mmmm.... ice cream good!

have i mentioned how much i love ice cream?

Detroit Science Center

Black Friday is more fun at the science center! Plus the have an IMAX movie with santa

Nate sees Santa

This was really the best picture we've been able to get with Nate and Santa. He's been pretty scared of him in year's past, but we were able to catch Santa with nobody in line, and nobody waiting so he was able to take some time and get Nate to warm up to him.

nate's a photographer now too!

wouldn't you buy honey from this face?

here's one with nate and his first jack-o-latern

we still carved a pumkin today.....

Elizabeth A. Backus

Employed at ConMed in Utica


ILION - Elizabeth A. Backus, 58, of 519 Doty Drive, Ilion, passed away on Friday, Oct. 26, 2007 at the Abraham House in Utica.

She was born March 12, 1949 in Herkimer, N.Y., the daughter of the late Alton and Inita (Sexton) Pelletier, and received her education in the Ilion Central School system.

Elizabeth was employed as a customer service representative with ConMed in Utica and also was employed at Weiser's Jewelers in Herkimer.
Elizabeth was a member of the Red Hat Society and enjoyed spending time with her family and friends.

Elizabeth is survived by one son and daughter-in-law, Craig and Gail Backus of Redford, Mich., one daughter and son-in-law, Jennifer and Conrad Bottorff of Ilion; two brothers, William Pelletier of Brewster, N.Y. and Robert Pelletier of Naugatuck, Conn.; and two grandchildren, Timothy Eric Farmer, Jr. and Nathaniel Craig Backus, as well as several nieces and nephews.

Funeral services will be held on Monday, Oct. 29 at 11 a.m. at the Ilion Presbyterian Church, with Rev. Victor McKusick officiating. Interment to follow at the Fort Plain Cemetery.

Friends may call on Sunday, Oct. 28 from 4-7 p.m. at the Whiter-Hendrix Funeral Home, Inc., 100 Otsego St., Ilion.

Friends are asked to consider memorials in Elizabeth's memory to the Abraham House. Envelopes are available at the funeral home.

Online condolences may be left by goig to http://www.whiter-hendrix.com/.

The Evening Telegram, Oct. 27, 2007
Observer-Dispatch, Oct. 27, 2007

Funeral Arrangements

Arrangements are set. I wasn't sure how quickly things would come together, but they have. The visitation will be on Sunday from 4 until 7 at the funeral home, and the funeral itself will be on Monday at 11a at the First Presbyterian Church in Ilion. After the service, those who want can come to the burial in Ft. Plain, and then we'll return for a luncheon at the Elks Club in Ilion.

I asked about visitation at the church, but the church will not allow it, so the only visitation will be Sunday evening.

Visitation, Sunday, October 28 4p to 7p

Whiter-Hendrix Funeral Home, Inc.
100 Otsego St
Ilion, NY 13357
315.894.3781


Funeral Service, Monday, October 29, 11a

First Presbyterian Church of Ilion
90 Morgan St
Ilion, NY 13357
315.894.2070

Internment, Monday, October 29, immediately following funeral

Ft. Plain Cemetery

Luncheon, Monday, October 29, 2p

Elks BPOE
8 West St
Ilion, NY 13357
315.894.1444


If you're so inclined, Donations can be sent in care of Elizabeth Backus to

Abraham House
1203 KEMBLE ST
UTICA, NY 13501

she's gone. i loved her

she's gone. i loved her so much.

Mom's at Abraham House

I exchanged some text messages with Jen, and she's been with Mom at Abraham House. She said it's very nice, and comfortable. The last report was from about 30 minutes ago, and she said that Mom was sleeping, but woke up for a minute to see Jen, and then went back to sleep. I'm really glad things worked out for Mom to be there.

Visitors Today

As noted in previous posts, Mom's moving to the Abraham post after tomorrow. The address there is:

1203 KEMBLE ST.
UTICA, NY 13501



Exchanged some more text messages with Jennifer today. She told Mom about the transfer tomorrow, but she's still pretty confused overall. However, Mom had some visitors from her workplace, Conmed, and Victor, her pastor from the Ilion Presbyterian Church. She did recognize them and had a fairly coherent conversation, so at least she knows there are lots of people who care about her and have come to visit.

Not sure what the number is there, and I'm not sure if Mom is going to be up for talking on the phone anyway. I'm going to be there this weekend, so if anyone wants a direct update, call me on my cell phone: 313.300.8452.

Abraham House is a go!

Jennifer got to the hospital a little while ago and just sent me a text that the Abraham House is all set! She's going to be transferred tomorrow at 11a.

