There's No Place Like Home!

Ok, Ok, I realize my title is not very original but it fits more than anything else. :) Also, forewarning to those who are squeamish or do not like to see the names for bodily fluids because I will be mentioning these to some extent in this blog post.
A friend of mine reminded me(thanks Anita) that I had not posted any updates on David's illness/surgery for awhile so I figured I would take a few minutes and post something. I did send updates via email and Facebook almost daily for the 40 days he was in the hospital but it was just too much trouble to do those two and this blog, too. We got home on the 20th of Oct...Boy was it a long stay...I was tempted to apply for a change of address we were there so long. David and I had our ups and downs, mentally, while there but that's to be expected I guess. The surgery was a success and David probably will not require any further cancer treatments. The tumor was successfully removed and there is only a t-niny islet cell left, which his oncologist says will grow so slowly it may be years before it does anything. PRAISE GOD! Just imagine...a year ago July I was planning a funeral...now we have many years ahead to celebrate life and to hopefully impact others who need encouragement. We certainly have received plenty of that plus some. David still has a feeding tube through which he receives liquid nourishment. I also have to flush it w/100ml of water every 4 hours and if he needs any medication (hypertension, pain, nausea, etc) it must be crushed and mixed w/water and put into his feeding tube via syringe. He also still has a drain tube coming from his stomach from which yucky green bile comes out into a bag that I have to drain every so often. See, they removed his gall bladder and the bile duct was reattached to his stomach and it is suppose to pass on thru but since his stomach is still asleep it has to be drained or he will get sick and vomit. His doc says this tube has to be clamped off a few minutes per day to re-train his tummy to tolerate this vile bile and increase the time five minutes or so a day until he can tolerate it being clamped for 6 hours after which he could then have the tube removed. This could take a long time. I found out today that I will have to go back to work on 11/9 so I hope all this gets worked out before then.
David and I have learned a lot about each other the last month or so. Some of it not so good...LOL I found out that I can do some yucky stuff I never thought I could and that I can live on little sleep and less food. I lost about 10-15 lbs during this time but it didn't hurt me. :) David has lost about 18lbs but he is receiving all the nutrients he needs although he misses getting to place food in his mouth and chewing it. but he has learned he can tolerate lots of pain and nausea and to lose control of his life, basically. But we are home now and he has a little more freedom although he still has an IV pole and feeding pump and bag attached to him. He can be disconnected for a short time such as when he takes a shower or goes to church. We are sure looking forward to being back with our church family this Sunday. We have not been to church since before his surgery so we are looking forward to some spiritual recharging.
Well, I can see this is getting rather long so I better go for now. If you have any ?'s just ask
We are both off work and it will probably will be awhile before David will be able to work again but God has provided so far and I know we can do without a lot of things that we thought we needed. Thanks to everyone for your prayers, love, concern and support

That Doctor was Wrong afterall!

Hi there, everyone...it's been a long time since I blogged but battling Pancreatic Cancer is a fulltime job. Some of your may recall that when David was initially diagnosed the doctor told us it was inoperable....well, he was wrong but I am so glad he was. For the past year I've been battling the emotions that go along with being told you are going to lose the one you love... Fear, sadness, anger, numbness, doubts. But David's CT scans kept showing the tumor was shrinking until finally they said it had shrunken so much and the metastisis to the lymph nodes appeared to be gone that he might possible be a candidate for resection (surgery to remove the tumor) afterall. Bless his heart, when David heard that good news he just shook all over; so badly he couldn't stand up. we've since met with the surgeon, Dr. Scott Marotti in Little ROck, who says he can remove it...So we now have a date, Sept 10th, to have the Whipple procedure done. David's oncologist says the WHipple is the second worst surgery a person can undergo, so eventhough we are excited about the prospects of beating this cancer, we are also scared about the surgery and the long recovery it requires.
So...one week from tomorrow we'll know if he has a shot at beating, what some call The Unbeatable Cancer...but The Great Physician has made another diagnosis and we are so thankful.
I know, some of you may be thinking that if the tumor couldn't have been removed that we wouldn't be so thankful..True, but I would still have faith that God knows what He's doing.
All things work together for good, to them who love God, for those who are the called according to His purpose. (roughly paraphrased) but you get the idea...if you don't then pray that GOd will give you understanding and then find a God-believing pastor or friend to help you.

