Earl is back home!

Earl was released yesterday. His potassium must be very low. Lower than what pills would take care of. Doctor wasn't sure Earl would absorb enough from pills (everything runs right thru him), so wanted to give him another IV of potassium yesterday. It stings if given too fast, so they had to slow it down so much, it took about 7 hours to do the small bag. He was signed out and ready to hit the door when they unhooked him!

I went down to move the car around shortly after they called transport to come get him. Earl was dressed and sitting on the bed, ready to go when our pastor, Dr. Glenn Cummings, came in to see him. If he had gotten there five minutes later, he would have missed Earl. We certainly appreciated him coming to see Earl. Even if it was just to escort Earl down to the car.

As we headed home, we hit the 5:00 p.m. traffic jam on I-40/75. Lucky for us, we only had to go one exit to get off on Pellissippi, so we got home about 5:15 p.m.

Earl is feeling much better. Just very weak. Still dealing with the diarrhea.

He is very glad to be back home!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Lillian & Earl

Earl may get to come home today.

I see the number of hits has jumped up over 40 hits in last 24 hours. I appreciate everyone who stops by to check on Earl. I know all of you are praying for him. Thank you so much!

Doctor said last evening he might release Earl today. Hope so!

Lillian

Earl in hospital

Around 11:00 p.m. last night I began to try to get Earl up out of his recliner and get him headed to bed. When he stood up and tried to walk, he was so unsteady on his feed he could not walk. When I asked him if he needed the wheelchair, he said yes. Right then I knew we had problems.

I decided I wasn't waiting until morning to get him some help. So, Liana and I gathered up a few things for him and wheeled him out to the car and headed to Park West a few minutes before midnight.

He was taken into an exam room at 12:25 a.m. Gregg drew several vials of blood for lab, but was unable to get the site to work for an IV. He tried twice more with no luck. He went and got Mark, who tried twice, still with no luck. Then they called in David, with 30+ years of experience. Finally, on his second stick he was able to get Earl ready for an IV. This was a total of seven times he was stuck! Earl's veins are in such bad shape from all the chemo! These guys tried really hard... just didn't have much to work with.

They did go ahead and start Earl on fluids, while they were waiting for lab results. The results showed the kidney and bladder infections are back again. He is also dehydrated, but not as severely as we suspected.

This makes, I think, six times he has been treated for the urinary tract infections since March or April. What makes it really hard to know what is going on is that he has no burning or stinging. Then we assume what back pain he is having is related to the cancer, since pain is expected with that. Or is it kidney pain from the infection? We are going to have to figure out some way to know when it is this infection and not cancer pain. But how?? We'll work on that for sure.

After conferring with the Oncology doctor on call, Earl was admitted and got into his room about 3:30 a.m. It took an hour or so to get him settled and hooked up, etc. Liana and I were both wired, but too tired to settle down. It was around 5 a.m. when she went home. I read until little before 7 a.m. when I finally began to drift off. A sleeping chair was brought in and I slept about 45 min. before they brought in his breakfast tray. Looked pretty good. Scrambled eggs, bacon, biscuit, juice, coffee and mandarin oranges.

Earl has been getting fluids all day, as well as antibiotics and potassium. Also getting another antibiotic pill three times a day... every eight hours. The IV antibiotic is levaquin. This is the stuff that his mother took that made her talk out of her head for three days recently. May get interesting if it does weird things to Earl, too!!

For now, we wait. Haven't seen a doctor today. Nurse says it is sometimes very late when doctors make rounds. Earl is hoping he will get to go home tomorrow, but we don't know anything now.

Please pray, pray, pray!
Our love and thanks to you all.
Lillian

Earl update

I called from work to check on Earl right before 2 p.m. and talked to his assistant. I found out he had not even attempted to work any today. That isn't like him, so I left immediately and came home to check on him. When I got here he was having a hard time talking. His mouth was so dry, he couldn't talk plain because his tongue was sticking to his mouth. Said he thought he needed to go to the hospital because he was dehydrated.