Mom is doing better than yesterday, but is still confused. She's at least communicative with Mom, but was wanting to get up to go to the bathroom and that's no longer necessary as she's been outfitted with a catheter. She was also trying to unscrew her IV. Perhaps the fentynol has lingering effects and it may not have completely warn off yet.

On another note, I got an e-mail from NWA that there's a fare sale to select cities, and I can use 15,000 frequent flyer miles instead of the usual 25,000. I started reserving something for next weekend, and I thought, well maybe something could work out for this weekend. It did! I'm able to fly in and out of Syracuse for the 15,000 miles arriving late on Friday, and leaving first thing Monday morning again. I'm a big believer in coincidences that happen for a reason, so at least if God isn't going to wash away Mom's cancer, perhaps he's at least pushing some other buttons for once!

Abraham House

I spoke to Martha tonight, one of the nurses at the hospital and she said that Mom was more responsive this evening, still confused, but at least communicative, so that's a good sign. She even said that had her up out of bed walking around! I didn't see that happen during the weekend, but I think there's a lot more that goes on there during the week. (She might also count moving from the bed to the commode "moving around" so who knows.)

I did some more googling about the Abraham House tonight, and it seems like a good thing. It's supported by a number of charities in the area including the First Presbyterian Church of Utica, and Hamilton College. There were many positive references to it, and I didn't see anything that jumped out as "don't bring a loved one here."

Jennifer said that the Case Manager was still working with the insurance company to get the transfer and on-going doctor visits approved, but I have to believe that it's meant to be. Think about it, a place with only two beds has one open at the exact time that Mom needs it? I really can't imagine anything going wrong at this point. Just trying to think positive didn't cure Mom's cancer, but hopefully positive thinking can at least get this one victory for her!

Hmmm I'm not sure what to think!

Well, Jennifer got feedback from the nurse that the Abraham House has an opening. They only take 2 patients at a time, so it sounds like timing worked in our favor.

However, Jennifer said that Mom was sleeping, and that Hunsicker reported that Mom was delirious earlier today. The last note I received from Jen was that she would open her eyes but otherwise completely unresponsive to Jennifer. However, if she was delirious earlier today, they may have given her a sedative or something.

St. Luke's Home

Jen talked to the Case Manager today, and it sounds like St. Luke's Home behind the hospital is the way to go. They're trying to get approval from the insurance company now. The other facilities in the area accept medicare or cash. It may be possible for Mom to get some kind of early acceptance into the Medicare program, but I'm not sure how that would work. She was fairly confident before that she would be able to get that once the COBRA coverage ran out. We'll wait and see what we hear tomorrow, and then let everybody know when and where she's being transferred.

This is the same facility that Anne Tanguay was in last year and it seemed pretty nice the couple of times I visited her there. There were a couple of cats that wandered around, but hopefully they won't jump into bed with Mom!

Next Steps

I'm back in Michigan. Mom's in the know about what's next now, so now we hope that things can work out. The case manager assigned to her is off today, so I'm not sure what progress they'll make, but it's likely we'll be hearing more from them later today or tomorrow about what insurance will cover. I just want her to be comfortable.

BTW anyone reading this blog

BTW anyone reading this blog who hasn't quit smoking yet should have their head examined!

added a Fentanyl patch today

added a Fentanyl patch today but still lots of pain. got a new id bracelet to indicate dnr. i guess it wasn't official until today.

not a great day. lots

not a great day. lots of pain. dr. razia told her she's in no shape to go home and will likely be going to a nursing home. more ltr

Saturday Night in the Valley

I'm back in the hotel tonight. I stayed at the hospital until about 8.30 and she got to a point where she finally needed morphine today. She had been going pretty well with hydrocodone today, but she had an incident when we walked Lisa out to her car where she fell out of bed! I guess she called the nurse to get help to go to the bathroom, and couldn't wait any more. She ended up on her rear end, and didn't appear to hurt herself, but she may have had some after effects because she was really having some pain just before I left. The morphine goes right into her blood stream, so that helped right away, and she was resting comfortably when I left.

I guess the next step is to work with the case manager next week to see what we can set up for hospice care. There's really not a lot of room at the homestead, but there seems to be a number of places around that sound like they have the right philosophy.

I'm not really sure what the future holds from here, but I'm going to plan on heading back to Michigan Monday morning as planned, and then we'll just play it by ear from here.

