Heaven became more precious today ! ! !

At 9:05 a.m. this morning, Heaven became more precious to us!!! No more suffering, no more pain, no more medicine!!!!

Thank you for all your love, support and prayers. There is a huge reunion going on as he joins those that went before him. We will miss you Husband, Dad, Grandpa Bob, Bumpa, Great-Grandpa, Brother, Brother-in-Law, Uncle and friend. Save us a place at the table!!!!

Heaven's Gate is Open Wide . . . .

As Dad takes those last steep steps up the side of the mountain to meet Jesus face to face, our prayer is that the journey will be peaceful and pain free. Dad loved his Savior Jesus Christ and would want everyone to know what Jesus has done for him. Very soon he will meet his Redeemer.

With each breath, our prayer is that God Almighty will fill that hospital room and that each person that was ever touched by Dad's life will be filled with the love of God.

Mercy, Peace and Love to all as we take those last few steps with him. Bless you all.

Special Moments . . .

Yesterday was a good day for Dad. His is able to eat a little at each meal and was able to carry on a good conversation. There were special moments throughout the day - sweet opportunities to share and give love. This morning was good. The pain medication that they are currently giving him helps him rest and he says he doesn't have much pain. He is still in the same hospital room but he is now a Hospice patient and will be able to remain there until Tuesday, January 27. The current plan is to move Dad out of the hospital next Tuesday to receive Hospice care.

Mom is home with a stomach virus - please pray for her quick recovery and that she can regain her strength. Please pray for good health for all the family members as many have not been feeling well.

Please pray for wisdom, unity and clarity as decisions are made for his care. We love you all and appreciate all your prayers and encouragement. God Bless You.

One Day at a Time . . . .

Our number one priority is comfort. Aggressive cancer treatment will not be done. With a day filled with ups and downs, we ended on a happy note. Dad had visits from family, friends and even dogs....

Baby Molly loves Grandpa.

Service Dogs (Cody & Peaches) cuddle with Dad......

Dad enjoys Riley

Dad enjoyed a banana, apple sauce and pudding..... We are treasuring each good moment and thankful that he can enjoy some food!!!

We feel God's peace and appreciate your prayers for mercy.

Improvement in Calcium levels . . . .

Dad is resting in the hospital this evening after a restless difficult night. He had moments of agitation and was a bit combative this afternoon. He was given pain medication which helped him to settle and sleep. His ability to communicate is limited but he still recognizes those that visit. His calcium level did go down some in the last 24 hours and we will continue to try to get it to an acceptable level - this is the top priority. After the calcium is down, tests will be done to assess the cancer to determine what our next step will be.

Thank you for your prayers - we feel God's peace as he prepares us for the next step of the journey. Bless you all.

A Big Bump in the Road . . .

Dad began to have significant physical weakness and neurological changes beginning on Friday afternoon. It was becoming increasing difficult to get him in and out of the bathroom and his eating declined. On Saturday afternoon we took a trip to the Emergency Room as this is what the GAMMA knife professionals advised if we experienced changes. The problem was quickly discovered. He has a very high amount of Calcium in his blood. Often seen in cancer patients. This high level can cause the neurological changes that he is experiencing. A CT scan of the brain shows some edema (which is expected with GAMMA) and a chest X-Ray showed not much change since a December Xray.

Dad was admitted to the hospital - a sodium IV will be used to try to reduce the Calcium level and he will be given Lasix. There are more questions at this point then answers - as we learn more, we will keep this BLOG updated. Please continue to pray for Dad as he fights this battle.

A Great Day . . . Renewed Hope . . .

At 7:15 this morning, Dad arrived at Midland Hospital for his GAMMA Knife procedure - Thank you, Troy, for spending the night with him and getting Mom & Dad into town safely on this frigid cold morning.

After performing an MRI for planning purposes, a frame was attached to his head. Dad said "I'm dressed like an astronaut"!! The grandchildren would love to see that!!

While the doctors and health professionals planned the surgery, Dad tried to eat breakfast - since the frame prevented him from chewing, he chose to just drink BOOST and coffee.

The MRI revealed that the 10 treatments of Full Head Radiation reduced the size of the five tumors. PRAISE GOD for this great news. Due to the success of the Radiation, they could proceed with the GAMMA knife procedure.

While the non-invasive surgery was performed, we were able to watch him from a monitor in another room.

The machine moved Dad in and out three times - each time they would make adjustments. During one break, they let us go in and visit him. The procedure does not take long, is basically pain-free with minimal side effects. Dad's steroid medication has been altered because GAMMA knife can cause swelling of the brain. He will start out on a larger dose and gradually reduce over three weeks until he may go completely off that drug. Adjustments may be made based on how he is doing. A follow-up MRI will be done on March 9 and a visit with Dr. Mehta and the GAMMA knife experts will be held on March 12 to see the results of the surgery. We all felt he was better after the surgery - vision was clearer, tremors were reduced and his conversations improved.

