Today was much like a long day on a youth trip. We went to bed after midnight and needed to leave the house at 5am to get my father out to the hospital on time. Little sleep, no shower as I am not a morning person, going all day long, eating fast food, lots of coffee, getting a pimple, and trying to keep with others made me feel right at home.
The doctors got him right in and prepped for surgery as soon as we arrived. The nurses and doctor were great. He got into surgery about an hour late because of some other things going on in the hospital. Surgery went great and in just over an hour and a half, dad was back into the recovery room awake and moving his fingers and toes. Before we were able to get in to see him, the doctor came to give us the news. Some good, some bad. The good is that dad was recovering well, in good spirits, and recovering as well as they could expect. However, based on what he had seen in the past (actual biopsy results will come back Monday) the tumor was a 4. If you don’t know what that means, it’s the worst type. Because of this, the doctor believes that the cancerous tissue is spread throughout his brain, the extent of which is unknown. While they removed the entire tumor, they will continue with chemotherapy and radiation. These will start in two weeks. The radiation will last for 6 weeks and the chemotherapy for as long as he can continue with it. The doctor shared that is working with another that has been on it for over 5 years now and doing well. It was tough news to hear. Tears fell and out hearts hurt. It is difficult to take in and understand what that does and doesn’t mean. As we have witnessed already, dad has been the strongest person throughout all of this short week, which has been more of an encouragement to us than I think we have been for him.
We got to go see him shortly after the doctor shared that news with us. While my dad was in pain, he was already joking around. We spent about 30 minutes with him before letting him get back to rest. As I was leaving I bent down and kissed him on the cheek. He responded by saying, “well you don’t have to ever worry about me being gay, because I could never get used to being poked with your whiskers.” Dad has a very dry humor and is always working on a joke. He believes as I do, just keep going after the joke and eventually one will be funny. For some of you, my humor is beginning to make since.
We remained at the hospital for the remainder of the day and spent some more time with him this afternoon. He was watching Rachel Ray, drinking Diet Coke, and keeping his hand warm by holding Tonya’s. His vitals were normal. He was tired but talking and sharing and glad to have company. They are keeping him in ICU through the night and plan to move him to his own room tomorrow. If all goes well, they expect to send him home on Sunday. I would never had imagined the initial recovery would be so quick. He is a strong man and has exemplified who I want to be in time of crisis. His faith remains strong and reminds us that God is control.
Thank you for all of your prayers and your messages today. We shared those with dad and he appreciates it all.
Thanks. Take care and more tomorrow.
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