Today was an average day for my dad. He said that he felt pretty miserable and was just plum worn out when I talked to him this morning. I talked with him this morning and again this afternoon. This morning he was not doing well.....tired and groggy. He did go exercise and said that he felt better afterwards. That was a relief also.
This afternoon he called me and was doing much better. He had taken a nap and was rested. He talked to the boys and was joking around with them which really relieved me. Any laughter at this point is gladly accepted.
Tomorrow he says that he will begin his two days of chemotherapy and anti-rejection drugs. It may be a rough day. I will post tomorrow.
God bless all of you!
Keep the prayers coming!
-Natalie
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Wednesday Update....
Well this morning my dad called me at about 7:45 to let me know that he was feeling well and that I did not need to worry. He said that he was a little bit woozy and tired but other than that he was feeling "good". This is a discriptive word that he has not used since September.... WOW!
We played phone tag off and on all day and he left me two voice mails. Finally after school I was able to speak with him and he sounded great! He sounded tired because they had given him benadryl before they gave him a bag of gamoglobin. He said that he has eaten, attended exercise class (PT) and had walked a little bit. I am just so thankful that his spirits are up and that things are looking up!
I will post tomorrow to let you know how he is doing.... honestly I feel that this next week will be a roller coaster ride.... he will have good days and bad days.
Thanks be to God for the good days!
Thank-you again for the prayers!
-Natalie
We played phone tag off and on all day and he left me two voice mails. Finally after school I was able to speak with him and he sounded great! He sounded tired because they had given him benadryl before they gave him a bag of gamoglobin. He said that he has eaten, attended exercise class (PT) and had walked a little bit. I am just so thankful that his spirits are up and that things are looking up!
I will post tomorrow to let you know how he is doing.... honestly I feel that this next week will be a roller coaster ride.... he will have good days and bad days.
Thanks be to God for the good days!
Thank-you again for the prayers!
-Natalie
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
I got word.... all is well for now!
Well right after I posted my mom called me and I had to head out the door with the boys for baseball practice.
My dad got his four bags and all is well. He was not put to sleep like was originally planned. When I talked to him for a couple of seconds because he was so tired he sounded fine; just tired. He had been up all day awaiting the transplant and didn't get a chance to rest.
I pray that tonight he will get a good night's sleep and wake up feeling like a new man. The doctor says that it will take three or four days before he most likely will feel the efffects and his body may reject it... at that point he gets more chemo..
I will update tomorrow.
Please continue to pray!
God bless all of you!
-Natalie
My dad got his four bags and all is well. He was not put to sleep like was originally planned. When I talked to him for a couple of seconds because he was so tired he sounded fine; just tired. He had been up all day awaiting the transplant and didn't get a chance to rest.
I pray that tonight he will get a good night's sleep and wake up feeling like a new man. The doctor says that it will take three or four days before he most likely will feel the efffects and his body may reject it... at that point he gets more chemo..
I will update tomorrow.
Please continue to pray!
God bless all of you!
-Natalie
Today is the day..
Well I am sitting here waiting for the call that all is good. He was supposed to have the transplant this morning, then he texted me and said 12:00, then he texted me and said 2:30. So, I am sure that he is finished but I haven't heard anything.
The four bag drip was supposed to take 45 minutes to complete and he was to be put to sleep for it and a nurse was going to be with him for the time.
I will post tonight about what happened.
Keep the prayers coming please!!!
-Natalie
The four bag drip was supposed to take 45 minutes to complete and he was to be put to sleep for it and a nurse was going to be with him for the time.
I will post tonight about what happened.
Keep the prayers coming please!!!
-Natalie
Friday, April 10, 2009
.....Easter at MD Anderson.....
So, I am here with my dad right now at MD Anderson. He was admitted last Sunday and began chemo on Monday.... so far so good!! He is in great spirits. Today is Good Friday and he has three more days of chemo... then on Tuesday he will get his transplant!!! Thus far (knock on wood and Thanks be to God) he has not gotten sick. He has called me about five or six times a day to tell me how he is doing and this morning at about 10:30 he was a little whacked out. But, he is okay now (and he is sitting next to me) that the chemicals have made their way through his system.
