wednesday, and Mom and Dad are loving it! We're so grateful for this time of peace and healing!

NO NEWS

I love that there isn't any news to report! Dad is loving being home. He is still feeling pretty good and continuing to recover. He's up a lot at night, but he does feel more rested. Hooray for short, simple posts!

HOME

That's right. Dad was discharged from the hospital tonight! We're in shock that he made such a rapid recovery, but so grateful! The oncologist came to his room tonight and said that she saw no reason why he needed to be in the hospital. She said that he was maintaining his fluid and blood levels on his own now, so she felt that he could go home. He will still be monitored very, very closely with frequent visits to the oncology clinic; but I'm sure that he will sleep soundly tonight (without a single interruption!).

We are so grateful that Dad was responsive to the medical intervention and that the medical team at the hospital could give him what his body needed. We have never experienced the fragility of life like we did this last week, and we are so grateful that Dad was given more time on this earth!

He will continue to take vancomycin (the antibiotic) for 4 weeks, and we're hoping that his damaged colon will continue to heal.

SUNDAY UPDATE

We're happy with Dad's continued progress. He has been feeling good, and the numbers show it! They did decide to move Dad out of the critical care unit and down to the oncology floor. We were kind of bummed, because his floor and room is so much nicer than the oncology floor, but the nurses do tend to respond to empty fluid machine beeps a lot faster on the oncology floor. Hopefully, he'll only be there for a short time.

Dad does need to get some electrolytes tonight (phosphorus, magnesium, etc.). Other than that, he's weaning himself from all of the infusions. Hooray!

Jordon had to fly back to Salt Lake City tonight, and I had to drive back to Denver this morning. We have had some great support. My friend, Amber, drove back with me so that I didn't fall asleep on the way home. It was so nice. Because she came and left her family, her family received a meal and babysitting. It's so nice how the line of help and support has worked on our family's behalf. Again, my mom mentioned how blessed she feels at this time. There have been a lot of little miracles.

My parents will be alone until Chris arrives on Wednesday, but they feel like they have things under control. What a week!

BIG LEAPS

Yesterday, Dad's progress was little by little, but now we're seeing big leaps! Dad did so well today. He walked around his room and ate like a king. We're so happy for him and his progress. He has a more consistent smile on his face, too!

Dr. Jordan, his oncologist, visited the room today and gave Dad the full low-down. She said that his infection was one of the worst that she's seen and there will be no more chemotherapy. PET scans and CAT scans in the first part of November will tell us what the chemo has done and what we can expect in the future.

Dad still has some time in the hospital, but we are seeing a light at the end of the tunnel. He did receive platelets, magnesium, potassium, and sodium chloride last night, but today he was down to one tube and sodium chloride. He will be on his vancomycin for about 4 weeks, which is a long time for this medicine.

Thanks for all of your good wishes, prayers, and love. They have been a tremendous help in this process. We now know what the resurrection will be like!

LITTLE BY LITTLE

Dad is improving little by little. Some of his numbers improve by only a hundredth of a point at a time, but we'll take it! He is getting a constant infusion of potassium, magnesium, and sodium chloride. All of his electrolytes have been pretty out of whack, so it's still a process keeping him stable.

Dr. Wong (a seasoned infectious disease doctor) came in today and told us that the previous diagnosis was wrong (yep, that rhymes). :) He said that Dad does NOT have a fungal infection and that the pathologist who said so just wants attention (oh boy...). They immediately stopped Dad's anti-fungal meds and continued the antibiotics that fight c.diff. Dr. Wong says that the infection is c.diff and that it will take up to 6 weeks to fight it off. This has been brewing in Dad's system for about a month. We don't know when Dad might be able to come home, but it will be quite some time. They need to make sure that all of his levels are steady, consistent, and stable. We'll just take it a day at a time.

Dad was able to get up today and walk back and forth in his room. He now says he understands why the elderly have such poor balance! He is definitely weak, but he looks so much better.

He did receive platelets last night, but other than that, the transfusions are definitely at a snail's pace. Thank goodness. He's enjoying watching the baseball playoffs with Jordon and taking naps today.

Thanks again for all of the love and concern. It gives all of us strength!

More Progress

What a difference a day can make! Dad is feeling so much better. Jordon thinks he's magical! :) I'll attribute it to prayers and medical intervention, though! Dad has eaten a lot more today, and his blood counts and all other counts are looking better. He has color in his face and is awake much more. What a big sigh of relief! He went from being critically ill to stable in 3 days. We are so grateful!

His oncologist wants him to start trying to walk around in his room and sit in a chair tomorrow. She doesn't want him to get too weak (he's down to 160 pounds!). His platelets are still low, but because his bleeding is under control, they don't want to give him any more. We learned today that too many platelet transfusions can cause another set of problems, so we're glad that we don't need to worry about that for now.

We do know that it is a fungal infection in his colon, which is very rare. We don't know the details of the particular infection, but enough to know that he needs a strong anti-fungal medication. His oncologist said that the pathologists were "excited" about his case because it was so unique. The oncologist said that it's never a good sign when pathologists get excited about something! :) Thankfully, he seems to be responding to his anti-fungal medication and antibiotics.

We're feeling soooo relieved. Mom was comfortable enough to leave at 6:45 tonight to go make some beef stew. Dad has been asking about beef stew a lot. She'll get some sleep, too, and Jordon and I can be with Dad. Jordon will leave later tonight, and I'll be here again overnight.

