Foot problems

Today, the doctor's aspirated some of the fluid in dad's very swollen foot to determine the problem. They ruled out gout...but figured it was some kind of infection in his foot. That seems to fit into the puzzle of his slight fever yesterday and VERY painful ankle. His doctor sent the fluid to the lab to see exactly which antibiotic was needed to wipe out the infection. Dad has been on antibiotics the entire hospital stay, but obviously a different one is needed to kill the germs affecting his foot problems. Heidi and I will be back tomorrow evening for another foot massage if he doesn't have any complains. Love you dad!

Breathing problems

Yesterday was kind of scary for dad. He received some more blood followed by a bag of platelets. About twenty minutes following the platelets, Dad said he had a tickle in his throat, causing him to cough. He was having a very difficult time breathing. After trying to control his shortness of breath, Dad finally asked Heidi and I to go get the nurses for some help. They came and gave him an oral medication - Atavan - and the respiratory therapist administered a breathing treatment. Following both of these, dad was finally able to catch his breath...thus relieving both his asthmatic and anxiety tendencies. We thought for sure he was going to want a nap after all that. Instead, he asked for a wheel chair so he could see some different walls. Heidi and I wheeled him around the fifth floor while one of his nurses changed his bedding. We then gave him with a sponge bath using some warmed-up, aloe-smothered, wet wipes. It's amazing how much he appreciated such a simple bath! After easing him into his cleaned chair, Heidi and I applied lotion, lotion, and more lotion to his swollen, painful, dry, itchy ankles. If he were a cat, we would have been able to hear him purr. He was wiped out after such an exciting afternoon so Heidi and I left so he could rest. Good night dad!! We love you!

A Hairy Ordeal

Dad started to loose his hair on Christmas, what a gift! Nick talked to dad the day after and he seemed ready to shave his head. We decided to go to the hospital all shaven ourselves to show our love and support. These are some of the fun pics from our shaving party.

John

Mark

Heidi

Danny

Nick

After with our loving spouses. Thanks!

We shaved our heads at Jenny's house then headed to the hospital to help dad with his.

These are some of Dad's reactions to our naked heads. Surprise, surprise, and surprise!

These are the baldies that came to the hospital to surprise Dad.

Danny, Nick, Heidi, Mark, & John

Dad was showing us just how easy it was to pull clumps of hair from his head with little effort. I tried it, but it was a little more effort than I wanted to put forth. I felt like I was hurting him. The hair came right from the roots and after shaving it you could tell where he had pulled out his hair.

Time for a haircut! Dad was o.k. with Nick shaving his head knowing it was all going to fall out anyway. Hopefully Dad doesn't feel so alone having a bald head. There are quite a few of us that are feeling his pain...if you know what I mean. I know for a fact we will think of him very often!

I'll tell you one thing, you never know how drafty places can be until you have a bald head. I think it is a heaven sent barometer. Nick used the electric clippers first to get the majority of his hair, then he used dad's electric razor. He had to be extremely careful with Dad's scalp. Any cut could be a major ordeal with Dad's blood being so thin and having no platelets.

Travis, Katie, Christian, and Braxton shaved their heads too. I'm not sure who is going to need the most moral support during this... Dad... or the other shaven heads! ;-]

We are so grateful to the spouses that are supportive!

We all love you so much we had to use different means to try and express ourselves.
Jenny, John, Heidi, Mark, Danny, Alicia, Nick, Autumn, Mom, & Dad pictured left to right.

As Jenny put it so sweetly... We love you Daddy Warbucks!

Happy Christmas Eve!

When I saw Dad on Wednesday he seemed to be doing so much better. He still gets tired easily, but his daily duties didn't seem quite so taxing. This is only from an outsiders perspective, I can't imagine all the emotional, and physical stresses he has to deal with. I love ya dad!

A big THANKS to those involved in bringing the holidays to dad with a cute tree, lights, and wonderful saying. (I'm guessing Jenny and Mom were involved...mickey...frogs... 'nuf said)


These are the "tighty whiteys" I was talking about a few posts back. They are still very tight, but as you can see by the creases in them, they have relieved his swelling by a small margin.

They have a long way to go before they reach Dad's usual chicken legs. No offense Dad, but I know you don't usually sport Kankles. (snicker, chuckle, LOL!)

I loved spending time with Dad. We took a couple walks, had lunch, and he really loved talking about photography. I love hearing him talk about things he is really passionate about. It's both cute and intriguing. Thanks for all the great tips Dad!

Dad found a chair that he can get in and out of easily. Yay! I did succeed in catapulting him once while trying to get him out of the lying position. Sorry dad for the whiplash :]

After looking at all these pictures you can see that dad is doing a lot better. He had a chance to move to a bigger, nicer room. He is constantly eating popsicles or Jamba juices and he can walk to the bathroom by himself. That is a good thing. He is happier and has MUCH MORE LIFE now that he has good blood and good medicine and is done with the Chemotherapy. I hope you all have a chance to post something to the blog and to enjoy the connection we have to dad over the pictures and information shared.

Dads new addiction is a safe one. He is in love with popsicles. He loves Rootbeer the best and then Cherry, and then whatever is left over. He also loves the Jamba juices and how he can eat a part of it and then freeze the balance of it and finish it later. As you can see he is looking better. His eyes are not as swollen with bags under them and he has a full head of hair still. You can see his smile if you can see past the popsicle :) LOVE YOU DAD.

