And We're Back...

Sorry for the gap in posts -- I was on vacation, and forgot to update before I left. My whole family (3 girls and husband) had a weird virus two weeks ago-- the main symptom seemed to be laying around crying with no appetite for 3 days. I couldn't get the girls to tell me what was wrong, if anything hurt, etc. Then my husband got it and said he just hurt all over. He stayed in bed for a day, and took 2 more days to really recover. (You can see where this is heading, right?). Well, Daddy got it. We had been out at their house one day when my oldest daughter all of a sudden started acting like she felt bad -- really just crying and laying on the couch. Of course, Pop-Pop had to comfort her, and 3 days later he was in bed for 3 days. The good news is that he's much better now and back on the road to regaining his strength. The bad news is that it obviously takes him much longer to recover -- probably twice as long and he feels like it set him back a couple of weeks. Otherwise, since he recovered, he's doing well -- he was back to making barbecue sauce (not the meat yet) the other day. Seems like there was something else I was going to post about but it's late and my brain has shut down for the night!

Small Milestone

Daddy made it to church on Sunday for the first time since early May. What a blessing for Mom and Dad to get to worship together again and with our sweet church family! I don't know if I've been clear about this, but I want to make sure that I am -- we firmly believe that God is working in our family for His glory, regardless of Daddy's health on any given day. And we are thankful for the people He has put in our lives to point us to Christ during the good times and the hard times. My prayer has been that this whole experience would make our family, and those whom we encounter throughout this journey, long for and cling to things that have eternal value. And I'm done preachin' now.

As promised...

Pictures above from Ruby's birthday party! In other news, Daddy had his PICC line removed this week and the dr. said that they see no sign of infection right now. He followed up with the oncologist, and will just see him every couple of months to check in right now, probably with a scan every 6 months or more. He says he's feeling better every day, and even drove a short distance the other day. He's also back to reading which was a surprise to me because last time I asked about a month ago, he said he was shaking too much to hold the book still. But then I asked him yesterday if he read the book I gave him for his birthday, and he said, "Oh, yeah, I read that already," and he passed it on to a friend. We are so grateful for the little things these days, and just thankful that God has given us more time with Daddy.

Celebrations

This time last year was when I started worrying that something was really wrong with Daddy. It was Ruby's birthday party, and he left super early because he was in so much pain that he couldn't sit still. I had my suspicions then that it was more than just a pulled muscle, but we didn't get the diagnosis for two more months. Well, yesterday we celebrated Ruby's 3rd birthday, and Daddy stayed the whole time! He even let Ruby give him a pretend haircut. I will post a picture soon but I have to recharge my camera before I can get the pictures off it. Needless to say, we had a good time celebrating Ruby, and are grateful that Daddy is here to celebrate another year with us. He's talking about traveling when he feels better, and is tentatively planning to go to church next week for the first time since before his surgery. He has several dr. appointments this week, including a follow up at the oncologist, so I'll post if we learn anything new. Praise God for the opportunity to celebrate big and small milestones!

Extraordinary Cancer Survivor Turns 100

Extraordinary Cancer Survivor Turns 100
Ok, so here's the actual story title. Sorry for all the confusion-- still trying to figure out the logistics of blogging at times! And don't be confused, this is about another cancer survivor -- Daddy's not turning 100 yet! :)

A Happy Story

Daddy is doing a little better every day. He still tires easily but overall is gaining strength. Last weekend, Mom and Dad went out to dinner with some friends and had a great time. This week he finishes up the IV antibiotics. Next week he has a follow up appointment with his oncologist. We are moving right along. I found this story in the link below last week about a Whipple survivor and I found it very encouraging -- Enjoy!
http://ht.ly/2kx2e

Fried Chicken and Ice Cream

When Daddy was going through chemo, the only thing that tasted good to him was fried chicken -- he would eat it every day, and joked after all his procedures that he just wanted a bucket of fried chicken. As long as he was asking for fried chicken, we figured he was alright. Well, now he can't really tolerate the fried stuff (although he is going to try some enzymes to see if that helps) BUT the new post-Whipple "fried chicken" is ice cream. Partly to get out of the house (but mostly, I think, because he likes ice cream), he and Mom have been making almost daily trips to Chick-fil-a for an ice cream cone. On Sunday, they ventured a little farther and came and got the girls and took them to Dairy Queen, and then stayed for dinner. It was a very normal Sunday for us. And very, very nice.

In other news, Daddy had his g-tube removed today. He hasn't used it since a couple of weeks before he got out of the hospital, and he's eating well with no significant problems so they talked the dr. into taking it out today. Apparently they just yank it out -- glad I had to leave that appointment early! Overall, his surgeon was very positive about his progress thus far, and I think Mom and Dad were both very encouraged. Other small steps include: Daddy walked down to the mailbox and back on Sunday, he walked over to visit a neighbor yesterday (and I should clarify that they have almost 4 acres so they don't live in your typical suburban neighborhood -- so they were good walks for him), and they are making plans to get a new computer soon. Who knows, maybe they'll start posting, too!