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...