Both roads lead to home..

Mom came home from St. Lukes Hospital last Thursday, June 10th. She passed all of the rehab tests and felt good enough to be released. She is resting at home and trying to slowly regain her strength. She still has a few weeks of recovery before she will be able to return to her "normal" lifestyle.
Dad was doing OK this weekend when I went down to stay with them. He had a little nausea for a couple of mornings. We quickly tried one of the chemo anti nausea pills and that seemed to work fine. Dad took another pill later on and it worked also. A low white blood cell count prevented him from receiving his chemo therapy last Friday. We took extra precautions all week to limit visitors, and try and get his white cell count back up. We will know Friday if he is able to receive this weeks chemo. Dad has been enduring alot, but has done everything that has been asked of him. He always says "thank you" to everybody for all their help.

A Week Of Travel

Dad has been by my moms side every day, and for most of the day. Some of his days are better than others. The pain pills and pain patches can only do do much. The days usually start off pretty good but after a full day of activity dad is usually pretty tired out and sometimes hurting. We take dads meds with us when we travel as he has a noon dose that he has to take. His regiment of medications start in the morning, followed by noon, afternoon, evening and then bedtime. The radiation treatments have made it very hard for dad to swallow. He has a medicine that he gargles with in the morning, evening and before every meal that numbs his throat. This makes it a little less painful to swallow. Dad will be getting his 3rd infusion of chemo-therapy on Friday. He has been given medications to use for the side effects, but hasn't needed them yet. Hopefully dad will rest a little more when my mom returns home.
Again, we thank all of our relatives and friends for their prayers , support and help.

The Road to Recovery

Mom was moved to St. Lukes hospital on Sat. June the 5th. She has a room on 6th floor, which is rehabilitation. One to two weeks of Rehab was the original time line we were given. After the first couple of days some of the nurses and therapists thought mom might be able to go home after just 1 week! She is slowly gaining back her balance, walking, and strength. Her days consist of physical therapy, occupational therapy, recreational therapy and a few more. Mom is doing pretty well at everything but is weak and sore from being the hospital bed in Ia. City for about 10 days. She still has about a month of recovery from her surgery, which means that when she does get to go home she will still have to take it easy and relax. Hopefully mom will be home when I post next week. Things are starting to look up.... Kel

Hills and Valleys...

The week preceding Memorial Day was a rough one for my mom. After being re- admitted to the hospital for a spinal fluid leak from her surgery, her condition started to deteriorate rapidly. She was moved to the intensive care unit. Mom became unresponsive. Her body swelled and her condition worsened. She had a breathing tube and a feeding tube inserted. She was in constant pain, moaning almost every minute. Every test and every scan that was performed came back looking positive. No one could pin point the problem. Mom's condition was getting worse. She could recognise us but that was all she was able to do. The family took turns staying by her bedside, holding her hands and talking to her. We would feed her shaved ice and give her sips of water when she needed them. Mom has been here 1 week.
On Sunday afternoon Pastor Kirk stopped in to visit mom and dad at the hospital. (Pastor Kirk bought mom & dads house in North English when they moved.) He offered help said a prayer for them. As I sat by moms bedside that night, things began to change. I would talk to mom and she would answer in short sentences. For the first time in over a week, when I left the hospital that night I had a good feeling in my heart.
When we arrived the next morning, mom was sitting up in her bed. Her hair had been washed & she had already eaten her liquid breakfast. This took everybody by surprise ! We were finally seeing something good. Later that day mom was moved out of intensive care to a regular recovery room. She is still in pain and unable to walk or feed herself, but she is on the road to recovery.

Staying The Course...

It was 1 month ago that my dad was told he had cancer. 1 month of battling a disease that is trying to destroy him. Dad took 10 sessions of radiation to lessen the pain in his lung and spine. But,the radiation had side effects too. It made swallowing very hard & painful. It seems that for every step that we try to fight this disease, there are many negative side effects. Dad had his first chemo therapy infusion on last Friday,May 28th. We were told of all the possible side effects to expect, but so far dad is doing pretty good. Dad is walking without his walker, sleeping in his own bed,(not the hospital bed), and visiting my mom in the hospital every day. All of this activity does cause him to tire easily.
Many thanks go to our relatives & friends who spend time cooking, cleaning, staying overnight & helping out in every way possible. We wouldn't be able to walk this path by ourselves.

An unexpected turn..

My mom had her surgery on Tuesday and went home on Saturday, May 22nd to start her 6 weeks of recovery. On Sunday afternoon she had noticed a drip coming from her nose. It was enough of a drip that she was constantly wiping her nose with a tissue. This was one of the warning signs that the neurosurgeons had warned us about. This drip could be spinal fluid leaking from the surgical area. We took mom back to the U.of Ia.emergency and after a few tests they re-admitted her. Mom felt good enough that she insisted I stay with my dad that night. So I drove back to Williamsburg to be with dad.
We drove to the hospital the following morning. Mom had a rough night. They scoped her nose looking for leaking fluid, had x rays done,and inserted a lumbar drain in her spine. This was done to take the pressure of the surgical area and let the spinal fluid drain fromher lower spine. She couldn't keep her eyes open and was nodding off every couple of seconds.
The following is an update from my brother and sister on the afternoon of May 25th. They have moved mom to intensive care. She is being tested for meningitis. She has a urinary tract infection. She had a breathing tube inserted as she was breathing very few breaths a minute.She is on alot of antibiotics.They believe she is responding to their voices as they see her wiggle her toes and her eyelids.
Dad starts his chemotherapy on Friday.

Weeks Before

A few months ago my mom noticed her vision was getting blurry. A visit to the optometrist confirmed that something was causing her to have blurred vision. My mom was then scheduled for tests at the U. of Ia. hospital in Ia. City. The test revealed a brain tumor. The tumor was growing and pressing on her optic nerves, thus the blurry vision. The tumor had also begun to wrap around the pituitary gland on the left side of her brain. This tumor was no stranger though.
In 1972 mom was diagnosed with her first brain tumor. The surgery to remove the tumor left my mom without the sense of taste or the sense of smell and many medications to take on a daily basis. Nineteen years later the brain tumor returned. Advanced surgical procedures since 1972 aided in the removal of the tumor. Again my mom recovered. Nineteen years later the tumor returned again. Many factors were considered on the removal of this tumor. Surgery or radiation for months? Was my mom well enough for either option? Age. Recuperation time. All of this was happening as my parents were being told my dad has cancer. Mom elected to have the surgery. If everything goes well she would be out of the hospital in a few days.
Mom had her surgery on Tuesday, May 18th. We arrived at the hospital with the surgery scheduled at 8:00. She came out of surgery around 3:30 and everything went as planned. The Dr. told us they had removed most of the tumor and relieved the pressure on her optic nerve. The 20% of the tumor that remained was around the pituitary gland and unable to be removed.
After a 3 day recovery in the hospital, mom will be going home for 6 weeks of recovery. And going home to be with dad.