Saturday, February 27, 2016

AN UPDATE on MyHero CROSSING THE BRIDGE


I know that not all of you visit 
where I do updates on John's cancer journey.

I am copying and pasting my morning post here.
You don't need to comment-
although you are welcome to do so.
However, if you only have time to read and run
that is just fine, too.

Good Morning! 

We feel like we are crossing a bridge.  It's an old rickety bridge that spans the Cancer Chasm; a  bridge that has weak spots in the floorboards that could let one plunge through with a misstep. The guardrails on the sides are ineffective at best - no longer offering security as they once did.  There is nothing tangible to grab and hold onto.   It is a bridge that is not longer car worthy so you can't drive across it.  You have to walk slowly and skirt all the dangerous spots.  Sometimes you have to step on the weak spots even though you don't want to do so.  You carefully test that area before you put your full weight on it, breath a sigh of relief when it holds up under your weight, and then you carefully move forward to the next safe spot.  You don't look down because you don't want to know how far you have to fall--so you look straight ahead to the goal on the other side  and you look up to the heavens for help.

John has worked his way almost all the way across the bridge.  He has dealt with nausea, pain, burning, anxiety, fear, insomnia, exhaustion, weight loss, inability to swallow, frustration and all around discomfort. 

He has dealt with all those pitfalls admirably with determination and resolve.  He has been able to manage his nausea and pain with medications (most of the time).  He has learned to let me feed him and not complain about having to take 'one more Liquid Refreshment' (which most of you would call Ensure or something similar). At this point he sleeps quite a bit of the time.  It is hard for him to talk and concentrate so he is no longer visiting with people.  He has chemo brain (which he will deny so then you KNOW he has it) 

His biggest strength, of course, comes from the Lord.  He is in constant prayer-not only for himself but for others around him.  He prays for our kids and grandkids so that they can deal with the changes in Dad/Papa.  He prays for me (that I won't poison him when he is in a snit).  I have told him he is not allowed to touch the attendant during feeding time (me)-no matter how bad the jokes are.  Sometimes I can still get a smile out of him. 
  
He prays for the people we see at Bellin Cancer Center.  Some of the people we see there will not be cured and it is heartbreaking.  When this is all over he hopes to return to his position as a chaplain.  Although he has always prayed for people in the hospital, and felt sympathy for them, he now has a whole new understanding of the full range of emotions they experience. 

We are on the COUNTDOWN TO THE CURE here. We have one more week and one more day of treatment.  We feel like we can see the safe ground on the other side of that rickety old bridge. 

We thank you for all your prayers and good thoughts.  They have bolstered us on this journey. 

Have a wonderful weekend- Diana 
ps.  When I hit safe ground I am getting into a convertible and speeding away...and if MyHero is NICE to me I MAY take him with me!  Anyone got one of those police radar devices I can borrow? 

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Friday, February 19, 2016

A VERY QUICK UPDATE ON MY HERO!


THANK YOU!
THANK YOU!!
THANK YOU!!!
Thank you for all your prayers!
His lung scan came back today.
 The small 'spots' are gone.
 The other spots remain unchanged
 so are most likely old scar tissue. 
 That is a huge relief
It means he can continue the treatment 
as it is outlined.

However, he has moved to 
a new stage of pain level.
 Please keep him in your prayers
 as we move to 
a stronger pain relief medication.
 He cannot take 
some of the more common ones and,
 because he cannot swallow,
 he can't take the time released ones.
 He will move to a pain relief patch 
at this point. 
Thanks again for all your prayers!
 We believe that miracles 
often come in small doses.
 There was a good chance
 that the cancer had metastasized 
to his lungs
and it appears that has not happened.
 
Praise the Lord!
SO- Y'all are
NOT FIRED
as pray-ers!
You did good!
Very, very good!
I will keep you posted!

Nurse Ratchett signing out
for the day!
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Thursday, February 18, 2016

PLEASE PRAY ABOUT THE CT SCAN SCHEDULED FOR TODAY

Good Morning!

Just wanted to share a picture of
MyHero with three of his granddaughters
at the annual
Daddy/Daughter Dance 
at their school
taken last Saturday night.

This will most likely 
be his last social outing
until his treatments are completed.
Sorry for the poor quality.
It was an Iphone in the entryway-
NO MOMS (or Nana) ALLOWED!
However,
that is not the real reason for this post.
I know- I know-
I feel like I am starting to sound like
A BROKEN RECORD!
We need some prayers here.
If you are not a pray-er, please
send us well wishes.

John has a CT scan scheduled today.
There were some small spots on his lungs
when he started this whole process.

They 'think' the spots may be from
something that he inhaled
when he had the severe infection
in his neck-
or a residual effect from that infection..

