The Saga Continues...

Around 3AM Friday morning, Dad woke up with severe abdominal pain.  By 9AM, the family decided it was time to go to the ER.  Boone Hospital staff did their best to make Dad comfortable throughout the day on Friday.  Gayle, one of the nurses, said getting the pain under control was like chasing a train.  Late  in the evening, the amount of pain meds in his drip finally reached a level that he was able to sleep.  When he called me early Saturday morning, it sounded like the dad I knew.  But the report was from a world we'd hoped to have left behind us.

Throughout the day on Friday and Saturday, Dad went through a battery of tests, pokes and prods.  These are the results:

Complete renal failure
A mass on the liver
Abdominal fluid buildup
Internal bleeding

The pain is probably caused by tumors getting wrapped around nerve fibers.  His creatinine levels showed  the kidneys shutting down and by Friday night, he was no longer producing urine.  The doctors on Friday initially gave Dad a survival rate of 1-3 weeks.  Based on our most recent lab results Saturday afternoon, we have revised that estimation to one week.

Tonight we have gone to a pain patch that will possibly replace the IV drip.  If it controls the pain tonight, Dad will go home on Sunday and hospice will take over for the duration of his care.

We are praying for God's perfect Will throughout this situation.  We trust Him to lead us.

We will update the blog continuously as information is available.  Due to Dad's condition, we are limiting his visitors.  Thank you for your understanding.

Throughout the day, some of the St. Louis clan stopped by along with Matthew & Becca Johnson and others.  Tonight the four of us are camped out in Dad's room with a box of Shakespeare's trying to recreate the kitchen table atmosphere so many of you have experienced over the years at the Lodge.  There are more pictures over here...

Cinderella on a Saturday

On Saturday, the family convoyed up to Macon to visit Maples Repertory student theater camp's last performance of "Cinderella: The Untold Story."  It was the first "full" theater show Cooper's been able to sit through and Heidi, well, she's a seasoned pro by now.  There was lots of singing and dancing and Heidi sang and danced her way about while Cooper sat thoroughly entranced (it probably helped that he missed a nap).  The show was laugh-out-loud funny in parts and it was great to see Nathaniel Richards treading the boards as the leading man.

Afterward, we stopped by Hawg Father's BBQ for bit of very nicely smoked brisket & pork.  The beans are amazing and the sweet potato waffle fries are tasty.  We'll be back!

A short note:  This was Cooper's first time out with sunglasses.  He's got two pairs (a Spidey set from Aunt Janet and black set from his Dad).  He's been picking them up and slowly getting used to wearing them at home, but today was the first time he chose to wear them out of the house!  There's more pix over here...

Relay For Life

 

In June, Dad walked in his third Relay For Life event in Moberly.  We are profoundly grateful for God's blessings on our family.  Fellow survivors Sally Walker and Sasha (Suzi's mom) have walked with Dad every year and it's a wonderful reunion for them to circle the track together.  I'm always thoroughly impressed with the community involvement and level of production by the local organizers.  They do a really great job.

Life is short, Opera is Long

Recently, Mom's brother, Ted, was part of a New York Times Magazine piece that featured students in a Metropolitan Opera contest.  This is a nice glimpse into the competitive world of Opera and one of the many roles that Ted plays in this amazing industry.

June 17th, marked the 30-year anniversary of our Daddy and Gramps graduation to Heaven.  He was the same age as Vernon and only two years older than I am.  We knew he was young, but know it even more as we continue to grow older ourselves!

Today, I was reading “HealthSmart: Advice from The Doctors,” and I quote: 

“Cuts and Scrapes.  No need to dig out the hydrogen peroxide: All you need is clean water (to rinse the wound) and a little soap (to clean the skin around the cut); anything stronger can cause irritation.  Skip the antibiotic ointment, too:  Exposure to fresh air is the quickest way to allow wounds to dry and heal (any creams will keep it moist). If the scrape is in a spot that will easily get dirty (like your hand) or rubbed by clothing (like your knee), cover it with a bandage; otherwise, leave it be.” 

This was Daddy’s Rx all my life (much to our Mama’s dismay!), and thirty years after he is dead, they are discovering that this is the best treatment, as he knew all along.  Of course, he would have added some prayer to it to speed the healing along!

I still miss him...

Glynnda

Heidi's Gone Mobile!

For quite awhile Heidi's been moving about on all fours... and then she switched to a kneeling shuffle.  Last week she officially went "bipedal."  She's walking!  Hoorah!

Cooper's 1st

It's old news, but last month Cooper turned 1.

And I turned 37, much less of a milestone than his, I know.

It may seem odd, but I've never wanted to be the dad who views his child's life thru a lens and not in reality... "Sure, I was there!  See?  Here's 3 hours of video I shot to prove it!"  So, I set up a camera and let it run, kinda in a reality TV sort of theme... and it worked out.  Of course, we had to do some handheld stuff, but I have to resign myself to the idea that some things will only be captured in the giant screen of our memory... and that's good enough.

There's more pix over here and a lot more videos where this one is on the Coopercast.