Finalized Funeral arragneemtns

The funeral will be held at our church at 11 am. WE will have visitations that morning starting at 10 am as well. AFter the cemetary the church will also be having everyone back for a lunch.

Please feel free to come and attend this as well. It will mean a lot to Craig and I.

Our church is the First Farmington United Methodist Church - I know you can look up the address at the www.umc.org website.

Thanks for all that have expressed the sadness and all that stuff - we appreciate everything very much.
Love,
Gail, Craig, Nate and the rest of the Backus family.

Ronald C. Backus (November 20, 1935 - October 7, 2006)

Age 70, of Redford Township. Born in Frankfort, New York.

Loving father of Craig (Gail) Backus and Jennifer (Tim) Farmer. Cherished grandfather of T.J. and Nate. Dear brother of Lynn (Susan) Backus and Sandra (Richard) Herron.

Funeral Wednesday (time pending) at First United Methodist Church of Farmington 33112 Grand River Avenue, Farmington. Officiant Rev. Dr. Jeffrey R. Maxwell, Pastor.

Visitation Tuesday 2-5 and 7-9 p.m. at Thayer-Rock Funeral Home, 33603 Grand River Avenue, downtown Farmington (1 blk. W. of Farmington Rd.).

Memorial contributions may be made to Volunteers of America, 24701 Swanson Rd., Southfield, MI 48034 or the American Lung Association of Michigan, 25900 Greenfield Rd., Ste 401, Oak Park MI 48237.

Ron's slipping again

Ok - we don't know exactly what is going on, but he was totally not responsive today with Craig when he went to visit. He didn't even look at him, nod or verbally respond. I guess the doctors called Craig today to let him know Ron seems to be slipping - he's just more distant every day. It sounds bad.

Even one of the nurses asked Craig if he had the medical power of attorney - of course we don't yet. WE have it all ready, but waitig for Ron to be "sane" again - so that it can be done.

Please continue your prayers - its looking like another LONG weekend.

One positive this weekend is that Liz is here for a visit - Nate has really taken to his Nonnie - he really likes her - its so precious I love it. He was holding her hand and walking in the parking lot after dinner tonight. Its just adorable. It just took his turf and a lot of quiet.

Gail

Many Questions with Ron

Good morning,
Well it seems a lot of questions still remain over Ron's condition and all that. On Tuesday the vents were removed, but he was havng a lot of bleeding. It appears that has stopped as of last night. Unfortunately, he was having problems and pulling out the tubes, pick line, etc.

Last night during Craig's visit Ron was better, but having problems with thoughts and memory. Basically the nurse called is ICU Psychosis - where people just go a little whacky while in there. He was saying a few odd things, questioning things that happened long ago - things like that. But then the next minute he was asking the nurse why she didn't do one of his eye drops and actually said this long name of the medicine. So we don't know.

They said its possible there may have been some brain damage when from the lack of oxygen to his brain on Friday/Saturday. We know his heart stopped for 30-60 seconds. but I'm not sure if they knew how long he had not been getting enough oxygen. So we'll see.

Please continue to pray for Ron and all of us that he gets better soon.
Love,
Gail

Removing Ventilation Tubes

Wow - what an amazing turn of events the last few days. I called to just talk to a nurse on Ron's status today - she told me he's fine and breathing well. I asked how long it takes to wean someone off the vents - she chuckled. They were removing the tubes right then. Yeah - so that means he'll probably be able to start communicating over the next few hours/days. I can't even imagine how sore his throat and everything will be - but something is better than nothing. We are very excited and thankful for this miracle.

Thanks for the prayers. Please contue, because Ron is still a not in the clear. His systems are still failing him, the kidneys are pretty much done, his heart is just not going to recover - its weak, worn out and has numerous blockages that just can not be removed. Plus they think there is possibly some damage when he flat lined over the weekend. But he's still mentally there - and that is what counts right now. He's a fighter and NOT giving up. He's amazed us all, especially his doctors for the last few years. So its "a matter of time" - but we have a little bit more - and that is what counts. And no matter what - today is a joyous day - the ventilation is done.
Love,
Gail

Light

Well, it didn't get us far, but we were finally successful in using a pen and paper to communicate, and the first word was light, as in turn on the damn light! Unfortunately, once we got that, we couldn't get any more because it looked liked scribbles. He was really PO'd at the nurse because he was kind of dozing and she just pries open his eye to do his eye drops and wonders why he squirms! He wanted to communicate something but we just couldn't get it.