Uncle Bill and Cousin Lisa were here today too!

afternoon update

talked to case manager today but she didn't have much to offer. She said to check back on monday and they should know more. mom's resting now. She's gone back and forth with being "with it" and she's showed signs of her sense of humor.

Mom's having a lot of

Mom's having a lot of pain today. she's likely going to have morphine at 11.30 today. hoping to talk to case mgr today.

Update from Nurse

Just talked to Courtney, Mom's nurse since this morning. She confirmed that the transfer to St. Luke's home had been cancelled, and she wasn't sure what the next step was. She said that Mom is resting comfortably now. She guesses that she got worked up earlier when going down for a test, and got short of breath. Her paid also escalated at that point, but once she got the morphine she felt better. Courtney said that the case manager will be there until noon tomorrow, and that we'll be able to talk to her more then.

No good news to report

Jennifer got Mom's phone charged up, so she was able to text me from the hospital. No big updates regarding hospice or other next steps. Her only immediate report was that she was crying because of how much pain she was in and utlimately got a dose of morphine. She was better once she had that.

Have I mentioned lately how much this SUCKS! I just hope she's able to manage the pain. I hate to think of her having to endure pain while having to comprehend what's to come..........

Rehab is a no go

Well, I was wondering about this whole rehab thing, but it seemed like the signs pointed in a positive direction, but I guess within the last couple of days, the progress was temporary. As of last night, Mom is getting a higher level of oxygen than was previously necessary, and now we're starting to talk about hospice care rather than rehab.

I've already spoken with Dr. Hunsicker and Jennifer today, and they'll be looking more into this option later today. It just sounds like the only things left would be under the category of "heroic efforts" and Mom made it clear to me last year that she wanted to fight the good fight, but not be resussitated, on the vent, etc. I'm sure they'll be more news later today..........

Ugly Betty

That's nothing against Mom, it's just what she was watching tonight on TV! It's hard to come up with snappy titles for these posts, so I do what I can..............

I talked to her for a few minutes, but I didn't catch her at a good time. She was not in a good position to talk and tried to get repositioned and couldn't catch her breath. She told me to call back in ten minutes, and I did, but she didn't sound a whole lot better. I talked to her for a few minutes more, but she was tired and let me go. She knows there's talk of transferring to the rehab, and I tried to reassure her that it would be good, and that if anything went wrong, they could get her back to the hospital ASAP. We'll see how she's doing this weekend, but my guess is that they won't try to move her until next week anyway.

Rehab

Bill called me last night after arriving home, and he said that Mom had another decent day. She slept quite a bit, but was comfortable and able to manage pain well. She's not strong enough to be discharged, but she's at a point where the care of the hospital is really more than necessary, so Dr. Hunsicker is talking about having her go to a rehab facility for a while.

The case manager is going to be checking on available bed status today, and will be contacting my Mom's insurance carrier to see what's covered. I'm guessing that even if her medical insurance doesn't cover it, the cancer insurance she purchased from AFLAC might, so we'll have to check into all the angles. Speaking of which, if you ever have the opportunity to sign up for cancer insurance at work, do it. Mom paid just a couple dollars per pay for it, and it's paid out thousands already. It's a good thing that little voice told her to go for it because I'm sure this experience would have been much different without it.

Update from Bill

As I mentioned previously, Mom's brother Bill and his wife Kathryn made the trip up to the valley yesterday. They'll be spending more time with Mom today before heading back down, and Bill said that he may try to make it back up to the valley this weekend.

He was able to get a wealth of information from the surgeon that placed the chest tube and the nurses on duty. The surgeon actually came to remove the chest tube from her right side. He said that the Pleurodesis seemed to do its job, and the amount of fluid being drained was minimal. He explained to Bill that there were two "pockets" of fluid that had collected, and they were evidently not connected which is why the chest tube had to be moved initially. (Still seems a little funny to me, but you can only know so much without performing some kind of invasive surgery........)

There is still some talk of putting the chest tube on the right side, but the amount of fluid there isn't at a dangerous level, so he's going to let her go without for a few days and re-evaluate the situation then.

The nurses communicated to Bill that Mom had been using morphine less and less frequently. She didn't need it at all yesterday, opting for a more moderate pain reliever. (Still more than the Excedrin in my desk drawer, but not like morphine.)

Bill said that she seemed very lucid and was able to have a substantial conversation. He said that there were quite the antics going on in the next bed, but Mom seemed to sleep through it anyway. I guess they had an overabundance of visitors, and even had a birthday party for a five year old girl in there! (Hello? These rooms are about 12' x 20' with two hospital beds and all the equipment around them.) Bill said that he avoided the confrontation and bit his tongue because it didn't seem to phase Mom.

