Quick Update

Things are going great.  Dad went in on Tuesday for some testing to see if everything has been healing as it is supposed to.  So far so good.  He is having some pain in the incision in his back (he has one on his upper back and one across his stomach) but that is usually what is bothering him and what usually is prompting the pain meds.  The doctors biopsied all the esophagus and lymph nodes they took out during surgery.  They could see no cancer though one lymph node did have active cells which would categorize him as N1 (not a cancer stage... they won't probably ever claim "cancer free" but he is as close as they could hope anyone to be at this point).  The doctors didn't seem too worried about his as they took out all lymph nodes that they thought would possibly be infected so we're hopeful that this was the only one.

This particular cancer has a really high chance of either recurrence in the same area or somewhere else in the body.  Clear scans for 2 years is the biggest hurdle, 5 years is amazing and longer than that is the goal!  While this cancer does have a high chance of recurrence, judging how amazing Dad has done thus far, there is a high chance he will be in the percentage that never has it come back.  The doctors were incredibly impressed with Dad and his results so that certainly says a lot.

Right now Dad is enjoying a diet of liquids, soups and ding dongs.  I am not sure why ding dongs, but we all have our own cravings right?  So far so good.  He will still be being fed through the feeding tube but hopes to have that tapered off within the next 2-6 weeks.  The amount of time and amount of food he will be fed through it will decrease as he is able to eat more.  The good news is that he actually gained a little wait post surgery which is WONDERFUL... but I think he is still looking scrawny.... we'll get him bulked back up in no time!

Dad has been getting out each day.  He is supposed to do a lot of walking and he is also getting a little restless at home so the outings are helpful.  My mom says he is like a newborn, awake for a couple hours, sleeps for four hours, awake for a couple hours, sleeps for fours hours.

This weekend company comes into town (my dad's brother and his wife), my parents get their new bed delivered and our neighborhood pool opens!  Ok, that last one is the highlight of our little home's weekend but doesn't have anything to do with dad.  I doubt he will be going in the pool for quite awhile.  

Sorry for the lack of pictures... I'll get on that.

Home Now and Recovering Still

The picture below is of Dad right before leaving the hospital... Glorious day!  He is wearing his boring brown slippers... he could have had the green mop ones.  Whatever, my floors are sparkling now that I have been wearing them instead of him.

Dad is home now.  He had a rough night the first night as he was trying to get used to managing his pain without the epidural and hospital drugs.  He was also trying to figure out the j-tube pump that kept beeping (this is the feeding tube-- he has to be being fed for 16 hours each day).  The bags in the picture below are the bags that the brown liquid food is poured into.  The food goes directly into his intestine because his esophagus and stomach are still healing from the surgery and they need to make sure it seals without leaks.  That means he still hasn't eaten or had anything to drink since last Wednesday.  He will go in this next week for the appointment where he will drink barium and they'll be able to test his insides for leaks.

Here is Dad resting... and Toby.  Toby needs more sleep than Dad does.  Yesterday I was able to spend the day with Dad... well, sleeping while he slept.  I came over because I was in the midst of trying to pass some kidney stones-not fun.  Dad and I bumped hospital bracelets and Mom acted as Florence Nightengale tending to her sickly patients.  I think Dad is already restless of sitting inside all the time.  He was planning on going to a funeral today and perhaps to the store with my mom.  He has to take walks several times a day anyway, so I guess this is probably no different.  Don't worry, he has several of us breathing down his neck to make sure he is getting adequate rest.  Healing continues...

Guess who is home!?

Dad!!  6 days and he is out... must be a record I am sure.  A lot of his easier recovery seems to be due to his general health, his age, amount they had to remove, overall attitude and lots and lots of prayers from all of you.  THANK YOU!  Recovery for this surgery takes awhile, but we are pretty excited about how quickly he is bouncing back already.

Smell you later Nose Hose!

Today, Dad said a happy goodbye to the nose hose.  No more nasty tube jammed up his nose (held on by a stitch-ouch) and pushed down his throat.  Thankfully my brothers and I walked in just after the removal... couldn't have been pleasant to watch I am sure.  Things are going much better than they were when I left last night.  Dad was pretty worn out and grumpy from just being in the hospital, wanting to be better and wanting to be home.  Having the tube come out certainly helped!  He also got a chest tube removed.  It was oozing a bit, but they kept bandaging it and it looks to be doing better and the doctor said it should not cause any complications.

