Arrangements

Thank you so much for your prayers and support for our family during this difficult time.

The visitation will be held on Wednesday evening, from 4:30-7:30 at Buchanan & Cody Funeral Home. The address is 326 W. State in Jacksonville. (The sign outside says Gillham-Buchanan.)

Memorial services will be Thursday morning at 10:30am at Westfair Baptist Church. The address is 1815 W. Lafayette in Jacksonville.

We'll update again as more things are finalized.

-Kim

Thank you all so much for your prayers and support. As Pastor Warren just told us, Dr. Fox has fought the good fight, but this morning he finished his course. Dr. Fox passed away peacefully this morning about 8:00am. Please continue to pray for his family and friends as we will miss him so much here on earth, but we know he is with the Lord today in heaven.

-Jeremy

Sunday

This morning Pastor and Pat came by before church and we had our own church in Dad's room. Pastor recited some Scripture and gave Dad some encouraging words, and we all sang a hymn. It was really nice, and we were so thankful they came by.

Mom was also able to get some rest today, which was an answer to prayer. Now that we're in Jacksonville, she feels more confident in the medical staff, plus there are quite a few of us family members here who can sit with Dad while she rests. I'm glad she's been able to rest better herself. It has been a long couple of weeks for her.

My dad is still hanging in there. He is really a fighter! His labs had actually improved very slightly today, so we're meeting with the doctor tomorrow morning to talk about what exactly that means. Please pray for wisdom as we try to determine how to best honor my dad's wishes for his medical care.

-Kim

Saturday evening

Dad's resting tonight. He's on a machine that makes breathing a little easier for him. He's been more restless and his heart is getting weaker. On the plus side, he's still been able to communicate with us and even smile at some jokes.

The nurses have been just wonderful for both my dad and my mom. We are so thankful that God has given him such amazing care for this time.

Please pray especially for my mom tonight; that she would be able to get some rest.

-Kim

Sunshine

This morning, Dad asked to go outside. They wheeled his bed out to the garden area, and we were out there for over an hour. It was beautiful. The sun was shining, there was a bit of a breeze, and my dad was surrounded by family and other people who love him. It was a very special time. We are so thankful to be here at Passavant where the staff are willing to go above and beyond to honor his wishes. We praise the Lord for that.

They took him back inside and he is resting now. Please keep praying.

-Kim

Back in Jacksonville

My dad asked several times to come back to Jacksonville, so today he was transferred to Passavant. They were hoping to get a helicopter for him, but the weather was too bad. He came via ambulance and did very well during the ride. His vitals were stable the entire time. He's now staying at Passavant. We are confident that he is receiving excellent care. The staff has been amazing so far, and a lot of people worked very hard today to be sure that things would go smoothly for him to be brought here. We are very thankful to everyone that has been helping.

We are so honored and grateful that you all care so much for my dad. But please, call first if you want to visit. We're trying to limit visitors because he is very tired and really needs his rest. We'll let you know how he's doing and whether he's up to a visit or not.

As always, we covet your prayers and are so thankful that you are lifting him up before the throne of our Heavenly Father.

-Kim

Transplant Day 22

Tonight I ask that everyone pray for Doc. The doctors gave me bad news today. I am very thankful that God sent Pastor and Pat to me. They were here when I got the news. Today they did the second transplant. Doc did not do well for this one. He had a bad reaction to the transplant. They had to stop the transplant twice and did not continue after the second time. Doc's liver has gotten really bad and they said it would take a miracle for him to make it through. We are praying that God will want to share one of those precious miracles with Doc. Today they also told me that Doc's counts went down again. I ask again that you keep him in your prayers. We will try to keep everyone informed on what is going on.

Teresa

Transplant Day 21

Today we have had mixed blessings. I guess I will start with the beginning of our day. First this morning the doctor came in and said they were going to put the feeding tube in today-that the nurse had told me wrong last night. They checked Doc's platelets this morning since they were going to do the procedure. They were back down to 12 so they gave him platelets before he went down to xray.

After that they had another doctor come in and look at Doc's eye again. They are afraid that maybe the shingles is coming back even though Doc doesn't have any symptoms except the swollen eye. (We were told before when he did have shingles that he wasn't contagious if he didn't have any open sores.) Because of the possibility of shingles they decided to move Doc to the 8 floor ICU. I was not very happy with this plan, because they do not normally let the family stay with the patient on that floor. Doc is still having a hard time making everyone understand him with the mucus problem he has at the back of his throat and the soreness from the chemo. He always has a harder time then most people, because of his previous cancer. I get frustrated when a doctor or nurse can't understand him and then they just ignore him unless I interpret for him. They finally agreed to let me stay in the room with him when they realized it was for their benefit as well as ours. I am thankful for answered prayers again.

