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"!!!!