 Here is Dad!!!  He is playing Skip-Bo with us and holding his favorite stuffed animal :).  Dad is growing his Philmont beard... Lucky me, Dan (my husband) has decided to grow his own beard in solidarity... so have my brothers, but their's is a little patchy.  He did 20 laps today around the nurses station.  While I was there he said his next goal is to make it a full 26.2.  

Two weeks post surgery dad will do a barium test to check for leaks in his esophagus and stomach.  After this he will be able to reintroduce himself to foods/drinks again.  He says he isn't hungry but could really use a soda... not such a good idea right now unfortunately. 

Check out these awesome slippers!!  (and the cute dog too... that's Lucy).  Dad could have had these babies but he chose the brown boring slippers instead.  Too bad... these are both comfortable and helping to clean my floors. 

I have gotten lost at MDA no less than 20 times since Dad has been in the hospital.  I have a horrible sense of direction... it's crazy that I get so lost when the hospital has kiosks all over that print out directions for you.  Today my brothers and I got a little turned around in the parking garage.  Not our fault as it took us over 20 minutes to find a parking spot and we couldn't leave the parking garage to go to a different garage because you are charged $2.00 for 0-20 minutes.  Rip off. 

---Shh... there's a rumor floating around of possibly being discharged in the next couple days....

Sir Koff-A-Lot and the Nose in the Hose

Dad is still doing well, though he was more tired today and seemed to be in a bit more pain.  It could have been the 16 laps he did around the nurses station.  Basically, the man needs to slow down!!!  He probably is just sore from the exercise.  I can always tell when he is tired or hurting as he becomes less and less entertained by my particular brand of humor.  Actually, he is hardly entertained by it at all. But when he is tired or hurting, he doesn't even bother to give me strange looks but just closes his eyes and ignores me all together.

I think the pain meds are making him say crazy things too.  He was blabbering on about how he is halucinating and seeing holograms that fade in and out of reality and sometimes he thinks people come visit him who were never there or is surprised when we "come back".  What a weirdo.  Then he told me how excited he was to "get the nose out of his hose"-- what he really meant was he was excited to get the tube (hose) out of his nose.  That should be happening tomorrow.  Over the course of the next week he will get several 'hoses' removed...nose hose, chest tubes, epidural, catheter etc.... he has the whole rainbow of colors coming out of his body right now.  It's gross and cool at the same time.

The above picture is of Sir-Koff-A-Lot... isn't he regal with his bow tie?  I think so, but Mom and Dad didn't so they stripped him down.  Mom said that Dad is a grown man and doesn't need a bear with a bow tie.  Yet, he still needs the bear apparently.  He needs the bear because it is a weighted bear and if he squeezes it, it will help not to hurt as much when he coughs.  Pillows work too.

I forgot to mention that Dad started being fed through his J tube yesterday.  It's his feeding tube that goes right into his intestine (they still aren't ready for him to have anything go down his esophagus or his stomach as it is still healing).  The food looks like chocolate milk, but he won't be tasting any of that. 2 Weeks post surgery he will have a barium test to check for leaks to see if everything is healed up as it should.

He also got a fun new 'toy'... it's one of those dentist-type suction hoses that sucks up all your spit.  He made it a point to gross us all out with it several times.  Dad also wandered down to the patient/family lounge to help us with a puzzle (probably why he is feeling more pain--doing too much). Shortly after he decided to return to his room to continue more phlegm sucking and pain med button pushing... then he fell asleep and we went home.

Another update tomorrow....

Updates and Such

Quick update on Dad:  He is doing awesome!  So far, BETTER than the BEST case scenario!  Honestly, everyone expected a lot more pain, a lot more complications and a lot more emotional stress on all of us.  He is doing great.  Of course, we are still quite early in the process, so things could always change, but for now he is doing wonderfully.

 

The nurse said today that he is looking better than any patient he has ever seen have this surgery.  I think that is fitting... my dad is one of those people who in school put in minimal effort and got straight As... Like now, he is just doing his thing, trying to just endure this process and he is getting through it with flying colors!!! It really has been amazing to see how human bodies are able to preserve energy to help the body heal and how quickly one can feel like themselves again.

 

Dad will likely have one of his chest tubes removed today---several days earlier than the norm--he will also get his nose hose removed on Monday (hence the lack of facial pictures... I don't mind embarrassing dad through photos but even I have standards).  When I left last night he had just finished 10 laps around the nurses station and when I was leaving he was about to go for another walk.  He leaves all the nursing staff amazed at his progress.  I saw one of his incisions... it looked so cool... like frankenstein with all the staples...  It looks like a cesarean incision but curves up in the middle.  He is going to be so cool now with those scars.  Seriously, I think he is cooler already.