There's evidently been some talk of moving Mom to the physical therapy center behind the hospital, but that wouldn't happen until they get the whole chest tube situation under control. The surgeon confirmed for Bill that they're not just going to kick Mom to the curb at some point if she's unable to care for herself at home, and if there's not some type of medical assistance available. I guess we'll find out more in the coming days, but for now, she still requires a substantial amount of care, and isn't going anywhere.

No Update from Last Night

Well, I called the nurse's desk last night, but she was tied up with a patient and asked me to call back. It was getting pretty late, so I figured with Bill driving up today that he would likely get the latest on Mom's condition and call me later tonight or tomorrow.

Sunday Night Call

I called and talked to Mom last night. I think I woke her up, but she went ahead and talked to me for a few minutes anyway. She remembered that I was supposed to call at 8 "yesterday" and I reminded her that it was Friday, and that I had called but she was probably asleep. I was just glad that she recalled it at all and was half right!

Other than that she actually sounded stronger than she had in previous phone calls, so that was a positive sign. She wasn't clear on what was happening with the chest tube, so I think we need to primarily rely on the nurses and doctors for any official information at this point. I haven't bugged the nurses in a while, so I'll plan on checking in with them this evening to see what I can find out.

Mom's brother Bill is travelling up to the valley tomorrow with his wife, Kathryn. I'm sure we'll get some more news from that visit. Jennifer continues to visit prior to going to her job in the afternoon, and I'm planning to head out there this coming weekend.

Good Day!

Wow! It sounds like Mom had a really great day today. She had a lot of visitors, and I got good reports all around. Her brother Bob came up from his job assignment in Pennsylvania, and his wife Mary, daughter Lauren, and son Daniel came up from Connecticut. Darlene also came with Kenny and her daughter, Lisa. My sister also came up with Conrad.

I got reports from Bob and Darlene, and they both said she had a really good day. She was awake, alert and coherent. She ate half her lunch while they were there, and Bob was really encouraged that she has backed off on using morphine, and is using a pill to manage her pain lately, he thought it was hydrocodone. Bob asked her about the plan to move the chest tube from the left side to the right side, and this was news to Mom, but that's not surprising as she was more out of it earlier in the week.

They both said that they had tired her out pretty well, and that she was resting after their visit. I may try to call later to see if she's up for talking for a few minutes.

Hunsicker Returned the call

I did hear from Dr. Hunsicker toward the end of the business day yesterday, and just didn't have an opportunity to post anything. She provided me with the answers to my questions, but doesn't have a positive long-term prognosis at this point.

They did not perform the pleurodesis yesterday. With the amount of fluid that continues to drain, they're concerned that it will just wash out the agent. I didn't quite get it, but I believe that she just referred to it as talc. The talc is supposed to fuse the pleura to the chest wall and prevent the re-accumulation of fluid.

As for the fluid itself, it was tested and did not contain cancer cells, nor did it have signs of infection. She was pretty surprised at this, but the fact that it continues to re-accummulate and drain is a continuing problem. She's not one to offer a lot of additional information, so I tried to ask as pointed questions as possible to get the most I could.

She went on to discuss "end of life" issues and I told her that she had completed a DNR order some time ago. She said that it wasn't referenced in her electronic chart, but that it may be in the paper chart. I talked to Jennifer about this last night, and she confirmed that Mom did complete this, and that Jennifer has some amount of oversight in this matter. Jennifer believes that this was re-affirmed during the hospital admission, but also has another copy of a document outlining this wish. She'll make sure that these wishes are better known as we proceed.

Jennifer did also say that Mom had a pretty good day yesterday, and made a point of drinking some ensure, and even ate some solid food. She was able to have some coherent conversations with her which has been rare lately as she's been sleeping most of the time.

Mom will be getting some visitors soon with Darlene (long-time friend and former sister-in-law) visiting this weekend. Mom's brother Bill and his wife Kathryn will be heading up on Tuesday and spending a couple of days, and I'm planning to head out myself next weekend.

I certainly don't know that the future holds, but unless something dramatic happens, it sounds to me like the hospital is in "do what you can" mode to make her comfortable. They're not pushing the food issue and leaving this to Mom because for one, she can still choose to eat solid foods herself if she wants. Two, inserting a permament feeding tube would be a more aggressive life-prolonging action, and while Hunsicker didn't say this explicitly, that's the feeling I was left with. They want to take action on the most significant, pain-causing items, (i.e. chest-tube to drain fluid) but when it comes to the feeding tube and ultimately the ventilator, they're going to make every effort NOT to utilize those.

