Tuesday Evening Status Report

Hello all. I'm here in Dad's room tonight as I write this post. Dad started radiation yesterday afternoon and it continued today. In all, there will be 14 treatments. Each session takes about 20-25 minutes. Yesterday was a little tough as dad was pretty much unresponsive due to the pain medication he was on. He didn't eat much of anything yesterday because he couldn't be woken up long enough nor could he swallow anything. As a result the doctor was not able to administer the chemo since it is done in pill form. Obviously, that was a little concerning. In fact, mom shared with me today that she knows God was here in the room with them last night. She asked God to help dad breathe and respond so that he could swallow, which would allow him to take his dilantin pill (anti-seizure medication) before they had to move to another, less desirable option. And soon thereafter, for the first time that day, dad began coughing and the nurse was provided an opportunity to get the pill into him. Thank you God for an answer to a prayer!

Today has been a little better. The nurse dad had today noticed the difficult response to the pain medication and took it to the doctor with a suggestion that they change to morphine. Well, sure enough, the pain medication he was taking was much stronger than the morphine, and perhaps more than what he actually needed. So, they changed him to the morphine and he's been awake much more today.

As for the radiation, he seems to be doing well thus far: 2 sessions down; 12 to go. The doctor was able to begin the chemo tonight, so that is now underway. The plan is to take that for 5 days and take off for the rest of the month.

So, that's where things stand for now. I want to thank each of you that have written in with comments. They are uplifting to all of us and it means so much to have your support. I do want to ask for some specific prayer requests:

1. Comfort for dad. The combination of the radiation, chemo and the various medications is rather taxing on his body. We need you to ask God to comfort dad by putting him in the palm of His hands and letting dad know that He is there.
2. Strength for mom and all of us. As I've said before, this is easily the hardest thing that any of us has ever experienced. Ask God to allow us to lean on Him and ask Him to continue to be our rock and source of strength.
3. Continue to pray for a miracle of healing. We continue to know that God is in control and He uses all things for His glory. As comforting as that is, it still kind of hurts in the quite moments.

Thank you again for your support of our entire family. We continue to be amazed and in awe of seeing just how many people love and care for our family. So, thank you. I don't know that we can ever say that enough.

ps-- I'm sitting here with dad right now and he wants me to tell each of you:
"Thank you for everything you've done for me and my family. I love each of you and you will never know how much your support means to me."

Good night all.