Sunday, January 31

It's been a couple of weeks since we provided an update, so I thought we better write something. The last two weeks have been relatively uneventful for Dad as he just rests comfortably at home. He had a couple of events requiring some nursing attention, but his Hospice nurses have been able to get him back to comfort quickly for the most part.

Mom is tired, but appreciates all of the support she is getting from family and friends. Grandma Bell (Carole's mom) and Jim (Carole's brother) both spent a week at the house with Mom, Andy and Tory are here on a near daily basis, Brian is here every weekend, and Jeff talks with dad on Skype as much as possible.

Mom and Dad celebrated their 38th Wedding Anniversary on Friday. Tory brought flowers for Mom at Dad's request as well as chocolate malts from Whitey's - always a big hit! We also got a To-Go order from Red Robin which Dad enjoyed along with a little bit of beer.

Dad asked me to let everyone know that he appreciates their thoughts and prayers.

Saturday, January 16

Dad left the hospital on Wednesday afternoon as planned and is now resting comfortably at home. He continues to be extremely weak and needs more and more sleep. Unfortunately, he is no longer strong enough to stand the chemotherapy and therefore has made the decision to stop curative treatments. He is now under Hospice care and the focus is on ensuring he is as comfortable and pain-free as possible. This is a hard time for all of us, but we understand that he does not want to continue like this.

Dad had a great morning today spending time with his family. His mother Shirley was able to spend a couple of hours by his side and they both enjoyed this valuable time. Grandma was accompanied by dad's sisters Rita and Beth as well as his brother Mark and sister in-law Brenda. It was great to see everyone.

Tuesday, January 12

Last Monday (1/4) dad went to the University of Iowa Hospital's Emergency Room because he was continuing to feel weaker and also had some swelling of his legs. They found that his blood oxygen was a little low and also discovered that he had developed some blood clots in his lungs. He was placed on Oxygen and blood thinners, but then started to have some other problems as well. On Wednesday he started developing severe belly pain and on Thursday they performed a decompression of the colon (colonoscopy) to relieve the pressure and this helped right away. He began to have some bloody noses on Thursday and Friday at which time they stopped the blood thinners. On Friday the belly pain returned and they performed another decompression - this time leaving in a nasogastric (ng) tube down the nose as well as a tube from the colon to help things exit properly. The belly issues seem to be something called Ogilvie's Syndrome (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ogilvie_syndrome) and were treated accordingly. Over the weekend, they continued to keep him comfortable and the tubes did their job. On Monday the ng tube was removed and everything continues to function normally - the second tube will eventually pass on its own as it is not "attached" in any way. This morning he was cleared to start eating again, and we're hoping to go home tomorrow assuming everything continues to go well.

Dad would like to thank everyone who continues to think of him and pray for him.

Thursday, December 31

Good news today! The MRI results indicated a decrease in the enhancement of the tumors. That is the best result we could have hoped for from the MRI. Most of the other challenges I've been facing are likely a result of continued high steroid dosage and some swelling around the lesions. We hope to try another steroid taper in a few weeks. I will most likely start another round of chemo in a week or two when my platelet count is higher.

It was long day today, but we made it through ok. The good results called for a celebratory beer when we got home. Hope you enjoy the photo as much as we enjoyed the beer.

Wednesday, December 30th

Had a big night last night, thanks to Andy and Carole's brother, Jim. I went to the Purdue vs. Iowa basketball game, and got to see the Boilermakers pull one out. It was exhausting, but worth it, and lots of fun.

I got to meet Coach Keady - in spite of the scowl he always seems to have on his face, he's a really nice guy. Hope you enjoy the pictures.

Saturday, December 26th

The company started arriving last Tuesday evening with nieces Lisa and Christine along with my nephew Chris. It was a nice surprise (Lisa and Chris are from LA and Christine is from Chicago). They left Wednesday afternoon (after we enjoyed DQ chocolate malts!) to return to Chicago and Ailene, Jan, Ryan, and Tyler arrived on Wednesday evening. Brian smoked ribs for dinner on Christmas Eve and with the addition of Andy and Tory we had a full house when Santa arrived. We all had a wonderful Christmas and I got everything I wanted and more. Carole made a Crown Roast for dinner and we were all well fed too.

I hope everyone else had a great Christmas as well. Thank you to all my visitors and to everyone for their thoughts and prayers!

Sunday, December 20th

The Bengals lost again today. Hope they can pull one out next week against the Chiefs.
 I forgot to mention in my last update, thanks to the finance group in Palo Alto for the tower of goodies from Harry and David's - it included everything from mixed nuts, to smoked salmon, to baklava, to moose munch - all good stuff. Also, thanks to Marilyn for being the one to always drop things off at my house. I really appreciate it!

Here's a copy of Jeff and Cathy's Christmas card. Interesting tree, huh?