The doctors lanced a small area near his eye today to test. If it comes back clean tomorrow afternoon with no trace of shingles they will let him go back down to the transplant floor. Part of the problem with being up here is that as of the time I am writing this blog (9:21 pm) this floor doesn't have any orders for Doc. Most of what they have done so far is what I have told they did downstairs.

When the doctor came in this afternoon he told me that they found another bag of stem cells that Doc was supposed to get from his original donor. The plan right now is to do an infusion tomorrow morning. Hopefully this will help to bring up his counts sooner. I can't help but be a little worried even though I am trusting our Lord to heal him. I just have a hard time especially when I am as worn out as I am.

I talked to the nurse at 6 tonight and asked her if they were going to draw labs (they usually do it at 4). Since she didn't have any orders she didn't know what to draw. I told her the tests we have been following so she drew some blood and ran them. She said if they want something else they could just run it when they get the orders. Most of those labs are back. His bilirubin is up to 21.2. He is looking very yellow. I don't know how high it can go before I really have to start worrying The kidneys are stable, in fact they are a little better. Because of the mix-up and the lack of orders I don't know what the neutrophils are tonight, but I do have some good news. His white blood count is now up to .4. I know it isn't a big jump again, but it is up and I am sure that the neutrophils will also be up when I get those results tomorrow. There is a special formula that the transplant floor uses and the nurse tonight doesn't know what that is. I am very thankful that they are going up. Hopefully tomorrow's stem cells will help bring these counts up more.

Please continue to keep us in your prayers. With most of Doc's problems there is improvement. God is listening.

Teresa

Transplant Day 20

Today Doc is feeling a little better. A lot went on today. First last night I talked the doctor into lowering his morphine pump, because of that he was much more alert today. I asked him all day if he was in pain and he said no. It was nice to be able to talk to him more without him falling asleep all the time. One of the important things I needed to talk to him about was a feeding tube. They wanted to put one in, but Doc has told me before that he did not want one in with all the other problems he has. Doc finally agreed to let them put one in, but then they changed their minds this evening. I suggested the other day that they change the TPN like they did at Memorial, but they didn't listen. Tonight they decided to change the TPN instead of a feeding tube. Doc had a visit by the eye doctor today, because his right eye lid is swollen and he is having a hard time opening it all the way. The eye doctor said that the eye was fine. She did give him some eye drops to help with the dryness from the chemo. He also had a visit from the kidney doctors. They said that they were going to increase his fluids, but they didn't think he was bad enough to put on dialysis. The doctors ordered another ultrasound on Doc, but I haven't heard what the results on that were. The physical therapist came in today and made Doc do some exercises. I think it was great that he was awake enough to do them today. Between all of them, the nurse, his tech and his regular doctors we had a very busy day.

Doc's liver is the only thing that was worse tonight. His bilirubin is now up to 18.5. Our nurse Sarah talked to me today. She told me that isn't as bad as I was thinking it was. The doctors today said they were going to give him higher doses of steroids to help with the liver. They are afraid he may have some graft versus host disease going on. If he does, the steroids are supposed to help. Doc's platelets are 22 tonight so he won't need platelets. With the counts coming up some, the platelets are not dropping as fast. His kidneys are a little better tonight. His BUN is 116 and his creatinine is 2.4. Doc's white blood count did not go up it is still at .3, but his neutrophils are up to 288. They are certainly going up slowly, but they are going up. Thank you Lord!! Doc's vitals were normal again all day. It is so wonderful to see the Lord at work. Overall we had a good day. Thank you again for the continued prayers.

Teresa

Transplant Day 19

Today is another one of those good news bad news days. First I want to mention what a nice visit we had with Doc's Mom, brother and our son Jon. We also got to visit with Jon's girlfriend Katie. She came to pick Jon up. I think everyone would have enjoyed the visit a little more if Doc was awake more. I have asked them to turn down his pain medicine at least during the day, but no one is listening. I don't think he is in very much pain right now since his hands and feet look so much better. They did get him up in the chair for awhile today, but he spent most of the day sleeping again.

I just got most of Doc's labs for the day. He will need platelets tonight because his count is down to 12. His bilirubin is now up to 17. His kidneys are about the same. The good news is that his white count is up to .3 today and his neutrophils are up to 240. Everyone originally told me that once his counts started going back up that they would start to jump. Today they told me that will probably not happen for Doc. They said because he had so many complications, they are expecting it to go up slowly now. I don't know yet if they are going to give him more white blood cells tonight. His temperature has been normal all day and his other vital signs have also been normal all day. They do still have him on ICU status so they are still keeping a close eye on him. The doctor also decided to put Doc in an air bed today. He has been having a little problem with his skin and now has a place where it has split. They are hoping that this will be easier for him and more comfortable.