I called the oncologist who instructed that he drink plenty of fluids and come in for blood work at 9 a.m. tomorrow. They will draw blood and immediately go ahead and hook up an IV and start fluids. It was too late to take him in to get fluids at their office today.

Depending on results, they will make recommendation as to either admit him to hospital or give him fluids in the office. I hope they can get him hydrated without hospitalization.

Lillian

Rough weekend for Earl - Prayers needed

This has been a strange weekend for Earl. When I came in from work Friday afternoon, he was sitting in his recliner. Seemed fine. Sleeping is not unusual for him at this time of day, so I let him sleep about 1-1/2 to 2 hours. I knew he should have something to eat, but when I tried to wake him, I about gave up. He kept going right back to sleep regardless of me talking to him, etc.

After 15-20 min. I did get him to get up, but he was very unsteady on his feet, so I stayed right with him while he walked to the back of the house. When I asked him if he wanted me to get his walker, he said it would probably be a good idea. Up into the attic to get his walker down. He used it the rest of the evening. He parked it on Saturday and went back to his cane.

He ate some beef stew and not long after that he started complaining about his stomach hurting. This continued until after he went to bed very late. The pain moved down into his lower abdomen later in the evening. He even took a couple of pain pills for the stomach pain.

Saturday morning, he was still hurting and took more pain pills. He gradually seemed to feel better as Saturday passed. Sunday, he slept late and didn't get up until late morning. When he tried to eat some scrambled eggs and toast around noon, he took a couple of bites and immediately headed for the bathroom.

He threw up the worst looking gunk! It was dark gray stuff that looked like brackish swamp water. No telling how long this stuff had been sitting in his stomach. Probably the cause of his pain on Saturday. He felt much better afterward, but did not eat much. Headed back to bed.

He has continued to sleep a lot today. At one point, he stopped at my office door across the hall from our bedroom. He kept leaning up against the door frame and closing his eyes like he was trying to go to sleep standing there!! He went back to bed and slept most of the afternoon.

He woke late afternoon and read the newspaper some. Wanted to go the church for the Thanksgiving dinner this evening, but was just too weak. Finally decided he would have some chicken noodle soup. He does seem to be feeling better. He's up and just went down the hall toward the living room. Hope he isn't up all night, because he slept so much today. Didn't stay long, he's back on the bed under his electric throw.

Earl came in on Wednesday with the report that his CA19-9 from a couple of weeks ago was up to 90+. Doctor thinks this will come down some since this series of treatments. Earl will return to Doctor on Dec. 1st. I don't know if they will start another series of treatment or just do blood work.

The 5FU pills made his fingers split and become very sore the first 14 days he took them. He began using lotions and whatever he could think of to try to promote healing. He finally realized that the Melaleuca MelaGel seemed to help the most. He has applied that every day of this 14 days of pills and his fingers have not split like they did the first series. He takes the pills 14 days, then is off seven days.

His hands and some of his fingers are swollen along with his feet and lower legs. The fluid buildup is related to the chemo. He continues to run low grade fevers about once a week or at least every 10 days or so. The fevers last about 24 hours and usually go away when treated with Tylenol. A couple of times they have been over 103 degrees.

He continues to have back pain most nights and is taking strong pain meds to relieve it so he can sleep.

He has gained a few pounds, but I'm not sure if it is true gain or fluid buildup. He is still only 154 lbs. and so very thin. He has learned to give himself the shots to help control the diarrhea. He is supposed to take them every 4-6 hours, but I don't think he remembers to take them more than a couple of times each day.

I'm sorry I haven't been updating this much lately. It's just the same old things all the time. Not much progress to really report. It seems to be a step or two forward and about 10 steps back. I'm trying to keep my life on track and must work to keep insurance going. It's very hard some days to get up at 6:30 and get ready for work when I didn't get to sleep until after 3 a.m. vigil with Earl. Liana has been a tremendous help. She takes Earl for his treatments, which allows me to go to work. She also helps with his Mother. I don't know how I would be managing without her help.

