Streeeeeetch!

This am Pop had an appointment to get his esophagus stretched. Mr Buddy and Uncle Doc had taken Pop over to Moffitt the other day for a visit with Dr. Dilling (radiation dr.) and the good doctor had given the go ahead to get the stretching done in our home county. Pop said,"beats driving all the way to Tampa to have it done." Dr. Thakkar commented that Pop's g-tube looked very good both on the outside and the inside and that he thought Pop looked good now that he had gotten some nutrition in him. Said the procedure went well and he thought Pop would be able to eat later. (the pictures are pretty cool too) Not sure how they stretch your esophagus but evidently it sounds more painful than it had to be as once Pop got out of recovery he was raring to go. Didn't seem like it hurt him a bit. Got home and fed him his 620 calorie concoction Shannon has invented. Once his belly was full he settled in for a nap and I headed for work. Btw I had heard that Pop called Shannon in the afternoon and let her know he wanted spaghetti for supper. My first thought was "huh?" Pop wanting spaghetti? Was wondering if it was someone else's Pop. Maybe it is the after effect of the anethesia. Never heard him ask for spaghetti before although we are venturing into a lot of first lately. The good thing....Pop seems like he is feeling much better and I hope he was able to eat tonight without too much pain. Your prayers are working, please keep them coming. Until later.

Love God; love people
TW

God's Reminders

Around the Hope Lodge the driveway is paved with bricks that are obviously donated. These bricks have names and messages inscribed in them by the folks that have contributed and it was interesting to check them out. Each has a story I'm sure.

We came upon this one early on in Pops treatment. It was so encouraging to us. Dr. Chiappori is Pops oncologist and Dr. Dilling is Pops radiation doctor. Apparently not their first Bar-B Que as is evident by this message. God sends these little comforting messages at just the time we seem to need them. We just had to share it.

Clowning around in reverse isolation?????

We had to protect Pop while his WBC count was low so we hid our faces. Wonder if he felt protected?

The Battle Continues

Wow! Days are turning into weeks and as I checked out the blog this evening it dawned on me no one has updated it in a week. Again I apologize, no excuses, although there are probably plenty of reasons. The restaurant has been seasonally busy while school, sports, kids stuff, and Pop care seems to take the the rest of the free time. It's all good though and as I have said before "we welcome the blessings".
First things first ..... Pop is doing much better .... at least in my mind. Recently, as you recall, Pop was spending much of his time in the hospital trying to beat a low WBC count brought on by his first dose of regular chemo and second dose of his clinical trial medicine. We had been warned, so it wasn't much of a surprize. What was surprizing though, was the hard time Pop was having swallowing. The Doctors "scoped" him to take a peek and found that he has a terrible radiation induced burn near the bottom of his esophagus. It was the end of December when Pop had his last radiation treatment and that suped up tanning bed on steroids is still having it effects. Needless to say his esophagus has narrowed to the point he can not take solid foods and has a hard time with liquids. A week starving in the hospital trying to get his WBC count up pushed Pop to the limit. He convinced (with a little help from Shannon) the doctors to put a feeding tube (g tube) in to help him take nourishment. The Doctor mentioned to me it was his first time having a patient request(insist) on getting a feeding tube. Pop was determined to not starve. In fact, he had his appetitie back and was down right hungry. He was desperately trying to eat .... just nothing would go down. Pop got his wish and the doctors put a feeding tube in on Monday morning. Its amazing what a little nutrition can do. Within a couple days his color and attitude was much better. Friends have been visiting and some taking turns "feeding" him and I know he appreciates all the visits and attention. You all are blessings! Pop told me tonight he has a couple of appointments this coming week with his team of cancer doctors so we shall see what they have to say. It will be interesting to get their perspective and suggestions on Pops situation.

It seems Pop is battling lots of stuff .... to the point I almost forget its still cancer. Getting sidetracked on nutrition, feeding tubes, WBC counts, fevers, boosts, doctor appointments, and all the other stuff considered "the cancer treatment" is mind-boggling. So much so it reminds us that this is truely waging war on a terrible disease! An out and out war with many little battles, skirmishes, and conflicts from all angles. Battles I guess I had thought about but not really considered. Sometimes it seems Pop is battling the cure as much as the cancer. Doctors do what they can do, Pop does what he can do, and we hope and pray He is strong enough to fight one more day.

Its funny how our prayers change during this journey. I have continueously prayed for earthly healing for Pop, thats the selfish part of me pleading with God to make my daddy well. But my prayers lately have also included that during Pop's journey with cancer for God to show His power and His love in all the circumstances. That God himself will instill His Holy Spirit power within Pop to strengthen him to endure any pain and suffering with joy and peace. That people will see that Pop loves God and that Pop loves people and realize ....... that only comes from God. God loves us ..... and he loves you to .... simply because he chooses to. Cancer or not! What a thought!

BTW - Relay for Life is coming up. Lake Placid Family Restaurant is sponsoring a team, come by and join. If you are not in Lake Placid sponsor a team in your area. This event helps fund the American Cancer Society which supports lots of cancer related things including the Hope Lodge, a place where Pop was able to stay during his radiation treatment. Amazing place, amazing cause, amazing people that are on the front lines of the war on cancer everyday. Contact us if you would like more info.

Love God Love People
TW

Update

Sam was discharged yesterday evening. I know he was glad to get home. He is most likely going to get a feeding tube placed tomorrow locally. He will call in the morning to see when that can happen as an out patient.
Keep praying!
Toni

Another quick update...

Sam is still in the hospital in Lake Placid. Hopefully he will be discharged tomorrow. Yesterday he had an EGD and they stretched his esophagus a little to help with the narrowing in a 3cm area. He is still on liquids and most of the liquids stayed down today. His potassium level was down so he had to get a K rider to improve that. His white blood cell count was up to 3.8 today. I know Sam is hoping in one way to get a feeding tube sometime, somewhere so he can get some better nutrition. He said he feels like he is getting weaker instead of stronger.
Please continue to pray!
Toni

Another Bump in the Journey!

Well, no discharge for Pop tonight! Pop started running a temp of 100.8 so Pop won't be going anywhere right now. The good news this morning was that his white blood cell count was up to 3.2. The problem now is that he has a fever again. Also he is still having problems swallowing. Everything seems to get hung as Pop explains it. He had a barium swallow test tonight, but we do not have any results at this point. They may want to do some more tests, but we will wait until the morning to see what is happening. He hasn't taken in any solid food in the last couple of days and sometimes the Boosts won't stay where they need to stay! No experimental drug infusion this week!
Keep praying please!
Toni

Quick Update!

As of yesterday morning Pop's white blood cell count was up to 1.3 and they expect that he will be discharged sometime today. Great news! His blood cultures showed no growth. Also he has not had a fever for a couple of days. He was still on antibiotics yesterday, but not on a continuous IV infusion. He still cannot eat solid foods, but did manage to drink a couple Boosts yesterday and was planning on drinking a couple more. Drinking water is still too difficult to handle. He says the stuff just feels like it gets stuck! The GI Dr. came to see him yesterday afternoon and stated that he would not order any invasive procedures here since he has had radiation in the past. We were very thankful for that. Not sure if they are going to try anything else or just wait and see what the Drs. at Moffitt say. I will let you know more later when I go up to visit!
Keep praying! Toni