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