Shunt Malfunction

Well, Daddy was scheduled for surgery to repair the hernia next Tues., Feb. 15 but in the past couple of days, it has become clear that his shunt is not functioning properly. His belly is retaining fluid again and he's gained 12lbs or so. Tomorrow he will go into radiology (for a CT scan, I'm assuming) to check what's going on. Assuming this is just a common shunt malfunction, they will remove some fluid, and he is scheduled for surgery to correct the problem (whatever they discover the problem is) on Monday. There is a possibility that they will go ahead and do the hernia repair on Monday as well, but otherwise it will be postponed. We should know more tomorrow afternoon. Sorry for the vagueness, but that's all I've got right now. We appreciate your prayers. We are all supposed to go to a baby shower for Wendi on Saturday, and are hoping that we can carry with the celebrations as planned.

Happy New Year ... and a few weeks!

Daddy is doing well -- and, as I've said before, when he's doing well I tend to forget that we have a blog to keep people posted. So I apologize that it's been a while, but that's a good sign! He visited his oncologist the week after Christmas, and his oncologist released him to his surgeon's care for follow up. Dr. B (the oncologist) told him that he doesn't need to see him anymore unless he has problems. They (all his doctors) don't seem to be concerned about his shoulder pain, and think he may have injured his rotator cuff when he tried to get back in to exercising too quickly. The shunt is working beautifully so far. And he has surgery scheduled for Feb. 15 to repair the hernia near his incision from the Whipple procedure. This is supposed to be a rather complicated repair so prayers are appreciated, and I promise to update more closer to that date.

In other news... Daddy got a new truck! He brought it by and let me take it for a spin today. :) And he has finally gotten his new computer up and running at a decent speed, so maybe I'll talk him into posting. However, don't get your hopes up because when I first asked him if it was ok that we do a blog to keep people updated, he said, "As long as you know what a blog is."

Good Report

Daddy's follow up with the surgeon on Tuesday went well -- he said everything looks good and he doesn't want to see Daddy again for 6 months. The scan was not a full body scan, but showed his abdomen/chest; the shunt is working properly and they did not find any cancer! In the meantime, Daddy has an appointment in a couple of weeks with his surgeon's partner to see about repairing the hernia in his stomach that contributed to the big belly. He also has a follow up next week with the oncologist. 2010 was a hard year, but we experienced God's grace in our family in a deep and tangible way. We pray that 2011 will continue to push us towards a deeper understanding of His grace. Happy New Year to you all!

Merry Christmas!

We are all doing well and we wish you all a Merry Christmas! We are so very thankful for the blessing of celebrating another Christmas with Daddy. But we praise God for the best gift of all, His Son! The richness of what it means that God sent His son to be "God with us" has had a whole new level of meaning to me over the past year, and I am humbled that God came to our mess to love us. May you all know the power of God's presence in your lives, and the sweetness of living in His grace.

On the medical front, Daddy has CT scan on Dec. 28 -- I think this is the first of his regular, follow up scans checking to make sure the cancer has not returned. Also, the shunt has been working marvelously and he is definitely benefiting from it. His belly looks almost normal 3 weeks after the procedure.

Home Again!

Daddy got to go home yesterday before lunch! (The day got away from me and I forgot to post.) He's feeling better than he has in a while, and learning how to pump the shunt. They are going to lay low for a couple of days, but if he's feeling well, they plan to go to the Empty Nesters' Christmas gathering on Saturday. Thanks so much for the prayers and encouraging words -- we've definitely felt them! Merry Christmas to all!

Shunt update

Initial reports are good! Daddy's surgery started a little late but he was in recovery by 9:45, and the doctor came to talk to Mom and Wendi (I didn't quite make it there in time). The doctor said that technically everything went very well. They took off 8 more liters of fluid, cleaned out his belly, and put some fresh fluid back in (but not 8 liters!) to help prevent renal failure. (Disclaimer: this is my translation of the second-hand info that I received so I am aiming for the basic idea of what happened. If you are a health care professional and what I'm saying sounds completely wrong, please let me know!). Daddy went straight to a regular room after recovery, sans any IVs or other tubes besides oxygen. I got to see him for about 30 minutes before I had to leave, and he said that he feels better than he has in 2 or 3 weeks: "My head is finally clear." He said he had some pain in his side where the incisions were, and was already lobbying to get the catheter out (which they removed before I left), but felt better than he did before the procedure. (I imagine that he had some pain meds in him still so here's hoping that he still feels the same when they wear off!). If all goes well, they will let him go home tomorrow. They indicated that they will watch him closely for the next 24 hrs to make sure that his kidneys function as they should, and that his blood clots properly (apparently after this type of surgery sometimes the body reacts by clotting abnormally). Daddy will have to pump his shunt twice a day to make it do its job, and where he has to pump is very close to the incision because of how tall he is (long torso), so he will probably be pretty sore for a couple of weeks in that spot. Please pray for a smooth recovery, and that he will get to come home tomorrow. I will update again tomorrow or if anything changes.

On a lighter note, he was something of a celebrity on the post-surgical hall -- most of the nurses on that floor took care of him during his 2 month stay earlier in the year, and they were all coming by to say hello. They were all excited to see him doing so well because Daddy was still pretty sick when he left the hospital in July. And I think it was encouraging for him and Mom to hear the staff comment on how good he looks and how well he is doing.

Procedure reminder

Daddy will be having a "Denver shunt" placed this Wed., Dec. 8. They have to be at the hospital at 5:30 (!) and the procedure will be done at 7:30am. This is supposed to relieve the fluid build-up in his abdomen (which, I meant to point out in the last post, is why he and Wendi were comparing bellies -- because of the fluid and his hernia, he had to go get some suspenders!). I've read up some on this shunt, and apparently they typically use it for patients with cirrhosis of the liver, but they have occasionally used it for patients who are having problems post-surgery (like Daddy). I have some questions about all that's going on but my understanding is that the vein that the tumor was close to is compromised, and likely will not get better, and they expect the shunt to be permanent at this point. I hope to speak with the surgeon this week and get a better understanding of everything. Also, Daddy has been having significant pain in his shoulder, which his PCP has diagnosed as bursitis, but it concerns me. He has a CT scan at the end of December, so hopefully that will provide clarity on what's causing the pain. Please pray that all will go smoothly on Wed., and that he will get to come home by Fri. And pray for peace for us.