No Place Like Home

So much to be thankful for! Dad got to come home from the hospital today!!

God really heard yall's prayers because all of the doctors and nurses were amazed at how fast his lipase levels fell the last few days. For those of you like me who are not medical professionals, lipase is an enzyme that tells doctors just how inflamed the pancreas is. That is definitely a testimony to the power of prayer. AND I already shared with you about his nurse Mercy, well he also had a tech named Faith coming by his room to check on him while he was there. I love the little love letters God continues to send.

THANK YOU FOR PRAYING!! Here are some specific ways you can continue to join us in prayer:

1. Dad is having trouble eating. Please pray that God would heal his digestive tract so that he would be able to process the sustenance he needs to continue to fight the cancer and that food would be palatable for him.

2. Pray also for all of the doctor appointments next week. He is going to see his oncologist (pray for chemo!!) and gastroenterologist. He is also getting a scan on Wednesday to see how this new chemo protocol is impacting the cancer. Lots of big appointments next week.

3. Last but not least, continue to pray for complete healing!

Words simply don't express how thankful we are for each of you. God is using you in a mighty way for His Kingdom and in our family. Thank you.

Love,

Carol

"But as for me, it is good to be near God; I have made the Lord God my refuge, that I may tell of all your works." -Psalm 73:28

More firsts!!

A lot of firsts have occurred since Saturday.  Everything had gone very well after the ERCP.  At 1:00 am Sunday I had the first pain during this Adventure.  It was a 6 or 7 on the 10 scale.  By 3:30 am I was asking the nurse what pain medication they had prescribed for me.  He said it was morphine.  That was a first for me as well.  Until that moment I had not had any narcotics.  It brought the pain down to a 2 or 3.  Sunday morning the doctors figured out that I had pancreatitis from the ERCP procedure.  My lipase level came in at 9,000.  Normal is 100 or less.  Pancreatitis is inflammation of the pancreas. Mine may have been initiated by irritation of the pancreatic duct.  At this point I obviously do not get along with the various duct systems in my body.  I guess the next to go will be my tear ducts (just a guess). 

There is no treatment for pancreatitis.  I basically have to not eat or drink until it settles down.  Monday morning the lipase level had fallen to 3,000.  My pain was under control with the morphine.  So things were looking good.  This morning my lipase level was 900.  I am still at Baylor Grapevine and of course did not get my Chemo therapy.  That may occur next Tuesday, but we are taking one thing at a time.  I may be discharged tomorrow.  I am trying to eat some food and drink some liquids today to see how my pancreas reacts.  Prayers for me to respond well over the next few days would be appreciated.

Cathy, Jan’s lifelong friend, drove in from Midland Sunday night to help out.  She is such a blessing.  It is always hilarious when the two of them get together.  There have been many visitors since I have been in the hospital.  Melanie and Cindy came by and we had a great time sharing and then a great prayer time.  Jeff came by and we talked for a long time after which he prayed for me and my family.  Yesterday Lindy and Lindsey came by and again it was a special time of sharing and prayer.  As I write this Melanie and Cathy are here and I am eating Jello and broth. 

Well everyone has gone home except Jan and Julie.  The few clear liquids that I have tried have not gone well.  Though the pancreatic pain is not made worse by eating, the squiggly guts reaction increases to a very uncomfortable level when I eat.  The GI doctor was here and has prescribed a medication to try to help this response so I can eat my diet.  Pray this works so that I can be discharged soon.

We were uplifted to hear the news that my brother and sister-in-law are coming in this weekend.  This will be a blessing to us and Jan’s mother.  Carol is arriving Friday and has Monday off so she will be able to stay a little longer.

The tough times are the times that try our soul.  Two verses that Melanie that gave to me today fit this situation I currently find myself in on this Adventure.  Ephesians 3:17b-19 And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge – that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. and Psalm 62:1-2 Truly my soul finds rest in God; my salvation comes from Him.  Truly He is my rock and my salvation; He is my fortress, I will never be shaken.

Please continue to pray for me and my family in the next few days.  God continues to send me love letters at the perfect time so I know He will see us through this Adventure like He has all the rest.                     

Thank you,

Price

There's a first time for everything...

