Poor India. :(

God, I hate to see them going through this. They've got enough problems as it is. Freakin' terrorists don't even have to have a POINT any more. All they have to do is kill people and get on the news and they're happy. A-holes.

A bit of a worry

Dad has contracted pneumonia. We're kind of worried. All of his multiple myloma-related indicators are going really well, I would just be horrified if he won the battle just to lose the war. It's almost never fatal, but it does happen, especially to people who have no immune system. Everyone please be extra vigilant with your good wishes for him tonight, ok?

I'm thankful this Thanksgiving Day that he's still around for me to worry about. I love my Dad.

The Dish

Dad is finally allowed to eat some food! He was only on Jello this morning, but he gets soup and crackers for dinner tonight, which is great! We're hoping that something more than water and Sprite in his tummy will get everything else moving again so the swelling stays down.

His temp has been great and he's sleeping pretty well for longer amounts of time, though he has developed a little cold, which is making him cough a lot. All in all, his doctor is really happy with his progress finally and he may be out in a couple of days. He's walking up and down the hallways now, so he feels a little stronger too. All the crazy hallucinations are gone, which is probably the biggest relief.

The Elders came out finally and gave him a blessing (like a week into the search for one!!!). Thanks Terra for trying to track them down for us!

Well that's about all the news. I'll be staying with him tonight until super early in the morning when Mom will come to relieve me. Maybe this will be one of the last all-nighters we'll have! Keep your fingers crossed.

Daily Dad Update

Dad's fever looks like it may be down for good. That's been pretty darn stable over the last 24 hours, so no more brain cells need go the way of the blue footed boobie, thank goodness! His swelling is way down, which makes him much more comfortable and Mom and I way less worried. Of course he's not at all pleased with how they had to drain off the excess liquid, but I won't go into too many details. You may be assured that no man would consider the process very comfortable. Poor thing.

I think he's just really tired. It's hard work rebuilding your immune system from scratch and pushing all the poisons out of your body that they pumped into him. He has his cranky moments, which I think he is more comfortable aiming at Mom because he knows she can take it. She absolutely can, but some of the things can be hard to hear, even if you know it's morphine causing silly things to come out of his mouth.

Apparently, he asked one of the nurses out on a date last night, which we all thought was pretty funny (even Mom surprisingly!), but that's not the weirdest stuff that's coming out of his mouth.

I'm told that there was/will be a very good man named Dieter who made/will make bells and taught young children. Dad seems to miss him very much, though I can't imagine who he's talking about. Also, there's a fellow who is as bad as his father Rocky that needs killin'. Apparently, this is my task and my quest as appointed by my father. The killin' part that is. There are no more space ships tonight, thankfully, because I think those particular dreams were pretty scary, and he has slept pretty solid for the last 3 hours or so with very little to say... except that the son of Rocky needs killin' and that he loves me very much and wants me to know about every half hour. He also keeps asking for Mom every time he nearly wakes up and I need to tell him that she's getting to sleep in a real bed for the first time in about 5 days, which always makes him smile because he's happy she's comfortable. He usually is snoring about 3 seconds after I tell him that.

I have high hopes that he'll sleep this well for the rest of the night because besides your love and good wishes, he needs that more than anything right now.

CeeCee, thanks for the flowers! They're absolutely stunning. I can't bring them into the room with him, but when he's a little more lucid tomorrow, we'll open the door and let him see them on the counter just outside his room. I read him the card and he just beamed! Mom hasn't seen them yet, so she'll be really surprised tomorrow morning. To the youth of the old Rochester Ward where Dad used to be Bishop, thanks for the card! He spent about an hour reading a signature, smiling, falling asleep briefly then waking up, rediscovering it lying on his chest and with a big smile, turning it to read another signature. He absolutely insisted on reading every bit of it to himself before he'd let me prop it up on the table next to his bed. He sure loves and misses you guys!

Thanks so far for all your kind words and prayers. If anyone knows an LDS Elder in Salt Lake, could you send them over? We've been trying to get one to come give him a blessing all day now and despite the fact that we're in freakin' Salt Lake City, we can't seem to find one! What's that all about??? Ok, thanks again, gang! You're the best supporting cast a family could have. :) More tomorrow.

Further Updates on Dad

Well Mom and I are taking shifts with Dad right now. She's getting some much needed rest and I am taking the night shift. It's almost 6 AM here, so I thought I'd give you guys an update before I wake Mom up and send her home for a few hours of R&R.

