Thanks to so many!

On behalf of my family, I would like to thank SO many of you for all the cards, phone calls, visits and FOOD! Dad has loved it all! As I said earlier, he went to work on Monday and continued to go each day the rest of the week. He only went for a few hours each day and then home for lunch. He actually went out to eat (with some of the many sweet gift cards he has received!) two times this week! He enjoyed soup at Panera Bread and pancakes and eggs at the Cracker Barrel. It seems soft foods aren't so bad after all! I cannot even express in words to you how God has taken this whole situation and handled it in HIS way! I stand truly AMAZED and remain incredibly blessed each and every day.

We are all going to be here for Thanksgiving and we surely will be thankful. The next couple of weeks remain the same....resting, healing and slowly getting out. We have nearly 3 weeks until we see Dr. Holmes again. Until then, keep Papa in your prayers as we await the next step.

He said he would do it.....

Today is Monday, November 10 and Papa went to the office for 3 hours! He said he would be back in two weeks and he went back in 11 days. Granted he was not dressed for the occasion and only lasted a couple of hours, but he went. Stephen drove him there and he checked messages and returned phone calls, went on an errand or two and back home for lunch. Good medicine!

Saturday, November 8

Several of you have asked Mom if I would keep updating the blog. I will certainly keep you all posted as we go through this process. It may not be as often, but certainly check back for updates as we go along. For now, we are focused on nutrition, healing and waiting for the next step. As I mentioned yesterday, Dad has his next appointment on December 2. Hopefully he will get the cast off his arm and find out exactly what our plan is. He is healing great. The swelling is way down and he is eating well. He still has some annoying pain, but after last week, it most certainly is bearable. Several of you that have come by are just as amazed by the way he looks as we are. Isn't it great? We are so blessed!

Today he stayed up most of the day and a bunch of us graced him with our presence to watch the Alabama game. It was fun and exciting and completely wore him out! Its all good!

Back to Birmingham today!

We made the trip to Birmingham for an 11 o'clock appointment with Dr. Holmes to get the packing out and check the flap. He did great! They put him in "sleepyland" while they removed the packing and trimmed up the flap a bit from the surgery. It only took about 45 minutes total and he was ready to head back home. Dr. Holmes said that everything looked great and to just keep doing what we are doing. He upgraded his food intake to just about anything that doesn't require chewing. PB & J, grilled cheese, pasta etc. (small bites of course). That is good news for the hungry! He feels SOOOOO much happier just to have that packing out. I can't even imagine. I am still amazed at how he is doing just one week after such an extensive surgery. Those of you that have come by will surely agree. God is awesome! I was worried about today's appointment. I just wanted him to feel okay during the drive and the wait for a mid day appointment. I wanted to know that the packing wouldn't hurt coming out and that it wouldn't bleed afterwards and that the flap was doing what it should be doing. Once again, our prayers were answered..he breezed right through the day. We didn't talk about the tumor/pathology reports today..just wants him to continue recovering and he will see him back on December 2!
Pray for continued healing. Thank you all!

Thursday morning

I cannot believe it has been one week from surgery! (Although when I really think about it, it seems like a month!) He slept well again and is doing just fine. I am sure he is ready to have a little more to eat rather than all these liquids, so hopefully Dr. Holmes will let us graduate after the appointment tomorrow. I told him this morning that he only had two more weeks before he could go to the office and once again he corrected me and held up 1 finger. I have decided he is going to work NEXT WEEK! Yeah Papa! Pray for our appointment tomorrow. I will let everyone know how it goes.

Love,
Michelle

Doing Good!

Papa's first night at home was good. He took all of his medicines by mouth (instead of IV) and did well. He slept very well and got up about 4 to move to the recliner (which is a good place..doctor wants his head propped up) and slept till around 7. Being at home is obviously good medicine.

Home Sweet Home!