I think I have learned a lesson.  Things move too fast to do an update weeks apart.  So I will attempt to write my updates more frequently.  The big news this time is that I had my second ambulance ride in my life and I was admitted to a hospital for the first time in my life.  This all started Friday morning as I got out of bed.  I was very weak and light headed.  I had been feeling punk most of Thursday and for the first time I could not bring myself to eat dinner Thursday night.  I had a good night, but like I said earlier, I was weak and lightheaded getting out of bed.  That rapidly turned into profuse sweating and difficulty doing small tasks with a fever of 102.  I looked so bad Carol called 911 to get a Coppell ambulance dispatched to our house.  While Carol was getting the EMTs, Jan was doing an excellent job taking care of me in spite of my belligerence, caused by my weakened state.  The EMTs arrived very quickly since they are four blocks from our house and assessed the situation.  It was decided by all that the emergency room was the next stop.  I arrived very quickly to the emergency room and the course of treatment was to start high-powered antibiotics since the likelihood that I had an infection was very high.  After many tests and consultations I was admitted to the hospital (did I say this is the first time I have ever been admitted to a hospital, although with Julie I have spent many nights and days in hospitals) to continue the antibiotics and consult with four doctors (a Gastroenterologist, the hospital doctor, an infectious disease specialist, and an Oncologist).  The consensus was that I needed another ERCP (Endoscopic Retrograde Cholangiopancreatography) to clear my bile duct stent and possibly place an additional stent in.  The ERCP procedure took place at 9:00 am this morning without incident.  All last night the song One Thing Remains by Kristian Stanfill was running through my head.  God is so great to provide love letters at the perfect time to give us comfort and hope.  The Gastroenterologist cleaned me out and put a longer stent inside the first one to handle some incursions further up the bile duct.  That was probably the source of the infection and my feeling so lousy Thursday.  I am not sure when I will be discharged but everything is back to normal.

A real blessing for us was the fact that Carol came in Thursday for a visit.  She was able to take care of Julie so Jan could stay with me at the hospital.  She wrote the most wonderful e-mail this morning that I wanted to share with everyone.  I copied the text below:

Good morning dear ones.

What a difficult week it has been for so many across this country. As I sit here and think about all the pain and brokenness the only words that come to mind are "Come swiftly Lord, Jesus"! Come to bring ultimate healing and restoration to these people and this land. A good friend of mine sent a powerful Bible verse to our family yesterday. I want to share it with you and pray that it brings you hope and peace as it does to me. Jesus is talking to his disciples right before he is taken to be crucified. He knew their world was about to be turned upside down and that they would need to exercise great faith in the coming days and years. He says, "I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart, I have overcome the world." (John 16:33) The enemy was defeated on the cross and has no power over those who have transferred the leadership of their lives to Jesus. Even though this world is still broken, we can have peace because He has overcome.

God has given us great faith and peace in this crazy last 24 hours! Dad is still at the hospital and is about to go in to have an ERCP procedure to take a look at, clean out, and possibly reinforce the stent he had put in back in October. This stent is what is keeping his bile duct operational and they suspect it may be what is causing the potential infection. Last night when I was with dad, I asked him what he thought about the procedure (it is not the most fun process). He said that whatever the Lord willed would be fine with him. :) He is exercising the faith God has given Him and has such peace in it all. He looks really good and definitely still has his sense of humor!

Mom stayed up there with him last night, which left Julie and I to have a sister slumber party at the house! She did great! She slept most of the night and didn't have any big seizures!! Such a HUGE praise as seizures are no fun to deal with by yourself.

One cool "love letter" from God I want to share with you. Last night when the nurses were changing shifts for the night shift, the new nurse came in and introduced herself to us. Her name was Mercy. It felt really good to leave last night knowing that Mercy was watching over that hospital room. Such a precious reminder...

I am grateful for each of you. I cannot say it enough, thank you thank you thank you for walking this adventure with us. You are a blessing to us and we love you!! I hope to send an update later today to let you guys know how the procedure goes and hopefully we will know more about how long they want him to stay at the hospital.

-C

Now it is time to catch everyone up on the events of the past few weeks. My high school friend Ralph came down for a visit a couple weekends ago. It was awesome. It was like no time had passed since we were last together. It was a fun time catching up and talking about past adventures.  It was hard for Ralph to leave Dallas, not because I am such a good friend but because American Airlines could not get his plane off the ground.  He finally started back to Iowa after a terminal change and I think a plane exchange due to mechanical problems.  He took off from DFW at the time he was supposed to have arrived in Iowa.

My youngest daughter, Catherine, came in for a weekend visit after Ralph’s visit.  It was a fun weekend without any crisis adventures.  The weather was gorgeous and we took full advantage of it.  Catherine and I had some special time together going to The Village Church for Sunday service.  It was a great service and wonderful message.  We then went to the church service at Silverado (the place where Jan’s mom lives).  It was great having the whole family (we missed Carol) visiting Meme and worshiping the Lord.

I was supposed to have my fourth round of the second protocol Monday the 15^th of April.  We showed up at the Oncologist but once again my labs prevented me from proceeding with the course.  The infusion was rescheduled for this coming Monday.  That may be delayed as well if I am still in the hospital. Prayers for discharge Sunday and good labs Monday morning are in order.  I have experienced God’s love for me throughout this Adventure and will continue to desire His perfect timing for the next steps going forward.

If you were to review the blog from the beginning it is awesome to see how God has orchestrated the Adventure so far.  It is neat to have this record to remind one’s self of how gloriously God has walked with me and my family during this Adventure.  Your prayers have had much to do with that provision.

Thank you,

Price