I am sorry I have been posting so late every night. I am having trouble getting the labs back so I know if he is doing better or not. Tonight the nurse got on at 7:00, but I didn't see her until after 9:00. Then it took her a while before she was able to get the labs.

I continue to trust in the Lord for Doc's care. I know he is continuing to show improvement in most areas. I just need to be a little more patient and let him do it is his time. It is just hard to see someone you love suffer. I want to thank everyone for the cards again and prayers. Doc got another stack of cards today. Even though I have to read the blog to him because he can't use the computer, he can hold the cards and read them. Please continue to keep Doc in your prayers, right now the liver and kidneys are the most critical. Thank you again.

Teresa

Transplant Day 18

Today I have good news and bad news. Everyone I talked to asked for the bad news first so here goes. Tonight Doc's bilirubin is now up to 14.2, his creatinine is up to 2.7 and his BUN is 120. The nurse said they are going to discontinue his TPN tonight and talk to the dietitian tomorrow. The nurse tonight also said that the doctors want to talk to me tomorrow about options for the kidneys. Doc is running a low grade fever again tonight although it was normal most of the day.

The good news is that right now they have Doc's vitals under control. His heart is doing much better. When his labs came back tonight his white blood count is now up to .2 (200) and his neutrophils are up to 172. Praise the Lord, isn't HE awesome!! These counts are not jumping by leaps and bounds yet, but they are continuing in the right direction. When they do get up to a normal levels, Doc should be able to eat again and that should help with a lot of the problems. Doc was also a lot more alert most of the morning today. I almost forgot to mention that Doc doesn't need platelets tonight or blood. His counts held today. This is the first time he hasn't needed platelets since his counts started dropping. Another thing to be thankful for what a wonderful Lord we have!

Doug left this morning. I know Doc will miss him. It was really nice seeing him again. Tonight I went to the airport to pick up our son Jon. It was really great seeing him again. He stopped by tonight to visit with Doc, but Doc was so tired he had a hard time keeping his eyes open. Hopefully he will have a nicer visit tomorrow. Tomorrow Doc's Mom and brother John are coming up to visit. I know he is looking forward to seeing them too. Dr. Hinchen also stopped by today to visit Doc. It was nice to see him, but unfortunately by the time he came Doc was very tired from being awake most of the morning and some of the afternoon. I am sure Dr. Hinchen understood.

I didn't get much sleep last night after hearing the great news. I was so excited. I did a lot of Praising the Lord last night. For those of you that keep asking me I did take a short nap today. With Jon hear tonight and Doc's Mom and brother coming tomorrow I knew I need to get some extra rest. I want to thank you for your concern and continued prayers for me as well.

God has been laying His healing hands on Doc. The continued prayers are working, so I ask again that you keep him in your prayers.

Teresa

Transplant Day 17

I can't Praise the Lord enough!!!! I hadn't posted the blog yet tonight when the nurse came in and told me that Doc's neutrophils went up to 100 tonight. That isn't a lot yet, but this is the first time that this has happened this hospital stay and it is the first sign that the transplant is taking. Thank all of you for your prayers. I will leave the original blog I was going to post. I am tired and would like to get to bed soon. It went as follows:

Praise the Lord Doc had a better day today!! Last night Doug, Doc's best friend for years came, in from Ohio to visit. He got in late, but I sneaked him in to see Doc last night. Doc was so excited to see him. I was pleasantly surprised to see how much Doc rejoiced. It was great, because I hadn't seen him that excited in a while. I also told Doc that the kids were coming to visit today. He got a big smile on his face.

Most of our children came in today to see us. Jon won't be able to be here until tomorrow. I think it is good that we are spacing the visits out some. Doc really enjoyed visiting with everyone. He was more alert today than I have seen him in a long while. It was great to see him smiling again and enjoying listening to everyone. He is still having a lot of trouble talking right now. His throat is a lot better, but his mouth has become so dry from the medicine they are giving him that is very difficult for him to talk right now. I do know he really enjoyed their visit even though he is worn out tonight.

Last night after Doug left Doc's labs came back. His liver had been doing a little better, but tonight it is a lot worse. It went up to 12.5. His kidneys are also getting worse again. His creatinine is up to 2.8. He won't need blood tonight, but he will need platelets again. The good thing about the platelets is, the last couple of nights I have gradually seen his platelet count increase each night. I think he may be starting to retain some of the platelets. His white count is still at 100 again, but I am not too excited, because we have seen it here before and it has gone back to zero. Today when the doctor came in he said they have decided to start Doc on the white blood cell transfusions. They are going to start giving them to him tonight. He also said that they have asked the donor for more stem cells to give him a boost. Doc is also running a fever again. It is 101.2 tonight. It had gone down to normal last night late and stayed there until late this afternoon. The nurse is wanting to delay giving Doc the platelets because of the fever. He has had a higher fever before and they have given him the platelets, but they don't like to give them when they have a high fever. The nurses have said that the fever can eat up the platelets.