He was pretty lively for a while tonight, but the attempt to write wore him out. It's pretty difficult because he's trying to write with an oven mit on his hand (that's what I call it anyway). His all wrapped up because there's so much extra fluid in his arms it's just leaking right out. Hopefully soon they'll be able to take that off and he'll be able to write or get the ventilator off so he can talk. I told him he's doing a heck of a lot better than Saturday morning when he was actually dead for 30 seconds! He noded in agreement, and his hopefully settled down for the night.

We'll try the writing routine again tomorrow, but we'll see how far it goes.

It's really amazing how far he's come, and we'll have to see where he goes from here. The other good things about today were that he's getting some food, his sugar was 159 when I was there, and his pulse was down to 90 beats per minute. It was usually about 120 for most of the weekend, so 90 means his heart is getting a bit of a break after the dialysis wicked off a lot of extra fluid.

Keep sending us your positive thoughts and prayers as it really seems to be helping.

Holding his own

Well since Ron was pretty stable all yesterday, we decided we needed to go back to work today. Please feel free to visit Ron at Botsford Hospital in Farmington HIll. He currently is in room 154 in the Critical Care Unit. Please - if you are sick - stay home. but he does enjoy visits even for only a few minutes. He needs his rest as well.

I spoke to the nurses this morning and he was still maintaining his own blood pressure with out medicine, and she noted he did decent with the dialysis yesterday (being sedated). So we are happy. My dad is up there now and I'll have an update later today.

Please continue prayers that Ron will be pain free and at peace - no matter what the outcome may be. That is what we want, him to be pain free and if possible to come home (nursing home or heaven).

Ron's very strong - so there is a good possibility he can pull through, but it will be a long haul. His body is just failing in many different systems. The doctors don't know much more of things to do - right now it may appear the ventilator is helping keep Ron alive.

Thanks for all the prayers and we will continue to update as major changes happen.
Gail

Ron is doing better

Ok - nothing makes sense at the moment, but Ron's doing a lot better today. He was able to stop taking the one medicine that was keeping his blood pressure normal (well considering) last night. And its maintaining something fairly normal now all on his own. He also was able to do dialysis today - and now he's resting. Craig's on his way up now - well I just dropped him off after dinner. WE've been up at the hospital all day again. Its been a very long, tiring and extremely emotional weekend.

But the good news is - he's still here and still alert typically. So we are happy for that. Not sure how things will turn out, his main doctors don't know what else there is to do for him - right now its keeping him on the machines to stay alive. So we'll see.

I'll be updating the blog from now on - so you can keep tabs that way and I will not bombard people with emails. you can get to the blog by going to www.craigbackus.com. The very top link is to the Backus/Wilcox blog - and on there you will be able to see all the postings.

Please remember, we will try and keep this up to date. However, its very difficult trying to update everything. Right now, we figured we will both head to work tomorrow, and Nate will probably come home tomorrow night. So with a 2 year old, work and visiting Ron we do not have a lot of time to update every detail all day. WE also are exhausted - so its hard to keep up to speed on emails - but just know we will do the best we can. If Ron continues to maintain - I'll be able to update from work daily - lets hope for the best. Its still very touch and go - but better than it was 36 hours ago.

Love
Gail

Ron's still hanging on

We are not very sure what has happened today, but after Ron told us and some doctors and nurses he was ready to go - we were all ready. Then when the intern talked to us, she had to ask Ron and he said no - so needless to say its again a waiting game. There isn't much anyone can do for him now, he can not live without a ventilator at this moment. His heart and lungs just can not function. He is too weak to survive dialysis as well. So we will "re-evaluate" in the morning.

Craig is there with his sister Jen right now. Her husband and I came home to relax. Craig and I were called around 6:15 am this morning and been there pretty much all day.

Please keep us all in your prayers, its a very emotional and trying time right now. We want to abide by Ron's wishes, but also do not want to see him in pain. We know he does not want to live like this either.

Love,
Gail

Dad is ready to go

Dad is ready to go to heaven. He'll be there soon.

Not good

Please pray for Ron tonight, he's not doing well in the critical care unit. He's got sever bleeding in the esophagous (spelling?) - and his blood pressure is VERY low. They had to put in a central line to even get the pressure.

We are very scared and will have all phones by our heads tonight.
Continue to pray that he will make it through the night and day and then weekend.
Love,
GAil

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.