Saturday, June 23

Dad was interred last week at the National Cemetery at a noon-time ceremony. It is finally over with. Anyone wishing to visit him can get directions to his location at the front gate. This will be my last post on this blog. Thanks to everyone for joining and reading. If you have any other questions or updates I can be reached at maschellhammer@yahoo.com.

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

The funeral went well yesterday. About 250 friends and family. Many in town from out-of-state. Beautiful flowers and music. Wonderful eulogies. Today's he will be interred at the National Cemetery in west Dallas at 12:30. Then it will all be finished.

Funeral services will be Monday at Arlington Funeral Home on E. Division in Arlington. Family visitation will begin at 9am. The service will start at 10:am.

Funeral and Graveside Service

It's not definite, but we have a tentative date set for Dad's service.  Monday, June 11.  Arlington Funeral Home for the service, then we'll proceed from there to the National Cemetery in West Dallas for a graveside/interment of his ashes.
It will be a simple ceremony at both places.  The funeral service will be mostly eulogies and some music.  The graveside will be handled by the military.  Definite times have not been determined yet. I will post again when more details are available.

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Dad passed this morning at 5:10am. The family has gathered this morning to organize the remaining portion of his funeral service and graveside service. His body will be transferred to Arlington Funeral Home this morning. His remains will will be cremated. There will be a service at the funeral home and we are coordinating for interment of his ashes at the National Cemetery in West Dallas. We plan to have both services on the same day, hopefully a Monday or Fridsy. I will be posting to this website often on plans for each service and any information. PLEASE stay with this blog site to stay up on what's happening. Let others know about the blog or contact me at 469-438-4382 for any additional information.

Friday, May 25, 2012

Dad was moved to James West Hospice in downtown Ft Worth on Wednesday . He went to sleep that night ans hasn't woken up since. The pain in his back become too intense for him to take. Radiation didn't work and doses of morphine didn't work either. His organs have started failing and he hasn't eaten or drank anything since Wednesday. He is definitely on his way out. It's only a matter of time now. We stay with him 24 / 7. The hospice center has been great for him and us. We are day-to-day and hour-to-hour. Staying in his room watching over him until it's is time. He is as pain free as we can have him, and they have him on morphine through his port. We are putting funeral plans into place as he desired.

Tuesday, May 22,2012

Dad went back into the hospital this weekend.  Apparently the pain in his back has not subsided enough during the initial week of radiation and with the limited amount of pain killers he can take at home.  So he's having to stay at the hospital where he can get morphine to control the pain.  Unfortunately, that means he's been away from his chemo for the last several weeks, and will also be away for the next week's radiation treatments.  When through he will have been away for a little over 3 weeks.  He's contemplating ceasing the chemo, if the lack of treatment has allowed his cancer to grow.  It will be a decision that will have to be made later.  Right now it's mainly treatment for the severe pain in his back, and we'll worry about the cancer later.  I will let you know more when I know more.  He's back at Arlington Memorial Hospital.

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Dad is back from the hospital.  He left last Wednesday.  He's back at Clara's townhome.  With the prognosis of a small tumor in his back, the Dr's have decided on focused radiation treatments.  He goes every day, five days a week, and get a short blast of radiation to destroy the tumor that's causing all the pain problems.  It will take about 2 weeks for the radiation to have some effect, so in the meanwhile he's on some pain medicine to keep it at a tolerable level.  We will know soon whether or not this will help.  We are keeping our finger crossed that it will work, or at least work as much as possible to diminish his pain.  His appetite has been good, he eats well, and for his condition, a decent amount. Since he's having to stay downstairs, instead of his usual upstairs bedroom, Russell and Kim bought him a new HD tv to keep him company and Uverse will be installed this week, so he'll get all the cable channels he wants.  Good job, guys.

Monday, May 7, 2012

Friday Dad had a bone scan for his back. Saturday the results were that he has a small, broken bone in his back and a small tumor that grown in that same area.  The preliminary plan is that they will do radiation of the tumor for a two week period which should eliminate that tumor and relieve his pain.  He will continue to have pain for the two-week period, but  the Dr's say once it's gone he should be back to where he was before the pain began a couple of weeks ago.  A recent CAT scan has shown that his cancer hasn't gotten any better, but it also hasn't gotten any worse.  It is a concern that a small tumor has popped up on his back, obviously a sign that the cancer is very slowly spreading.  But it's been over a year since he found the cancer and at that time the prognosis wasn't that good.  But now, it's under some control and looking rather dormant.  He did accidentally pull his food tray over to his side to eat one night and the plate fell off of the tray and fell down on his right foot.  It's badly bruised and his big toe doesn't look good.  But it's no danger to him, just unsightly and occasionally painful.  His back is causing most of the pain.  He's in room 3204 at Arlington Memorial Hospital.  He spends most of the day in bed, occasionally getting up to do some exercise. Stepping in place, 1/4 squats, getting up and down out of bed in the sitting position.  They will be getting him a walker so he can actually leave the room and wander the halls.  He'll have to cover up the back of his gown, though!
We'll hopefully hear more of the ongoing plan by tomorrow, and also hopefully hear what the exact plan is for the next couple of weeks.