His room is HUGE and the nurses and staff are really taking great care of him. Tomorrow I think will be a bummer for him. Up until now he has had chemo (called Busulfan and Fludarabine) but tomorrow he will get this and ATG (the anti rejection drug for the transplant). I am so glad to be here with him. My mom went to Kerrville to unpack the boxes for their new place while he was here and being cared before. She will probably get back here tomorrow or Saturday. I know that she must be exhausted.
He has enjoyed playing with his new Ipod touch that my mom got him for his birthday (that is April 25th) and can get email, etc. on it. If you email him he will be able to read it on it. Right now he is listening to the Holy Rosary on it. Prayers from all of you have gotten him to this point and will get him through the transplant successfully. Thank-you very much to all of you!!!
God bless and Happy Easter!
He is risen! <3>
-Natalie
His room is HUGE and the nurses and staff are really taking great care of him. Tomorrow I think will be a bummer for him. Up until now he has had chemo (called Busulfan and Fludarabine) but tomorrow he will get this and ATG (the anti rejection drug for the transplant). I am so glad to be here with him. My mom went to Kerrville to unpack the boxes for their new place while he was here and being cared before. She will probably get back here tomorrow or Saturday. I know that she must be exhausted.
He has enjoyed playing with his new Ipod touch that my mom got him for his birthday (that is April 25th) and can get email, etc. on it. If you email him he will be able to read it on it. Right now he is listening to the Holy Rosary on it. Prayers from all of you have gotten him to this point and will get him through the transplant successfully. Thank-you very much to all of you!!!
God bless and Happy Easter!
He is risen! <3>
-Natalie
Friday, March 20, 2009
~*~*~*The Transplant Is ON!!!~*~*~*~
Once again, my apologies for not writing..... BUT.....
Well, after an emotional and up and down week full of doctor's appointments my dad has an OFFICIAL DATE!!!
This week he has had many routine appointments and LONG days at MD Anderson (sometimes more than 12 hour days) including transfusions, platelets, whole blood, potassium and magnesium drips, cat scans, bone marrow aspirations, dental appointments (to check out his teeth before the transplant), etc. etc. He is such a trooper, and my mom is right there by his side for all of this!
On Wednesday we had QUITE THE SCARE!! My dad's bone marrow initially showed that his cancer had returned and they were going to put him back in the hospital on Thursday to begin chemo immediately. BUT after the pathologist looked at his blood more closely (like one milliliter at a time counting his lymphocytes one at a time) they discovered that his bone marrow had not changed. THANK- GOODNESS, it was a very emotional day knowing that his transplant would be postponed yet again (and remembering all he went through since September when he had his last round of chemo we were all stressed!)
IF ALL GOES AS PLANNED AND GOD IS WILLING, he will go in on April the 5th to begin chemotherapy... they want to insure that he has no cancer hiding anywhere in his body... he will be really sick and out of it....pumped full of steroids (which make him really agressive) and other meds to keep him together. Then on April 12th he will have his infusion of bone marrow from the donor. It will be touch and go for lots of days as we wait to see if his body accepts or rejects its new DNA and bone marrow. Some people that my parents have met through this process report feeling wonderful immediately and some have been on the opposite end of that spectrum. In my heart I just know that he is going to feel great! From this point on he will be in a separate ward for thirty days healing and hopefully eating, walking and regaining his strength. Sometime after this he will be sent home ( my mom is getting another apartment in MD Anderson for this period of time ) and will have to return to MD Anderson (which will techinically be there home ) every other day for ???? I am not sure how long. ........
PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE continue to pray for my dad! He needs all of our thoughts and prayers. His emotional state is at least half of this battle and thus far he is strong in this area thanks to God and all of our prayers! Please pray for my mother's strength, the donor's safety and health, the doctor's wisdom and knowledge and for his guardian angels (my sister Stephanie is one of them) to be with him at this scary and risky time.
God bless all of you..... Just so you know my dad refuses to look at this blog... he does not want to see the past and how he looked..... he wants to look toward the future....... if you would like to email him and don't know his address it is capt135a@yahoo.com I know that he would love to hear from you!
I will post again soo.... TTYL!!! :)
Well, after an emotional and up and down week full of doctor's appointments my dad has an OFFICIAL DATE!!!
This week he has had many routine appointments and LONG days at MD Anderson (sometimes more than 12 hour days) including transfusions, platelets, whole blood, potassium and magnesium drips, cat scans, bone marrow aspirations, dental appointments (to check out his teeth before the transplant), etc. etc. He is such a trooper, and my mom is right there by his side for all of this!
