We ALMOST lost him!!

First, I want to apologize for the long delay in updates. I had back surgery on March 3rd for a herniated disc and it has not been a good recovery. The first week was unbearable and the most intense pain I have EVER had. Slowly getting better so trying to get life back in order.

Dad has been slowly deteriorating in his physical health but yet his cancer count has continued to be low. After many days of just not feeling good, mom finally convinced dad to go to the doctor. On Tuesday of this week he finally went to the doctor. Mom picked him up to take him and he had no energy to load mom's electric chair so they went and she would just have to wait in the car for him because she can't load it herself. Dad called mom while she was waiting and told her that they were rushing him to emergency. Mom has helpless in the car, didn't know what was going on and had no way to get into emergency to be with dad.

Turns out dad's blood pressure was 60/45. Apparently you go into a coma when your blood pressure is 50/35. I am unclear of all the events as I myself am recovering. Mom ended up going home because she didn't have a way into the emergency. Dad and Greg (my brother) told her that since she was home to stay there because there wasn't anything she could do at the emergency anyway. When mom called they told her that they were admitting him for the night. They were running tests and giving him IV medications to get his blood pressure up. He was admitted to ICU. They told mom that he had an infection that had taken over his body and that had they waited any longer to get him in, he wouldn't have lived.

The infection appears to have come from the permanent catheter that was recently replaced. The ICU replaced it again and dad said that it was the first time since it was surgically put in that it didn't hurt. The doctors and others have told dad that he needs to find a new urologist. Mom and I have been telling him that for a few years now. When the urologist did the surgery to put the permanent catheter in, he told mom that he had put it off because he didn't think dad was going to be around this long. CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT????? We almost lost him not because the cancer that is ravaging his body but because of an infection from replacing the catheter.

Dad came home yesterday, which surprised mom and I. The medication that they have been giving him to raise his blood pressure also raises his blood sugars. When they released him his blood pressure was around 101/60 and his blood sugars were around 195. He has a lot of medication he has to take. I talked to him today and he said he is very weak and cannot eat. He hasn't slept for days. While he was in the hospital, the checked his blood sugars every hour and his vitals every 4 hours. His last day in the hospital he had several visitors and was very "teary eyed" and couldn't believe so many people loved him. Any calls, visits, cards, emails are VERY welcomed. He realizes how close of a call this was and is really appreciative of the people in his life right now.

Surgery Today

Today dad had surgery at 9:30 am. This was an attempt to find a way to stop all of the pain dad has been in because of the constant urinary tract infections. They also wanted to check his bladder for cancer as he has been diagnosed with bladder cancer twice in the past.
Surgery went well. They did find an area of the bladder that was discolored and so they took some tissue so they could do a biopsy. They said that his bladder is basically in very bad shape. They found 1.5 liters of liquid still in his bladder despite being emptied. This told them that the bladder is not fully emptying. His prostate was good but they discovered a little "bag" that had formed near the prostate. They said it was caused by a medical procedure but not sure which one. They cut it open thinking it might be part of the problem of not emptying the bladder.
They decided that the best solution to the problem was to put a permanent catheter in. The tube that was put in will need to be replaced once a month. Hopefully insurance will approve a home health care nurse to come and do that otherwise, dad will have to go the hospital or Dr office to have it replaced.
Dad was released in the early afternoon and when I talked to him around 4:15, they were at Macaroni Grill having an early dinner. Dad said he was in quite a bit of pain but after they were done eating was just going to go home and fill himself with pain meds.
Dad was scheduled to have chemo yesterday but they decided that this surgery was more important so they moved the chemo appt to tomorrow.
That's the latest.

MRI Results

Hope everyone had a great holiday season. Dad has not been feeling well now for quite some time. He had a scheduled MRI today to determine if the chemo was doing anything to the tumors. Dad has been getting pretty anxious because he has been able to feel the tumors more than before and so he thought they were getting bigger. Mom and I have both been telling him that it was because he has lost so much weight. Well, the MRI confirmed that the tumors have not changed. This is good news. Because everything seems to be in neutral, the doctor told him that he can reduce his chemo treatments to every other week. They have also given him a new pain medicine that should help with the effects of his UT infection.

His blood count was down and so they have scheduled him to have a blood transfusion on Friday. That will take about 8 hours. The unfortunate thing is that Friday was when he was scheduled to see his urologist so he needs to reschedule that. They are also going to need to retest his oxygen at the request of insurance. This means to have an accurate reading he will need to stop using it for a few days.

Thanks again for all of the prayers and words of encouragement. We appreciate all of you.

Together at Christmas

Merry day after Christmas. We hope you all had a great time with family and friends. We got up early and drove to Portland to surprise both of our families for Christmas. We arrived at mom and dad's about 11:30. They had made plans with my aunt Cathy and her husband Billie to come over for Christmas day lunch. I so appreciate how mom's sisters have jumped in and helped take care of mom and dad when I am so far away. Aunt Cathy had fixed a ham and other items. Even though no one was expecting us, there was plenty of food. I am thankful for Cathy doing all of this work despite the fact that she had just had a major surgery 3 weeks ago. We visited and enjoyed time together; listened to mom play her new digital piano. Dad was pretty tired and in pain but stayed awake the whole time we were there. He didn't eat much dinner but he did have some light snacks throughout the day. We left around 3:00 to go spend some time with Steve's family that also lives in the Portland area.