If that is the case,
the spots should either be gone-
or should have remained the same.
The spots were too small to biopsy
so the CT scan is the only way
they can track them.

Please pray there are no new spots
or that the ones that are there
have not enlarged--
or best case scenario--
the spots have disappeared!

I will let you know what happens
when we get the results back.
We are hoping to hear something
by Friday.

We need to get this old boy well
so he attend some more dances 
with these sweet girls..
Also, pray he can keep his weight steady 
and even gain a bit of weight.

I don't know about most of you,
but praying to gain weight 
is not something
I have ever done!
It just kind of goes 
against the grain, doesn't it?

Okay-Now that you all have been 
so patient with me and my requests,
I want to show you something pretty special.
This is my 13 year old granddaughter, Lulu,
dressed up for her last 
Daddy/Daughter Dance
at her school.
Isn't she a beauty?
I might be a little biased-lol
I can look at her here and picture
what she might look like as a bride someday!
Here she is with her two sisters.
Ria has 2 more years of 
Daddy/Daughter Dances
and SweetCheeks has 5 years to go!
Is there anything sweeter than sisters 
laughing together?
There you have it-
another dance step in our lives.

Hmmmm...maybe the old boy will take
ME dancing when his treatment is behind him.
I think there is a special event 
coming up at the 
VETERANS CLINIC 
where I volunteer.
I've got the perfect little number!
Won't MyHero be proud to be
seen with ME in THAT?!!??!!

Thanks in advance for your prayers!
Have a wonderful, blessed day!



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Sunday, February 14, 2016

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY and A Health Update on My Hero

Valentine's Day!
I can't believe it is 
the middle of February already!
In some ways 
the past few weeks have flown past
and in some ways
they have dragged by 
hour after excruciating hour.

However,
One day while MyHero was up and about-
I got my sewing machine out.
I used to sew special things for 
Tara's little girls
so I thought it was time to sew 
SOMETHING SPECIAL
for little miss
BRIGHT EYES!
How cute is she?
The quality is not great.
It is an Iphone picture sent to me.
I guess she stole the show at her 
big brother's 
VALENTINE DAY at school!
Imagine that!!!!
She carries that 
BITTY BABY 
with her everywhere.
Of course, Bitty Baby had to have a 
MATCHING OUTFIT!
See the doll above?
SweetCheeks used to torture it by 
carrying it around with its head tucked
under her arm.
Only ONE EYE works!
Kinda scary looking 
when you lay her down flat!
(the doll-not SweetCheeks-lol)

Bright Eyes and Bitty Baby
both got matching underpants, too!
Sure do wish they lived closer
so we had more hands on
with her and her brothers.
That being said,
I am so thankful for kids 
that stay in touch
and that we can
FACETIME with them!

MyHero Update:
He is doing well.
Just finished Week 4!
He is halfway through at this point.
Our understanding is that each week will get
progressively harder on him.
We now have the feeding tube down to a science.
In the beginning he did it by himself.
It took at least an hour and was kind of a mess.
Working together 
we have a nice little game
we call
FEED THE ZOO ANIMAL!
We can do an entire meal for him in about 
fifteen minutes start to finish.
I do the cooking ahead of time and have it all
blended, pulverized and ready to 
HEAT AND EAT shove down the tube.
Hey!  At least he can't complain about my cooking.
Everything "tastes" the same to him.
I could feed him ANYTHING and he would
not know the difference!
Leftovers?  NO PROBLEM!
See--even in adversity there are bonuses!

He is feeling pretty good most of the time.
His throat is quite sore but he manages
the pain with just Tylenol at this point.
(that in itself is a blessing)
He has not suffered from nausea very often 
and that, too, is controlled by the medication.

All in all,
we are doing well.
We thank you for your prayers 
and good thoughts.

I hope you have a wonderful
VALENTINE'S DAY 
and that you have someone else in your life
so you can share the love that is in your heart!

As for me?
I won't be eating any chocolate today
in front of MyHero!
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Monday, February 1, 2016

A QUICK REMINDER ABOUT FASTING--

This is for those of you that
asked for a reminder to
FAST TODAY.
Click HERE to read more.

I know the fast was started for
John (MyHero) and myself
BUT 
please add my friend, Gert, 
to your prayers.
She lost her dear husband, Tom,
 on Saturday
If you are not a pray-er-
please send your best wishes 
for those that are fasting.

Also, please add my friend, Laura,
to your prayers.
She is now seeking some alternate
treatments for her cancer
because the chemo has stopped working.
I believe in miracles!

Thanks to all of you
that participate in 
ANY WAY--
even just by sending good thoughts!
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