Hasta la Vista, baby...

The literal translation of Hasta la Vista is “until the seeing” or “until we meet again”, so where I wanted to end the blog in a similar way it started (an Arnold Schwarzenegger quote), Adios would be the better choice of word.

We have had a couple of questions regarding dad’s progress since the surgery, so here is one last update to close this chapter of his life.

After the original surgery on October 30, 2009, dad headed back home to Texas and was on his way to recovery. He was almost in the clear when a pesky little infection snuck up on him and caused a minor set-back. Because the doctors were concerned about the infection getting to the brain, they decided to open the incision back up to take a look around, which was all done in Texas. Luckily the infection was only on the exterior of the skull and on the bone piece that was replaced after the surgery. They removed that piece of bone and sewed him back up.

Dad was on strong antibiotics administered twice daily, through a picc line (peripherally inserted central catheter) in his arm, for 6 weeks to ensure that all infection would be destroyed. Thankfully, mom was willing to learn how to administer the IV so that they were able to do it all from home and they didn’t have to drive back and forth to the doctors each time.

Now that the antibiotics are done and the picc line is removed, dad has been released for full and normal activity. He is back to work, though at a lesser capacity, and getting back into some regular exercise again. He just made a trip to the Michigan office and is getting back into the swing of things. He is doing great and we don’t anticipate any further problems. As a matter of fact, because of the infection the doctors did another MRI to check for signs of infection on the brain. Not only did they not see any infection, but they could also see clearly that the tumor was completely gone.

Thanks again for all of the support our family received during this time in our dad’s life. It means a lot to us and to dad. We are happy to be able to get back to life as normal and move forward. If ever there was a bright side to this situation, it would be a better appreciation for life, love, family and friends. Adios.

Under My Feet

Well, we have been home about 2 weeks now, & all the girls have returned from wince they came. And we are settling into the new norm. Don is progressing nicely. He still has issuses with headaches & being dizzy. And if he does much, it's like just getting off the mad teacup ride at Disney World. We have been out a couple of times, for short little trips to the grocery store or dinner. But even these seem to tire him out. But he is slowly regaining his strength. Now we have to find something to occupy his time. There is only so much TV a person can watch. Don is looking forward to getting back to work (I know, I am looking forward to him g0ing back). And he feels his progress will be well enough that we have booked tickets to be at the company Christmas party.

Don, our daughters & myself, would like to thank everyone for all their cards, e-mails, phone calls, letters & PRAYERS. They have ment so much to us all. It's sometimes hard to see how many people you touch in your life time, but something like this can really let you what you mean to others in your life. This will be our last update. we want to thank you all again.

Nancy, Laura, Sandra, Kathryn & Don

Home Sweet Home...

At last, home sweet home. Dad's ivory chariot arrived at home late this afternoon. The drive was long and tiring for everyone involved, but the consensus is that it was worth it. After being strapped in the passenger's seat for over a day and a half, dad said it felt good to get out and help carry the luggage into the house and unpack some things. Of course it wore him out a bit and soon he found his favorite recliner and a pudding cup snack before a nap (some things never change). Welcome home Dad!!

Homeward Bound

Dad got out of the hospital today at 10:30AM! As he was lifting himself out of his wheel chair and into the car he commented that he could not believe that, after having massive brain surgery just over five days ago, he was standing and putting himself into his car on such a beautiful day.

Before being discharged from the hospital, Dad got a chance to talk to Dr. Mayhan, Dr. Spetzler's assistant. He said that Dad's MRI looked as good as it could. That he did not see any signs of the cavernous angioma and that he and Dr. Spetzler were confident that they got it all out. He did say that medically, there is a slight risk that some residual vein could remain and regenerate. But, we will not know that for sure until he does a follow up MRI in a year. But, Dr. Spetzler did not feel like that would be an issue.

Dad is resting now in our hotel room across the street from the hospital. Mom and I are taking care of him now. We will leave in the morning to head back home to Texas. We are going to take our time and should arrive by Saturday afternoon.

Dad has a long road to recovery still. He will have to work hard over the next couple of months to regain his strength, get over the headaches and nausea and work with a therapist to get over the dizziness. He continues to have loss of feeling on the right side of his face and ringing in his right ear. These may or may not subside over time.

We will continue to keep you posted on Dad's recovery. We want to thank everyone again for all your thoughts, prayers, and well wishes. We have been overwhelmed by the support.

And now there are three

The nine family members have now become three: Mom, Aunt Diane and me. Aunt Diane is staying with Dad tonight so Mom and I can get some rest. We are hopeful that he will have as good of a day tomorrow as he did today and might be able to go home soon.

He had a rough start to the morning. But after convincing him that he can not control his pain with only an ice pack and his nausea with just a cracker, he did quite well. He went for two walks, ate all his meals sitting up in a chair and carried on several long conversations.

The sign outside his ICU room still reads, "Pending transfer." Maybe we will just be transferring right out of the hospital and going home.

Hanging Out in ICU

Well . . .Dad is still "hanging out" in the ICU waiting on a bed to open up on the neurological post surgery floor. They took out his A-line and Central line today. He is still taking oxygen and on the monitor because his levels fall off while he is sleeping due to the pain medications. Mom is staying with him tonight. They said it is possible he could get moved to his new room over night.

Tomorrow he will begin working again to get his pain and nausea under control and on being able to stand on his own so he can go home.

I'm Free!

. . .of tubes anyway. Dad had a decent night last night; he slept in 30 - 45 minute intervals. He was rudely awakened at 5:30 this morning by a neurologist who removed his lumbar drain (spinal tap). She had to remove the sutures holding it in and then put in one stitch to close it up . . .all without any anesthetic. It was apparently quite painful. They unhooked him from most of the tubes/wires etc. He sat in the chair to eat breakfast and then the physical therapist took him for a short walk. The physical therapist said that of the people she sees who have had this surgery, he is one of the best she has seen. He is doing remarkably well.

It was an eventful morning and all the movement has made him very dizzy and nauseous. They gave him some anti-nausea and anti-dizzy medicine so he is napping now. He will be moving to a regular hospital room this evening when they have the room. He will just continue to work on sitting up and standing on his own to be able to go home.