 Here we have Dad's tootsies!!  Also pictured are the leg cuffs that inflate to keep circulation going and to prevent blood clots.  He doesn't wear them as much anymore as he is moving so much.  Last night while we were there, he joined us in a game of spades.  He tired towards the end but was perfectly able to play... our team won by the way...  Of course, once we were done, he scooted us out and pressed his button (delivers pain meds but also makes him really sleepy... I think he mostly uses it to make himself sleep).

Thank you all for your prayers... you really can feel a prayer you know.  We are very sensitive to the fact that many others have trials in their lives right now.  These lives of ours are very fragile and it's incredible how quickly our lives can change.  I'm grateful that we have choices and are able to decide how to handle these trials.  Admittedly, I am not an incredible example of how to handle these sorts of things as I was a mess for a couple weeks after finding out about my Dad's cancer.  It took a lot of soul searching and prayer for me to get a handle on what I truly believe about life.  I hope any of you that are feeling loss or going through trials will feel comfort as our prayers come your way.

Has anyone seen SUPERMAN lately?

Probably not many of you because he is busy flying laps around MD Anderson hallways!  Dad is doing great!  He has been managing his pain so far and is moving quickly... much faster than the other patients there.  Doctors and nurses both have been in awe at how well he is doing a day out of surgery.  One nurse said, "wow, your dad must be in awesome shape to be doing so well post surgery". 

Dad is superman!!  He really is.  He is doing much more than we would have dreamed so far.  He still has the epidural to control his pain, so things are still in very early stages so it's hard to gauge how well he will do after he is off the epidural;  However, what an awesome start!  Keep it up Dad, do what your able, but we are so proud of you. 

Surgery Day - 5:00 pm

So, we all just saw Dad in the recovery room.  He was in great spirits... GOOD DRUGS.  His epidural is working well and he has been pressing the button as needed and maybe even a little more than needed :).  He looks good, though he has a large tube coming out of his nose.  He said it isn't bothering him, but he is also a little loopy right now.  He has drainage tubes happening and his body is yellow from iodine.  He still has his cool socks on and said he is looking forward to his Philmont beard that he will have by the time he exits the hospital.  

Dad startled himself when he looked at the clock and said, "the last time I looked at that clock, it read a completely different time and that was just a couple minutes ago!"  Sure Dad.    He was also busily giving my brother Pat directions home, so he is pretty coherent.  

Mom will be holding down the fort tonight and I will stay til after dinner sometime and then plan on being back for my mom to be able to get some rest (remember, they'll be waking him every hour).  Lots of hospital trips this next week or so.  Pray for a fast recovery!!

Surgery Day - 2:30 pm

Dad is out of surgery.  The nurse who gave us the news last said that it would be at least a couple more hours so when the floor nurses came to show us Dad's room, Mom, Evan and I went to drop off some of our stuff.  Well, of course, the doctor comes to tell us Dad is out of surgery.  We were pretty frustrated that the doctor wouldn't wait for us and that the nurse in the waiting area refused to let us see the doctor after we came back.  After all, it was the MDA nurses that took us away from the waiting room!!! 

Anyway, Dr. Swiffer---as I like to call him---actually his name is Dr. Swisher (the surgeon), came and talked to Kim and let her know some details of the surgery.  He said everything went well.  There weren't any visible signs of cancer seen at all.  They took about 1/3 of his esophagus and about 1/5 of his stomach (as planned).  They will do testing on the removed tissue to see if there is any cancer present in them.  

Right now, Dad is in recovery.  We haven't been able to see him.  They are waiting until he wakes up before anyone can go see him.  They said it could take a couple hours and since Dad likes his sleep, I don't doubt that will be the case!  Dad did have an issue with the epidural that he was given, but since we weren't here, we don't know the details of that other than they are going to redo the epidural.  This will help with his pain management as it will numb him from the upper chest down to his stomach.  So, hopefully that new epidural will work for him!

They will have him up and moving today or early tomorrow.  He won't receive anything via his feeding tube or by mouth for 3 days and so will receive nutrition solely through his IV for those days.  We don't know how long he will be in the hospital... they said some have left in less than a week and others have stayed more than two weeks.  10-14 days is the norm.  Dad will have drainage tubes put in and those will probably be in for a week.  Also, he will have a tube going up his nose to keep his stomach decompressed so there's no leakage.  I hope it comes out quickly as Dad has been saying he is worried about the discomfort of that particular tube.

Nurses said that they will be coming in hourly for at least the first couple of days to check his vitals and his breathing... so he may not get that much rest after all. 