Not much change in regard to his infection and health issues. He still doesn't have an appetite and is losing weight. He did have the week off from chemo but has not gotten in to see his urologist yet. I have posted a few pictures from yesterday for you all to see.

Quick Update

Dad called his doctor's office on Monday and told them he felt he was getting dehydrated. They had him coming in and they gave him IV fluids to re-hydrate him. When he went in, he had lost 8 lbs in less than a week. He doesn't really have 8 lbs to lose but somehow he did. He was going to call his urologist today and see if he could get in sooner. I haven't talked to him to find out if that happened. Please pray that he can get in to see the urologist before the 8th of January and that the IV fluids will kick in and he will start eating again.
Thank you.

Long Time

Sorry for the long stretch of no posts. Dad had a few good weeks after Thanksgiving but then last weekend got hit pretty hard and hasn't felt good since. He called his urologist but can't get in until January 8th. His body is just too tired to fight both the cancer and this infection. I keep asking him to call and see if they know just how bad it is and could they see him sooner. Mom and I both think he is getting dehydrated again because he doesn't have the energy to even eat. Usually he ends up in the hospital when he gets dehydrated.

He does have this week off from chemo but it seems that the infection is worse than the side effects of the chemo. He say he takes all of his pain meds (vicodin, Tylenol with codeine and something else) and it doesn't even touch the pain of this infection. If he doesn't get seen for a change in medication for the infection, he really doesn't have the week off.

Their plans for Christmas is to just stay home. Dad just hasn't felt good enough to really do anything. He was very disappointed to miss the church Christmas program yesterday. I told him maybe next year and his response implied there might not be a next year. It has been almost a year since he was diagnosed and it has been a very hard one for both he and mom. I pray the next one will be better.

I posted a picture of mom and dad taken at mom's work Christmas party last weekend. Don't they look good!!! This was the night before dad started not feeling too good.

On behave of Larry and Sherry Cameron and their extended family, we want to wish each of you a very MERRY CHRISTMAS. Remember: "He became one of us . . . so we could become one of His."

Blessings,

The Camerons and The Douglass'

Wonderful Thanksgiving

We hope that you and your family had a wonderful Thanksgiving. At the beginning of the week it was decided that mom and dad were going to make the trek over the mountains and through the woods to Sisters to spend Thanksgiving with us. Dad had chemo on Wednesday like normal despite asking the doctor to forgo the week so he could have a good holiday. The doctor continues to be pleased with how dad is responding to this treatment. His cancer cell count is down to 2,000. All of his other vitals were good except that he had lost 2 pounds.

So we were a bit nervous about mom and dad driving here on Thursday morning. The roads are icy in the mornings even if there hasn't been snow. Sarah had come home from college on Wednesday and said that the roads were pretty clear; just a few spots of packed snow and ice. Mom and dad arrived safely. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Dad was very tired so after some breakfast, he rested most of the day. We did get him up for our turkey dinner and he ate quite a plate full. He didn't use oxygen all weekend long and was doing pretty good other than being so tired. He is dealing with another infection so he was popping pills but at least we were together.

We were blessed by the wonderful people that I work for. They knew that mom and dad were coming and wanted me to be able to spend time with them and not cooking all weekend long. So they prepared meals for us ahead of time and also gave us a gift card to our local grocery store to help with the cost. We had a wonderful beef stroganoff that was made with pot roast, a very yummy Mexican lasagna , cranberry cream cheese bars and french toast made with eggnog. Thanksgiving morning they delivered a fresh pumpkin and chocolate cream pie and also a pumpkin roll. What a blessing. It really did allow me to spend more time with mom and dad and we never wanted for anything.

Mom and dad headed out about 1:00 on Saturday, just before the famous Sisters Christmas parade. They wanted to get home before it got too dark. Dad told me as he was walking out the door that he hoped it wasn't his last Thanksgiving but if it was, it was a good one. Dad actually drove the whole 150+ miles home. They got home and unpacked, went to the Twisted Comfort restaurant for a bowl of soup and then rested for the evening. Sunday they were able to make it to church and had a very quite day.

Another highlight for mom and dad was having Sarah come from college to spend the weekend with them last weekend. She came to help them decorate their apartment for Christmas. They were thinking they wouldn't get to do very much but with Sarah's help, in her words, "Santa vomited all over Grandpa and Grandma's house". They were very appreciative of her spending the weekend with 2 old people, hanging Christmas decor.

We hope this holiday season is a special time for all of you. That you get to spend quality AND quantity time with your loved ones. Remember the true reason for the season: For God so loved the world that He gave his one and only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him would not perish but have eternal life. May God bless you all!