Well this roller coaster ride is slowly slowing down. We came home from University Hospitals on Tuesday the 14Th of July. Dave was only there for 6 days. He is doing remarkably well considering what all he has gone through. He is unable to talk or eat at this time. He gets his nutrition in a feeding tube and believe it or not he is actually gaining weight. The doc. feels Dave should be eating soft foods by the end of July, and hopefully by the time Shanna gets married he will be eating pretty much everything.
We did get the results of the lymph nodes that were biopsied, they were negative for cancer. Dave has been truly blessed with the outcome of all the cancer tests.
We were in Cleveland this morning to see Dr. Rezaee, Dave has gained a couple of pounds since we came home. The doc. also removed the staples and Dave is healing quite nicely. We don't have to go back for another 2 - 3 weeks.
Thank you for your continued support, God Bless, we love you all.
Monday, July 20, 2009
Thursday, July 9, 2009
On the road to recovery!
Well here I am again at University Hospitals in Cleveland, Ohio. I was fortunate enough to get a room at the Hope Lodge which is sponsored by the American Cancer Society. I have a very nice room, shared kitchen facilities and computer access. Thank you to the wonderful folks here. We arrived here at 5:30 this morning to start a very long day in the SICU.
On to the update, Dave is doing fantastic. He was only in surgery for 6 hours instead of up to 14 hours that the docs. said it would take. There was no removal of nerves, veins, or skin from his left forearm or chest. They did remove the dysfunctional larynx as well as some lymph nodes on the left side of his throat. They were able to reconstruct his throat with what he has. He will always have the trach or hole in the trachea (airway) for breathing. Dave will put a microphone looking thing up to his throat in order to talk temporarily and the TEP or hands free voice box will be placed in about 8 weeks, that is only when he is allowed to start talking in a couple of weeks. God is good!
Daves mom and sister Julie were here with me through the day, many thanks to them for there support. I will continue to update as I can, thank you all for listening. God Bless, we love you all.
On to the update, Dave is doing fantastic. He was only in surgery for 6 hours instead of up to 14 hours that the docs. said it would take. There was no removal of nerves, veins, or skin from his left forearm or chest. They did remove the dysfunctional larynx as well as some lymph nodes on the left side of his throat. They were able to reconstruct his throat with what he has. He will always have the trach or hole in the trachea (airway) for breathing. Dave will put a microphone looking thing up to his throat in order to talk temporarily and the TEP or hands free voice box will be placed in about 8 weeks, that is only when he is allowed to start talking in a couple of weeks. God is good!
Daves mom and sister Julie were here with me through the day, many thanks to them for there support. I will continue to update as I can, thank you all for listening. God Bless, we love you all.
Sunday, July 5, 2009
What a wild ride this past week!
We hope that everyone had a nice 4Th of July. We had a very quiet day. Daves sister Julie had the kids come out to her place for her daughter Aprils h.s. grad. party and picnic. His sister Roseann who was in town for the celebration picked them up and Grandma Rosemary brought them home. They spent the day swimming and eating and doing some more swimming. Many thanks to Daves family for helping them have a great time!
With that said, I will start at the beginning which started on Friday, June 26Th, 2009. Our day started out on the rough side with Dave not being able to breathe. I called the ambulance to take him to Akron City Hosp. e.r. I dropped the kids off with their grandparents and went to be with him, Julie came and stayed with us all day. While there a CT Scan was done and they found that the cartilage that makes up the adams apple surrounding the thyroid had collapsed and his throat was not healing properly causing a blockage. There was a risk of this we knew when Dave started radiation. They transferred Dave to University Hospitals in Cleveland, Ohio in late afternoon, early evening. Julie and I drove up behind the ambulance, while I made several phone calls to let family and friends know what was happening. They admitted Dave to the SICU (surgical intensive care) unit. Daves sister Laura and her husband Steve joined us there and stayed till we all had to leave. Julie booked a hotel room for the two of us and we stayed in Cleveland for the night. I stayed in the hotel on Saturday night and on Sunday my friend Shelley offered for me to stay with her, which I did. I came home on Monday evening to do some laundry and check on things. Shanna was off from work this week so she was able to be here for the kids. She was able to get the kids into camp for the week, they would leave in the morning and return home in late afternoon. I was exhausted from the past three days and did manage to get some sleep. Tuesday was hectic as I had to return to Akron City Hosp. to get copies of the CT Scan disks that the Dr. on Friday would not give us to take to University Hosp.
