I went by this afternoon to visit Daddy and to take him some clean clothes. I was happy to find him sleeping soundly. Aunt Janie spent the day with him today and yesterday...Bless her! He has had a couple of visitors the last few days, as well. I didn't stay for long because he is very tired, and I know he feels like he has to talk and entertain. He and Aunt Janie have an understanding and they seem to do well together. What he needs the most right now is to be able to rest comfortably for longer periods at a time.
When Dr. Agura came by today he confirmed that the only thing we can schedule right now is that Daddy will move into the apartment on Thursday. He will then go to the clinic everyday. At some point, he should decrease his visits to every other day, but there is no way to know when that will take place. It is just a "wait and see" situation.
Last night was the most restful night he has had so far. They are still working to remove the extra water weight, so frequent trips to the bathroom hinder his sleep. TeeLee is planning a trip to the hospital in the morning, so she should be able to give an update by tomorrow afternoon. Thank you again for continuing to keep Daddy in your prayers!!
Wendee
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Monday, April 6, 2009
Weekend Recap
Well as of today, Daddy has finished 2 rounds of different chemo drugs. He finished the 2nd and longest round shortly before bed last night, so we are hopeful that "The Clown" left him alone last night and he was able to get a good night's sleep. We are also hopeful that the medication to help shed the water weight gain will kick in today. Wendee and I had alot of help from our sweet husbands and our sweet Mother this weekend, picking up the slack with our kiddos so that we could take shifts with Daddy. Eric was with Daddy Sunday afternoon and Aunt Janie will be there today. Even though Dad is in the hospital we still feel like someone needs to be with him the majority of the time just to help him process everything that is going on. It's hard to have so much information thrown at you when you are on pain meds and not feeling well.
We would love to help Dad keep his spirits up and I know that hearing from you will be a big lift. If you would like to send a card that we could put up in his room, please feel free to send them to my house and I'll deliver them to him daily. My address is 1326 Havenrock Dr. - Forney, TX 75126.
Thanks for checking in and continuing to keep Daddy in your prayers!
Love,
T
We would love to help Dad keep his spirits up and I know that hearing from you will be a big lift. If you would like to send a card that we could put up in his room, please feel free to send them to my house and I'll deliver them to him daily. My address is 1326 Havenrock Dr. - Forney, TX 75126.
Thanks for checking in and continuing to keep Daddy in your prayers!
Love,
T
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Daddy's nemesis..The Clown
Daddy has an IV pole that he calls "The Clown." The slightest problem causes an alarm to sound and it consistently gets louder and louder until the nurse comes to reset it. Well, it was going off like crazy last night. They had it set to a very sensitive mode due to the nature of his meds, and I bet it went off every 45 minutes to an hour. He finally got so frustrated around 6:00 this morning that he "took it for a walk so that maybe it would behave!" He roamed the halls with this thing going off making all kinds of racket! The nurses finally paid attention when they realized that it was causing this usually compliant patient to get a little bossy! (I'm sure you can't imagine Wally getting bossy, huh?!?! :-))
He has been enjoying the food up until now, but he has decided to switch to a different diet. It is lighter than the standard meals, which is more like how he eats on a daily basis at home. All of the good food he has been getting just doesn't sound as appetizing right now. The steroids and fluids have caused him to gain 20 pounds in one day. He weighed in at 233 lbs. this morning, and he was at 212 on Friday.
Eric is on his way to spend the afternoon watching Nascar and golf here. He bought a new contraption called a Slingbox that is able to access our satellite at home. If he can get it to work properly, it should allow Daddy to view all of his normal channels (including the Golf channel) from the laptop. Keep your fingers crossed! We need Golf TV!!
I'm off to check on Edee! It was my first night away from her, but I think she and her daddy had a great evening and morning!
Thanks for checking in!
Wendee
He has been enjoying the food up until now, but he has decided to switch to a different diet. It is lighter than the standard meals, which is more like how he eats on a daily basis at home. All of the good food he has been getting just doesn't sound as appetizing right now. The steroids and fluids have caused him to gain 20 pounds in one day. He weighed in at 233 lbs. this morning, and he was at 212 on Friday.
Eric is on his way to spend the afternoon watching Nascar and golf here. He bought a new contraption called a Slingbox that is able to access our satellite at home. If he can get it to work properly, it should allow Daddy to view all of his normal channels (including the Golf channel) from the laptop. Keep your fingers crossed! We need Golf TV!!
I'm off to check on Edee! It was my first night away from her, but I think she and her daddy had a great evening and morning!
Thanks for checking in!
Wendee
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Quality Time
Dad and I have had a nice day of quality time. Wendee and I were with him yesterday afternoon and then she headed home and I stayed the night. Dad ate a nice dinner and fell asleep at about 11:00. The Alert went off on his IV at about 4:00am and from then on, we were wide awake. We went for a walk around the unit, made a pot of coffee, and watched a Mercy Me (Contemporary Christian Group) concert on TV. They came in at 8:00 to start a new 34 hour chemo regiment and we are just watching a little TV and relaxing. He's not having any nausea at this point, but still having a little pain and a headache. He's still in really good spirits and his sense of humor and story telling ability are well intact.
Love and prayers!!!
T
Love and prayers!!!
T
Friday, April 3, 2009
Good spirits!!
