Sleep

Hey everyone - Holly here.. I wanted to send a quick and brief (frustrating for you all - I know) message. Today my Dad has been in a deep sleep all day, and we've been unable to wake him, He's breathing very deeply, and even snoring... but no matter what we've tried he will not wake up. We are transporting him to the hospital per his Oncologists orders, to get him admitted and fully diagnosed. However, the Dr was very blunt in saying that the radiation we had scheduled maybe would have bought him a couple more weeks or maybe a couple more months. We are not sure what this all means, but we are at peace with whatever God decides to do. I just want my Dad's suffering and pain to end, and I'm trusting that God will answer our prayers. Please pray for guidance, strength and peace, as we might have to face the toughest moment in our lives. Thank you. I will update when we are able and have more information.

Not good

Doc is not happy with where Ric is right now. He's gotten worse over the last couple days - weaker and still having issues with strength. He is getting his treatment right now but Doc says with where he's at the only thing that may help is radiation. Ric's not sure he wants to go down that path. Right now he's napping so I am doing this update to ask for your prayers right now that God will make it clear to Ric whether he should do the radiation or not. There are no guarantees that it will help but doing nothing means the brain tumor will continue to grow and affect him even more. As it grows that means it will be putting pressure on the brain stem and more functions will shut down and you know what that means. So please pray for us.

Not Good

Pretty sure the brain tumor is continuing to grow as Ric is back close to the place he was before we found out he had it. This afternoon he is unable to get himself to stand up from the chair. Each day this week he has gotten weaker & less able to help get himself up. Last night and this morning I had to literally pull him to sit up in bed which is no fun as it hurts him and it wears me out. He was unable to help me get him to sit up at all. He is back to 136 lbs so it's alot of weight for me to be pulling up. He did walk this morning with the walker very slowly to the kitchen for breakfast and then to the recliner and he was not too stable. For about 30 minutes I stood by as he said he was going to stand up but was totally unable to. His brain is not sending the signals to where they need to go. In his mind he wants to get up but is unable to actually do it. I am concerned about getting him in and out of bed as I cannot lift him. Rocky is leaving the Fire Dept as soon as he gets relieved so he can come help me. So needless to say we REALLY need some prayers right now. Not sure where we are headed in this ride right now but it's not currently not good. Family - sorry if this is where you are finding out about this but I literally cannot call you to let you know this. There are too many of you and it is what it is.

Getting Help

So this next week will start a different routine for us. I have hired some Home Care assistance so that I can go back to work part-time. We tried the last couple weeks to work it out between me & my kids but Holly started a new job this week and with Rocky's schedule between his two jobs it makes it a bit difficult to coordinate it all. Also working in the construction industry I need to be available much earlier in the day. So Julie will be starting on Tuesday here at the house with Ric. For the next few weeks I will be going into the office Tues/Weds/Thurs. Julie will help Ric - which is mainly taking medication on schedule, making sure he does not fall when walking around the house & preparing his meals since he does not cook (nor do I trust that he would eat healthy on his own). She will also do some light housekeeping for me which will be nice. I have been home (or in the hospital) with Ric for nearly 24/7 since August 24th. Even though he is disappointed that he has this current bump in the road he understands that I need to get back to my job. As I've said before I have been so very blessed by all the vacation time donated to me by my coworkers so that I could be with him and be paid. Ric was hoping to be back to work at least parttime by now. So far this week he is doing fine but really tired all the time. Of course some of this is what comes with the chemo but also with a brain tumor that got a chance to grow again. So this week he's pretty much been eating & sleeping with occasional spurts of energy to draw and get on the computer. We need your prayers for him to start getting some energy to want to do more and for a smooth transition with our new help Julie. Thanks for all your prayers these past few weeks with all the bumps that we've had.

