Wednesday, June 29

Today was chemo session number 4.  He and Clara had a long day today. They spent from 10am to 4pm at chemo, then he had to go get a shot for his low wbc's.  Then they took a trip over to Woodwind to check a few things out.  When I talked to him tonight about 9pm he and Clara were pretty tired.  We talked about a few things that he's worried about, I told him to relax and get some sleep, the we would take care of them.  He has to go tomorrow to get a blood transfusion, in the morning, which will take a couple of hours.  He's not having a good time right now, and he's getting a lot of needles stuck in him.  But he's hanging on like a real trooper.  We kids will have to take turns on responsibility of watching over Woodwind while it's on the market until it sells. It is listed at $215,000. 

Sunday June 26 2011

Cyndi and I went over to Woodwind, with Mom, to visit with Dad.  We were coming from taking Mom to dinner for her birthday.  We took her to Olive Garden and had a great visit.
Dad was just finishing up dinner, and Jeff was watching a movie.  We sat down and visited and a little while later Gregg showed up.  We discussed several things, including the remaining terms of his chemo, and how to handle the sale of Woodwind since the summer selling season is rolling along .  We had an appraisal done, and were pleasantly surprised. It appears house values in that area of Pantego have actually been increasing! We discussed some minor repairs and maintenance that it needs to have done.  We left and took Mom home and headed back to Rockwall.  Jeff stayed again last night with him.
He should be heading back over to Clara's house sometime today.  Jeff will be helping him with that move.
All in all, the four kids were able to handle the situation well, without a hitch.  The week's gone by and he's weathered a few minor storms, but all is good for now.

All Day Today

This is the week that Clara has company at her house.  So Dad is back at Woodwind until Sunday.  Kim and Russell helped get him from Clara's to Woodwind, then stayed with him until around 6pm.  Then Cyndi and I brought over dinner, and Gregg arrived, and Kim and Russell left. Dad, Gregg, Cyndi and I had lamb chops, mashed potatoes, and asparagus.  It was a good dinner.  Dad ate well.  Gregg left about nine.

Today was a busy day.  We bought him a portable CD player to listen to music, and Cyndi bought him three books-on-CD to listen to.  He also has a vast collection of music CD's to listen to.  He didn't want anything digital.  We had a short trip tot he Doctor in the afternoon for a shot to help his low red and white blood cells (a side-effect of the chemo) and we were back home by 3:00 o'clock.  The rest of the day was quiet, and Gregg arrived about 5:00 to take over the next shift.  Jeff will come in on Friday around 5:00 and watch Dad throught Sunday morning.  Gregg and Kim will help him through the weekend.
Dad will be at the Woodwind house through Sunday around noon. So you can call him at the house or on his cell if you want to talk to him. He does have his good days and some bad days.  Today was a pretty good day, all things considered.

Dad, Kassidy and Penelope on Father's Day, at Clara's

Here's a picture of Dad, Kassidy, and Penelope on Father's Day.

Father's Day

Sunday was an unusual Day.  Sunday afternoon Kim and Russel, Jeff, and Cyndi and I met at Clara's place. The big surprise was Kassidy and Nick and...Penelope!  She is so adorable.  They were able to visit with Dad upstairs for a little while.  Then Dad and Gregg and I had to shut the door and take care of some business.  Dad will be at the Pantego house from Wednesday morning until Sunday.  Jeff and Amy will be leaving us on Wednesday afternoon.  They've had a great, fun stay here in Texas, but it's time for them to return to Delaware, where it's much cooler!
During Dad's stay at Woodwind the four of us siblings will take turns staying with him at the house.  This is important because it will require overnight stays and feedings, along with medication (patches and oral medicine) and the taking of blood pressure.  We have the schedule worked out and all looks good.  Russell and Cyndi are on alert in case one of us cannot do or continue our tour.
He's still in good shape, but the doctors want us to feed him fattening foods.  Starches, candy, whatever, to put some weight back on him.  He's also asked Clara to get him a portable CD player and then get some books on CD (I tried to recommend an mp3 player, but he declined digital. Imagin that!).  He's slowing down with the vision and the reading, but he's still wanting and needing to enjoy what a good book has to offer.
And, much to my surprise, he still enjoys sipping a little JD black and water.  I don't think he'll ever give that up.
That's all for now.  Keep the comments coming if you have them, post them below.  And remember, if you don't want to wait to come read this, you can sign up for an email each time I post.
Mark

Video Idea

I will be heading over to Arlington on Sunday to visit with Dad.  I will post an update Sunday night.  In the meantime, I have an idea.
I would like to record a series of videos to post on this site and then keep for later.
Here' my idea, and it's not etched in stone, so any other ideas or spinoffs of this idea are appreciated.
I would like for each of the siblings, to start, to come up with 3 questions they would like to have Dad answer. Then I will video either me, or the sibling, asking him the questions and Dad answering them. They might be specific, such as an event in his life.  Or they might be generic, such as what is his belief or general take on some aspect of life.  They could be about business, sports, family, history, whatever.
My plan is to make each sibling's interview session a separate video.  We will shoot it very casually, say at the kitchen table or just sitting close on the couch.  Then I can post each video to the blog where all can see and enjoy.
I would also entertain any non-siblings (family, friends, etc) that want to ask him a question, to submit it to me a maschellhammer@yahoo.com and I can have a separate session to ask him those questions. I'll do the best I can to make sure there aren't any repetitive questions.  And then, after each session is done, I'll post it to the blog for all to see.
That's the idea.  Any expansion or deviation of this idea will be entertained.  Let me know.  I plan to start it soon, so please give me feedback on the idea, and if possible think about your questions so we can start scheduling the sessions.  It obviously would have to meet Dad's, your and my schedule.
I'm looking forward to your feedback.

First Post on this Blog for Dad

Today is June 15th, 2011.  This blog is dedicated to telling it's followers of the status of the health of my Dad, Augie Schellhammer.  Please sign in as a follower so that you can subscribe to updates as they are posted.

Today was not the best of days.  Dee, Dad's wife, passed away at 4:00am EST.  Nancy, her oldest child, was notified of her passing.  She has not currently made any plans for the funeral or a service.  Nancy's mailing address is Nancy Ocean, 46341 Pryor Sq., Potomac Falls, VA  20165-7264.  If anyone wants her phone number please call me and I will give it to you.

Dad had a trip to chemo today, and appeared he went through it okay.  Clara will be out of town from Tuesday the 21st of June until the following Sunday night.  Dad will be staying at his house.  Several of us will need to be taking care of him 24/7 while Clara is out of town.  I will be in Arlington this weekend, probably Sunday, and Gregg, Jeff and Kim and I should get together to nail down the schedule. He will have Dr appts to keep.  I will get medicine and doctor schedules ready for that meeting.


Amy is in town this week with her kids, from Delaware.  Everyone should make an effort to go see her.