I think seeing everyone has given Doc a great spiritual boost, but we are still at the same place if the counts don't start coming back up, but we know that God is in control. Please continue to keep him in your prayers.

Teresa

Transplant Day 16

Today I wish I had better news. Doc is not doing well. Last night Doc's heart started into the irregular rapid heart beats again. It has lasted most of the day despite the medicine they have given him. There was a short time today while Pastor and Pat were here visiting that it went back to normal. Unfortunately tonight it is back to doing it again, so they have put him back on ICU status once more. Doc also started running a higher fever last night (it got up to 102.6, I think it was). Most of today it has been around 101. His liver is still really bad. The doctors are getting worried so they are planning on giving him the white blood cells I mentioned a couple of days ago. It will take at least 24 hours for them to be able to do that. The doctor also told me tonight that he is requesting that the donor donate more stem cells. He said they would normally wait for the 21 days to 28 days, but with all of the complications Doc is having they aren't going to wait. The doctor did say if Doc's counts go back up on their own they can cancel the donation. We are praying there won't be a problem with the donor donating again. The doctors still don't seem to have a good reason for why the counts have not started to come back up yet, I guess they really don't know. Doc will need blood tonight, but the platelet count hasn't come back yet so I don't know if he will need platelets again tonight or not. I am sure he probably will since his counts aren't up and he has needed them every night for quite a while.

I want to thank everyone that contributed to the wonderful basket of goodies and the bag of books that Pastor and Pat brought us today. All of the things will help to keep us occupied. It was really nice visiting with them today. The kids are coming to visit tomorrow. I know Doc is looking forward to seeing them and our grandson Ian. We really miss all of them. We understand with everything that is going on for them why they haven't been able to come more often. David will be graduating from law school in a few weeks. Jon is working on his new computer online company that he has started up. Daniel is finishing up his first year at college. Kim is pregnant with our second grandchild and has Ian to take care of. Michael is in high school, in jazz band, is working and is very involved in church. They all lead such busy lives.

I ask that you will continue to pray for Doc's counts to start coming up. The doctors have continued to tell me that if they did, most of Doc's complications would resolve themselves. I know he is in the Lord's hands and the Lord is listening to all of us.

Teresa

Transplant Day 15

I am afraid last night Doc's neutrophils were still at zero. I guess God has another time in mind. I am praying that tonight will be the night. Some of his labs are back, but not all of them from today. Today we are showing a little more progress on some things. Doc was more alert this morning, his hands and feet are continuing to get a little better each day, the infection in his skin is better today, but his bilirubin is up to 10.0 tonight. Doc's platelets are also down again tonight to 8 so he will be getting more platelets again tonight. Doc's heart was also irregular again today, but not as bad as it was a few days ago. The doctors decided to do another EKG which they said was fine tonight. The doctor also said tonight when he came in that most of Doc's problems will get better once the counts start to come back up. He also told me that Doc's ultrasound yesterday showed that his liver is a little enlarged and fatty (that is what he said), which is caused from the chemo again. That chemo is really hard on the body. I guess we were really fortunate that Doc didn't have more complications than he did in the past from the chemo. God was watching out for Doc.

I decided to take a break and meet my Mom today. She came up from Texas to help out some at home this week. She is heading back tomorrow. We had a good time together, it was nice spending a little time with her. I made sure the nurse knew I was going to be gone so that she would keep an extra eye on Doc. Pastor Warren and Pat were going to come to visit Doc and I today, but I didn't get the message from him until after I had left the hospital and made the arrangements with my Mom. I wasn't sure how Doc was going to be doing today, so I didn't plan on leaving until after I saw. I was glad I caught them before they had left.

Please continue to keep Doc in your prayers. We know they help a lot.

Teresa

Transplant Day 14

I am not sure quite how to report today. Doc said this morning he felt better then he did yesterday, his speech is a little better today, his hands and feet look a lot better then they did, but he has a lot of problems still. His bilirubin has gone up to 9.2 today (normal is 1.5 here). His creatinine is 2.6 (normal here is also 1.5). He spiked a slight temperature last night, but it has been normal all day. His blood pressure and pulse have been pretty good today. The doctor also decided to start Doc on TPN tonight. He hasn't been able to eat anything for over a week now. Hopefully the nutrition will help him heal faster. The nurses and I have noticed that his left leg and left arm have been a little redder the last couple of days. The doctor said today that he thinks Doc is getting an infection under his skin. The problem is that he is already on the anti-biotic he needs for that. The doctor said if Doc's counts don't start coming up he may have to give him white blood cells. When the doctor examined Doc today his belly was tender so they did an ultra sound. I do not know yet what the results of that were. I am praying tonight that the reason the nurse couldn't give me all of his labs tonight is that maybe his counts are starting to come back up. Normally they just tell me that his counts are zero. She doesn't have the neutrophils count yet which is the big thing we are looking for. She did say his white count is up to 100 today, but it has been up before and then gone back down to zero again.

