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.