With his numbers creeping upward, prayer is about all we can ask of you. Please continue to pray for us. We need your prayers so very much. It is very hard to see him going down so rapidly and have courage that things will be better. He continues to remain positive that he will beat it again!

His daughter and her husband will be coming down from Richmond, VA on Friday. I know it will perk him up to see her.

Thank you for all your prayers.
Lillian

Earl fever & treatment

Earl had a very rough night. Fever 102.7 about 2 a.m. this morning. Pain in back was worst he has had to date. Fever gone by morning. No idea what is going on.

He got chemo today and started back on the 5FU pills tonight. They make his hands sore... split fingers, etc.

His left arm started swelling during chemo today & they had to switch to the right arm. Now both arms are hurting from the chemo. Last treatment made his arm hurt for about 24 hrs.

Dr. can't help him if he doesn't get treatment. So, he endures it. At least his white count is holding fairly well. It was low enough one time that they skipped a week.

I was up with Earl until 2:30 or 3 a.m. so we didn't get much rest. Hope we don't repeat again tonight!

Ryan in hospital twice

From Ryan's Mom:

11/9/08: Ryan got out of the hospital this afternoon.

11/7/08: SOME GOOD NEWS: RYAN IS STILL IN THE HOSPITAL, IMPROVING SLOWLY. HIS DOCTORS HAVE REVIEWED THE SCAN RESULTS, AND HAVE FOUND THAT THE CANCER HAS BEEN SHRUNK A BIT. RYAN WILL BE GIVEN ABOUT TWO WEEKS OFF, THEN THEY WILL TRY ONE MORE TIME ON THE CHEMO.

11/6/08: Ryan's cancer is small cell lung cancer-------can also be known as 'oatmeal' cancer---------treatable, but not curable.

11/5/08: Ryan still in hospital. Well, the news was not at all what we wanted to hear. This last bit of chemo has not done what they were hoping for. The infection at his port site has to get cleared. They removed the port this afternoon. They will possibly put a new one in when his infection is cleared up.

His oncologist is contacting others across the country to see if there are any experimental (clinical?) drugs that can be tried on Ryan. Will relay more as we find out.

Just before we found out about Ryan, we had a call from Annie (Ryan's sister). They had a fire last night in the new house. What a mess. Everyone, dogs included made it out ok with no injuries. Most lucky on that account. We took our 27 1/2 foot travel trailer up there this am so that they will have somewhere to sleep. Could get a motel, but didn't want to leave all their stuff unattended.

11/3/08 10:38 p.m: The latest is that they are now thinking of taking the port completely out, and his white blood count was at .3 should be 3,000. Will have the results of his scan sometime tomorrow. We really do need some good news for a change.

11/3/08: Ryan is back in the hospital again. Site infection where the port is------may have to have a new one put in.

Also, white blood count down again. He has now lost about 97 lbs. A few days in the hospital should help get him back on his feet.

They are going to do the scan earlier than scheduled, so that they can see if the cancer has been stopped--------that's the news I really don't want to hear at this point.

10/30/08: Ryan was in the hospital overnight---blood levels had dropped once more. They built him back up, sent him home, and now we wait and see. Yesterday and today have been a bit owly with him. Nauseated, vomiting, etc. That should go away here in a couple of days. Seems to go with the territory.

Earl - Update

Earl went in for chemo #2. Diarrhea, weight loss (154 per their scale), potassium low.... no chemo, no 5FU pills this week (supposed to start the pills again on Thurs). He did get large bag of fluids today.

Dr. ordered shots every 4-6 hours, which insurance has denied. Exceeds their limit! So we'll have to pay for them! Drug store did not have them in stock and will have to order. If drug store doesn't have tomorrow, Dr's nurse will call around and check other drug stores in an effort to locate supply.

CA19-9 from three weeks ago was 68.... up from 58. This was before he started the Oxaliplatinum.

Dr. wants to get the diarrhea under control before proceeding with treatment.