Well, Dad is on the couch in his own pajamas and his own blankets and unattached to any wire! What a great feeling that must be. Words cannot even express how glad we all are for him to be home. He has felt good since he got home and has gotten down the liquids he needs to keep his nutrition up. I cannot tell you how much your thoughts and prayers have helped our family during this past week. We are amazed! We pray for a smooth night tonight and lots of rest for both Mom and Dad.

He has to go back to Birmingham on Friday and be sedated in Dr. Holmes office to remove the packing from his nose but he is ready and willing if it means that stuff coming out. I told him today that in a few weeks he would be up and about. He just smiled and held up two fingers. I guess he intends to be out in two weeks. Sounds good to me. Spirits were good today. He joked and commented about everything just like Papa always does. You should have seen him try to give me directions on how to drive home from Birmingham! :) I just let him think I didn't know how. Hee Hee!

Please keep the prayers coming..we are home and the big surgery is over, but we still have a long way to go. I will continue to keep you posted on his healing process.

Tuesday, November 4

This morning Dad is feeling about the same. He did actually sleep last night! We prayed all day for some rest. Guess what? Dr. Holmes just walked in and said....YOU ARE GOING HOME TODAY!!!!!! Praise God! He is putting the paperwork in right now and he has to finish his IV medicine, but we are on our way. Lets pray today first of all, our thanks for His grace and love before, during and after the surgery. Lift up your praises for God is good! Dad has come out of a major surgery to remove a pretty big cancer and we are going home.! Pray specifically for his comfort and healing. He needs all of our prayers to help his attitude. Just pray that he keeps looking forward and be as positive as he can be. Mom needs prayer for strength and health as she will be administering lots of home health care! Of course all of us will be there to help. I will post this afternoon letting you know how things went getting home, etc. It is exciting but a little scary knowing the nurse isn't just right outside the door. Oooh..I am so excited, can you tell?

I do know that Dr. Holmes is going to see him Friday to remove the packing and check the flap. Once that packing is gone, I KNOW Dad will feel better. The cast on his arm is there for 3 more weeks and it won't come a minute too soon.

Until this afternoon...
Michelle

Finally..an Update

Dr. Black came to see Dad today around 1:00 or so. He just sat down on the couch and asked dad how it was going. Dad just looked at him with "that look" as if to say..how do you think its going guy?" He told Dad that although he knew he didn't feel like it, he looked great from a surgical standpoint. It has been 72 hours and he looked at the flap, quickly removed his gloves and said, "it's perfect!" That is definitely good news. We asked him several questions and concerns that had built up over the weekend and he covered most of them and things are still moving right along. Of course, Dad feels like a truck just ran over him, but he is doing good. Still very low blood oxygen so he is having to take iron every 8 hours. He hates it! From the smell of it, it must be horrible. The nurse told him that he better take it because he is really low---she's talking " borderline transfusion". Pray for those levels to rise over the next day so we can avoid that. Dr. Black mentioned that we would talk about Dad going home when he gets a little more calories down. He eats, just not very much or for very long at a time. He gave Dad a little pep talk about keeping his spirits high and not getting blue. He explained that he does about 100 of these surgeries per year and that young, healthy men are always hit the hardest by the surgery. Meaning they are active, healthy enjoying their lives (and good food) and then this hits them like a curve ball. He was really sweet and told Dad that he knew he felt right now like he had no idea what had just happened to him and that he would never live life the same or eat the same again, but he wanted to reassure him that those thoughts were just not TRUE. He said very clearly...you will be fine..just hang in there. He has been sleeping better today ( I am beginning to think the surgery turned him into a newborn who has his days and nights mixed up) and hopefully that means he will sleep better tonight. On a scale of 1-10 he actually rated his headache as a 5 today and his overall pain as a 3. That is the best so far.

