It's going down the hatch!

Dad ate dinner with us last night.  He actually ATE it.  He didn't drink it, he really did eat it.  That's a big thing as it has been a couple months since he has been able to do that.  Certainly we are excited not to have to witness him grinding up dinner into a brown sludge of not so appetizing appearance, but mostly we are excited because this would make it seem as though the tumor is shrinking and the chemo/rad is already doing its job.

Yesterday, my dad had some biscuits and gravy with sausage and he ate it all up! (which is good because it would have been a cryin' shame to waste biscuits and gravy as it is my favorite breakfast meal).  Then he was able to eat a good portion of his lunch and then he ate all of his dinner without having to excuse himself from the table!  This is good news as he was becoming a little too familiar with the porcelain at my house.  Then I made sure to stock up on extreme moose tracks ice cream which he made sure to have a heaping helping of.

My mom took my dad to the grocery store with her yesterday.  Apparently that was a mistake and she vows (as she's done many times in the past) not to ever let my dad go to the grocery store since he about bought everything that they offer at Kroger.  This is also wonderful news and he is quite excited because his appetite is back!  Obviously there is enough shrinkage of the tumor--I seriously cannot use the word "shrinkage" without my mind going to that Seinfeld episode-- anyway, enough shrinkage of the tumor that his appetite is increasing and food can make its way down the hatch.  

Now we can fatten our daddy up!  I am planning on quite a feast this weekend to celebrate my dad's birthday.  I think I would be in trouble if I put his age, but let's just say he is 25 years older than me!:)  He bought lots of steak and some seafood to celebrate...mmmm...this is the reason I moved so close to home.  Maybe now that he is able to get some food down, he might be worth taking to lunch again.

This is a recent event so we hope it stays this way as it must be pretty frustrating not to eat.  I know that I can hardly survive when I am unable to have access to food for an hour so I can't imagine the frustration of knowing you need to eat but not being able to.  So high fives all around for this success!