Dad's fever looks like it may have finally broken. Of course it's been on again/off again for the last several days, but it's nearly down to normal now. If he can keep it down, he'll have half the battle won.

There is a problem with swelling, specifically in his abdomen. He's retaining fluids somewhere in or around his tummy, which the gang here says isn't weird or anything, but we do wish it would even out here sooner rather than later. That would be another large victory.

Other than that, all his markers look good. He's begun redeveloping his immune system about a day and a half before he was supposed to, which is great! He's also got some pretty good energy, considering all he's been through. Mom even had him up yesterday doing some light exercise, like what you'd do on an airplane to keep your blood from pooling or clotting and to keep your muscles limber. He's also got enough energy for the occasional smart-aleky comment. Go figure.

He went on for a while today about how great his kids and wife and car are for anyone who cared to listen.

Right now he needs prayers, rest and apparently ice cubes in his mouth and a cool rag on his head to make him feel better. I got the ice and rags. :)

Mom is doing well, bossing around the nurses and managing to keep a pretty good humor considering. At least now that she's getting some rest. Haha!

I'm trying really hard to get some stinkin' homework done and getting used to being a night walker again, but other than that and some annoying daily life things, I'm doing ok.

All three of us could use any spare good energy you can send, but man, am I glad I'm here right now. I can't imagine leaving this privilege and responsibility to strangers. It's odd to see your big strong dad as weak and vulnerable as a new born kitten, but it's great to be able to give back to the man and woman that gave me everything. Of course, ask me again how I feel about it in a week if we're still here. ;)

Slight Turn for the Worse

I just had 4 awesome days with the three best friends I have that aren't my husband or my cat. :)

That was a seriously convoluted way to say that Rob, Cora and Jenn just came to hang out with me. It was a nice quiet, relaxing time, and it made me realize just how far down I had buried my longing for them. We went hiking in the mountains, ate out a lot, made an early thanksgiving dinner together, played some slots and some board games and just generally hung out and caught up. It was great!

My mom is a total trooper too. She didn't call me to cry uncle until they were gone. How tough is she? Apparently, she has been surviving on a couple of hours of sleep a night because my dad has taken a turn for the worse. Ok, nobody panic. He's got some infections that have made him a very sick man and Mom is basically staying with him all hours with nowhere to sleep or shower so that she can take care of him. He's got to have her there because what could actually kill him is if he got pneumonia, so she has to keep him coughing. He's too weak to even get up to take care of the most... personal of things. Anyway, long story short, he needs someone sitting with him 24x7 right now and she's been managing it by herself for a couple of days now.

So she needs help, so off I go. Our neighbors Ron and Marilyn (awesome people) will be taking care of the critters for us and I'm going over to spell Mom for a few days until his immune system starts to come back.

Everyone keep him in your prayers and thoughts right now ok? He's a pretty sick guy and could use anything you can send his way. The next few days could be tricky.

Update On My Dad

So as most of you know, my Dad has Multiple Myloma, a cancer of the blood. When he was first diagnosed, it was already pretty advanced. The doctors at the Hutchinson Center in Seattle did a bang up job with a round of a combination of chemotherapy and stem cell replacement therapy. He was free and clear and in remission for about 3 and a half years. Then a bad doctor got ahold of him and took him off some of the meds he needed to stay cancer free. It came back.

So that's one of the reasons I'm here now. It was pretty disheartening for everyone concerned when we found out he came out of remission and I think we all needed each other right then. So now he's doing his treatments in Salt Lake City where the doctors are doing two rounds of the chemo/stem cell stuff instead of just the one. They've had even better results with that and the doctors here say they project they'll have a real cure within a decade.

Hang on Dad!

Before I got here, he'd had his first round of treatment and I just got back from spending the first few days of his second treatment over there with them. He got his test results back and he's back in remission! Yay Dad!

So they're still going to do the second treatment because evidently, these cells sort of behave like viruses. If you don't get them all, a few really strong, resistant ones are the ones that are left over to multiply. So to be safe, he's going to have to undergo the second treatment anyway, and hopefully, that will fix him up for good... or at least until those doctors come up with a permanent fix.

I love my Dad and I have always known he was pretty brave and tough, but watching what he went through with just the tests was really hard. They actually took a core sample from his hip bone!!! He joked around with the nurses the whole time, even though the pain must have been pretty excruciating. I don't know if I could do it.

Anyway, besides his bravery, I'm not sure how my Mom is keeping her head together either. I am the much squishier product of two pretty tough old birds and I'm really proud of both of them.

Everyone keep them in your prayers OK? We're definitely not out of the woods.