April 28, 2012

I'm sorry I haven't posted in a while. There hasn't been too much to post about.  Dad is pretty much the same day-to-day.  Lately his back has been hurting, apparently not because of the cancer.  Maybe a pinched nerve.  Last night Clara had to take him to the hospital because the pain was becoming unbearable.  They want to have a neurologist look at him, for the nerve pain in his back.  But they most likely won't be able to round one up until Monday.  So for now he's in Arlington Memorial Hospital and will be there for this weekend.

Tuesday, April 2, 2012

Dad has been put on a new chemo plan. I think it's hittin him pretty hard right now. He's spending more and more time in bed. And I think Reno's death has had an impact on him. This week will be tough with Reno's funeral on Saturday. Again, I don't know how much longer he can hang in there. When he's awake he's pretty alert an you don't see a lot of signs. But he cannot stay "vertical" for very long before he has to go "horizontal". This week will be tough emotionally and we'll see how he holds up. Reno will be buried at the new National Cemetary in west Dallas where Dad wants to be buried. Dad will get an unexpected preview of his own services.

Wednesday, February 7, 2012

A short announcement that today Cyndi and I have been married for 15 years.  What a wonderful woman that I've been so blessed to be attached to through marriage.  I really don't know where I would be without her.  We were over at Dad's place on Saturday for about 4 hours.  We visited and ate some lunch at the house. Clara put together a corn chowder soup with warm bread and brie and crackers, and we drank a little white wine while we got a chance to visit.  It was a really nice Saturday.  Dad has had to change his 'cocktail'.  The one he was taking could only be taken for a set period of time before it could become dangerous.  The new brew is really hurting his bones, especially in his back.  He's spending a lot of time sleeping, and can only be upright for a few hours before he has to get "horizontal" as he puts it.  Also, the tumors on his liver and ureter have grown in size.  That's not a good thing.  I don't know how much longer he can stand to take the chemo and suffer the side effects before he'll decide to go off of the chemo.  He's the only one that knows that and will make the decision when he's ready to.  His mind is still good, although it's hard to slow down and let him think things through, but you have to do that in order to continue a conversation with him...just have to take it slow and let him think it through.  I'm not sure exactly where he stands, whether this is a minor setback, or what.  With the tumors growing, I cannot believe it will be long now.  But we'll wait and see, because he is a fighter.  Gregg, Jeff and Kim have been doing a great job of stopping by and visiting with him during the week when they can.  It's great to know that he has a good family support structure around him.  Especially Clara.  She does such wonders for him in both support, affection, understanding, and just being patient with him while he passes the time doing what he feels he needs to do...or not do.  She is such a blessing to our family, and always will be.  Cyndi and I thank God for her and the kindness she brings to Dad and our family.  If you get a chance you should call her and tell her thank you.  Bye for now.

Saturday, February 4, 2012

Dinner last Saturday night was a success.  Dad and Clara arrived a little early, around 5:30.  So we had some time to execute a preplanned visit with Whitney via Skype on my new IPad 2.  Dad was sitting at the kitchen bar and I brought out the IPad and hit a couple of buttons, as he watched, wondering what the Hell I was doing?  Then Whitney popped up on the screen.  He knew she was in Costa Rica, so he had a really amazed look on his face when Whitney's smiling face appeared.  He talked to her for about 10 minutes and the Ralston's arrived.  They got to visit with her too, and Peter appeared briefly to say hi.  Bill and Peter had played golf together before, so it was a good time visiting and catching up.  After saying goodbye, we had drinks and appetizers, then sat down for wine, a fresh tossed salad with bleu cheese and roasted walnuts, Cyndi's awesome beef bourguignon, with mashed potatoes and french bread.  Then we finished with coffee and creme brulee.  Bill got a kick out of using the creme brulee kitchen flame to melt the sugar on top of the creme brulee.  Dad got a little tired around 9 and they had to leave.  Bill and Gayle stayed and visited until about 10 then headed back to Greenville.  Dad had a great time and we really enjoyed getting to visit with them.

January 19, 2012

Thanks to Nancy Ocean for reminding me that I haven't posted in awhile.  Holidays and a new job got in the way.  I'll try to do better.  Dad made it well through Thanksgiving and Christmas.  Thanksgiving was here in Rockwall, and Christmas was spent on Christmas Eve at Mom's house.  If any family member that was there
has pictures to send me, I will post them here for all to share.  He's in good health.  He drives a little here and there during the day, short trips, but enjoys the freedom he has.  The chemo once every two weeks still kicks his butt for about 2-3 days, but then he's better.  We are blessed to still have him through the holidays, and he's still going strong into 2012.  Cyndi and I are trying to have Dad and Clara over for dinner in February with the Ralston's, Bill and Gayle, who live in Greenville. It's about half an hour east of Rockwall.  I think we'll have a good time.  Shawn, Gregg and I had lunch on Sunday with Dad at Jay Jay's.  Shawn and I went back and finished watching the Texans-Ravens game with Dad, then we had to leave.  I'll do my best to post more often, and if any one has something they'd like me to post on the blog, email it to me at maschellhammer@yahoo.com and I'll do my best.