Dad has been struggling with a little nausea still, but guess what!?! The abscess drain is gone! This morning from 7-8 am, dad spent the whole hour drinking nasty red-fake-berry-tasting dye for a CT scan. They did the scan, and didn't find any trace of his abscess, so it's long gone, and so is his extra appendage. That's a highlight of the week for us here.
Dad also visited with the palliative care doctor, and after some problems with his subcutaneous line and dad not having enough fat on his body, we decided to put in a picc line. ("PICC stands for Peripherally Inserted Central venous Catheter. This intravenous catheter is inserted through the skin, into a vein in the arm, in the region above the elbow and below the shoulder. The catheter is a long, thin tube that is advanced into the body in the veins until the internal tip of the catheter is in the superior vena cava, one of the central venous system veins that carries blood to the heart.") Overall, this means that dad can get his pain and other medication a little easier, without having some of the vein problems he's had. We are taking him in on Monday for the picc line. We also got some more (an indefinite supply) of dad's favorite nausea medication today, so hopefully his puking will be a problem of the past.
Today's parting message: We are so grateful to have family here (dad's brother/his family) from California visiting us this week. They are calm, helpful, and loving, and we have greatly enjoyed their presence. They are the kind of visitors you wish would stay longer, because they teach us lessons about helping others and taking things in stride. As I told mom this week, we can all take a page out of their Christ-like book. Thank you, Rob, Gerry, Jamin, Amanda, Chelsea, and Ronan for your examples to us.
We love you all,
The Losers
ps. Here are some pictures of dad's family from the trip to CA
Coley and Mom by the pomegranate tree
Dad and his doubly expensive lawn chair
(Yes, we finally got it back from the airport)
Dad's sisters frolicking in the leaves
Dad and his grandmother, Della Bohall
Dad and his siblings, together in a picture for the first time:
Gail, Dad, Cindy
Deedee, Catherine
Rob
Robert (brother), his wife Gerry, their daughter Chelsea, and their grandson Ronin
The Loser Family Tree (ha ha)
Posts
6 comments:
So happy to hear they can put a picc line in. I hope all goes well with it. I thought drains were most uncomfortable but loved my picc line. The picc line and wound vac made it posible to keep working but running to the printer quick with the line into the picc and the cords to the vacc and the earphone on was impossible. Coworkers were always alerting me to dragging something or carying whatever and following behind. They loved this rattle brain. Best wishes an everything. love you all
We love the family tree picture!!!
Fun to see everyone 25 years later, all grown up:)
Fighting the flu at our house, so we'll continue to stay away until we are "for sure" better.
Always thinking about you.
xoxoxoxoxo
Ned and Barbara
Thanks for the post. Great pictures too. I need to get me one of those lawn chair recliners. Awesome.
We are so happy to hear that despite the challenges, you were able to enjoy your trip to California and make so many happy memories together! You always seem to find the good in everyone and the sunshine in all situations. It is always such an inspiration to read your messages of hope, peace and faithful endurance! Thank you for the way you are blessing our lives! We love the beautiful photo's and the opportunity to get acquainted with your family. We are happy to have you home! The neighborhood felt a little hollow while you were all away!
You are in our thoughts and every prayer!
Love,
The Folkman Family
We are always interested in the happenings at the Losers! Great pictures...Thanks for sharing. Hope to see you soon.
Love ya all,Tracy & Jill
Dear Rick,
I wanted to thank you for arranging for that lovely family weekend. There is nothing better than spending time with the family and having Thanksgiving dinner. We all had a wonderful holiday and will always remember the time we spent with everyone. I have been meaning to write to you and share my thoughts for some time. I am just so impressed at your attitude and how you are facing death with so much courage and finesse. You are a wonderful example to all of us of how to live life and how to face death. I have had such a hard time actually writing this letter because every time I even think of what I want to say, I start to cry. I am going to be a huge cry baby during this whole letter.
I want to thank you for arranging for all of the family trips. I know we wouldn’t have gotten together for all of those if it had not been for you and Michelle. I think one of my favorite memories was the Washington Lake trip. I loved how you would always set up camp for everyone and have tarps set up for shade and rain and your little extras with a washing area and cooking area. My favorite evenings were those that we sat around the fire telling stories. I loved listening to your long, detailed stories about growing up and your road trip. Adam sure told a funny story about the truck that belonged to Rachael’s dad. It was also funny when the boys went out in the canou and made that bear sound with the rope and the bucket. I think that is one of Jordan’s favorite memories of fun and adventure as they tried not to get caught. We were all sitting at the campfire all worried about the boys. I hope I’m not combining memories, but it seems like that all happened at Washington Lake.
Whenever we have been on an outing with you, I always felt safe because it seemed like you would be able to handle any emergency that came up and I really depended upon that. I don’t know what we will do without our “captain” of our family wagon train. You were always our leader and we all looked up to you. I admire the way you played with your kids and never lost your temper even when your boys broke something expensive.
You are such a great uncle to my kids. You have a special place in their hearts because of the way you always paid every child attention and teased them or grabbed them for a tickle as they walked passed you. I really admire you Rick and everything that you were able to accomplish in your life. You always made holidays fun as you started the Christmas wrapping paper throwing game. You lived life in a big way and accomplished so much. You were always willing to help everyone out. I thought that it was great that your family came over to Ben and Carol’s that summer and made that pretty flower spot with the tree in the front yard. You were such a hard worker and you built a lot of beautiful things. It didn’t seem like there was anything that you couldn’t build. I admired your landscaping and your organized gardens. I know that you will continue to be a non-stop worker on the other side and you will be accomplishing grand things.
I have admired your marriage with Michelle and how you always treated her with so much respect and kindness. You were constantly helping her out and not just sitting around. There is not one bad thing that I can even think of that I ever saw you do. I loved your sense of humor and how you loved to play games and make everyone laugh. You will be sorely missed. You have been a super brother-in-law and always made me feel welcome and loved. Thank you for giving so much of yourself to all of us and making this world a better place to live in. I look forward to someday seeing you on the other side. You’d better be there waiting for me because you will be one of the first people I’ll want to hug!
Love ya,
Chari
Post a Comment