I had an interesting day today trying to do payroll for the girls at our office. I needed to do it today so they would get paid on Friday. I had to have an internet connection so that I could do direct deposit. With all the trouble we have had getting on the internet I had to go all over the building trying to find a connection. I ended up at information and she directed me to a lady in guest relations who had to take me to a hall where some of their meeting rooms are for me to get a connection. I was very thankful that I could get it done for them to get paid on time. I still can't get over how big this place is and how poor their internet service is.

Doc did sleep most of the day again. I had a hard time keeping him awake long enough to get through all the cards that came in the mail today. He likes to read all of them. We laughed at quite a few of them. Thank you for continuing to keep us in your prayers. With Gods will hopefully tomorrow, I will have better news to post.

Teresa

Transplant Day 13

Today was a little bit better. Doc's heart went back to normal during the night. Praise the Lord!! I am very thankful for that. His counts are still at zero though. The doctor was just in again and he said that it will still be a few days, but once they do start to go back up Doc will start to feel better. He is going to need blood tonight and platelets, because both are low. His kidneys are a little better today, but his liver is a little worse. Once again he has slept most of the day I guess he still needs the extra rest. I know it is hard for him to get much sleep when they keep coming into the room for one thing or another. I know that is necessary, but as everyone knows it is very hard to get much rest.

My Mom came into town today to help out some at home and to give our good friends the Retzers a break. It will be good for Michael to visit with her some. He has been such a great help with all of the things he is doing at home. I also don't want to forget to mention that Kim and Jeremy have been doing a lot for us too. I don't know what we would do going though all of this without God, good friends and family.

Doc did stay awake long enough to read his cards that were delivered to the hospital and then Jeremy brought some when he brought our mail yesterday. He really enjoyed reading them. I have had to tell him about the blog since he can not type right now (his hands are one big Kerlix wrap). I know he enjoys listening to the comments. With God's healing hands he should be better soon. Please continue to keep him in your prayers.

Teresa

Transplant Day 12

Today has been another mixed day. I want to first thank our son-in-law Jeremy for coming to St Louis to donate platelets for Doc. It took some work, but he was able to donate them directly. Doc's platelet count is back down to 6 tonight so they are planning to give Jeremy's to him tonight. That was very nice of him to come all this way to do that for Doc. I did talk to the doctor this morning and ask why they were having so much trouble getting platelets for Doc. He said that doc is CMV negative. Not very many people in the population is still CMV negative so that is why they are having so much trouble. Jeremy is also negative that is why he was able to donate to Doc.

Unfortunately Doc's counts did not go back up today. They did start him on the neupogen shots. Those are the shots he took in the past to help stimulate his counts to come back up quicker. I talked to the main doctor tonight while Jeremy was still here (thank you Lord for bring him back tonight) he said that some people don't start going up for up to 21 days. A lot of you have been asking me how long it could be, but I couldn't answer them. He said that hopefully Doc will start before day 21. He thought that maybe Doc was delayed because of how sick he was from the pre-transplant medicine. As always it will be in God's time.

Today Doc gave me another scare. He felt like he had to get sick this morning while one of the doctors was in the room. He coughed up a huge blood clot. After that his heart went into atrial fibrillation. His pulse kept jumping up and down. It got as high as 182 beats per minute. They had to give him medicine three times before they got it to come down a little and stay under control. They have continued him on some medicine for the rapid and irregular heart beat and as of the time I was writing this blog he is doing much better. He is having problems with his kidneys and his liver right now. The doctors are trying to balance the medicine he needs with these problems.

I want to thank everyone for the continued prayers, cards and well wishes again they continue to humble us. May God continue to bless all of you as he does us.

Teresa

Transplant Day 11 Part 2

Wow, how awesome God is!!! What a fast answer to prayer. I had just finished the blog and then left the room to say a prayer and then to make a couple of calls. While I was gone the nurse had brought in platelets for Doc and had started them. It is amazing how fast he works. The nurse had just got done telling me she didn't know when they were going to get platelets for him and then they were there. Thank all of you again for your continued prayers they really do help.

