Homeward Bound

Hello all. I'm pleased to report that Dad is on his way home from Rex Hospital. I just talked to him a short while ago (I'm in Atlanta with Melinda and the kids visiting Melinda's family) and he is doing quite well. The past few days have brought much in the way of progress. Dad's been able to regain more of his strength and some of the cognitive setbacks (stringing words together, comprehension, etc.) have improved as well. So, with the guidance of his doctors, dad was cleared to go home today and that's where he is now. Needless to say, this is a major milestone in our journey and while it will still be challenging for him at home as he needs the aid of a walker, tires quickly and is a little restless, it will be easier for him to relax in his own home.

So, here's where things stand at this point. Radiation is still on hold as we were told it cannot resume until 10 days after the surgery. He's completed 7 of 14 treatments, so he's 50% complete. He did resume the chemo on Monday of this past week, but only took the pills for 2 days as it coincided with a major setback in cognitive function. The doctors aren't sure that the chemo was causing that, but once he stopped, cognitive abilities began to return fairly quickly. So, the chemo is on hold for the time being, but will likely resume with the radiation. Lastly, earlier this week, we did have to shave dad's head as he was loosing a considerable portion of his hair each day, so shaving it was a little easier. And now, as my Aunt Betty (dad's sister) said, he looks a lot like Howie Mandel on the TV game show!

We appreciate all of your prayers and support. Being in the hospital for 3 straight weeks is not easy under any set of circumstances and being there over Christmas is even more difficult. However, we truly appreciate how special family and friends are this year as you have stood right beside us during these difficult days. Clearly, we have a long ways to go, but as dad said to me just a short while ago, the goal for each day is to be 110% better tomorrow than he is today.

Several of you have asked what you can do to help. I've asked Mom and Dad to think about some things that they may need help with and I'll post some of those items to this blog once I have them (hopefully later today). But for now, I only ask that you hold off on visits in the immediate future until dad has a chance to get readjusted to being at home. Once he's settled, I'm sure he will welcome a few visitors, so we'll let you know when he reaches that point.

Thanks again and I'll let you know more as we have it.

Home at Last

Hello all. We've finally made it home. Our plane landed at RDU about 8:45 a.m. and after picking up our luggage, my cousin Philip (Jessica's brother) picked us up at the airport. We were quite surprised at the cool (dare I say cold?) temperatures as it was in the mid-70's when we left LB yesterday evening. We've had a very long day of travel and dad is currently getting a good, warm shower (hasn't had one of those in several days). He is quite tired and needs a lot of rest, so hopefully he will be able to get that today.

I can't tell you how good it is to be home. In life, I guess there's an inevitability that you will take some things for granted-- the closeness of loved ones, the comfortable feel of being in your own bed, sweet tea (no such thing in California!)-- but this experience has definitely brought a lot of things into focus for each of us. As dad and I sat talking on the plane while flying out of ATL, I asked him "I'll bet you never knew you had all of these wonderful people who care for you, did you?" His response was simple-- "no, I didn't, but it has truly been a blessing." And that's what we think of each of you-- a blessing. Your support during the past week has meant more than you will ever possibly know. We've met and/or heard from long-time friends, new friends and everyone in-between.

We don't know exactly what is next in this battle, but you can rest assured that we are much stronger and prepared to walk ahead now than we were a few days ago. I guess there are defining times in life-- marriage, the birth of a child, illness, the death of a loved one, etc.-- where the landscape shifts and doesn't seem like it will ever be the same, no matter how much we might want it to. Clearly, this is one of those defining and life-shifting periods of time for each of us. But I feel much better knowing that God worked through each of you to let us know that He was standing right there with us so that we would not-- nor will we ever-- be alone.

I'm going to keep this blog going because we have more ahead of us. Please continue to send your comments and prayers to dad through it-- he really likes being able to read over them and so do the rest of us.

Now, I'm going to head home to my darling wife who has bravely held down our fort with both of our kids all week. I'm really fortunate to have a strong and loving wife that took care of everything else so I could pick up and rush across the country to be with my dad this week. If there is a "wife of the year" award, I would nominate her for it in a heartbeat.

Thank you for your prayers. Please know that we appreciate each and every one of them.

Much love,
The Parks Family

Almost Home ...

Hello all. While most everyone has been sleeping, we've been flying across America and we've made it to Hartsfield Int'l Airport in Atlanta and so far, so good. Dad is quite tired-- but, heck we all are. I don't know about you, but it is difficult to sleep on an airplane under just about any conditions. Also, we had a nice surprise when we came out of the jet way-- my cousin, Jessica Ward was there to greet us. Jessica lives in the metro ATL area and was able to work it out to get into the gated area to visit with us during our layover.

We're waiting for our next flight, which departs about 7:30 a.m. So, for now, we wait. If you read this before we get home (projected at 8:50 a.m.), please continue to pray for us.

We love you and we hope to see you all soon!

GREAT NEWS!!!

Hello all. We have just received some wonderful news! Dad has been cleared to leave the hospital and travel home! When we arrived at the hospital today, the neurologist and the head of the medical team were in visiting with dad and relayed to us the good news! He is stable and has made great progress and they are planning to discharge him later this afternoon. Praise God!

We are working on finding a way to get back home right now. We hope to be able to secure a flight for either today or tomorrow. Once we know more about our travel plans, we will pass them along.

I have one request-- whatever you are doing right now, please stop, take a moment and lift up a prayer of thanksgiving to God for the work that He has performed this week. We know we still have a long road ahead, but this is a big milestone and it was all made possible by God's grace and mercy.

Also, please begin to pray for our travel. First for us to be able to secure flights and secondly that dad will be able to travel without incident.

Thank you all for your prayers, love and support. We feel so good knowing that we have a wonderful family in all of you. I'll post more a little later, but for now, THANK GOD!