Earl - More weight loss

Earl is still trying to work most days. He seems to feel pretty good most of the time. He is still having serious problems with diarrhea. He has lost down to about 150 lbs. That means he has lost about 15 lbs. in the last two weeks! He is wasting away so quickly.

If anyone has any ideas as to what he can try to gain weight, I'm sure he would welcome your suggestions. I read on the Internet last night that Patrick Swayze, who has pancreatic cancer, gained 20 lbs. drinking muscle building shakes. We are going to check into that tomorrow.

The 5FU pills are doing a real number on his fingers. He has split places (some 1/2" or more) on the ends of almost all fingers. His right hand seems to be worse and, of course, that is the hand he uses to work. It is very sore. He took the last dose (14th day) on Thursday. He will be off them for seven days. Hope his fingers will have time to heal.

He will get the second treatment of the new chemo, Oxaliplatinum, tomorrow. For a few days after the treatment, he cannot drink or touch anything cold. Causes severe pain!

Thank you for all your prayers. God is the Great Physician and we believe in His miracles.

Sam T saw Doctor today

Great news! Dad does have blockage in his thighs, but nothing needs to be done for now.

The doctor explained that blood flow has found other ways around the blockage, but veins are not as large and do not allow enough rapid flow to supply enough oxygen to the muscles in his calves when he walks uphill or too quickly. As long as he walks at casual pace, the slower blood flow can keep up with his muscle needs. Or he can walk for as long as he can, stop and rest, then continue when his legs are able.

Dr. Reisser told Dad that the best thing he could do was "Don't let anyone talk you into doing anything to your legs" and to WALK! Walking at a pace that leads to some pain or discomfort and then pushing just a little bit further will enlarge the veins and eventually stretch them to allow a little better flow and Dad should, over time, be able to walk more and further. It will just take time and persistence.

Dr. said only about 5% of the people with Dad's condition go on to have serious problems. Dad's risk is minimal.

Dr. only recommends taking action when (1) patient is having pain while "at rest" or (2) has sores on feet or toes.

We are all extremely relieved and very thankful that Dad does not require any kind of procedure be done on his legs. He was so worried about all this yesterday that his blood pressure was 190+ over 98. He practically waltzed out of the medical center after seeing the doctor today!

Earl's mother, Opal - Update

Earl's Mother is doing better. Stitches removed on Friday. Dentist saw her on Thursday. They will do impression, when her mouth is healed, in preparation for extraction of remaining upper teeth and getting full upper plate.

She started walking by herself on her walker today. I had talked to her this morning about getting more exercise. When I came in, she informed me she had walked by herself four times today. Earl didn't even know she had done it. The monitor had not picked up anything he could hear.

We, of course, are very concerned about her falling again. We also realize she must be active to prevent blood clots and regain her strength, so we have to allow her to do what she is able.

Ryan update

Ryan's Mother reports:
Ryan is doing ok. He just finished his 2nd week of the three for chemo for this go around. He has three weeks off, then one more to go. He looks so very tired. I really don't know how he does it. The will to live is so strong in him. God willing, all will go well for him.

Earl gets NEW chemo

Earl had first treatment of the NEW chemo today. Doctor finally was able to get the drug company to supply the chemo. Guess they got CIGNA to send a written denial.

This stuff causes terrible pain with anything COLD. No cold drinks. If he gets anything out of fridge, he is to use towel or gloves. Be careful about going out into the cold. Can make him feel like he is choking, when he isn't really. This can last few hours or few days. He thinks he was better by evening meal tonight. He sipped a little of Liana's cold tea. Just a little reaction. Hope he's better tomorrow. His right arm has hurt from hand to elbow most of this afternoon. This is arm where he got chemo today.

He is having pain and splitting of ends of his fingers from the 5FU chemo pills. He will take them couple more days (total of 14 days which ends Thurs.) then be off for 7 days, before he starts them again. Between the 5FU and today's chemo, his right hand is really hurting tonight.

He is doing pretty well, otherwise. Worked some this afternoon. Played trumpet duet with church choir yesterday. I took video of it. Just got the video cam about three weeks ago in preparation of him doing this. I knew our Pastor had requested the choir do this song. I did not have any video of him playing his trumpet. Now, if I can figure out how to download it from the tape to my computer! I want to burn it to CD for his girls.