Teresa

Transplant Day 11

Doc hasn't felt very well today. He said he ached all over and just didn't feel well. I am not sure what is causing it yet. Doc again has some bleeding from his mouth and his skin looks like he has freckles all over from the petechiae which is from the low platelets again. There must be a really big shortage on platelets right now in St Louis. The doctor argued with Doc today about whether he needed platelets or not. The nurse that Doc had last night really shocked both of us when she said that they let patients platelet count get down to three. I am not a doctor, but I think that is too low. I have seen what happens when it gets down to five. I just found out from the nurse Doc's platelet count is down to three now and they don't know when they will get platelets in. They still have the shortage. Unfortunately his counts have not started coming back up yet. Although tomorrow will be day 12 and they said that most people's start coming up by then, but not everyone. We do need to count our blessings though he still is not running a fever, his hands and feet are doing better and he is sleeping through most of this. I ask that you continue to pray for his counts to come back up, once that happens then the platelets should start going back up too. I also ask that you pray for people to donate more platelets to help stop the shortage. Thank you again for all the well wishes and continued prayers. May God bless all of you as he does us.

Teresa

Transplant Day 10

I waited tonight until the labs came back to start the blog. God decided we need to wait a day or two until we find out if the transplant took or not. His counts are still at zero. I guess we will have to continue to be that "patient" patient.

Doc had a pretty good day today, at least after he finally got platelets. Let me explain that. Last night Doc's platelet count was down to 11. The doctors decided this time to not let them get below 20, because Doc has had trouble with some bleeding. The nurses called for platelets for him last night, but both hospitals were completely out. They had to call the Red Cross. The Red Cross didn't bring any until this morning which wouldn't have been so bad except Doc kept bleeding from his mouth all night long. I was worried about him, but a while after they got the platelets in him that stopped. He is still having trouble swallowing, but his mouth was a little better today. The nurse had to peel a lot of the dead skin off of his hands and feet today again, but they are starting to look a lot better. It will still be a while before Doc will be able to type again. His temperature is still normal which is a blessing. During his previous stays this is the time that he had the high temperatures. I am very thankful to God for his healing hand. Thank you for your continued prayers. I will continue to keep you updated on his progress.

Teresa

Transplant Day 9

Well, today is another day of small improvements. I am not complaining I am very thankful, at least we are going in the right direction. Doc said that his mouth was a little better although he still can't swallow anything without choking on it. He is at least trying something everyday. It won't be much longer before that goes away. Usually when his counts start to go back up then his mouth gets better. The swelling in his hands and feet have also gone down more now. They are not quite back to normal, but are almost there. The big thing with his hands and feet are for the blisters to finish healing. We know that will still take awhile because they were so bad to start with. His vital signs have been doing well the last two days so we are also thankful for that. I didn't want to say anything yesterday, but the hiccups have gotten better. Yesterday I only heard him a couple of times and today I haven't heard him at all. Tomorrow is day ten which is the first day they usually see people's counts start to go back up, but it could take a couple more days. We are waiting to see what God's plan is. Please continue to keep Doc in your prayers.

Teresa

Transplant Day 8

Doc is doing better today. God has been answering some of our prayers again. Doc’s temperature is back to normal right now. His hands and mouth (or throat) don’t hurt as much today and overall he is feeling better. They have been able to cut some of the blistered skin away today because it has dried out enough. This allows the new skin underneath to heal faster. The doctors have also decreased his pain medicine again because he is feeling so much better. Isn't God great!!! Doc asked the doctors today to check and see if they can get him some wraps to take the rest of the swelling out of his hands and feet so that he can get up and start walking again. His feet are blistered, but not as bad as the hands so he thinks he will be able to get up on them again soon. We are trying to be that “patient” patient again. We are waiting for those counts to start coming back up. We want to thank all of you again for the continued prayers. God is listening!!

Teresa

Transplant Day 7

Today is another mixed day for Doc. His feet seem to be doing a little better, but his throat and hands are still bad. He has started running a low grade temperature today as well. We know this happens every time he has been through the chemo, it is just hard watching him go through it. The nurses say he is a real trooper. They can't believe that he isn't complaining with everything he is going through, they say he obviously has good reasons to complain. I think that has a lot to do with the fact he knows that God is in control. They had to give him more platelets again today, but they have come up nicely by this evening. The one strange thing that I haven't mentioned on the blog yet is that he has the hiccups. He has had them off and on now for three days. The nurses tell me that 10% of their patients on this floor get them. They are not sure why. At least that is something that is only annoying and not painful.

I am sorry I didn't get to publish this post last night. I was working on it and was kicked off the Internet a few times like usual, but the last time I was kicked off I couldn't get back on. By the time I realized I wasn't going to get back on Kim was already in bed so I couldn't reach her. I kept checking it until after midnight, but it never came back on. I think the hospital must have shut it down this time.

