Moving forward

Daddy's fever came down quickly Friday night and he seemed to be feeling very well that evening. Over the weekend, we seemed to have some difficulty communicating with the staff/doctors as we were expecting them to fix his feeding tube (because the dr. indicated they likely would); however it turns out that the doctors who would fix it don't work on the weekends unless it's an emergency, so we anticipate they will address that issue today. Daddy continues to struggle with discouragement, feeling like as soon as he starts to feel better, something else happens and he takes a couple steps backwards. There are some encouraging signs, like he seems to want to eat and doesn't seem to have much nausea these days. Will post more later...

Prayer alert!

Daddy has developed a low-grade fever -- they are unsure why but are treating it with an antibiotic. Also, they did an x-ray today and discovered that there is a "kink" in the feeding tube in his stomach -- i.e., it doesn't work and they are still trying to decide what to do about that. In the meantime, he hasn't been able to eat or drink anything (because he's in limbo about his stomach), but he is getting an IV with nutrients. Please pray for his body and protection from infection, and for my mom who has had a rough couple of days.

As promised...

Family pictures -- I am still figuring out this blog thing so didn't get them in the last post...

Keep praying...

This afternoon they put a feeding tube in Daddy's stomach to ensure that he gets enough nutrients when he goes home. When his digestive system starts working again and they are sure that he's back on track, they will remove it. It looks like he will go home with it, so hopefully this is a step closer to getting him home. Apparently he's in the small percentage of people whose digestive system takes a while to kick back in. Both of my parents are really struggling with discouragement right now, and really need your prayers. On a happy note, I am posting some family pictures that we took the weekend before Daddy's surgery, so enjoy!

2 Weeks

So, it's Wednesday and Daddy is still in the hospital, and we don't have an anticipated discharge date as of right now. He's been pretty groggy and irritable, we think mostly due to the pain meds he's been on, so they are adjusting them. It's a balance between managing his pain and being alert enough that he can mentally focus on his recovery. So far, from what I've read and what the doctors have said, the digestive symptoms he has been experiencing are still in the range of normal for this type of procedure. I read, too, that 14 days is the average post-Whipple hospital stay. When I was up there today, they were talking about putting the tube back in his stomach (via his nose) to relieve some of the bloating (i.e., his body still isn't processing things like it should). He actually asked for a milkshake and had a few sips of it today -- the first time he's really had an appetite for anything, but if they put the tube back in, he can't eat or drink anything. We have appreciated so much the flood of support the past few days -- we have really needed the encouragement.

Up and Down

We're aiming (again) to have Daddy home Wed. this week but again he has some progress to make before he can get there. Specifically, pray for the doctors to get his pain under control, for him to be able to eat more, and for his body to process the food properly. They took the tube out of his nose/stomach yesterday. He has eaten a little more today (actually tried a couple bites of mashed potatoes) and taken several more walks, but he still has very little appetite, and overall he is very discouraged. Daddy has not been very talkative partly because he lost his voice when the tube was down his throat and partly because the pain meds have him drowsy but he still seems to benefit from visitors and Mom definitely does. I think the longer he stays in the hospital, the more it wears on all of us emotionally and physically, so we appreciate your prayers for strength and stamina to stay upbeat for Daddy.

Day 10

Well, it seems that Daddy has a couple of good days and then hits a speed bump. We were hoping to be talking about going home today, but the past 2 days he has been in significant pain. They did a CT scan yesterday to make sure there were no blockages, and they did not find any but apparently a lot of fluid was sitting in his belly keeping his stomach from contracting so they put the tube back down his nose to his stomach to drain some of the fluid. I haven't been up there today but Mom said he was in a lot of pain last night still and didn't sleep well. While he has the tube in, he cannot eat or drink anything. It will be in for 2-3 days. They said it will be mid-week next week before we talk about going home again. Please pray that his stomach will kick in and start working properly. Most of the pain is from gas building up because his digestive system is not dissipating it like it should. Visitors are still welcome, more for Mom right now than anything -- it gets lonely up there and she is usually there from 10am-7pm at least every day.

Day 8 -- Praises!

Daddy continues to improve a little every day. He not eaten much at all yet due to having very little appetite, but for the past 2 days he has been able to keep everything down. He is taking frequent walks up and down the hall, and is pretty much "unplugged" except for 1 IV in his arm. Today we got the results of the pathology report -- the Dr. said that it's been a while since he got such a good report back. The tumor was 1.5 cm, the margins were clear and they did not find any cancer in the lymph nodes. Yay -- praise God for such good news! Mom and Dad both seem to benefit a lot from visitors at this stage, so feel free to visit them at the hospital.

Introduction

In October 2009, our Dad was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Last week, he had a Whipple procedure to remove the tumor along with a significant part of his digestive tract. Through this experience we have learned how many people love him, and how many lives he has touched through his generosity, gentleness, and faith. We created this blog to keep people updated on his progress, to provide an opportunity for others to encourage him, and to give glory to God for the work he has done in our lives through this journey.