Pleurodesis Part Deux

I haven't heard back from Dr. Hunsicker yet. Hopefully tomorrow. I wonder if she reads this blog?

Anyway, I got to talk to Mom today for a few minutes. Jennifer was at the hospital, and we worked out a way for her to call the cell phone without needing a calling card. (It's a long story, but it works..........) Mom asked me where I was, and I told her that I was at the office, and she just said that she was a little unclear on time, which is understandable. She went on to some other conversation and then came back to me, and said, "I'm a little spacey, don't I deserve to be a little spacey?" (It may not be a direct quote, but the sarcasm was definitely there which means to me that the lights are still on inside.) I talked to her about family, and Pauline (mother of her childhood friend, Gail, whom she's been recently reacquainted), and she understood what I was talking about and knew that they were going to do the Pleurodesis again this afternoon. She confirmed that her pain was still manageable, and then signed off.

I still pressed her to eat more, but it's still unclear how well that's going. I'm hoping to convince Dr. Hunsicker that while a feeding tube may be out of line at this point, I think she should still use the IV solution that she or Lynn mentioned. Any kind of nutrition at this point has to be valuable.

Not that anyone wants to think about this, but I'm also going to be talking to Hunsicker to make sure that the hospital is aware of Mom's wishes. She told me after Dad died that she signed papers with a "do not resuscitate" order. It was nothing I pressed her for, it was just something she told me after I had to sign papers to authorize them not to put Dad on the vent on that last day. I'm assuming that whatever papers she signed were more explicit about what circumstances were to be considered. I don't know how legitimate these are in New York, but in Michigan with my Dad and Loretta, it seemed like the doctor's just followed the family's wishes, and it was much better to know the patient's wishes when they had a clear mind.

If I don't hear from Hunsicker tomorrow, I'll plan to call and speak to the nurse tomorrow evening to get the latest status.

Message into Dr. Hunsicker

I left a message with the receptionist. Last week she was able to return my call at the end of the day, so hopefully I'll hear from her again at some point later today.

Another Pleurodesis

Sorry, but I guess this post is essentially a re-run. The were able to drain more fluid after moving the chest tube lower on Sunday, and they plan to do another Pleurodesis tomorrow to hopefully fuse the two linings together. In the reading I did, I didn't see that these are sectioned within one lung, but perhaps it's been sectioned by the tumor? Lynn the nurse was good about giving me the facts, but she cannot offer opinions.

The other thing that has me really worried is the fact that she still hasn't eaten much. They started giving her Megace last week to hopefully stimulate her appetite but she's just been very tired and sleeping a lot. She's also pretty disoriented when she awakes and is getting more and more confused. However, I think I would be pretty confused to if I hadn't eaten in 2+ weeks!
I don't really understand the theory here. Are the doctors taking care of the most significant problems, and then letting the things that are up to choice to Mom? Are they presuming that if she's not eating then she's given up? If she's confused now, is it really appropriate to presume that, or do they assume that a person's innate will to survive will override the confusion?

I think I'm going to try to connect with Dr. Hunsicker again tomorrow and pose these questions.

And the hits keep coming!

Mom's brother Bill was also up in the valley today and he called with a clarification to the earlier post..... Apparently they're not going to switch sides just yet. The reason why the fluid hadn't drained from the left side quite right was because the chest tube was inserted too high and needs to be moved to a lower area! Brilliant! Do they think that Mom is some kind of pin cushion? She had to have the tube in for about 9 days, and now it's moving to a different spot, with the promise of removing it and inserting one in the right side in a couple of days! How would you like to have that to look forward to on your list of things to do for the week?

Anyone have any GOOD news?

Well, there's no good news from the Valley today........... The CAT scan showed that there's fluid built up in both lungs. They can't do a chest tube on both sides, so they'll pulled the one out and put in a new one on her right side. The doctor's only hypothesis for Jennifer was that the tumor is causing irritation and instigating the build up. The good news is that Mom is not in constant pain. She is getting regular doses of morphine, so just as she starts to feel uncomfortable, she's able to get more medicine to get past it.


Today being October 7 also means that it's been one year since Dad passed away. We took Nate to the cemetery today to go see "sick papa" and he wondered where he was, and we told him this is where we come to remember him.

So all in all, let's chalk this up to a pretty crappy day!

I just wish Mom could catch a break because being cooped up in the hospital hooked up to all sorts of tubes can't be much fun. Is this what being on all these prayer lists gets you? The "wonder and mystery" of God seems downright cruel to me sometimes.

look at what came down in mary's back yard!

