42 years together and the after-effects of radiation

today is my mom and dad's 42nd anniversary -- wow! congratulations you two love birds...

on another note, dad finished his radiation treatments Christmas Eve. We were able to spend Christmas together, enjoying traditional Swedish feast on Christmas Eve, opening gifts from Santa Christmas morning, then visiting Brian's family and mom's sister's family on Christmas Day. it was action packed but so good for all of us as we were able to remember 2 precious lives who were lost to us this year -- my husband Brian and mom's sister Nancy -- with those who loved them. we ventured to the OC to commune with Brian's mom, brother, and sisters. Nancy's husband, Joe, drove up from the desert to spend the evening with mom's other sister Priscilla and her family and friends in Pomona. it was a really good day despite the loss of two dearly loved ones.

now, for dad, the aftermath of the radiation is setting in. burning and pain -- worse than the worse sunburn you've ever experienced -- and because it was on a portion of his face, he has extremely painful sores in his mouth that basically limit his eating ability -- he barely eats enough for a bird. he is in a lot of pain and doesn't quite know what to do. please pray for him. he is intense need of it.

we hope you all had a merry Christmas and that the new year will bring health, happiness and God's blessings to you in abundance.

home sweet home

don got out of the hospital on 12/11 -- just in time to see the grandgirls in their performance of a christmas carol at APU. he expressed to the docs how important it was for him to be there, and after assessment, they let him go home after a week's stay in the hospital.

thank you for your prayers. he has started up chemo again and radiation too. he'll be having radiation until Christmas eve... [merry Christmas to you, donald! hehe]

anyway, he still has a bit of a cough and finished up his antibiotics today.

oh! on a kind of fun note, don's son gregg and his wife cindy came over for a visit and brought him a yummy homemade carrot cake filled with pineapple, raisins and all the yummies... it was delish. that was their Christmas present to dad... that and a pleasantly lengthy 4 hour visit :)

pray for a restful holiday time with family as we all are dealing with events of the past year and that God is clearly made known to those around us, in us and through us. have a wonderful holiday season!

time for an oil change

yup, it's that time again... white cells are high and hemoglobin is low so don had another bood transfusion last night. that means that he'll be in the hospital until at least tomorrow. mckenna and avery are a little sad because there's a chance that he'll miss their performance in a christmas carol tomorrow night... be praying he'll be able to join the live audience!

anyway, here's a photo of him getting that oil change and mckenna keeping him company :)

at least there's a smile!

God's goodness

don is still in the hospital as the docs deduced that he had pneumonia in one of his lungs. he'll be there for another day or two while they give him some antibiotics via IV and just monitor his overall health.

as far as the memory loss, they think it could have been fever spikes, as there is no tumor action happening near the brain -- thank God! he will be resuming radiation & chemo treatments next week.

God is good and prayers are being answered. will post more when more is known... thanks so much!

hospitalization for monitoring

this afternoon, dad was taken to the ER because his fever was persistent from last night and the docs all warn that fever could be the sign of infection. so with all of the happenings of yesterday, mom decided to take him in.

he had blood tests, CT scan, chest x-ray and a couple other tests to see what was causing fever. he has also contracted a cold with deep chest cough. because of these things, he will be kept in the hospital for a few days so that his fever/symptoms can be monitored, and they can be certain that there is no sign of pneumonia.

please continue to pray for him; i will make it a priority to keep posting re: his condition.

chemo, radiation and confusion...

administered. since the journal was last written, don has had 3 different and new chemos. none of them have seemed to work, as the MCC is growing and his hair is growing back -- sure signs that it isn't.

dr.p has returned and she says the only way to slow its growth is to couple chemotherapy and radiation together. so radiation started this past week. he will continue to have radiation for a total of 10 days over the next 2 weeks, focusing on his neck area. this latest version of chemo seems to be working on smaller tumors but the large one on his neck is still growing, though at a much slower rate, and new smaller ones keep appearing on his head, neck and face.

today, we had a couple of disconcerting moments where don was struck with long bouts of confusion where he seemed befuddled as to what to do, what to say or where to go. then, when the moments would pass, he would have no recollection of what happened in the time passed. mom and i are concerned and deduce that it might be due to sudden changes in temperature [from hot shower to cold house; from cold outdoor weather to toasty indoors -- each one happened after these incidents] that may cause some swelling near the brain. mom will be contacting dr. p tomorrow regarding this. he is also experiencing chills/shivering and sweats, likely side effects of the chemo.

please ask our God to guide you as you continue to pray for don, rachel, heidi and the kids as we face new challenges day by day. God's ear is not deaf to the prayers of His people!