During the night Doc's temp went up to 102.2. It came back down-Praise the Lord!-and as of the time I am writing this it was 99.8. Please continue to keep him in your prayers as he goes through these trials. We know that God is his healer we just need to be patient and let Him do it in His time.

Teresa

Transplant Day 6

Today Doc has had a mixed day. Doc's hands, feet, knees and elbows have now started oozing because of the blisters popping. The burn doctor didn't come, they sent a wound care nurse which did noting for Doc (they obviously aren't as good as ours are). I am not sure if they are going to have someone else see him or not yet. Doc's nurse today was nice enough to at least wrap gauze around his hands, feet one knee and one elbow (they were the worse). He has also started having more trouble with his throat and mouth like he has in the past. The mouth problems have started a little latter then they have before so maybe they won't be as bad this time. He hasn't been able to eat anything since lunch yesterday. Not even the carnation instant breakfast which he usually has. Several people have asked us when will we know if the transplant has taken or not. The doctors and nurses have told us that most peoples' counts start to come back on transplant day 10 - 12. Since we are on day 6 it could be 4 - 6 days. Not everyone is the same it may be sooner or could be a little latter. Doc has been sitting up in a chair most of the day again today. The nurses have been surprised that he has been up to it. He is much more alert then he was just a few days ago. I know as soon as his feet are well enough to walk on he will be up in the halls again. Please continue to keep him in your prayers.

Teresa

Transplant Day 5

Today Doc started out well enough that I came home for the night. I have a lot of things that need to get done that no one else could do. It was very hard for me to leave him, but several of the nurses said I needed a break and I know he is in good hands. I am planning on going back tomorrow morning. I am hoping to get a good night of sleep. I know all of you know how difficult that is in the hospital, between everyone coming in all night long and things beeping all night long.

This morning Doc's platelets were 25, but when I talked to him this evening his count was down to 5 again. They are planning on giving him more platelets tonight. He also said the head of the transplant department was in again this evening. He is on call for the hospital this month so we lucked out (God does know what he is doing!!) When he came in this evening he told Doc that he has asked for a consult with the burn unit. I think that may be a little late, but I guess better late then never (right?). The blisters on Doc's hands are starting to pop now. They are still very sore, but much better then they were in the beginning. I know they are bothering him more because he hasn't been able to do any of his Strat-o-Matic right now. He isn't able to use the computer or write anything with his hands as bad as they are either. At least he has been able to watch some of the Cubs games and I brought a few sports movies that he hadn't seen with to help pass the time. He is still sleeping a lot, but the last couple of days he has been up more. Unfortunately, he wasn't able to eat much today. He did have a good breakfast, but lunch was a problem so he didn't have the nurses order him dinner (with his hands as bad as they are he can't dial the phone to do it himself). His mouth is starting to get sore like it has in the past. This usually lasts awhile. I am praying that it doesn't get as bad as it has a few times before. Other wise Doc had a pretty good day. I have talked with him several times today since I left. We want to thank all of you for your continued prayers again. I don't think we can say enough on how much it has meant to us.

Teresa

Transplant Day 4

Today has been another good day. Doc spent most of the day sitting up in the chair. He continues to have improvement on his hands and feet. They were able to cut his pain medicine in half since he is doing so much better. He still continues to need platelets daily. This is very common since they give more chemo and other medicine then he has had in the past to get him ready for the transplant. As before it takes a couple of weeks before the effects from the chemo begin to wear off. His other labs have improved, but his neutrophils haven't begun to go back up yet. The nurse last night said that with the dose they give here it takes a little longer for that to go back up. This time it is very important for that to happen. As I said before that is the first sign that the transplant took. We continue to pray that will happen with no rejection problems.

We found out today that this hospital does perform miracles! Elvis was in the house!! We had a visit today from Elvis. He even sang a couple of songs for us. He was very good. I took a couple of pictures.



-Teresa

Transplant Day 3

Doc has had a pretty good day today. His hands are continuing to show a little progress. The swelling and redness is getting less each day. The nurse thought he might be having fluid on his lungs today, so they took an x-ray again, but it was fine. His temp is still normal and his blood pressure was better today.

Doc isn't eating a lot, but he is getting some carnation instant breakfast down with every meal. He is drinking plenty of fluids. He is still sleeping most of the day, because they still have him on the morphine pump. I don't know if it is the pain medicine or what, but he was very funny most of the day when he was awake. The nurses were laughing a lot of the time while they were in here. I really think it is a good sign when he can laugh about what is going on.

God continues to be good to us. We continue to get calls, commits, cards and prayers from so many. We would like to thank all of you again. We continue to be humbled by all the support you have given us. We pray that all of you are having a great weekend. Please have a good time in church tomorrow we will be thinking about you all. The Beene Family will be visiting Westfair tomorrow and we regret missing them. They are very good and we enjoy them every time they come.

