About my dad............

Let me start from the beginning. In May of 2004 when my dad 57 he was diagnosed with leukemia, he was put into remission and we almost lost him two times while he underwent chemotherapy due to infection and organs shutting down. He emerged from this in December about 80 lbs. lighter, weak, yet strong in faith. Since 2004 he has done everything right, eaten correctly, taken the right supplements, taken care of his health and grown spiritually. He became a Eucharistic minister, worked with prison ministry, drove cancer patients to their chemo appointments, etc.etc. This illness changed my father in many ways. He was told that if he could go five years without the leukemia returning he would be cured forever. Each appointment he got good news on his blood counts and the date was approaching. Well, in August of this year he had to evacuate with my mom (they live in Lumberton) due to the hurricane. Then, in September they had to evacuate yet again. I think that this was very stressful for both of them. He was running a low grade fever at this time in the evenings. He didn't tell me any of this except when they evacuated for Ike and stayed in Bryan with us my mom mentioned that he thought that his cancer had returned. He had some blood work the week prior to this to check it out. Well, we all know how Ike was, things in Beaumont were crazy and closed so he waited a long time to get his results since the doctor's office was closed. When he did find out his results we were all shocked. His lymphocytes were up. He called MD Anderson in Houston and let them know his situation (his other doctor was in Galveston and was out of pocket and couldn't be found). They found a bed for him and he and my mom drove down that very day. It was a Thursday. His spirits were good and he was ready for whateve God was ready to hand him. I drove down on that Friday to be with him and stayed until Sunday with my mom at a hotel near MD. He began chemo the following Monday and would be released the following Monday. During this week of chemo he was not himself. He was angry and confused at times of which I blame all of the meds. In the mean time he was told he would be at MD for months off and on with blood work every other day. My dad contacted the American Cancer Society and asked for help finding an affordable apartment near MD. They did find one for him; thanks to the help he did for them with driving patients to their chemo appointments. His ministry paid off!! That Monday he was released my mom had a heart appointment in Beaumont and couldn't be there when he was released. So I was there when they released him. I got all of his prescriptions filled, got all of the discharge information and appointment schedules for the next month and brought him to his new apartment home. He was out of it, tired weak and not eating. He was able to walk somewhat. When he got to the apartment he crashed and I helped my mom decipher his twelve different medications and when to give them. I left for Bryan feeling like things were going to be okay. That night he began running fever and my mom took him to the ER on Tuesday morning. He had an infection of some sort and some sores on his legs that had appeared out of nowhere. He was put into ICU with sepsus and pnemonia. He was in terrible shape, not coherant and weak. He wasn't making sense if or when he did talk. I was so scared, I really thought that we would lose him. The sent infectious disease specialists to look at and biopsy his sores to see what they were so that he could be treated. I never dreamed that everything could turn for the worse this quickly. Finally they were able to find out that part of the infection was coming from his port. He had a port from four years ago and a new port that they had put in. They removed the new port and after days he was still not better. So then they decided that his other port was infected. After being in ICU for five days they moved him back to the floor that he was on before. He was hallucinating, not talking, not eating and getting worse. Once they figured out how to treat his infection they began other antibiotics. He was not responding and we found out that the reason that this was happening was because he had no white blood cells for the antibiotics to work with and his marrow was not producing. He needed other people's white blood cells. My mom and I sent out a mass email asking people to donate. Only donating was not an easy task, you had to be screened one day, the next day you took another screening and then that night you would give yourself a shot and take two steroid pills before you donated. Only one person could donate per day and my dad could only get one bag per day. We found this out on a Saturday which meant that they first day that he could get any white blood cells was on Wednesday. Luckily we were able to line up enough people - PRAISE GOD for those selfless people. I know that this was not easy for anyone involved, my sister in law donated, my friend Megan and her mom, three family friends and a complete stranger. The outreach by everyone was phenomenal and very moving. I had people calling me who none of us knew who had received a forwarded email and wanted to help. It was amazing. After five days of getting WBC's his infection was still there and his counts were not improving. He needed to get the port out because the WBC's were going directly to the port and not helping any other part of his infected body. His platelet count was too low to take it out because he would bleed to death. He was getting at least one bag of platelets, whole blood and WBC's per day. I was down for the weekend and donated my platelets. Since I am his only living offspring and share the same blood type our platelets would be more likely to mesh and bring up his counts. The Friday before this his platelet count went down from 19 to 3 after three bags of platelets. I did't understand this, he needed to get the port out. On the Sunday that he got mine his count went from 19 to 39. He needed a count of 29 to be able to get the port out. To make a long story short he got the port out the next day. We felt that he was on the road to recovery...wrong again. The next two weeks turned out to be hard also. He was weak, he was not eating, did not have an infection but just couldn't stay awake, he would fall asleep mid sentence. The doctor had mentioned putting him in a rehab hospital to get him eating, up and moving since he was only laying in bed at MD. Sometime during the next week he began speaking very incoherantly, not making sense. The doctor did a MRI to see if he had had a stroke or if the leukemia had gone to his brain. We were so scared. We waited several days for these results. I felt like my dad had given up. I was angry and scared. He had gone through so much to give up at a point that he was making headway. The next week he was brought to a rehab hospital two blocks from MD. As of today, 11/18/08 he has been there for two weeks. I saw him last weekend and he was walking (with the help of two therapists)- I could not believe my eyes. They are giving him medication to increase his appetite and it seems to be working. He is at least picking at his food. He has lost about 50 lbs. and is frail. But, he is coherent and calls me several times a day. He still needs help getting out of bed but the will is there. Yesterday he began running fever yet again and they took out his port once again. He also has a new sore on his thigh and they are unsure of its origin. We will wait for the biopsy results. They may release him next Tuesday, two days before Thanksgiving. What a thing to be thankful for. He will definitely be weak and will need help and assistance. Begining December 2 or so he will go to MD for his blood work ups and lumbar punctures every other day. From this point they will schedule his next round of chemo (we have been told that it won't be so bad this time) to put him in remission. Then comes the hard time - THE BONEMARROW TRANSPLANT. We will pray that his body will accept the healthy marrow so that he will be through with this disease FOREVER!! This illness has been terrible. I have seen my dad at his worst, unable to talk, unable to feed himself, unable to walk, wearing diapers, and crying for help. BUT, he has never given up hope in the Lord. He is ready for whatever God has in store for him. My dad is a very manly man who has been stripped of his integrity over and over. But, he still trusts in God. I also want to say something about my mom. She has been through so much with this ordeal yet she has remained strong. I am so proud of her strength and courage during this time. She visits him every day and tries to bring him comfort and hope. I know that she has had a lot to deal with beyond my father with now selling their home in Lumberton and with her own health. I love you mom and keep the faith! Dad is getting better and he will make it through this. The best is yet to come!!!