Gramps has been home for over three weeks now. It’s been a challenging three weeks, filled with a lot of ups and downs, and a lot of adjustments. His strength and energy level were very poor after spending eleven days and nights in a hospital bed. He came home with a walker, which he was reliant for several days. But after a week or so, I noticed him carrying it with all four wheels off the ground while walking, and now he is not even using it to get around at all. This is a very good sign, as it shows that his strength is improving. However, it is very hard for him to any improvement, as his strength and energy levels are still way down in comparison to where he was at before going in for surgery.

All of his food is being administered through a feeding tube; he is not taking anything orally, with the exception of a couple of ice chips every now and then. My mom and Kathy have done a wonderful job learning the ropes of the feeding and learning how to operate the machine that administers the food. One of them is there every morning and every night to clean and change the feeding bag, and to set the machine up for the day. When first returning home, he had medications that needed to be administered through the feeding tube three times daily. That has since been reduced to only once daily after a follow up visit to doctors, and being able to scale back and change up some of the medications that he is on. Gramps is getting pretty good at turning the feeding tube off and on, and disconnecting himself if necessary.

Getting to doctors appointments is a bit challenging, as it always feels to both of my grandparents as if it is a lot of work and effort getting him prepared, and that it may take too much out of him, as the appointments usually take several hours and consist of a lot of driving around. However, once we’ve got him ready and packed up, he has done a pretty good job on the car rides and gotten through the long days successfully; although he is usually pretty drained by the time he gets home.

He’s got lots of good care and support from his family. Someone is there with him 24 hours a day. Grandma is there doing everything she can around the clock. Mom and Kathy coordinate a rotation to be there once in the morning and once in the evening to take of the feedings and to spend a little time. I try to stop in for a visit daily, but due to my work schedule, Nurse Brenda and Nurse Kathy are taking on the brunt of the actual work. There is also an actual in-home nurse that comes weekly, a physical therapist coming twice a week, and a bath aide coming twice a week; although it is no surprise that Gramps doesn’t have much of a liking for the bath aide.

The recovery here is slow, although I do see some improvements. Actually, when talking about recovery, it really does need to be split into two separate discussions; recovery from the intense surgery and overall recovery from the cancer. The recovery from the surgery is going slowly, but is headed in the right direction. The wound on his neck has healed very well and all of the stitches (actually staples) have been removed. As I stated earlier, he is actually moving around on his feet pretty well without any assistance from the walker; although most of his time is spent sitting or laying down, as he is hooked up to feeding machine nearly around the clock. (He really can’t stand that damn machine!) We have been able to increase his food intake, which means he can now be disconnected from the machine for several hours a day.

Gramps had previous follow up appointments with both surgeons and his heart doctor to monitor his recovery and to reevaluate his medications. Just last week, he (along with my mother, grandmother and Aunt Kathy) finally met with the cancer oncologist. She stated that she would be willing to treat his cancer with some chemotherapy. The side effects of the chemo could be very unpleasant and would only slow down the growth of the cancer. She told him to take just a few days to think it over and make a decision. While he has not told me directly, it is my understanding that he will not be going down the path of chemotherapy. And I don’t blame him one bit; he has already been through enough pain and suffering from the recent surgery and from chemo and radiation that took place three years ago.

After all of the updates and discussing the positives and some of the not so positive, I really want to focus on the real big positive from last week… Gramps finally decided to and was able to come up to Kathy and Bruce’s house on Angle Lake during the afternoon on the 4^th of July. This was the first time he had been out for anything other than doctor’s appointments. He had said all week leading up that he didn’t think he had the energy to go, but decided the morning of that they would come up to visit for a little while. This absolutely made my holiday!! Mom picked both of them up and they stayed for about an hour and a half. He even sat outside and enjoyed the sunshine for a few minutes. This may seem like a small victory, but it was huge for me and the entire family. I couldn’t have been happier to see both of my grandparents out of the house, enjoying just a little bit of time with their family. I was even able to sneak a quick picture of the two of them holding hands when they didn’t notice. All in all, that day was a great one!

I do want to thank everyone for the love, prayers and positivity coming our direction, and request that you just keep it coming. The last month has been extremely difficult on us all, but we are all spending as much time visiting and taking care of him; and Granny; as possible. The strength of this family is amazing. The outpouring of love and support from our extended family and friends has been so meaningful and inspirational. I couldn’t begin to sum it up in words; just know that has been and continues to be very much appreciated. Keep it all coming and I will try to continue the updates as frequently as possible. Love to you all!!

- Nick