Our Dad had a Great Smile!

Tried to post these weeks ago, just finally got it figured out how to get them posted all at once. Gary and I would like to scan all the family photos but I think that's a project for down the road. This is a whole bunch collected here recently from dad's computer and mine.

Dad

We all got together and wrote some words to capture just a little bit of what dad meant to us...

Our Dad
Our dad was the best dad on earth. Granted, we're somewhat partial, but seriously, we KNOW our dad was the best dad. We know this because he could not have been a better dad, could not have been more supportive, more active and involved. He set the example of outstanding parenting, and also set the bar very high on how to be a great human being. We weren't born into a family of monetary riches, but we were raised with a Bill Gates-size foundation of love.

There are lots of things my dad was good at...carpentry, cooking, camping, helping build a model airplane, volunteering, getting involved and helping whereever needed...

But the things he was best at were: husband, father, grandfather, brother, uncle, friend...

As a parent, how many of us have been asked by our child, "can you play with me?" and our response might be "not right now honey, I'm paying the billes"...this is something our dad never said. He would have immediately set aside his project and come to play, or help, or advise. Playing ping pong, working in the yard, or helping with the school science project, he was always there and always supportive. He and mom attended countless band concerts, flute recitals and softball games, acted as leaders in support organizations such as the band boosters and the committee to save our high school which was threatened with shutdown. Dad continued volunterring and working tirelessly for what he believed in, his entire life.

Our family took tremendous annual camping trips - precious quality time with family - no TVs, no distractions; fishing, swimming, boating, horse-back riding, roasted marshmallows around the campfire and hikes in the Grand Canyon. Our childhood friends were envious, they know how lucky we were, and sometimes we even brought extra kids along. These infamous family trips were great adventures which build great life-long memories for all, and also taught us an appreciation of and desire to see the natural beauty of this country. We remain avid hikers, campers and lovers of the outdoors.

Dad was somewhat of a perfectionist (if ever anyone question this - take a look at his house and car!), yet he never expected that of others, as he was non-judgmental, accepting and patient. But through his example of hard work and thoroughness, he taught us to take pride in a job well done, in always giving your best no matter what the task or project, from washing the car, doing the dishes, or rebuilding a car. Apply yourself, be persistent and work hard. this work ethic and attitude, more than a college education, is what truly builds a successful life.

Some kids are kept in line out of fear of punishment. Our biggest fear was disappointing dad! What made us work hard, was not a fear of punishment, but rather, not wanting to see a look of disappointment on Dad's face. As parents now, we all hope we can have such influence.

Dad's attitude since his diagnosis more than a year ago has, as always, been somewhere between great and awe-inspiring, drawing comments from friends, neighbors, clinic staff and just about anyone he has encountered. Everyone liked him, he was always kind and pleasant to be around, even in the face of painful surgeries, miserable treatments, and lots of needles. Though hi might be suffering, he never failed to be kind and considerate to all.

It has been said that the best way to earn respect is to show respect. Dad really personified that thought, never failing to show respect when it was due, and frequently even when it wasn't.

Dad was a tremendous person and an inspiration to many. His impact is certainly widespread, and will last for generations. We can draw on memories of him whenever we need guidance on how best to handle any situation. We are very lucky and blessed to have known him. We like to think that some of that has rubbed off on the rest of us. Sure hope so, because the world would be a fantastic place if we all could BE LIKE DAD!

Dad has finally lost his battle with pancreatic cancer.

Dad passed away Thursday afternoon, at home surrounded by loved ones. We are having a celebration of life at the house, this coming Wednesday from 4 to 8 pm. I've included the obituary information below.

After his release from the hospital late last Thursday night, we noticed a quick decline in mobility, and the nurse told me friday afternoon that she didn't think he'd have long due to the edema (fluid buildup in his body). Thank goodness many family members were able to fly out quickly, to be by his side.