Dad has a cold and cough - we are concerned that it could become serious so the GAMMA knife folks were kind enough to contact his family doctor and arranged for us to go directly to see him after lunch. He was placed on an antibiotic.

Shawn was able to arrive just before lunch to help transport Dad to the cafeteria for a little lunch, then across town to the family doctor and then get him back home. Thank you Troy, Shawn and Kevin for all your help in getting Dad to where he needed to be today. Mom had her blood pressure checked at the doctor today and it was PERFECT!!!

Dad had a BIG Day and was tired - It was a very good day and we are praying that we get successful results. Please pray with us as we ask God to heal Dad's body.

God has been good to our family and we are praising him as we see his hand in our lives.

Summary of the last few days . . .

A lot has been happening in Dad's world over the past couple days . . . hopefully the following will give a summary:

On Friday, Dad had a test done at the hospital to determine if he is getting circulation down his legs. He had a stint implanted in 2000 and he questions whether they are working properly. He has a lot of pain expecially in his left hip. Tom K. and Mom took him in Friday afternoon. (Thank you Tom). Hopefully, we will have answers at the beginning of the week.

In order to manage the pain that Dad is experiencing, a pain patch was applied on Thursday evening. His feet are VERY swollen. He was having difficulty walking to the bathroom (hip pain, swollen feet, not much feeling in his feet). Troy installed additional grab bars in the bathroom - thank you Troy!! Questions were asked about what can be done about the fluid retention and hip pain. He was on a very large dose of Steroid (we tried to get the dose down in December but neurological changes occurred). After speaking with his family doctor on call, his Steroid was reduced in his Friday evening dose.

Friday night he took his regular pain meds by mouth along with the pain patch. Friday night was hard - Mom slept on the couch beside him as his breathing was crazy. Saturday morning his vitals were erratic - pulse 185 and then 45 - he was having pretty bad tremors so the visiting nurse was called, she felt that the machine may not be giving an accurate reading because of the tremors. Another call to the doctor on call and a visit from Mom's kind neighbor who was very helpful. She took his pulse. He seemed to stabilize around lunchtime.

A decision was made to not give him a full dose of pain meds by mouth - since he already has a pain patch, when a full dose is administered by mouth everything becomes crazy. He's pretty insistant when he wants pain meds and we want him to be comfortable. We divided the pill and gave him a 1/4 of a pill on Saturday night and hope that this will keep him comfortable and stable.

So many questions . . . Did this happen because of a large dose of pain meds or a significant reduction in Steroid ???? Medications are great wonders but very hard to regulate. So much happening in his body - more questions than answers. We have one very large "forest fire" and little fires pop up all around - Managing each little crazy event is challenging.

Please pray that Dad will be comfortable without being over medicated. Please pay for Mom. She is doing a great job of caring for our Dad but she is VERY tired. It is a lot for her - physically, mentally, spiritually, etc. Hospice will be meeting with the family late next week to determine where they can help. Wednesday is a big day - MRI to determine if GAMMA knife is a possibility.

Ending on a very positive note

He eats VERY GOOD - if you offer him food, he will eat it!! He is able to carry on a pretty good conversation (if he can hear what you're saying) - he has a positive spirit - wants to go to church and is VERY thankful for everyone and everything that is done for him.

In the middle of the afternoon on Saturday, Dad INSISTED that he needed to go to Shawn's house - Shawn is in the process of building a beautiful home for his family. Dad's heart breaks that he cannot help and that he has not been able to be there with the boys. He was SO insistent on going to that house - - We bundled him up and drove him there - Shawn, Tim and Troy were all there working and able to get him in the house. He sat in the middle of the living room and just absorbed all that has been accomplished. He was one VERY HAPPY MAN. So sad that we didn't have a camera. He was adorable and funny and so grateful. He said on the way home - "I feel like I need to keep doing and thinking and I want to do more"!!!!

Waiting is hard . . . .

We have been pretty silent on this BLOG lately . . . things are basically the same day to day as we wait for results of the Radiation. One more week of waiting . . . it's hard to be patient and wait.

One week from today (01/14/09), Dad will have an MRI done to see if the Radiation reduced the size of the Cancer in his brain. If the tumors are smaller, the GAMMA knife procedure will be performed on that day. Our prayer is that the Radiation did it's job and that the doctors can remove the tumors with GAMMA knife.

Dad is really doing pretty good considering where he was one month ago. He stays very close to his chair - is able to move around a little with the assistance of his walker - is receiving speech therapy once per week (and is doing well with his short term memory exercises). A visiting nurse is coming to the house to check him out on a regular basis. Mom is taking very good care of Dad - with providing good nutrition, proper medication, monitoring the condition of his feet and helping with pain management and comfort. Please lift her in your prayers as she tends to Dad's needs moment by moment....day by day...... Bless you Mom.

Thank you for your continued prayers as we wait for the results of the treatment and seek God's mercy and healing each day. Bless you all.