A Bit of Progress

Hello all. Dad made a bit of progress yesterday on two fronts. First, he was able to get dressed from head to toe. He still needed some help on this, but getting completely dressed (shoes included!) is a big step at this point. Additionally, the "roar" he's been dealing with in his ears suddenly stopped. This is wonderful news as he was finally able to hear conversations and a little bit of what's on TV. I told him that this is truly the answer to a prayer as many of you have been lifting him up during the past week asking for the roar to be silenced. Thank you for those prayers and please be sure to thank God for this answer. Of course, we have no guarantee that it won't come back, but we're choosing to celebrate that he's enjoyed at least one day recently without that roar.

So, after getting dressed and being able to hear, mom and dad went out for a little spin around town. They enjoyed getting some lunch and driving just about all over the place-- good thing gas is still relatively inexpensive!

We continue to ask for your prayers as dad is picking up once again with physical therapy to try to regain some of the strength he has lost. Please ask God to provide him with the strength to complete the sessions and for patience while his body "re-learns" a lot of what he needs to be able to do.

As always, thank you for your continued prayers and support!

Post-Radiation Update

All,
I spoke with my mom earlier today and she said that dad completed his final round of radiation without any difficulty. In fact, she said, he was actually quite emotional afterwards and when she asked him if he was OK, he said that he "couldn't believe that he'd made it to the end of the radiation treatments." Needless to say, the physical, mental and emotional toll this has taken on him (and all of us) is great. So, please pray for a sense of calm and peace as he's reached the latest point on this journey.

I do know that he will have a few appointments coming up by way of follow-up with Dr. O, an appointment with an ENT specialist for the hearing issue and he will begin physical therapy again on Monday of next week. I'll post more as I know it.

Please be sure to lift up to God a prayer of thanksgiving that dad has made it through this stage!

Latest Update: Starting PT; Radiation & Chemo Resume

Hello all. I realize I haven't posted anything in a while, so I'm sorry for not keeping you in the loop. Dad began physical therapy on Monday of this week. He's doing the PT sessions at the WakeMed facility in Clayton. They are mainly working on physical movement (walking, strength, etc.), occupational therapy (think: sitting at a desk and doing "work" tasks) and speech therapy. When someone undergoes radiation, it is basically destroying some of the tissue cells in the brain. Add in surgery and the removal of a small portion of the brain and there is a loss of some cognitive abilities. Mainly, dad just has a hard time verbalizing what he wants to say. The therapy is good, but tiring.

Also, he began the radiation and chemo sessions yesterday at the Rex Cancer Center. As you may recall, he had completed 7 of 14 sessions when they stopped for the surgery. So, as of this afternoon, he's down to 5 sessions remaining. If all goes as expected, he will finish with those next Wednesday.

Please continue to pray for strength and healing. I know many of you have asked how you can help and we're working on a way to let you know what some of the needs are that mom and dad have. Stay tuned to the blog (I hope to post something about that later today or tomorrow morning) and we'll get you the details.

Thank you for your continued support!

We're Making Progress

Hello all. Dad has had a few productive days since my last post. He began physical therapy last week and that has made a world of difference for him. As you may be aware, radiation and chemotherapy is quite tough on the body and dad is literally having to relearn how to do some fairly simple things (walking, center of balance, etc.). However, the PT is moving him along to the point that Dr. O noted in her visit this morning that she's quite pleased with his progress and she is ready to move him to the next step-- releasing him from the hospital and into a rehabilitation center. At a rehab center, he will continue with PT and will learn to care for himself once again. We don't know when the move will be made, but she was putting a case worker with the hospital on the hunt for finding an open spot and getting him there as soon as possible. This is a wonderful praise!

I visited tonight with Mom and Dad and I was amazed at his progress during the past few days. When I arrived after work, he was sitting up in bed and about to begin eating dinner. We were able to talk a good bit. Unfortunately, he had a headache coming on and it took some time to get the pain medication in place because his IV had come out. It took a while for the IV team to get to the room and then locate another place for the IV, so by the time all of that had taken place, his headache had gotten rather strong and it was taking some time to calm him down. However, by the time I headed out for the night, he was finally starting to relax with the help of some music in his tiny iPod.

Mom has had a rough couple of days as the stress of the past week or so has taken a toll on her. She had to head for home on Sunday morning and basically stayed home to rest and take care of a slight fever until late this afternoon when she returned to the hospital. However, tonight, she was doing much better (that's what the rest will do for you!) and she was ready to get back into the swing of things.

My sister has done a wonderful job of helping dad through encouraging him, cajoling him when necessary and simply tending to his needs. It has been a real blessing to have her there to help and I know that dad is glad to have her there.

We continue to be amazed at the way in which each of you has cared for us in your own special ways. There simply isn't enough space for me to count all of the things you've done to help us and I know that we can never repay you for the things you've done. However, please know that we cherish the prayers you are lifting up on our behalf and we feel so loved knowing that each of you cares for us.

Dad continues with the radiation and chemo. Today was day 6 of 14 for radiation. He'll keep taking the chemo during the radiation and once the radiation sessions are complete he will go to a cycle of 5 days on and the rest of the month off for the chemo. We aren't sure yet how long that process will go on.

Many of you have asked if it is alright to visit. While we don't want to discourage visiting, we will simply ask that you try to keep the visits brief as dad tires out easily and we need him to build up as much strength as possible so he can take that next step of getting over to the rehab facility. However, please know that we do appreciate seeing your smiling faces and the warm hugs that you bring to the hospital for each of us. As I mentioned, I know that we can never repay you for the love you've shown to each of us.

So, that's the latest. We do ask that you will continue to pray specifically for complete and total healing for dad. Also, please pray that God will strengthen dad to the point that he's able to make the move to the rehab facility and continue the process of building his body strength back to the point that he can take care of himself.

We thank you for all that you've done! Enjoy your day!