We are all so anxious to see him.  Dad said he thinks he might get the wrong idea when he wakes up and sees his entire family circled around him!!!  :)

I will post more later after we see how he is doing physically and have a better idea of how he is handling his pain.  Thank you all for your prayers and love.... we are feeling it... BIG TIME.

Surgery Day - 12:30 pm

We just received the latest update...they aren't very detailed in their updates...  

They have finished loosening up his innards while laying on his back and have just turned him onto his side to do the same from the side.  Apparently, there is a lot of loosening and moving around of one's insides before the actual surgical/cutting process begins.  All of our insides are held into place otherwise we would all be sloshing around and all of our guts would be in our feet... so they have to move things around to get to Dad's esophagus.  

So, that's where we are at.

We are all hanging out in the waiting area.  There are easily over 150 people here in the waiting area.  There are 30 operating rooms and that doesn't even count the outpatient surgeries.  That is so crazy that this hospital is booked up every day with that many people sitting and waiting to hear about their loved ones.  

We have kept busy with card games this last couple of hours.  Most people are just sitting around, talking on cell phones and staring at each other.  Maybe people are thinking we are strange because we aren't sitting around sulking and staring at each other the whole time, but seriously, that would make the time go SO slow!  So, we are trying to keep our minds occupied and the time goes a little faster... I mean, it's still slow, but it does pass a bit more quickly.

I suppose everyone copes differently... One of our 'favorite' fellow waiting room family members passes the time by whistling "Amazing Grace" and "Moon River"-- LOUD and CONTINUOUSLY!  Evan is about to karate chop him.  Kim is getting irritated by loud cell phone talkers.  I am busily playing games and blogging.  Pat continues playing video games on his laptop--exactly what he would be doing at home.  Mom is playing with me. 

Next update in about 2 hours.

Surgery Day- 10:20 am

UPDATE:  Nurse came to update us.  She didn't say much.  She said the surgery started at 8:29am and they hadn't taken anything out yet and that we had awhile to wait.  Next update is at noon.... or around then.. they were 20 minutes late giving us our update.

MEANWHILE:

We finished a 1000 piece puzzle before the first update.  woo hoo!!!  My job as entertainer has been successful thus far.  Next update in a couple hours!!!

Surgery Day- 8:00 am

Dad went into surgery about a half hour ago.  He was feeling good this morning and is ready to get this surgery over with.  They said the surgery should be about 6 hours but could go longer depending on how fast things go and if there is any more work they need to do once they see what everything looks like inside.

We left (all 6 of us) for MDA early this morning...4:30am... I don't think my brother Evan has ever been conscious that early.  They picked me up and I came running down the drive way with my backpack full.  Dad rolled his eyes at my over-preparedness but I just hope I packed enough.  After all, I am in charge of entertainment. So, the pack is filled with games, puzzles and other fun things to help pass the time.

Dad got these really cool socks...or are they leggings because they are open-toed?  Not sure, but they are awesome.  They are nylon so you can see his leg hair through them... classic.  Last night I bought Dad some slippers.  He gave me the assignment of picking him up a slip on, normal pair of rubber soled slippers.  Well, that was what I was intending on getting him, but I saw some really cool neon green slippers that are designed with mop-type bottoms that clean your floors as you walk!  How cool is that?!?  Well, Dad didn't think they were very cool.  Fine, I will keep them.  I bought his pair of boring, brown, slip on slippers just in case he didn't like the neon green anyway.

Mom left Dad with a male nurse who thought Dad was hilarious, so I am sure Dad was happy enough before he slipped into dreamland.  He gets an epidural.  Did I mention that yet?  Yup, this makes me happy for some reason... I guess because he gets to experience a joy of child birth.  Maybe he will appreciate us women in his life a little more :).

We should be receiving an update sometime around 10 and then every couple hours after that.  I will keep everyone posted.

Tomorrow is Surgery Day

Tomorrow is the big day!  Surgery day is finally upon us.  We're all busy packing bags and getting ready for a hospital stay.  Dad met with the surgeon today and they've decided to continue on with the original game plan of taking out the lower section of the esophagus and the upper portion of the stomach.  Because of the positioning of the original tumor and how it grew into the thickened esophagus, there is high potential of cancerous tissues and cells resurfacing if they don't take out that upper portion of the stomach.  

Dad is eager to get the surgery done and be well on his way to ridding himself of cancer altogether.  The recovery from this particular surgery is quite lengthy, but our dad is a pretty tough guy so I imagine he will up in no time.  He will probably be in the hospital anywhere from a week to two weeks, but probably more like 8 to 10 days.  It will all depend on how his body reacts.  