Wish I had the cam when he was still playing hand bells. He dropped out of the bell choir a few months ago. He didn't know if he could/should commit to another year. No way to know IF he would be able to play for another full season/year.

Diarrhea is still a major problem. Shots and pills are not helping much. Couple of recent "accidents" when away from home. One this morning while he was hooked up for chemo. It's getting harder for him to go anywhere!

Your prayers are so important. Please continue to keep us in your prayers.

Thank you for stopping to check up on Earl.

What next!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

As if we didn't have enough on us. Earl went for new chemo yesterday. Ended up spending over three hours there without getting treatment. Nurse called CIGNA to get authorization. CIGNA denied payment, so now we and doctor are scrambling around trying to find some way to get the chemo paid for. Don't know what outcome will be. So, pray that some source will open to allow him to get the latest, and we hope, a better treatment.

This came after Earl's mother, Opal, fell Sat. about 10:30 a.m. We spent most of day at St. Mary's ER. She hit floor face first. Teeth marks in the vinyl. Knocked out two teeth that held her bridge. Counting the teeth in the bridge, she knocked out 4 or 5 teeth. Broke a bone in her sinus. Stitches in her upper lip. Inside upper lip was cut too, but they did not stitch it. She looks like she lost a boxing match! She said she remembers being dizzy. Must have passed out. She was using her walker, but it did no good.

Her nose bleed. Pool of blood about the size of a dinner plate under her head. I had to hold her head up so she wouldn't breathe it in. We were afraid to move her much. Bad scene!! Liana called Rural Metro dispatch direct (911 Center), since she works with them thru the Rescue Squad and had direct line number. They came and transported her to St. Mary's for X-ray and CT scan. We got home after 5:30 p.m.

Ryan in hospital

Click here to see a photo of Ryan with two of his nieces.

From Ryan's mother, evening 10/13/08:
Jack is on his way home with Ryan from the hospital. He was there for 9 days. They were trying to get his blood back under control. They would treat one thing, and then something else would go wrong.

Ryan starts another series of chemo next week. I just don't know how much he can take. At this point in my life, I would say make me comfy. Ryan is so young and I understand the will to be here for as long as possible. I just don't like seeing him like he is just so that he might buy more time. I guess I have a more realistic attitude about it--------I don't know------

Kathy

Earl - Scan results

We just returned a few minutes ago from seeing doctor and getting results of PET scan. It's little good, some BAD. The two places, around pancreas area and in his neck are a little improved. Both places are a little smaller than the last scan.

The BAD is that two small places have showed up in his liver.

He is to take some pills daily until next Monday. Three pills twice daily. These are same pills he took each day he got radiation before. They were to help the radiation work better. Earl says they are chemo pills.... he is to take them 14 days straight. No weekends off. Then, he will be off seven days.

He goes to see Dr next Monday and will get new treatment following. Different chemo combo is relatively new for pancreatic cancer treatment. It has been used for some time for colon cancer, but only approved for pancreatic about six months ago. If I remember correctly, he will get the chemo daily for two weeks.

Side effect is he will lose feeling or have numbness in his finger tips. If he stays on it for some time, he will have numbness in his feet. Didn't think to ask if it would clear up after treatments ended. Sounds like treatments won't end until Earl decides he's had enough. We have discussed it not being worth being deathly sick and having no quality of life just to buy a few weeks or months.

Earl has some fluid buildup in his abdominal cavity. Dr. said it like having an injury and the skin weeping. Not real bad at this point, but if it builds up to the point it makes his stomach pouch out, they can go in with needle and drain it off.

I so hated hearing Earl's cancer has spread into his liver. That scares me to death! When it gets into the liver, it is usually just not good news!

Earl's Dr. said today it is much too early to give up on treatments. Still said there is no cure, but "if I can buy you a couple of years"...... So, we plod on with some hope the new treatments will control the spread or, at least, slow it down.