On Wednesday we had QUITE THE SCARE!! My dad's bone marrow initially showed that his cancer had returned and they were going to put him back in the hospital on Thursday to begin chemo immediately. BUT after the pathologist looked at his blood more closely (like one milliliter at a time counting his lymphocytes one at a time) they discovered that his bone marrow had not changed. THANK- GOODNESS, it was a very emotional day knowing that his transplant would be postponed yet again (and remembering all he went through since September when he had his last round of chemo we were all stressed!)
IF ALL GOES AS PLANNED AND GOD IS WILLING, he will go in on April the 5th to begin chemotherapy... they want to insure that he has no cancer hiding anywhere in his body... he will be really sick and out of it....pumped full of steroids (which make him really agressive) and other meds to keep him together. Then on April 12th he will have his infusion of bone marrow from the donor. It will be touch and go for lots of days as we wait to see if his body accepts or rejects its new DNA and bone marrow. Some people that my parents have met through this process report feeling wonderful immediately and some have been on the opposite end of that spectrum. In my heart I just know that he is going to feel great! From this point on he will be in a separate ward for thirty days healing and hopefully eating, walking and regaining his strength. Sometime after this he will be sent home ( my mom is getting another apartment in MD Anderson for this period of time ) and will have to return to MD Anderson (which will techinically be there home ) every other day for ???? I am not sure how long. ........
PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE continue to pray for my dad! He needs all of our thoughts and prayers. His emotional state is at least half of this battle and thus far he is strong in this area thanks to God and all of our prayers! Please pray for my mother's strength, the donor's safety and health, the doctor's wisdom and knowledge and for his guardian angels (my sister Stephanie is one of them) to be with him at this scary and risky time.
God bless all of you..... Just so you know my dad refuses to look at this blog... he does not want to see the past and how he looked..... he wants to look toward the future....... if you would like to email him and don't know his address it is capt135a@yahoo.com I know that he would love to hear from you!
I will post again soo.... TTYL!!! :)
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
More GREAT news from the transplant doctor on Monday!
On Monday my dad had an appointment with his transplant doctor and he got more great news!!
He will have his transplant this month on either the 23rd or the 31st depending on when the donor can arrive. I am sure that next week he will have it scheduled!
He is feeling much better, is walking "everywhere" according to my mom.
Yesterday she called me when they were at the grocery store and she said that he was walking and pushing the cart and not in one of those skooters like he has been in the past!
What an accomplishment. I am going to visit them for the weekend and am looking forward to it!
I will post more details as they come available on his transplant.
PLEASE continue to pray for him - pray for his donor to have a safe journey and transplant procedure, pray for his doctors to have the wisdom to do what is right for my dad, pray for my mom to continue to have patience, rest and comfort in the Lord, pray for my dad's body to not reject the new bone marrow, for no side effects from the medications, for him to be free of any infections or viruses while in isolation (and afterwards), for his body to function as it has been (it has been very strong and has withstood A LOT), for his mind and spirit to remain focused on a positive outcome from this process and for comfort and peace for my dad while he endures this very long and risky procedure.
God bless all of you, thanks for caring and praying!
-Natalie- :)
He will have his transplant this month on either the 23rd or the 31st depending on when the donor can arrive. I am sure that next week he will have it scheduled!
He is feeling much better, is walking "everywhere" according to my mom.
Yesterday she called me when they were at the grocery store and she said that he was walking and pushing the cart and not in one of those skooters like he has been in the past!
What an accomplishment. I am going to visit them for the weekend and am looking forward to it!
I will post more details as they come available on his transplant.
PLEASE continue to pray for him - pray for his donor to have a safe journey and transplant procedure, pray for his doctors to have the wisdom to do what is right for my dad, pray for my mom to continue to have patience, rest and comfort in the Lord, pray for my dad's body to not reject the new bone marrow, for no side effects from the medications, for him to be free of any infections or viruses while in isolation (and afterwards), for his body to function as it has been (it has been very strong and has withstood A LOT), for his mind and spirit to remain focused on a positive outcome from this process and for comfort and peace for my dad while he endures this very long and risky procedure.
God bless all of you, thanks for caring and praying!
-Natalie- :)
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