It's Been A While!

I would like to apologize for my blog slacking. My family has had so much going on these past 3 weeks. I'm going to try and update everyone with a short version or I could be here all night long.

OK where do I start?? The last time I posted Jonathan and I were getting ready for a weekend in Memphis to celebrate Emma's 3rd Birthday. Unfortunately, we did not make it. The day before we were suppose to leave we found out my dad's cancer had spread to his lymph nodes.That whole week my dad was slowly going down hill. Not eating at all. He collapsed at the Cancer Center that Wednesday and then the next day being told this bad news. Jonathan and I decided it was not the right time for us to leave town. We really hate that we had to miss Emma's party, but we hope we can make it up to her soon.

The following Tuesday around 7 am I received a phone call from my mom saying she called the ambulance and they were on the way to the house because my dad was hemorrhaging from his rectum. I met them at the hospital. When I got there the bleeding had slowed down a little. He was admitted about 5 hours later. I decided to go into work for a couple hours. When I got back up to the hospital around 5:00. The hospital had sent in a Gastro Dr. to meet with my dad. He was not suppose to come in until the next morning, but decided to come that evening. We are so blessed he did. My dad starting bleeding out again while talking to the Dr. He was then rushed to ICU. That night they tried doing a colonoscopy, but could not finish, because of the amount of bleeding that was going on. My dad received 6 pints of blood that night. This was one of the hardest nights of my life. We were in the ICU trying to calm him down. At this point his body had lost so much blood he was not in a normal mental state. The nurse told me after they asked everyone else to leave that his blood levels were not sufficient for life. I really thought that would be the last time I would see my dad alive. He went on a ventilator that night and stayed in the ICU from that Tuesday until the following Sunday. He was then in a regular room from Tuesday til the following Saturday. That day he was transported to the HealthSouth Rehabilitation Hospital. He has just finished his first week there. They transferred him because after being in the hospital so long and not eating he was unable to do anything himself. He now can walk 30 ft. with a walker and feed himself. He will continue to stay there until he can stand on his own, walk on his own, and dress himself.

The cause of all his blood loss was not an easy diagnosis. After 4 attempts at an colonoscopy and one EGD. The were thinking my dad had colon cancer on top of his other cancer (not related to each other). The histopath came back and he does not have colon cancer. This was such a relief to hear. He did have a few lesions, ulcers, and polyps. We think one of his ulcers which the doctor said is huge caused the bleeding. We are just praying the bleeding does not start back. If it does my dad will have to go to UAB for a very serious surgery to remove it. I will keep everyone updated on this situation, but hopefully this part is over.

I know this is such a short version, but I think I covered most of everything that has been going on. My dad has still not started any cancer treatments, because before he went in the hospital he was still fighting his staph infection. He is still on medication for it today. While in the hospital some doctor's and surgeons have discussed him having surgery to remove a toe due to the infection. We have not heard anything else regarding this and as of last night when I looked at it looks like it's finally healing.

We are all just ready for him to get his strength back so he can get out and start his chemo and radiation. I promise not to let this much time go by without checking in again. It's been really tough and I want to thank everyone who has called, emailed, brought dinner, visited, prayed, and anything else for our family during this time. It is greatly appreciated.