And on the left hand side of the screen we have a normal, EXTREMELY WHITE, motherly kind of foot/leg and on the right side of the screen we have an EXTREMELY WHITE, Fatherly kind of leg that is VERY SWOLLEN and has completely lost its wrinkles . This is the result of so many different fluids, IV's, etc. Check out these stems, wow, and to think that someday we might have EXTREMELY WHITE legs cause its in our genes or covered by JEANS :) LOL

The night we moved dad from the west wing of the hospital to his new corner office the nurses were happy, playing, having fun, it was a good time. We got done changing his badge and cleaning him up about 11pm that night and they were here around 10pm and it was just a party :)

It is quite a process sometimes and sometimes its just a BIG PARTY. This night, mom and the nurse and the other nurse are all working on dads port, changing it, cleaning it, taking care of it and just taking care of him in general. As you can see, they are pretty good about their face masks on, their gloves on and keeping sanitary.

Here is dads port. He gets it cleaned daily. They clean it with alcohol wipes, make sure there is no dry blood around it and put a new dressing over it.

Dads arms are doing TONS better. His rashes are drying up and his skin is peeling off. He is getting a bunch of new skin under all the other skin that is falling off. He gets huge chunks of skin that he peels off and it gets better daily.

Dad is having a breathing treatment, he does it nightly. He does it so he can breathe better and sleep better. It just makes him feel better in general.

ET Phone home :) This little machine is the walking brains of the 5th floor halls. It is drug around by all the nurses, it scans their wristbands, it tracks the medications given and the blood pressure, the blood sugars etc.

So its been a couple days since I posted last but life in the big house is still happening :) Dad has visitors everyday and I know he really likes it. In this picture of mom it shows her moving the cart away from the wall getting ready to move from his old room into his new corner office with a view. Dad is pretty excited about his promotion within the Hospital, he is considered the employee of the month since he is getting promoted from a single bunker into a double bunker (corner office with a view) and its actually 2 WHOLE rooms to himself :) OK,OK, he was just living in a single room and they had space to move him into a more comfortable room that was attached to another room so when family came he could have more sitting, standin, visiting room.

You can also see that mom and the attack frogs have struck again. They are multiplying like rabbits and everyday there are more frogs for dad to find. I guess what happens is, MOM brings another new frog to dads room each day and then dad has to try and find it, mom writes the total number of frugs that have been "placed" around the room. It looks like the princess is going to have a lot of making out or I mean, making up to do with all those frogs :)

Jenny was VERY thoughtfull and brought up a VERY NICE Christmas tree that was lit with lights and had ornaments hanging from it, she also hung ornaments around the room for more decoration.

Tighty Whities...Special Edition

I went to see Dad yesterday and really enjoyed his company. He seems to be doing a little better. It didn't seem to be nearly as taxing for him to get up to use the restroom, and he took off the oxygen for the last hour I was there. The nurse brought in some white stockings that were more like a really tight pair of thick nylons. The tights were to try and help with the swelling in Dad's legs and feet. It was like buying three sizes too small and trying to squeeze in. The nurse did really good and I even got to wrestle with it a bit. I guess you could say I helped dad into his first pair of "tights". I love spending time with you Dad, I hope you continue to feel better as the days pass.
~Heidi~

Dad wants EVERYONE to know how much he loves and appreciates everything that you are all doing. He thanks everyone for the calls, the letters, the notes, the prayers and the love. Sometimes he doesnt answer the phone or the door but its not because he doesnt want to see you, its because he is WORE OUT and exhausted!! Tell everyone you see that knows dad that he is doing ok and is going to make it. Let them know to pray for him, that is about all they can do at this point. Everyone that calls asks "What can I do" and that is the answer "Pray for him".

So I went to see dad on Wednesday night and he was feeling horrible. He was swollen, was bloated, his tummy hurt, he had 5 - 8 tubes in him all day and was just plain miserable. He felt like he couldnt breath because he was retaining more fluids than he could pass. He was trying really hard to sit up in bed, to lay in different positions and just try to get comfy. He really struggled with the day and was exhausted when it was all done.

BUT..........

Thursday was a whole different ball of wax. He was happy, cheerful, teasing and just having a better day all around and the reason why is GOOD BLOOD. They gave him 2 units of GOOD BLOOD. What happens to our blood when you get chemotherapy is that it kills the blood and makes it worthless basically. The new GOOD BLOOD was like a breath of fresh air and a good nights sleep. It gave him energy, made him feel relaxed and a whole lot better.

The POWER of Service

T0day I was able to spend some time with Dad.

My heart was filled...

It was a wonderful opportunity to serve him and be with him for the day. I loved every minute. Dad has always been willing to help in any capacity when I have been in need. It was the best experience being able to be there for him. Thanks for allowing me to help Dad. I LOVE my time with you!

The day didn't go without any jokes... then again I was with Dad. He had quite a few I.V.'s going today and the nurse had to bring in an extra pump, so there were 5 pumps on this one I.V. pole. While the nurse was hooking him up he joked with her.

Dad: "You know it is going to be sad when my obituary reads 'Man killed within days of recovering from Leukemia by an I.V pole that fell on him.' "

The nurses face was priceless. She was great at giving him a laugh or two of her own. I'm so glad that today was one for optimism. Thanks for being a good sport dad!

~Heidi~

Little prayers

The missionaries dropped this card off to say hi and wish gods blessings upon him. He is always there watching over us, praying for us, watching out for us. He will ALWAYS be there.

Can you say...... TIRED !!

If you had a nurse checking your sugars, your blood, your oxygen, your heartrate, your temperature every 15 minutes then you would be tired too. This picture shows dad on oxygen because he is having a hard time breathing due to all the fluids they are pumping into his body. He is still smiling though, hang in there dad, we are there for you :)