Teresa

Transplant Day 2

Doc has had a mixed day today. His hands look a little better, but unfortunately they are still very sore. They are giving him a lot of platelets and blood, because he has been bleeding from somewhere yesterday and today. They didn't tell me about yesterday until today. Because of everything that is going on his blood pressure has been high today. They have had to give him a lot of pain medicine today which I know he doesn't like. He is the type of person that doesn't even like to take Tylenol unless he really needs it. I just want to cry when I look at his hands and know there is not much that I can do to make them better except pray. The doctors did say they look like they are going in the right direction, but it will take awhile until they are a lot better.

Doc has spent a lot of the day sleeping. I guess that is what he really needs right now. I know his hands and feet are bad right now (they are the worst on the floor and several nurses and doctors have told us that they have never seen anyone with this bad of a reaction), but we have a lot to be thankful for, he isn't running a fever right now, they have still been able to leave him off of ICU watch, his shingles are almost gone and he still has his sense of humor. He continues to joke with the nurses and doctors even though he is in so much pain.

I want to thank everyone for him, for the cards we continue to get, the kind comments on the blog and especially for the prayers. I am still having trouble with the internet here. Unfortunately I keep getting kicked off after being on for a couple of minutes. It takes me a long time to get the blog done because of getting kicked off so much. With this being such a big place you would think that the wireless network would work better.

Teresa

Transplant Day 1

Overall Doc is doing better today. His hands and feet are still really bad. They are very swollen and red. They also have a lot of blisters on them. To me they look like he has burnt them in a fire. The doctors tell me it is a reaction to the pre-transplant medicine. The swelling did go down just a little today, but he still can't do much with his hands. His platelets are still low today even though they gave him platelets last night. They are planning to give him more tonight. The nurse told us tonight that he has hit bottom on all the counts that matter, now they are just waiting for them to go back up to be able to tell if the transplant took or not. We should know that in a few days. Everyone is different on how long that takes. We did get some good news tonight. Doc is doing well enough that they have taken him off of ICU status. Praise the Lord!!! Not much else new to talk about. Doc is still doing a lot of sleeping. A lot of that is because of the medicine they are giving him. Thank you for keeping him in your prayers.

Teresa

Transplant Day 0

Today is considered day zero since they did the transplant today. Doc is still doing well. At first they had a little trouble with his blood pressure going up and down, but within a couple of minutes it was stable. We want to thank Pastor Warren for coming down here to be with us during the transplant. It was really nice having him here. Pastor Warren and I were surprised on how small the amount of stem cells was that they gave Doc today. It only took 15-20 minutes to defrost the cells and put it in him. The medicine they gave him before the transplant started did make him very sleepy for most of the day. They are going to give Doc blood tonight because his hemoglobin is low. As of yesterday his white count was at zero. Everyone has told us that his counts will come back up much sooner this time since he has been given the stem cells from a 24 year old donor. Hopefully he will be able to get out of here within two weeks. Then we are supposed to stay in the area for another week before we are allowed to go home. Doc is still in intensive care, but he is doing much better. They now have his blood pressure under control. We praise the Lord for all He has done and we thank all of you for all of your prayers. Please continue to keep Doc in your prayers.

I am praying that I can stay on the internet long enough to get this blog posted. The last couple of days it has been really hard to get on and stay on. Our wireless signal is very low. We will try and keep everyone informed of Doc's progress.


-Teresa

(She didn't stay online long enough to get it published, but I (Kim) was able to get on and publish for her. Hopefully the connection will work better tomorrow.)

Transplant Day!

Mom just called to say the transplant is done! My dad is still sleeping, and will be for most of the afternoon because of the medication they gave him. There was a little bit of a delay because they didn't have the right staff on the floor, so the transplant wasn't done until about 1pm. Everything went smoothly with the transplant. Now it's just a matter of recovering enough to come home. Thanks for your prayers!

-Kim

Transplant Day -1

This morning started a little rocky again. Doc's blood pressure was low and his pulse was up. They discovered that he had been having an allergic reaction to the rabbit medication he'd been taking, so they've given him a little medicine to help with that. He's swollen from the medicine and that should go away in a few days. Tonight he's been doing better, and he hasn't had any vomiting today.

The transplant is definitely a go for tomorrow. It's scheduled for 11:00am and should take a little less than half an hour. They'll put him to sleep for it because they said the medication feels really strange going in, and it makes a lot of people very anxious. Pastor Warren will be here with me tomorrow. We'll update tomorrow after the transplant.

(Hopefully the internet at the hospital tomorrow will be working! Kim is typing this tonight because we can't get a connection.)

Please pray for the transplant to go well and smoothly, and that God will use this to heal Doc.

-Teresa