I hope to carry my laptop with me so I will try posting updates while David is in the hospital

My little kitty buddies

A couple of weeks ago we had a stray cat give birth to 8 kittens underneath our son's old Ford then she vanished! Don't know what happened to her but I could not sit by and let the little ones starve. So...I bought milk supplement and started feeding them with a medicine dropper. What a mess! Well, three of them died pretty quickly....I was only able to feed them in the morning and twice in the evening but they had to go all day without. I finally was down to 4 who seemed to be thriving...then one morning...gone! They were all gone... still don't know what happened to them. THey were a lot of trouble but I sure miss the little buggers. :((

God didn't give me feathers!

It's been almost a month since I've blogged but I had forgotten my password and also my laptop has been super slow lately so I just haven't bothered to try because it would have taken too long. Since my last blog posting my husband and I celebrated our 33rd wedding anniversary and we celebrated by flying out to see our daughter and her husband in Abilene TX. I'd flown a few times before but only in small planes but David had never flown and he was excited about it. But...our plans didn't quite go smoothly. The day we were scheduled to leave we arrived at LR an hour ahead of time, went through security (not very helpful to newbies I might add) and then we're informed that DFW has been closed because of thunderstorms. We sat at LR for 4 hours before were were able to get a flight out. We finally got to DFW and there were people spread out everywhere, some who had been waiting all day for a flight (it was almost 2pm by this time) We finally left there at 7:30pm! It had taken us 12 hours to get out toAbilene, which was longer than if we had driven it! But, once we got there we enjoyed ourselves and the flight back was much smoother...well at least as far as time goes, the flight from DFW to LR was quite bumpy and I was thanking God for Dramamine by the time we got back to LR. Whew, was I ever glad to get home. God didn't give me feathers so i wasn't meant to fly! David loved it though.

Roses

Our kids gave me a climbing rose bush for Mother's Day several years ago and when our daughter moved to Germany I would always send her a picture of the first bloom of the season. I sent her one this year (she's in Abilene TX now)and I liked the picture so much I thought I might share it with y'all.

Purty ain't it?!! :))

STABLE

What comes to mind when you see or hear the word 'stable'? My first thought was a place you keep livestock, much like the place our Lord and Savior Jesus was born into. Secondly, I was reminded of something or someone you can depend on, reliable, or never-changing.
I went with my husband to see his oncologist last week and the doctor said "stable disease". No, he did not say it had shrunken anymore nor did he say it was gone. Stable. Folks, that was music to our ears. His cancer has been stable now for six months! In the world of cancer, that's a long time, let me tell you! He is still working fulltime and, but for a few chemo side effects, he is doing amazingly well...and with or without cancer, my husband is one of the most reliable, dependable guys you would ever want to know. I love him. he is an inspiration to me.
A few months ago I didn't think he would still be with me...but thankfully...he is.
Remember that baby in the stable? It's all because of him. :))

New Birdie and getting older

Hi y'all! It's been a few days since I blogged so I figured I better post something. I know y'all have been just sittin' on pins an' needles waiting for my news !LOL!

If you recall, in my last post, I mentioned I had seen a new type of sparrow on my last birdwatching outing. I have since found out it was a Swamp Sparrow. Big Deal, right? Well it was to me since it was a Lifer for me. To a diehard birder, a Lifer is a Big Deal! A Lifer simply means the first time you have seen that particular bird in your life. Most of us keep list and check off each species as we ID it. I'm not obsessed with keeping the list as some are but I do get a thrill out of checking off a new bird. I have attached a picture of the Swamp Sparrow just in case your interested. Oh, I almost forgot about the "Getting Older" part of my blog (How could I forget that! HA!) I found out today that I have Gout! I am now officially older! ;((

FYI: My doc just told me that I do not have gout after all. He took more blood to determine what it is but I haven't heard yet. Probably just ol' Arthur Itis