dad is moving to the

dad is moving to the Icu. He's been coughing up blood today and they need to get him stabilized.

Shunt being placed today

They're moving forward with dialysis. They will be placing the shunt this afternoon, and plan to proceed with the first round of dialysis tomorrow. Gail spoke to his primary care doctor today, and he said that if Dad responds well to the dialysis, then he'll likely move to a rehab facility with the hopes of building up strength to return home. There's a lot of what ifs involved, but it's some encouraging news anyway.

We've got a lot of visitors coming through over the next couple of weeks with his brother Lynn in town this week, Jennifer due to arrive on Saturday, and Mom is coming in at the end of next week.

I'm really hoping that this dialysis will have a positive impact and give Dad some encouragement, because he's really down right now.

Too Much Fluid

Dad is still fighting the battle of the fluid. They're seeing how he responds to a different diuretic, and hopefully that will show some positive signs. The doctors are going back and forth on doing dialysis, evidently because they're concerned about his heart and how well it can take the added stress. Something's going to have to give sooner or later because all of the extra fluid is putting too much stress on all of his systems.

I'm sure he'll be glad to see his visitors this week. His brother, Lynn, will be arriving later this afternoon from Tennessee and will be here through Thursday, and my sister will be arriving later this week for a couple of days.

Ron Update

Well it looks like Ron will be starting dialysis very soon. They need to put in a shunt or something to get that started. We think it will probably start within the week or so. The doctors also think that its possible Ron will need to enter a longterm care facility. Its still not 100% sure, but I know Ron is disappointed at the idea. So please keep everyone in your prayers. Ron still has a horrible rash on his legs, a bed sore now and can barely move from his bed to a side chair. Its not fun. Please pray the dialysis will work so that he can go back to a fairly normal life.

Dad moved around

Dad was moved to the fifth floor for a planned colonoscopy this week, but had to move back to progressive care because his heart rate was erratic. Gail spoke directly to his doctor today, and he outlined that they're dealing with a number of different issues from his lungs, to his heart and kidneys. Everything is connected, and when one area has problems, it starts impacting the other areas. He may have to go on dialysis sooner rather than later, but the doctor hopes to get his strength built back up so that he can return home after a stint in the rehab facility. I think he still has some time left in the hospital until they can get him stabilized and over this rough spell.

Dad is back in the

Dad is back in the hospital. his pneumonia was not cleared out which is why he's had such a hard time this week.

Dad is home from the

Dad is home from the hospital.

Dad's Still in the Hospital

Well, he thought he might be released over the weekend, but it didn't happen. He said that his lungs are still clear, and that he's been moving around some, but he's still concerned about his sugar. He said that his eyesight has been really poor lately, and he's guessing that his high sugar has had an impact on it. He's been getting insulin injections over the last few days which has helped to manage it, and I'm guessing he's going to have to continue this on his own in the future.

I know he was having a hard time watching the Lions game yesterday, and I saw him a few times just listening to the TV broadcast. I think he was still able to enjoy it, but his eyesight must really be bad as he wasn't even making an attempt to watch it. He has a larger TV at home, so hopefully that will help when he gets out because that's his chief form of entertainment these days.

I haven't heard anything from him yet today, so I don't know if he'll be getting out or not. I'll plan on stopping by there later if I don't hear anything to see how he's doing.

Craig

Dad May be released tomorrow

I saw Dad tonight and he says he may be released tomorrow. He still looks pretty haggard, but they said his lungs are clear, and he is feeling much better. He mentioned that his sugar is still screwed up, so he's going to have to follow up with his primary care physician on that, so we'll see what comes of it. It could be screwed up from all of the other various drugs he has to take.

Updates on Mom and Dad

I see we haven't posted in a while..................

The latest news on my Mom is that she has been doing pretty darn well. It sounds like the lung tumor has been reduced to nothing, and they're still treating the tumor on her adrenale gland with chemotherapy. She hasn't had this evaluated in a while, but I believe there is more news to come of that later this month. During the last weekend in August, a bunch of the family got together in Lake Luzerne, NY (near Lake George). It was a little rainy, but we sure managed to eat a lot and had fun getting caught up on each other's lives.

My Dad went back in the hospital over this past weekend. I guess his breathing got progressively worse during the week, and while he was going laundry Saturday night, he went back to his apartment, tripped and hurt his knee. He had trouble getting back up, and I think had some angina pain, and called for help. EMTs arrived and took him to Botsford Hospital. It sounds like he's got pneumonia in his right lung, and his sugar has gone wacky for some reason. It was 415 at the hospital Saturday night, but it was down to 190 yesterday with some insulin. It's unclear as to whether this is a temporary thing connected to the pneumonia, or if he might have to monitor his insulin going forward.

He seemed in pretty good spirits yesterday, but was tired. He's in a huge corner room in the hospital with 4 beds in one room. It settled down after a while, but when I was there yesterday, they had a new admission, and it was crazy in there for about 45 minutes while they got his medical history, weight, etc.

Please keep everyone in your thoughts and prayers.

Nate's 2 Year Pictures

Here's one of the pictures from Nate's 2-year "photo shoot." The rest are available on Yahoo! Photos, so check out the link if you like. I'll try to get more photos up from his birthday party soon.

Craig

TGIF

Mom didn't have chemo at all this week because she was feeling so crappy. She is scheduled next week for chemo. Mom was nauseated this week but the heat had some to do with it. She is planning to go to the doo-dah parade this evening so she must be feeling a bit better.

Chemo a no go

Mom is not feeling so good today. She was supposed to have chemo but she will be having it tomorrow instead. I am not sure if it is heat, chemo or both but it sucks no matter what it is. Her nausea pills aren't working so good, she couldn't keep toast down today unfortunately.

A Wooha

Mom is doing great this time with the 2 chemo treatment. The new pill for nausea is definitely working super good!! She is a bit achy from the white blood cell shot but that is better than nausea. We have our new kitchen floor and new bushes going infront of the trailer, we're getting spiffy. The airconditioner is teetering on death i think though.

Nate's 2

Well Nate turned 2 on Sunday - his big birthday party was on Saturday - it was a beautiful day. Hot - and not much shade- but good anyhow. He had a great time and was just so excited to open up every single gift. The first gift he saw - sippy cups with Trains on them - you'd think they were gold. and it just continued from there - it was great. He even did good at his 2 year check up - no shots needed. Just a blood test - all is well. Just a slightly swollen lymph node - but the doctor checked it out and no problems (of course - my mind goes to cancer after mom)- so that was a huge relief.

He even had money to go shopping at Toy's R Us (picture in the car) - like we'll ever get him one of those cars - we keep telling him - no way kid. Not even Nonnie or Papa will get one of those (I think I'd shoot them if they did).

Other than that - we had pictures taken yesterday - had issues with anything after 3 shots - so pacifier was in most. But we were able to get a picture with 4 generations, me, Nate, dad and Grandma. It will be nice.

Hope everyone is enjoying the summer
love,
Gail