Cat Scan today

I spoke to the nurse at about 1.30p today. She said that Mom had just returned from getting a cat scan and depending on how that turned out, they may take out the chest tube tomorrow. The nurse said that Mom was sitting up in a chair, but she must not have been up for talking on the phone as she didn't answer. Mom's brother Bill is heading up there tomorrow for the day, so hopefully we'll hear more news as to how she's doing overall.

Hunsicker Called

Dr. Hunsicker called. She's not the most talkative, but she did offer quite a bit of information, and none of it was good. She said that Mom has not been progressing and "is not doing very well at all." She continues to have the chest tube in as fluid is still accumulating and likely now has pneumonia. Mom asks for her pain medication regularly, and the doctor said that Mom was quite disoriented this morning. She also said that Mom has not been eating hardly at all.

The doctor said that the "infections" expert is also going to be looking at things to make any recommendations for next steps. She said that she would keep track of my phone number and get in touch with me as necessary.

I did talk to Mom directly and she was a little confused at first, but then did get oriented and confirmed that the chest tube remained. She said that she's been eating somewhat, but that she was very tired and was going to lay back down.

Hunsicker not Huntzinger!

Well, I made some progress on my lunch hour (15 minutes?) today. I did some Yellow Pages searching and figured out how to correctly spell Dr. Hunsicker's name so that I have a phone number now, and left a message for her to call. Evidently I'm not on the HIPPA form, so she may not be able to tell me much, but hopefully I can at least share my concerns, and perhaps it may have some impact. I signed the release in the hospital, so maybe if she calls me from there, she can tell me something.

Update from Stella

Bill (Mom's brother) called last night concerned that he couldn't get ahold of Mom. I called to talk to the nurse's station, as I'm officially, "on the list" now and can get current status. They stop short of answering "opinion" questions, so I'm pretty good at asking questions they're willing to answer.

The short of it is that the chest tube was not removed as of 9p last night. Mom was very uncomfortable from the Pleurodesis on Wednesday and didn't have a good day at all. She was very tired on Thursday and likely was sleeping or had turned off the ringer. Stella (nurse on shift) also answered my questions on eating and confirmed that she hadn't eaten much, and I asked when the doctors would step in and take more aggressive action, and she said that they would when they felt it was necessary. Mom has been getting a lot of IV fluids, so there's no risk of dehydration, but at some point she's going to need to get a more steady flow of nutrition.

Hopefully she'll get the chest tube removed today, and then they can consider whatever's next in the process. I'm guessing at some point we should hear if there are any results back from whatever testing they did on the fluid that was removed over last weekend.

I had put a message into Dr. Razia last week, but she never responded, so I think I may try to pin down Dr. Huntsinger's number (GP) to see what information I can get from her.

Pleurodesis

There's your 5 dollar word for the day!

Here's some more info on it from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pleurodesis. I realize this isn't the most authoritative resource on the Web, but the information I've found there is generally the type that helps me understand the basics. Anyway.................

Dr. Jezioro explained Saturday that this is what was planned, and it was done today. The chest tube is still in to drain whatever fluid remains, but they're hoping that the Pleurodesis will prevent any additional fluid from accumulating.

I asked if she's eaten anything, and she said not much, but they did give her a drug that would hopefully increase her appetite. Lynn said she has consumed some type of fortified milkshake, and will hopefully eat more tomorrow.

I asked about a feeding tube, or when it would be critical to do something more, and she said that while that's an option, there's a lot more they can do in the meantime. She said there's even some type of nutrition they can introduce through the IV, so one way or another they'll make sure she gets some nourishment.

Chest Tube Remains........

Talked to mom tonight. The chest tube remains in place as there was still more drainage. The doctor said that hopefully tomorrow it will come out.

I asked her about eating, and she said that she's been trying some type of nutrition drink today and that's been working out better. She's going to ask if it's available in the grocery store. I'm guessing it must be Ensure or something similar. Anything at this point is better than nothing at all.

I did manage to get her to laugh tonight. I went out with Nate for a little while in the car, and forgot to bring his pacifier. (I know he's too old, but we pick our battles......) Anyway our name for it is the "paci," so when he asked for it tonight, I told him that I didn't have one. He said, "Daddy go home and get me a paci or you're fired!" And once I didn't turn around he just said, "Daddy, you're fired!" I'm not sure where he got that from, but it was pretty comical, and he was lots of entertainment for people in line at the post office...........

