RELEASED!

Thank you all so much for praying!  The last couple of weeks have been "an experience" and we are happy to say that things are improved!

Today is Tuesday and Dan is being released from the hospital this morning.  He has an appointment (made weeks ago) across the parking lot at 11 am so we are pushing to get out of here by then. 

Dr. Crane is pleased with Dan's progress, as are we!  He has been on oral meds for 48 hours now and has been eating well.  NO NAUSEA!  And his thinking is much clearer, which is a relief to both of us!  They will take a month to wean him off if the steroids, which they have been using to fight the swelling in his brain. 

The appointment later this morning is with Dr. Breneman, the oncology radiologist. He will be checking on the tumor on Dan's rib where they did radiation a couple of weeks ago and we will be discussing the swelling from the brain radiation as well.

While no one likes to be in the hospital, we felt his stay here was as comfortable as one could hope for.  The room is private (they all are here) and spacious.  The only noise is from neighboring rooms raising or lowering their window shades or from the electronic machines in the room such as his automatically adjusting mattress and the IV regulator.  The wall of windows to the outside makes the room seem even larger.

The hospital is located in  a large commercial area which made getting food/coffee for me easier and helped me more easily augment the hospital meals for Dan......anything to encourage his eating!  

The staff has been pleasant and attentive and we are so grateful for so many blessings in the midst of this hard time!  Emails, phone calls, cards, flowers, dog sitting,  food and visits from so many friends....and prayers untold!  

The plan is to try to keep him "balanced" with his meds now for the rest of this week and then restart his chemo on Monday.  I am hoping the chemo had nothing to do with all of the nausea and that the reintroduction will happen seamlessly.

So.....thank you all for your loving support and please continue to pray for us as we adjust to managing it all at home, especially that we would REMEMBER that God is our Fortress and our Comfort and all is in His faithful and GOOD hands!  

WEDNESDAY'S ENCOURAGEMENT

Dear Friends and Family,

It is early morning...I'm sitting in the dark in Dan's hospital room as I type this;  he is still sleepy..dozing on and off.  The massive amounts of drugs he is on does that to you.

I had  been having a lot of trouble sleeping so yesterday Dan sent me home mid afternoon to rest and try to get to bed early.  Since I didn't have to let the dog out (Tom took her to his home) it allowed me the freedom to go to bed earlier, whenever I felt I could go to sleep.  So I just sort of crashed on the couch for the late afternoon and early evening, trying NOT to nap too much, so that I would have a better chance of sleeping through the night.

I managed to get to sleep a little after 9 p.m. and not awaken until 5:15 a.m.  That is pretty good compared to my recent track record...so I'm THANKFUL!

Last night while I was relaxing at home, Dr. Crane called Dan to tell him that the MRI showed swelling in his brain where the last radiation was done.  That may not sound like good news, but actually, it really IS!  There are drugs that can lessen the swelling and that should give us a better chance of controlling nausea from the chemo and pain medicines much more effectively.  I just found this out this morning.  Dan had not called b/c he did not want to wake me if I were asleep and when I tried to call him at 8 p.m., he was already asleep.   :-)

The docs still have to get him set up on the new med to deal with the swelling effectively and then get the others working in sync so that he can eat and be relatively pain free.

So, we praise GOD for some answers as to what the problem is and petition Him for effective solutions!  Thank you all for praying with us and for us!  We are so grateful for your  walking through this with us!   Jodee (and Dan)

TUESDAY UPDATE:

After only 48 hours at home, Dan has been re-admitted to West Chester Hospital. The nausea persisted and he was unable to keep anything down the last 24 of those 48 hours. So after calling the oncologist this morning, he asked us to come in. After a chat, he ordered an MRI to rule out swelling from the radiation on his brain a couple of weeks ago, or any new tumors, and gently suggested going back into the hospital. It wasn't something Dan was excited about, but he felt so bad, he agreed without much urging. I was already convinced that would be the quickest path to a resolution even though his first stay didn't give us the answers we were seeking. 

Tom and Karla have taken Cocoa home with them so I don't have to time my hospital visits around her needs. That is helpful. And Meg is coming down for a quick visit tomorrow evening. 

Now if I can just get a good night's sleep..........