Our goal was to keep him comfortable and pain free, and I think he was that, through the last several days. He still joked with everyone at times, and even towards his last hours, he maintained awareness and was able to say goodbyes with wife, all of his children, plus nephew Ron, his sister Angie and her husband Ray. It has been a very difficult time, particularly for my mom. We will need to give her a lot of support to get through this terrible loss. (on top of all this, her mom and dad's little yorkie Tutti who has been her doggie on the lap for the past several years, had to be put down today, unbelievably, but it was the right thing to do and mom had accepted that, she did not want to see the doggie suffer through the weekend)

I am still in shock and disbelief, every little while I break down because it seems like we all should be able to wake up from this terrible nightmare and find my dad smiling and asking "what's wrong with you?" We can take some comfort knowing he is at peace and his spirit is among many loved ones, and will always be with us. This was all just many many years too soon. Damn cancer.

Below is the obituary and service information. We will also be preparing some things for his service which I will share on this blog.

DAVID ARTHUR PAGE
David Arthur Page, age 71, lost a long battle with pancreatic cancer at 2:30 pm on Oct 27, surrounded by loved ones at his home in Seneca, MO. Beloved husband, father, brother, uncle, grandfather and friend, he was loved and admired by all who knew him. He never had an unkind word for anyone but the occasional politician, and his sense of humor never left him. Passionately dedicated to his love of family and country, Dave was loving, patient, generous and hardworking; we can all aspire to live as well as he did.

Born Dec 28, 1939 in Los Angeles, CA, he attended Downey High School (1957), retired (manager ) from Western Electric / AT&T in 1988, worked at Disneyland until 1998, then moved to Seneca . He volunteered at the Recycling center and as a poll and census worker in Seneca. He and his wife have been active members of the Central Committee for Newton County Democrats for many years.

David is survived by his high school sweetheart and wife of 51 years, Cathy, son Steven (Diane) of Lantzville, BC, Canada, daughters Mary Wassgren (Gary Swindler) of Fullerton, CA, and Lori (Jeff Armantrout) of Banning, CA, 5 grandchildren: Tyler Wassgren, Ella, Anna and Lily Page, and Samantha Armantrout; sister Angela Coulon (Ray), brother Gary (Wendy).

Many thanks to Freeman Hospital, Dr Hassan and the compassionate cancer clinic and Hospice Compassus staffs in Joplin, MO; also Dr. David Linehan and staff at Barnes Jewish Hospital and Hope Lodge St Louis.

A celebration of his life will be held at his home, 108 Oak Ridge Dr, Seneca, on Wed., Nov 2 from 4 to 8 pm; all friends welcome.

long tiring day

Got some equipment for the house, including oxygen machine...should make dad more comfortable. We think we'll need a better wheelchair than grandpa's old small wheel variety to help dad to and from the bedroom. Also most likely need a hospital bed, perhaps tomorrow, which will also be safer and easier for dad. We'll see how it goes tonight.

We'll install the new shower head tomorrow.

Dad ate okay today including a whole protein shake. Having steak, chicken, potatoes and green beans for dinner...if he eats a little of each, that will be good.

dad is weak, took a fall but okay now

Last night, after the game I came in to help dad to the bedroom but he had already made it there and mom said he was fine. Not 5 minutes later, mom screams a horrific bloodcurdling scream. Dad had fallen (somewhat of a slow slumping fall he said) on the carpet in the bedroom, when he was trying to pull back the blankets on the bed. He was okay, thank goodness again for Gary being able to lift him up.

He slept very well (probably the best sleep he's had in 12 days!) But this morning at 8, gary and I were just getting up when mom screams once again. Dad fell while trying to step down the one step into the great room though mom was right behind him supposedly helping him but she clearly wasn't holding onto him. He said he wasn't hurt, didn't think he hurt anything, but we called 911 for help lifting him up. Then while waiting for them, discovered he was bleeding a bit from the back of his head. A couple small scrapes, and you know anything on your head bleeds worse than other spots, plus he may still be low on platelets (but doesn't want anymore!). Paramedics checked him out, helped clean up the scrapes on his head, get him up and in a chair. Of course, they would have taken himto the hospital if he wanted, but he was pretty sure he's okay and the hospital is not where he wants to be.

