Why my dad is my hero

Easter-Eve (aka the day before easter)

Today was a very rough day for pops.  He had another small surgery yesterday due to some complications.  He was sleepy from it today and in a lot of pain.  He also has contracted a rather nasty infection, and no surprise since he has no pancreas, so needless to say things are quite interesting.

He still has to do the breathing test that i wrote about in the beginning.  Today he got 2 units of blood because the red blood cells were very low.

When I got there, I didn’t know how sick he was so I sat in a chair next to him and held his hand for a while and we talked about how he was doing.  He showed me the incision.  I won’t post the picture for the weak stomachs of the world.  The staples come out in a few more days and every one is nervous about that…including Pops!

Back to the infection…..not quite sure as to the actual culprit (side effect of surgery, or lingering cancer that wasn’t removed).  Once he was declared in a state of emergency – they do so by posting a bright orange warning sign outside of his door in some medical jargon about the condition of the patient inside being highly sick and contagious, we were all instructed to change into these rather rediculous looking jumpsuits.  It covered our clothes and we had to wear gloves too.  It was to protect both parties – so we didn’t give or get anything to/from him.

After a sink bath, pops was zonked for the rest of the night, he only came to for a few moments here and there for vitals or to have his blankets adjusted.

Poor guy.

Week 2

Pops is doing better since last week. There were no updates posted because it was a slow crawl to this week. He was moved to a different part of ICU for two days. They had some troubles again with his blood sugar but they seem to have it somewhat under control now.

He can sit up on his own. The tube in his throat is gone so he can talk normally and the epidural in his back is gone as well. He still has a “pain pack” a machine that allows himto give himself measured doses of morphine every 12 minutes.

Yesterday he was moved to the 7th floor at Loyola. No more ICU!! Mom sat him up in a chair in the bathroom and washed his hair for him. It had to feel so good. Today was his first day to be allowed to put any sort of substance in his mouth. All nutrients have been through multiple bags of “stuff”. Today he was allowed a few swallows of water. He said it tasted good. I can’t even imagine.

On a side note, the insurance company is being crappy about a few things that we will have to figure out. Nothing major, but crappy nonetheless given the situation

Thanks all for your prayers!

Day 2

Pops is doing much better today.

we got to the hospital at 2 after sleeping most of the night and into the morning. it was nice. mom treated herself to gardening, and i spent some time holding my puppy and then went to starbucks.

i can’t help but think how different his life is going to be. he is now diabetic since he has no spleen. the poor guy gets poked in the finger every 15 minutes to monitor his blood sugars. yesterday it was 250 (the normal is ~ 100). Today it was 105 (PRAISE GOD!)

When I got there I sat in the waiting room with a friend to give mom some time alone with him. It wasn’t long until she came to get me – my pops was asking for me. how sweet.

i have spent most of the day holding his hand while he sleeps. he’s got quite the grip. he’ll wake up and say something – sometimes stay awake for up to 5 minutes (!!!!) and then go back to sleep.

we have to keep him moving – his bed sits up, and he has things on his legs to stimulate them as well. he’s in serious risk of getting pneumonia right now which is no good without a spleen. at the moment he has a fever but the doctors aren’t worried about it because it’s low.

he also has a contraption he has to breathe into. it has something like a ball in it and half way up the tube is a marker. he has to get strong enough to blow the ball up to the marker and hold it there. the doctors said 10 times an hour each hour he’s awake is sufficient practice.

yesterday he got 3 units of blood, and today he is only on his second. doing better i would say. the extra blood keeps his blood pressure down and makes it easier for him to breathe.

here are some pictures of our adventures today.

here’s a unit of blood (THANKS to whoever gave this to him!!!!)

Pops likes it when i kiss his forehead!

mom is ALWAYS by his side holding his other hand!

Day 1

Today was quite possibly one of the worst days of my life – and nothing really happened to me. Not long ago, my step-dad was diagnosed with Pancreatic Cancer. It is one of the most aggressive cancers known to man. I of course Wiki searched it the moment I found out he had it only to find that last year 32,000 people were diagnosed with it and 31,000 died from it. That makes it a grim 3% survival rate for a year past diagnosis. The 5 year mark is only a 2% survival chance. Not to be pessimistic but the odds just weren’t stacked in his favor.

Yesterday morning his team of doctors decided to perform emergency surgery to save his life. He was admitted to Loyola last night. My mom, brother, my mom’s friend, and I arrived at the hosp at 3:30am to sit with him until his operation.

Saying good-bye was the hardest thing I’ve had to do – and trust me I’ve said good-bye to plenty of people that I love. His surgery lasted 8 hours. The doctors removed all but a slice of his pancreas, 1/3 of his stomach, all of his spleen, and all of his gall bladder. Two hours after surgery, I saw him. It was the saddest thing I have witnessed. In a quiet room in the ICU lay a man whose body was literally eaten alive by cancer. He lost 70 pounds in a matter of weeks, and now he lay on life support unable to even breathe without help.

The doctors don’t know what to expect. Chemo and radiation can help prevent further malignant growth, but there are no promises. Without his spleen he’s unable to fight infections in his body. His cancer has eaten almost every hope he has.

He’s my hero because he kicked cancer’s ass today. He may be missing the majority of his internal organs but he’s still got fight in his eyes. He’s my hero because despite his sheer pain and inability to breathe on his own, doubled with a tube stuck down his throat whispered to me that he loves me.

This is a pic of him before his surg.