Monday Morning

Good morning. We are still waiting to see Dr. Holmes and/or Dr. Black. Surely they have some news and new information for us. Getting through the weekend without seeing many doctors is not fun. Dad had a rough night just not being able to sleep. He is sleeping now so that is good. I will post any new information when I hear from the doctor. I am looking forward to that!

quick note

Several of you have called or emailed and said that you were unable to leave a "comment". I had never tried it before so I did. I think if you check "anonymous" but just sign your name on the message, it should work regardless of what service you have. But who am I when it comes to computers? NOBODY! :)

Sunday Evening

We had a pretty good day (at least from my stand point..I am sure he would beg to differ). Since the Mt. Dew and moving to Tylenol instead of all that morphine, he has been more alert and moved around a bit. He sat in the chair several times today and visited with Jordan, Patrick, Patton, Callie, Smith, Sam and Penny. They each brought a smile and even a giggle at times! They are so honest and loving and carry on with him as if he didn't have any problems going on at all. All Penny can say is "papa..boo boos". Mom and I are in here with him tonight until we feel comfortable that he is resting. Mom may have to stay in the room another night, but we'll see. Night time seems so much harder for him, so pray that he gets some rest.
Thank you all!

Love,
Michelle

Sunday

It is about 11:00 and it has been a busy morning. Mom stayed in the room with him last night just to help with the little things since he is now in a room without a one on one nurse. He didn't sleep much, but who would having had that kind of surgery. I would say today is a little bit better than yesterday but still kind of rough. Every time they come in to clean him up he looks better and better to me. He actually saw himself in a mirror last night and would not agree with us, but from our eyes he looks great. Dr. Holmes came in this morning and said everything was good. Dad was actually up in the chair and able to carry on a conversation with him. He went over all the things that are hurting and/or bothering him and all were normal and to be expected. He showed us exactly how big the tumor was and said that it was what he had expected as well. Of course we have to wait a few days to hear from pathology to know more details about that. We pray for a good report and clear direction as to the plan from here.(radiation,etc.) Dr. Holmes kept reminding him that he felt this bad because he was supposed to! He just had major surgery! Dad replied, "I've got to be at work on Monday". Dr. Holmes smiled and said, "well, your not going to make it, but ask me again in two weeks." That made him happy. He is a little anemic this morning and they are giving him some iron. If that is our only problem...we'll take it.

The best moment came when Dr. Holmes asked, "Is there anything else I can do for you?" Jokingly, Dad said, "bring me a Mt. dew". and he replied, "I don't care if you have a Mt. Dew!" We all scrambled as if we couldn't believe our ears. Shawn had a fresh, cold one in his hand so Cheryl grabbed a syringe and started shooting Mt. Dew down his throat! He was so happy. I bet that was a new one for the nurses...Mt. Dew through a syringe. Who cares...Papa got his Mt. Dew!

Room 451!

It is about 4:10 and we are settled in our room! Hallelujah! He has had another somewhat unpleasant day with the headache and hunger issues being main complaints. Finally, they brought him some chicken broth and a Popsicle. He saw Dr. Black (on call for Dr. Holmes today) around 11:00 and he is still very pleased with everything at this point. Great news. Dr. Black then ordered him to go straight to a regular room and skip the "step down" room. Dad perked up immediately at the thought of finally getting out of ICU and that HOT room! They took one of the IV lines off and the drainage tube out and he is also free of the catheter! MUCH BETTER! He walked from the wheelchair to the bed almost all by himself. He is resting now and looking forward to the headache disappearing! His food intake has been promoted to liquids and protein shakes. A better menu than ice chips and water from a spoon! We are thrilled to have a room where we can stay with him anytime we want and just pray that his head gets better!

Good Morning

It is Saturday morning and Dad is still in ICU. The nurse said he had an okay night and they were able to keep him sleeping a bit. We haven't seen him yet (that part is getting OLD) but hope to get in soon. Shawn, Cheryl and the kids are headed back right now and they are bringing Jordan too. Heather and Dave are headed in a couple of hours and Stephen is bringing my kids in just a bit. (Yipee!) Don't know what we will do with all of them, but we are here to love Papa!