We have really appreciated all of the messages, prayers, and concern. It is very comforting to know how much Dad is loved!

STILL WAITING

We still don't have the pathology report back from Dad's colon biopsy, but he does seem to be doing a little better this morning. He didn't need as much intervetion last night, so he got a lot of good sleep. I think that has made a big difference. He woke up at 6:00 this morning and said that he didn't have that groggy, still tired feeling like he usually does. He was able to eat some yogurt and granola, too.

His vitals all seem to be more stable and he didn't need any blood or platelets last night. The infectious disease doctor took him off of some antibiotics and changed to others that should work better against the c.diff infection. Hopefully, once these medications kick in, we'll start to see more and more progress.

He does look a little bit jaundiced, but the nurse said that it's just the chemotherapy at work and that he should be able to recover from that. We know from experience that the liver is an amzing organ!

Anyway, we're feeling more optimistic this morning and hoping to get answers regarding his biopsy soon! Jordon flew in this morning and is with mom at the hospital. I'm home now, heading to bed after my graveyard shift. We'll update as soon as we find out anything more, but I think that some prayers might be kicking in now! :)

A Few Updates

They have discovered that Dad has a fungus infection in his colon and they have him on a special anti-fungal medication, but they still don't know what other infection is involved. The pathology report from the biopsy still isn't back. Dad is sedated quite a bit and on a higher dose of anti-nausea medication.

Jordon flies in tomorrow and will be here until Sunday. Brooke flies in Saturday and will be here until Wednesday the 12th. Chris flies in Wednesday the 12th and will be here until Sunday the 16th, and I fly back Tuesday morning the 18th and will be here until Wednesday night. We'll see where Dad is at after a week, and we'll then figure out what we need to do after the 20th.

More Details

Now that I'm at a keyboard, I can type more. Dad had his colonoscopy yesterday at about 10:00 a.m. The doctors immediately discovered ulcers all over in his colon. This was the obvious culprit to Dad's bleeding and they were able to cauterize many of them. Because there were so many, they couldn't get them all. Hence, Dad is still bleeding, but not as heavily. He has received 7 units of blood, 2 or 3 units of platelets, and I believe 1 unit of plasma since he got into the hospital on Monday morning. For perspective, we only have about 15 units of blood in our system at a time. Rough times, for sure!

The doctors believe that the ulcers are being caused by either a viral infection called cytomegalovirus or a bacterial infection called c.diff (a shortened version of a long name). Dad already has c.diff, but they just don't know if that's what's causing the ulcers, too. They sent a biopsy from the colonoscopy to the pathology lab, and it should take about 3 days to get the results. In the meantime, they are keeping Dad stabilized with electrolytes, blood cells, antibiotics (for the c.diff and to prevent other infections), and zofran (for nausea).

As for Dad's spirits - He's very, very subdued and doesn't say much. He's totally conscious and aware of everything, but just not in a conversational kind of mood (I'm sure nobody would be). He's trying to rest, but it's tough when you're being poked every hour and have to get up every hour to pass blood. The hospital staff is doing a pretty good job of staying on top of his tests and medications. He had an awesome nurse the past two nights. That was a blessing, for sure!

Mom was able to go home last night and get some rest. I took the graveyard shift, and I'm now home getting ready for bed. :) Dad is in good hands in the Intermediary ICU, and we're hopeful that once they know exactly what's causing the ulcers, they'll be right on it. As for now, we're glad that he's on 24-hour surveillance and that he's stabilized. He can pull through this! I'll post something as soon as we know what is causing his ulcers.

ulcers

They performed a colonoscopy this morning and found lots of ulcers in his transverse colon.still waiting to find the cause and solution. It could take a few days to find out. We're hanging in there. He has had 5 units of blood and 2 units of platelets.

STILL TRYING TO FIGURE THINGS OUT

Dad is spending the night in the hospital. He's still bleeding a lot and they're infusing his 3rd unit of blood right now. They are also prepping Dad to get a colonoscopy in the morning (I can't believe he has to drink all of that stuff right now...). He is definitely weak and they're not even allowing him to walk to the bathroom. Mom and Dad were very grateful to get a visit from some members of their old ward (Eastridge) and their new ward (Ladera) for a blessing. Mom said that the men offered a beautiful blessing that gave them a lot of comfort.

I'm going to drive down first thing in the morning and stay until Sunday. Brooklyn is going to try and come out on Saturday night.

We still don't have a clue why Dad is bleeding or where it is coming from, so we'll be very anxious to get the colonoscopy and get some answers.

Mom says that she can literally feel peoples' prayers, so thank you so much for that. We're definitely feeling fragile right now.

HOSPITAL PART ?

Dad is in the hospital this morning. He woke up at 5:30 this morning and passed a lot of blood. He was weak over the weekend, but he was trying to make it until his 9:30 appointment with the oncologist today. Mom called the onocologist's office right after Dad passed blood, and they immediately sent him to the ER. Dad is in the ER right now and all of his blood, white blood cell, and blood pressure numbers are very, very low. They are giving him a blood and fluid transfusion right now, and they're waiting to see what to do once he's a little more stabilized. They want to give him a colonoscopy, but they aren't supposed to do them when a patient is on antibiotics. We'll wait and see what they decide to do with that. They might send him up to the ICU soon, but we just don't know a whole lot right now. He has met with a cardiologist and many other specialists. Lucky enough, a good friend of ours from church is an ER doctor (Jim Wilkie), and he's working today, so we're grateful that he's there.

We need lots of prayers right now, that's for sure.