Back in Michigan

We've made it back to Michigan. We did stop by the hospital before we left today, and Mom was more alert, but concerned because she had been awake since 4.30a this morning. I mentioned to her that she slept most of yesterday, but evidently didn't realize it. The nurse heard me mention this, and she said that the combination of morphine and flexorall was likely what was making her dozy. She hadn't taken the flexorall all week, but asked her General Practitioner for it on Saturday. It must have taken a little while to kick in, and by Sunday it had her quite relaxed.

I told her I'd call in a couple of days to see how she was doing, and she said that she'd call me first if she got out of the hospital. I think she's going to have to come a long way before getting out of the hospital. She's been so tired, and her system just isn't reacting right, but if she works to build up her strength this week, she might possibly have a chance of getting out by week's end. I think it's more likely that she'll end up with a stint at a rehab facility to help her build up the strength to get home. We've seen this before with my Dad, and Gail's Grandma, and they were really able to make a big difference. In the hospital, they're really trying to treat the biggest problems, but they don't really focus on getting people ready to go home. This is all rampant speculation on my part, but we'll see how it goes.

Sunday Update

Well, today wasn't a great day. She didn't have a lot of issues with pain, as I didn't hear her ask for morphine at all, but today's main issue was nausea. She didn't feel right all day, and didn't eat anything either. She was able to get a lot of sleep today, so hopefully that will make a difference. There was an additionl liter of fluid in her chest tube output, and it was clamped for the day, so hopefully that will come out tomorrow and they'll be able to use the drug that Dr. Jezorio mentioned that will seal off the lung's protective covering.

We didn't end up seeing Jennifer today as she was still dealing with the after effects of the bug or whatever she's dealing with. She discovered today that there is some leak under the bathroom so she's put a call in with the local handy man to hopefully get this fixed in the near future.

We plan to head back to Michigan tomorrow, but we'll be stopping in at the hospital before we leave.

I just hope she's able to eat something soon. Gail said that she was down to 107 upon entering the hospital, and I'm sure she's lost more weight this week. I guess we'll just have to wait and see and hope for the best.

Saturday Update

Long day at the hospital, but we did get to talk to a couple of doctors today. Mom's brother Bob made it into the valley late last night on his way back to CT from Reading, PA. (just a minor detour......... ;-) )

Mom's general practitioner made the first stop about 9.30a, and she seemed to think that while this was a bit of a set back, that mom will likely rebound pretty well and be able to continue her chemo treatments and return home relatively soon. She wasn't too sure about the chest tube, but another doctor stopped by later and had the drain continue, and there was a total of more than 2 liters of fluid by the time we left. We talked to her pulminary specialist, and she felt that the chest tube would remain in until Monday, and then they were going to try a drug that will coat the lining that protects the lung, and hopefully prevent further fluid from building up.

She's still having quite a bit of pain, and looks for the morphine every two hours on the dot, but the biggest pain right now is the chest tube, so once that's out, she'll hopefully have much less pain.

Another new thing for mom was a nebulized breathing treatment. They must have heard a little crackle in her lungs, and want to prevent pneumonia, so they started that tonight. She also has a "lung exerciser" which she needs to use to do deep breathing exercises and that should help to cough up the extra fluid.

One really good sign was that she asked for a fishamajig sandwich from Friendly's. She hasn't eaten a whole lot this week, but she seemed really interested in this, so we went out to dinner there and brought it back. She hadn't started it by the time we left, but I'm hoping she'll eat at least half of it.

I guess Jennifer has caught some kind of bug, as she's not been feeling well, and now Conrad has the same symptoms. (No need for a big description, let's just say "stomach problems.") He drank out of one of her glasses, so hopefully she didn't transfer the bug to Mom, but needless to say, we'll likely not be connecting with them tomorrow.

We'll probably head up there a little later tomorrow, and try to get Mom out of bed, and at least into the chair next to it. She's likely not going to be able to go far with the chest tube in, but she's got to move around somewhat.

More news tomorrow.................

Reporting Live from Happy Valley!

Gail, Nate and I arrived in the valley tonight, and we saw Mom for an hour and a half or so. They did install the chest tube today, and drained off what looked to be more than 1 liter of fluid. The doctor had clamped it earlier in the day, but left it installed, so I'm not sure what that means, but it's likely that she'll have to try to sleep with it in all night. Mom's brother, Bob, will be arriving late tonight and plans to go up to the hospital with me tomorrow morning. We're hoping to talk to Dr. Razia who is the oncologist that Mom has been seeing since last year. More news tomorrow.............