Waiting for the nurse at 9am to do her assessment and order equipment to help around the house.

Rough morning.

just got home

It took all day to get the discharge done by the hospital, needless to say we are not happy with Freeman for that. Dad is exhausted, can't get up on his own- understandable after such a long day on top of being weak to begin with. Thank God for Gary to help him up, I could not lift him up out of the back seat of the car.

Nurse will be here in the morning; she came by tonight and dropped off some supplies butt will do the meeting and full assessment in the morning.

Dad is very tired but still wants to watch the world series game tonight, go Cardinals When in Rome). I am afraid he's overdoing it today. big day.

going home from the hospital this evening....

They finally are discharging dad from the hospital this afternoon. He will be glad to rest at home, and the dogs will be overjoyed to see him. I gave the dogs a bath yesterday so they're fluffly and smelling good for a few days, good because they'll want to be on his lap!

We'll be heading home soon and hospice folks will come over later this evening to do an assessment at home.

Oh there goes the lullaby again, another baby...

ups and downs

Yesterday dad was feeling pretty good and moving around a bit better, but last night he was sick and had a miserable night. Today he has fluid in the abdominal cavity again, not sure is they will do the paracentesis again.

Clearly he will not be going home today, maybe by Wednesday. Sure would like him to feel better, come home and rest comfortably. There's nothing comfortable in a hospital.

bad day today but he is okay and resting comfortably

Doc Hassan dad's oncologist came in today. Basically it is a very very sad day, she does not feel he should continue chemo, since it is making him so sick, unstable, electrolytes off and constantly sending him up and down. There's nothing worse than seeing someone you love suffering with all this treatment and its effects, but on the other hand, stopping treatment means giving up. Not ready to do that either, but this is dad's choice.

Today he was low on platelets so they started a platelet transfusion. I had just researched online and read that 1-2% might have a reaction. Well, less than 2 minutes into the transfusion, and we were talking with dad at the time, suddenly something was terribly wrong. His eyes were wide, he was unresponsive, and in what seemed like forever (really, forever...) but was probably closer to 10 seconds, the room was full of folks, mom crying and hearing a nurse say she can't get pressure, then hearing dad say he can't get air in, can't breathe...let's just say that was 5 minutes we never wanna relive. They mentioned moving him to ICU but then he stabilized and much better. He says he'd rather not get any more platelets. It was an awful experience for him I know. Lucky dad, he's part of the 1%, and here we'd all been thinking we're part of the 99%.

Anyway, glad he's resting comfortably now, we'll be back in the morning to see how he's doing.

He will be in the hospital at least until Monday and we met with a hospice person today who will make arrangements for everything we need at home. Their focus is to keep him pain free and as symptom free and comfortable as possible. This is a very hard thing to come to, but pain free does sound good.

will talk with doc tomorrow

Because the procedure was not done until late in the afternoon, we won't see the doc until tomorrow morning. Dad was feeling much better and awaiting a well deserved dinner when we left tonight.

procedure to drain fluids was completed

They are testing the fluid and doc should be in to talk with us today. At the rate these folks move around here, it could be hours before we here anything. Their communications have been very slow, we're very frustrated with waiting and not having any information. Good news is, dad is feeling much better!

having fluid drained

Yesterday dad's fluid buildup in his abdominal area got pretty bad. They scheduled a procedure to drain the fluid so we are awaiting that process right now. They just took him over to the ultrasound department.

still in the hospital

Dad's potassium was back to normal but still low om calcium. Not sure if he will need a stint for the kidney because they think the blockage is cleared and was caused by swelling. So he is awaiting a CT scan.