Surgery is scheduled for first thing in the morning, so I plan on posting updates throughout the day as we hear updates ourselves.  Please check the blog often for updates.  Prayers are very welcome, this is a major surgery and does include many risks.  Someone has been watching out for Dad so far... I think He is still keeping his eye on Dad and still has many plans for him yet!

Good News Keeps on Comin'!

Just a quick post to inform everyone that the PET scan and CT both came back and showed remarkable results.  The cancer is not found at all.  There is a little thickening in the wall of the esophagus, but no actual cancer.  This is amazing and wonderful news to receive.  

You may be wondering, like I had been, why one would still do surgery when the scans are clear.  Well, the chances of this particular cancer returning to the same location is quite high... I think my dad said 50-75%.  And if for some reason we didn't do the surgery and the cancer did come back, the surgery that would need to be performed would be much more involved and difficult to recover from.  Plus, I'm sure it would be hard to get over choosing not to do the surgery and then have it come back with a less than positive outcome.  So, we go with what gives Dad the best odds... surgery.

We are getting all ready for surgery on Wednesday.  Tomorrow Dad meets with the surgeon to figure out how involved the surgery will be.  I must be kind of sick or something, because I am actually looking forward to Wednesday.  You see, it will be the first time our little family (all kids plus parents) go somewhere together without spouses or children.  It will be like old times, except you know, we will be dropping Dad off to get hacked open....  I mean, for him to receive a procedure to ensure his continued health :).  MD Anderson has lots of puzzles all around so I am eager to get my hands on a few of those, plus I have so little quiet time that I have a whole list of things I want to work on while waiting in the hospital.  I know what you are thinking... I AM sick.  Well, it's true, but honestly we are all a little nervous, but mostly eager to get this thing dealt with.  Good news keep on comin'!  We love it!

I'll post tomorrow to let you know surgery details.

BIG NEWS, GREAT NEWS!!!

"I can't see any tumor and don't see anything cancerous", is what the endoscopy doctor told us today after Dad's appointment.  We still are awaiting results from the PET scan and CT scan before surgery, but this is the best case scenario at this point and we couldn't be any happier about this!  Now that the good news has been shared... here's how things went...

Today was dad's endoscopy--performed to let us see how he has responded to his treatment--and yours truly got to take him to his appointment.  I have to admit, I was kind of excited to go as it made me feel more a part of things and I am sort of a busy body and like being in my parents' business and this enabled me to do more of that. 

Here is dad waiting to get prepped with an IV before his procedure.  We are in a large room with 10+ little rooms like this separated by curtain partitions.  Dad was kind of amped up at this point because for the last endoscopy he received, they gave him some really good drugs that put him out for a good hour.  He says it was one of the best naps he's ever had.

Check out these socks!  How cool are these?  Double sided for double wearability.  Will MD Anderson think of everything!?  I certainly thought these were the coolest things ever.... plus they kept his toes nice and toasty.  This was good because it was freezing cold in that place.  I was fortunate that I thought to bring a sweater or I would have turned into an ice cube.  They brought dad as many heated blankets as he wanted.  No one asked me if I wanted a blanket.  --- The nurses at MDA are very nice.  They are great in fact, though they don't always appreciate dad's humor and appreciated his side-kick's (me) humor even less.  What!?  We're funny people.... we crack ourselves up and that is enough for us.

Post recovery and awaiting results, Dad was adventurous and tried out cran-grape juice.  I was glad he found something he liked as he was a bit cranky because the nurse informed him that he would not be sedated as he was last time and would not receive as much medication.  This meant he was awake mostly and gagged a few times... you would too.

The interesting part came at the end while the doctor was giving us the results.  You see, endoscopy involves tubes going down the hatch like in my dad's procedure and tubes going up as in a colonoscopy.  Apparently, during colonoscopy, air gets up into your system.  Well, in the recovery area, it was like some disgusting chorus as the colonoscopy patients woke up out of sedation and released their air.  A lot of air.  It was gross.  Natural I suppose, but still gross.  Dad was just happy they used the correct tube for his procedure... he wouldn't have appreciated the after taste if they hadn't.

All and all, AWESOME NEWS TODAY!  Seriously, this could not have been better news to have and we certainly are feeling encouraged by this.  Tomorrow dad goes in for his CT scan.  He will have to drink gross barium.  All results from biopsies, CT scan and PET scan will be received on Monday.  This is the big one where they tell us if or how much cancer is still in Dad's body.  Tuesday-  meeting with the surgeon.  Wednesday-Scheduled surgery.  

Lots happening, check back regularly for updates!!!