Fluid Removal Delayed

Well, they were going to draw off the fluid in her lungs yesterday, but her cumadin level was too high, and remained high today. I talked to her an hour or so ago, and she sounded like she was doing pretty well. She's still taking morphine regularly to control the pain, but she was coherent and responsive. We talked about some TV shows that were on this week, and about us visiting Pauline over the weekend. We'll be heading to the valley tomorrow, so I'll have a first hand report at some point this weekend. I'm hoping that we might get to talk to the doctor Saturday morning to ask about where things stand and what the future holds.

Wednesday Update

I talked to Mom last night, and she sounded okay. She was still experiencing some pain, and had just gotten some morphine, so hopefully she was able to get some rest. She was concerned about what was on TV, so I told her how Boston Legal would be starting at 9.30 and she was glad to hear that and planned to watch it.

Today, they're going to drain some fluid from her lung. I hope that goes well. I guess they just use some novacaine, and do a small incision to insert the tube and allow it to drain. I know one time for Dad it didn't seal up right, and it allowed air to leak in all over his body. His skin felt like bubble wrap and it started to close off his windpipe! They were able to act quickly and got him squared away, but it was a little freaky. (This happened 3 or 4 years ago.) Needless to say, I didn't share this little story with Mom, but I am hoping that it goes better for her today. I'm pretty sure they did the same thing last year when she first went into the hospital, and she didn't have any problems.

Update from Nurse

I called in and spoke to Mom's nurse today. She said that she's using the morphine a bit less over the last couple of days, so it seems that the pain has subsided somewhat. (She's still using morphine, so whatever pain she has must be stronger than your run of the mill headache.)

I also called into Dr. Razia's office, and left a message hoping to find out more about why there's an increase in pain in the last couple of weeks. I posed a couple of ideas to the nurse, and she said that it would be inappropriate for her to speculate about it and that I should try to connect with the doctor.

The nurse didn't indicate that there were any plans to discharge Mom, so It's likely she'll be there until her status improves. Razia should be back to the office by Friday, and may check in with Mom over the weekend.

Gail, Nate and I plan to head to the valley this weekend. I'm not sure if we're heading out Thursday evening, or Friday, but we'll likely be there by Friday evening, and plan to head back to Detroit on Monday. I'll bring my laptop with me, and should be able to post updates while we're there.

Hospital Update

Mom is in a LOT of pain this weekend. It's unclear as to what the cause might be. She's getting some big doses of morphine, and that's helping so that she can get some rest and get something to eat. If she's not able to eat much on her own, they're going to move forward with a feeding tube soon. Not much happens at hospitals on the weekend, so hopefully we'll hear more as the week progresses.

Mom in Hospital

Mom is in the hospital. She's been real weak lately, and her doctor advised that they would skip chemo this week, and try to get her strength built up. She hasn't been eating or drinking much, and was dehydrated. I'm sure she'll feel better once she gets some fluids into her. Keep her in your thoughts and prayers...........

Wilcox Wedding Pictures have been posted!

I got the official word last night that I can post these to the site! Enjoy!

Wedding News!

It's official! Doug is set to marry Mary Wyka on August 31! We're looking forward to it!

Nate's Third Birthday

Today's Nate's official third birthday, and we went to the Ann Arbor Hands-on Museum. There were a lot of projects there, and Nate enjoyed a few of them quite a bit. I posted some pictures on the website.

New Pictures

I thought I would see what I could figure out with the Multiply site. I determined that I could set up certain folders to be viewed by everyone, so I uploaded some recent photos, and I also found a video on the PC from last Easter. I'll see how much more I can add in my 'spare' time.

Jennifer's Blog

Please note that Jennifer has created her own blog as she's not clear on how to make posts to this blog. I've added a link to the left to quickly access it.

It sounds like Mom is going to be in the hospital for a few more days dealing with the chest tube and recovering from the surgery overall. No word yet on when they might reschedule the other procedure that was supposed to be completed this week.

Mom in the Hospital

Well, I'm not sure why, but the doctor's identified some fluid around her heart. They plan to drain it on Monday and hopefully figure out if it's a huge problem, or just another bump in the road.

This stay at the hospital has postponed one procedure that was supposed to be this week, so hopefully that will get rescheduled so that she can continue her chemotherapy routine and keep the existing cancers at bay.

She's very anxious for us to firm up our trip to Vegas as we're hoping to go before it gets too hot there, but we may just have to plan lots of indoor activities once we do get things finalized.

Please keep her in your prayers, and we'll hope for the best.