Sam T. update

I'm not sure we're ready to celebrate, but when Mother called she was told by a lady in the doctor's office that Dad's test was good and did not indicate any major problems. They did not make any changes in his medications. Call us if he has further problems.

There was no "come in to see the doctor to go over the findings". Nothing from his doctor.

I suggested to Mother that she call and request a copy of the test results, so we can read just what the test did reveal.

Something has to be causing the pain and weakness. So.... where do we go from here?

Opal update

Opal has had a rough week. Still having some fever at times. Very weak. She goes from the bed to lift chair and back to the bed.

Levaquin, the antibiotic, caused her to talk and ramble for hours at night. She said she dreamed or imagined she was falling, sliding out of her chair, falling out of bed, etc. She had several of the side effects associated with the drug.

• The most common side effects caused by LEVAQUIN, which are usually mild, include nausea, diarrhea, itching, abdominal pain, dizziness, flatulence, rash and vaginitis in women.

• Quinolones, including LEVAQUIN, may also cause central nervous system stimulation which may lead to tremors, restlessness, anxiety, lightheadedness, confusion, hallucinations, paranoia, depression, nightmares, insomnia, and rarely, suicidal thoughts or acts.

Earl called doctor's office today. They took her off the Levaquin and called in another antibiotic. He also found out the infection had spread to her blood stream. It is a form of E. Coli. She will be re-checked on Monday.

She has been eating a little more the last two days, but still not very much.

Ruby T (Lillian's Mom)

Ruby on Aug. 3, 2008

On August 3rd, 2008, my Mother was honored for teaching Sunday School at Madison Avenue Baptist Church for 47 years. That's 2,256 Sundays! Granted, there were short periods when she didn't teach, like when she and Dad went to Florida for the Winter or when they were camping one weekend a month, but that still left a lot of time spent each week in studying and lesson preparation.

She will be 91 years young in December and continues to teach every Sunday. Her "Faithful Gleaners" ladies class gave her the flowers she is wearing in this photo.

Mom, I'm proud of you for your many years of service to the church and your dedication to your Lord and Savior.

I Love You,
Lillian

Update on Earl's Mother

Thanksgiving 2007

I finally decided we had let Opal put off long enough going to the doctor. Good thing we took her. She has a very bad bladder or urinary infection. I had noticed her urine was very dark first few days she was sick. I had asked her if she had any burning or stinging, but she said no. I still started getting her to drink more water. Kept a mug of ice water by her all the time. Her urine had lightened up a LOT the last couple of days, but she continued to have the low grade fever and seemed to be getting weaker.

I came home at lunch today to try to get her to eat something. Decided to help her with her shower. She took a very short one and then needed help drying off. I could see right then, she was even weaker than I knew. So, I had Earl call her doctor. He wasn't available, but an intern was available, I told Earl we would go see anyone.

The intern, Doug, drew blood and ordered a chest x-ray. X-ray was clear. Her heart rate was 120. (She has been breathing very hard for last few days.) White count should have been 10,000. It was 30,000! Infection somewhere!! Urine test showed signs of blood and lot of infection. He said elderly can have these bladder infections and never have anything other than fever and feeling bad.

Antibiotic prescribed. We were sent down to outpatient lab for them to draw LOTS of blood from both arms to do a blood culture. Doug said bad infections like this in the elderly can get into the blood stream. They will grow a culture to make sure she doesn't have this infection spread all over.

She was told to drink a lot of fluids. Anything goes, except caffeine. Doug also mentioned dehydration. Opal never drinks much water. Mainly just tea with her meals and coffee in the morning. Nothing else was ever mentioned about her heart rate being high. If that doesn't get better as the antibiotic kicks in, I will check on that again. We have to take her back for check up on Monday.

Liana says dehydration can cause fever, dizziness, weakness. All of which Opal had. She fell three times between Fri afternoon and Sun. night. So, her symptoms could have been caused by either/both dehydration and bladder infection.

Doug said Opal would have continued to get worse, so hope we got her to doctor in time.