This week's news

It has been over a week since I have updated. Weekend before last, John was admitted to the hospital. He had not been able to hold down or even swallow anything for so many days, he was very weak. Dr. Williams admitted him on Saturday night. IV's were started immediately and blood-work was taken. We learned that John's blood count had not yet crashed which meant that he could have a colonoscopy. That took place on Monday, Memorial Day. The news couldn't have been better, the PET scan had shown a false positive and there is nothing wrong going on in John's colon.

In addition to the colonoscopy, Dr. Williams installed a feeding tube directly into John's stomach. It is a small tube that protrudes from his midsection. I am now feeding him 4 times per day with a liquid nutrition that delivers him 1900 calories per day. This has been a blessing since he has not been able to eat. His intestinal tract had a difficult time adjusting to the tube feeding and the introduction of food after so many days without but, it has begun to settle down.

Denise (John's daughter) came to visit the following Thursday and stayed until Sunday. She was wonderful help! Nikki Pope came back from Dallas, as well. With the help of Denise, Nikki, Allison Williams and my niece Tammy, we got freezers and fridges cleaned and organized, groceries purchased and meals prepared, all of John's medicines organized by day and time, a list of med times posted in several areas of the house and airplane reservations to Scottsdale for a consultation with a surgeon on June 11th. Our 9 year old Mastiff Lucky also has cancer. Allison Williams is a God-Send. Lucky is also taking chemo and he gets sick with it and will not eat for John or me. Allison comes everyday with something interesting for Lucky to eat. She is cooking him chicken breasts, bringing wonderful bread from different sources and she hugs and kisses on him for an hour or so everyday. Lucky had known Allison since the day he was born and he loves her. I don't know what I would be doing or what shape I would be in if it weren't for the wonderful friends that we have. It was even possible for me to sneak away and have lunch with one of my favorite people, Pat Groves who happened to be in the area. (He and his wife Kathy, live in California.)

There are so many things to do and no possible way for me to do them all alone. I appreciate the help more than any of you know. John's oldest son, Jeff will arrive for a few days tomorrow. John has a list of things he is hoping Jeff with help with like, mowing the yard.

As far as John, he is doing a bit better. The nutrition has made a big difference. He is still loosing weight but, not at the rate he was before the feeding tube. He has had unpleasant reactions to the chemo and it has been very difficult for us both. He had an appointment with Dr. WIlliams for a follow up today and John got out of his scrubs for the first time in a couple of weeks. Bill Williams told John he could eat anything he felt like eating so, John asked me to take him to his favorite Tex-Mex place when we left Bill's office. Well..............he ordered some cheese soup that he was able to take one spoonful. We took it home with us and he ate a little more of it this evening. From the restaurant, we went to get a new cell phone for me. I can't find mine so, I will be spending hours typing in my names and phone numbers! I sure wish I could find my phone.

We are going to Phoenix on June 10th. Our wonderful and close friend Paula Lange and her daughter Jenny, will pick us up at the airport. Jenny lives in Phoenix, Paula lives and hour and a half away in a beautiful mountain town, Pine. They will get us to the hotel so that we can rest up for the appointment that we have with a thoracic surgeon on the 11th. She specializes in robotic and non-invasive surgery. I expect that John will have more tests done there even though his test results and all records from Lubbock have been sent to Mayo. We plan to fly back on the 12th unless the doctor there has different plans for us.

We have a couple that is interested in seeing our house this weekend and I have been slaving over our mesquite floors for two days to have them look their best. We did take the house off the market but, these are people that have been looking in this area and do not want to move until at least Fall. Let's hope that these are our buyers. It will be difficult to make a move with everything else going on but, this huge house and the acre of land, without John's help, is way more than I can do.

I am so relieved that John feels some better. I am guessing that the tumor is decreasing in size since he no longer has pain with swallowing. I don't have to crush his medications and give them to him through the feeding tube any longer. He is feeding the dogs and went out to fill the bird feeders this evening. He sleeps a lot and always feels tired. This is just part of the path to the other side of this thing.

Thank you all for asking and being interested in our drama. Thank you for being in touch with us. It makes a difference.