Back on Treatment

Ric had to see his doctor yesterday afternoon. Good news is he is up to 135 lbs. Doc showed us the CT scan of Ric's brain that was done at Swedish on Friday. The brain tumor is growing again and starting to push toward the brain stem again.. This is why he had the seizure on Friday. It's not as bad as it was in August but it is definitely affecting him. Ric was off treatment for most of January due to the bleeding issue so it's been over a month since the last treatment with the Avastin - last one was 1-3-12. He has slowed down quite a bit in doing things. He's also very slightly dragging his left foot. We know that this is not good having been there before. Doc said he did not want to wait until Thursday to start him back on treatment so we ended up being at the clinic yesterday from 2:15pm until 6pm so he could get his infusion of Avastin, 5-FU (chemo), Leucovorin and anti-naseau meds. We are so blessed to have some really fantastic infusion nurses who stayed late so he could get his infusion yesterday. He is a bit more alert today but says he is very tired when I ask him how he is doing. So we are asking for your prayers that the tumor gets under "control" with this round of treatment.

Heading home later

• Ric is doing much better today so they will be releasing him from the hospital later today. He's like the energizer bunny - gets knocked down but gets back up and keeps going! His appetite is still tremendous - breakfast was bowl of raisin bran cereal, two scrambled eggs, two bacon, two sausage links, two slices of french toast, carrot-raisin muffin, green tea and apple juice - and he finished every last bite!
• They gave him a boost of steroid and anti-seizure meds and we'll be seeing his doc on Monday to check his levels. Also this coming Thursday he will be starting round 3 of treatment - lower dosage of Avastin, 5-FU and leucovorin. This treatment got him pretty good initially - he got mouth sores and lost alot more weight but we are hoping with the lower dosage and with lots of prayer we can keep the side effects to a minimum.
• The swelling in his brain means the tumor is back to growing again. He has not had a treatment since January 3rd because of the bleeding issue middle of January. Me & the kids also believe that since Ric has had more sugar in his diet that this has contributed to the tumor growing. Ric has insisted on having chocolate dip cones quite often along with apple pie & ice cream, etc. When I tell him that he should not have it, he gets mad at me and basically pouts about it - kinda like having a toddler if you know what I mean. I tell him he can live for today or live for tomorrow - it's his choice. I prefer that he is around for a very long time which in everything I have read means he should not have sugar as that is what feeds the tumors in his body. But it is his choice as it is his life - i tell him what I believe to be true but then let him make the decision. It's very hard as most of my spare time is spent on researching both mainstream and alternative sources on what helps kill cancer and what helps feed it and providing him with this information. But it all comes down to his decision as to what he wants to do or not do.
• We will head home later today and start treatment on Thursday with the hope that he will continue in a positive direction. We have a long weekend trip the last weekend of the month to head to Southern California to watch one of our former Rebel's play college softball - Becca - and to visit some of our other wonderful friends we have down there and to soak in some sunshine!
• Please pray for Ric to continue getting better, no side effects from the treatment, Ric to make good diet decisions, for us both to get some much needed rest, for us to be able to make our California trip and for us to be a blessing to everyone we interact with. Thanks for your love & support!

Another Bump

Today started out to be a good day but ended with us back at the hospital. I had taken Ric with me to the office today so he could hang out with his "gang" while I got some work done. He was really enjoying the day. We went to lunch then returned back to the office so I could finish up. He was talking to a fellow co-worker and then proceeded to have a seizure. They had called 911 by the time I got over to him. So he was transported to Swedish ER. They did a CT scan and told us that there was swelling in his brain that is evident compared to the recent MRI that was done when he had the bleeding episode a couple weeks ago. So we are now spending the night at Swedish as they have given him additional steroids to get the swelling in his brain to go down. He is doing fine - tired of course. He does still have his appetite as his first words to the nurse once they got him to his room was that he needed a menu so he could order dinner! Not sure what tomorrow will bring but God will provide for whatever we need to meet the day. Prayers for the swelling to go down and Ric to continue to improve. He is scheduled to start another treatment course this next Thursday. Oh before I forget his weight is up to 134 lbs - he jokes that he's needing to go on a diet now. Good night - tomorrow is a new day....