Just wanted to let everyone know that Daddy has been in great spirits today!! They seem to have his pain under control and he has completed a round of Rituxin (sp?). Surprisingly, he has had really good food and is looking forward to his dinner tray. He has also been giving his nurse, Mercy, a hard time. He has nicknamed her "Misery" or "No Mercy," especially after he learned that she was a fellow golfer. Christy went back to Spicewood to coordinate a place for Mr. Ramzee and to collect some things that she will need for the next couple of weeks. TeeLee is staying tonight (if Daddy will let her), and I will return tomorrow.
Thank you all for your prayers and encouragement! We truly feel it!!
Thank you all for your prayers and encouragement! We truly feel it!!
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Update
Well, I'm not sure where to start, but today was a little stressful for us all. Dad has his PET Scan this morning and we were to meet with the Physician's Assistant to discuss the results at 1:30, as this was Dr. Agura's day off.
After a little over a 3 hour wait, Dr. Agura appeared in the doorway. This did not strike me as a good sign. Sure enough, he told us that Daddy had developed a tumor in his abdomin the size of a grapefruit/cantelope. This development makes it necessary to put off the stem cell transplant for atleast a month. He explained that the chemo used during the transplant would not be strong enough to take care of a tumor this size. Dad was immediately admitted to the hospital to undergo 5 days of 24 hour intensive chemotherapy. The chemo will be followed by 2 weeks of daily follow up visits. At that time we are hopeful that he will be well enough to go home for a week or so and then return to Dallas to start the transplant process.
We did get an amazing sign tonight of exactly who is in control. My favorite bible verse is Proverbs 3:5, as a matter of fact it is part of the automatic signature on all of my e-mails.
We were being escorted to Dad's hospital room tonight and when we got to the door, I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw that someone had printed out and taped to the door, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not unto your own understanding, in all ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your path." Proverbs 3:5 I pointed it out to Wendee and we were pretty amazed at how touching it is for Baylor to put comforting verses on the patient's doors. We got Dad settled and as we were leaving we passed about 20 other hospital rooms. Not one of them had a verse on the door. I was overcome with emotion and peace, knowing that God picked out that room for my Dad because He knew what that sign on the door would mean to us....reminding of that if we just rest in Him, He will take care of everything else.
Today also reminded me of one of my other favorite verses: "The Lord will fight for you, and you must only be still." Exodus 14:14
****Also, we ask that you understand that the next few days are going to be extremely difficult, but we will try to update this blog as often as possible. Daddy has asked that we let you know that he is really not up to visits or phone calls at this time. Should you want any additional information, please feel free to call Wendee at 817-673-2097 or TeeLee at 214-679-4687 or feel free to e-mail us at whoswithwally@gmail.com Thank you so much, in advance, for your prayers and well wishes.*****
After a little over a 3 hour wait, Dr. Agura appeared in the doorway. This did not strike me as a good sign. Sure enough, he told us that Daddy had developed a tumor in his abdomin the size of a grapefruit/cantelope. This development makes it necessary to put off the stem cell transplant for atleast a month. He explained that the chemo used during the transplant would not be strong enough to take care of a tumor this size. Dad was immediately admitted to the hospital to undergo 5 days of 24 hour intensive chemotherapy. The chemo will be followed by 2 weeks of daily follow up visits. At that time we are hopeful that he will be well enough to go home for a week or so and then return to Dallas to start the transplant process.
We did get an amazing sign tonight of exactly who is in control. My favorite bible verse is Proverbs 3:5, as a matter of fact it is part of the automatic signature on all of my e-mails.
We were being escorted to Dad's hospital room tonight and when we got to the door, I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw that someone had printed out and taped to the door, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not unto your own understanding, in all ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your path." Proverbs 3:5 I pointed it out to Wendee and we were pretty amazed at how touching it is for Baylor to put comforting verses on the patient's doors. We got Dad settled and as we were leaving we passed about 20 other hospital rooms. Not one of them had a verse on the door. I was overcome with emotion and peace, knowing that God picked out that room for my Dad because He knew what that sign on the door would mean to us....reminding of that if we just rest in Him, He will take care of everything else.
Today also reminded me of one of my other favorite verses: "The Lord will fight for you, and you must only be still." Exodus 14:14
****Also, we ask that you understand that the next few days are going to be extremely difficult, but we will try to update this blog as often as possible. Daddy has asked that we let you know that he is really not up to visits or phone calls at this time. Should you want any additional information, please feel free to call Wendee at 817-673-2097 or TeeLee at 214-679-4687 or feel free to e-mail us at whoswithwally@gmail.com Thank you so much, in advance, for your prayers and well wishes.*****
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
A Bend in the Road
Hello Everyone,
We are experiencing a little change of plans this week. Dad is having quite a bit of pain in his back and abdomin and the doctors want him to come in tomorrow morning for a PET Scan to see what is going on.
We will meet with a staff member tomorrow afternoon to get the results of the Scan and let you know more then. Please pray that the result are nothing negative and that we can continue on with the original plan of action. We love you and thank you for checking in on the blog!
We are experiencing a little change of plans this week. Dad is having quite a bit of pain in his back and abdomin and the doctors want him to come in tomorrow morning for a PET Scan to see what is going on.
We will meet with a staff member tomorrow afternoon to get the results of the Scan and let you know more then. Please pray that the result are nothing negative and that we can continue on with the original plan of action. We love you and thank you for checking in on the blog!
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