On Saturday morning Dave had surgery to put in a temporary trach (hole in the trachea to breath), feeding tube into the stomach, and the biopsies. Dave was on a ventilator for several hours Saturday to help him adjust to the trach and he slept for a great deal of the day. He was also very tired as he had not been sleeping very much in the days before this happening. He spent a total of 3 days in the SICU unit before they transferred him to a room on Monday morning. We spent 3 1/2 days there while they taught us how to care for the trach. Dave came home on Thursday. He was only released after medical supplies were delivered and here ready and waiting for his care. A home health care nurse had also been arranged and she met with us to show us how to operate the feeding tube pump and the suction pump.
Dave has adjusted pretty well to all of this and is coping with what is to come. The next step will happen on Thursday, July 9TH. He will be having a total laryengectomy to remove the damaged larynx (voice box). This surgery takes about 6 to 14 hours depending on what they do and how they do it. I will be a complete wreck by the time it is done. Dave will be in the hosp. for 10 days and then transferred to a rehab. facility in our area that can help him adjust and learn how to talk with his new voice box. We are both very scared about what can happen during this time.
We did receive some good news about the biopsies on Wed. evening, they were negative for cancer, but the damage that was done to the larynx (voice box) is to extensive, so it is best to remove it, as it will never operate the way it should.
There you have it, the roller coaster ride is almost over, we our on a path that has light at the end, we can see a sliver of it. Please keep Dave in prayer that he will have courage and strength on this ride to face his future with me by his side for always. Thank you for listening and God Bless you, we love you all.
With that said, I will start at the beginning which started on Friday, June 26Th, 2009. Our day started out on the rough side with Dave not being able to breathe. I called the ambulance to take him to Akron City Hosp. e.r. I dropped the kids off with their grandparents and went to be with him, Julie came and stayed with us all day. While there a CT Scan was done and they found that the cartilage that makes up the adams apple surrounding the thyroid had collapsed and his throat was not healing properly causing a blockage. There was a risk of this we knew when Dave started radiation. They transferred Dave to University Hospitals in Cleveland, Ohio in late afternoon, early evening. Julie and I drove up behind the ambulance, while I made several phone calls to let family and friends know what was happening. They admitted Dave to the SICU (surgical intensive care) unit. Daves sister Laura and her husband Steve joined us there and stayed till we all had to leave. Julie booked a hotel room for the two of us and we stayed in Cleveland for the night. I stayed in the hotel on Saturday night and on Sunday my friend Shelley offered for me to stay with her, which I did. I came home on Monday evening to do some laundry and check on things. Shanna was off from work this week so she was able to be here for the kids. She was able to get the kids into camp for the week, they would leave in the morning and return home in late afternoon. I was exhausted from the past three days and did manage to get some sleep. Tuesday was hectic as I had to return to Akron City Hosp. to get copies of the CT Scan disks that the Dr. on Friday would not give us to take to University Hosp.
On Saturday morning Dave had surgery to put in a temporary trach (hole in the trachea to breath), feeding tube into the stomach, and the biopsies. Dave was on a ventilator for several hours Saturday to help him adjust to the trach and he slept for a great deal of the day. He was also very tired as he had not been sleeping very much in the days before this happening. He spent a total of 3 days in the SICU unit before they transferred him to a room on Monday morning. We spent 3 1/2 days there while they taught us how to care for the trach. Dave came home on Thursday. He was only released after medical supplies were delivered and here ready and waiting for his care. A home health care nurse had also been arranged and she met with us to show us how to operate the feeding tube pump and the suction pump.
Dave has adjusted pretty well to all of this and is coping with what is to come. The next step will happen on Thursday, July 9TH. He will be having a total laryengectomy to remove the damaged larynx (voice box). This surgery takes about 6 to 14 hours depending on what they do and how they do it. I will be a complete wreck by the time it is done. Dave will be in the hosp. for 10 days and then transferred to a rehab. facility in our area that can help him adjust and learn how to talk with his new voice box. We are both very scared about what can happen during this time.
We did receive some good news about the biopsies on Wed. evening, they were negative for cancer, but the damage that was done to the larynx (voice box) is to extensive, so it is best to remove it, as it will never operate the way it should.
There you have it, the roller coaster ride is almost over, we our on a path that has light at the end, we can see a sliver of it. Please keep Dave in prayer that he will have courage and strength on this ride to face his future with me by his side for always. Thank you for listening and God Bless you, we love you all.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)