Hope he doesn't need the procedure, but would rather he not go thru another blockage like that, painful and dangerous because it caused irregular heartbeat because os high potassium. We'll see what they recommend today.

We've been spending a few hours at the hospital each day to visit with dad; sure hope he can come home and be comfortable soon.

this week was busy...dad's in the hospital and Tyler is here to visit

Blood work on Monday, they also gave dad a flu shot. Then started the new chemo on Wednesday. Gemzar and Carboplatin, plus a followup neulasta shot on Thursday which sends his white cell count up to ward off infection.

He was feeling better on Thursday into Friday, but yesterday afternoon he was having pain in his lower back, by 4 pm he knew the pain meds weren't working, so into the ER we went. By the time he was seen, his pain meds were helping, and they gave him more so he was feeling much better and really wanted to sleep. They did an ultrasound on his left arm which was swelling, no blood clot there, and a CT scan to investigate the pain, found a blockage from his left kidney. They kept him overnight, and will be putting in a stint for the blockage.

This morning, we don't have a time yet for the procedure to put in the stint but they did find that his potassium is HIGH now (was fine on Monday and Wednesday blood tests) and causing irregular heartbeat. So they are giving him something to lower his potassium now. We'll be heading back to the hospital as soon as mom is ready, we didn't get home until 2am from yesterday's trip.

Tyler is here now, Gary picked him up at the airport while we were at the hospital. Dad was happy to see him at the hospital last night.

changing chemo back to Gemzar

Monday we were in for blood work and another Magnesium infusion, they also gave dad a new med which are small coated pills instead of horse pills for magnesium and calcium.

Wednesday, got CT scan results from Dr Hassan. A mixture of good news and uncertainty. The pancreatic tumor does not appear to have changed at all. Spots in the liver appear to have diffused which the CT scan tech said indicates the therapy is working. But Dr Hassan does not think so, she was concerned about something potentially in the lungs, could be nothing but he is scheduled for another CT scan to check that out.

Meanwhile, we go in today for another magnesium infusion, then time off until new chemo starts next Wednesday. The current plan is to do a treatment every other week, with blood work on the off week, using Gemzar like his first series of treatments, combined with Carboplatin which is similar to Cisplatin but with greatly reduced side effects.

Dad is feeling quite a bit better right now.

We had a very sad day yesterday though. Poor old KC, grandma and grandpa's Shihtzu died. She has been blind and deaf for quite a while, but always happy, tail always wagging, and no problem with appetite. But Tuesday night she vomited very badly and again in the morning. Made an apptmt with the vet, but then noticed she had stopped breathing. Good ole happy KC, guess she's with grandpa now!

feeling a little better

After blood work today, a magnesium infusion, plus calcium supplements. Dad's sodium is also a bit low. We'll go back for blood tests again on Monday, then we see the doc on Wednesday. Hopefully dad gets stronger and better over the weekend.

It is fantastic fall weather, soon the leaves will be falling!

this week...

Tuesday dad had a CT scan. Then Wednesday to the cancer center for blood work. Dr Hassan met with us to discuss his blood work, she's concerned about low calcium and magnesium. Long story short, he got magnesium infusion Thursday along with fluids, and blood work again on Friday to check status. Very thankful they are right on top of this, we don't want dad having a drop on the weekend when the cancer center is closed. Going to the ER is very exhausting and no fun at all!

Doc did not have the CT scan results when we saw her on Tuesday; we see her again next Wednesday to review those and decide on next treatment. Leaning towards a return to his initial treatment since it had very good results and minimal side effects. This last treatment with the 5FU and oxaliplatin was really hard on him, side effects were too hard to handle. Hope we find a better option.

On the positive side, he actually gained another 3lbs and holding!

scary morning

Mom couldn't wake up Dad this morning...he had dropped very low on his sugars. So she did the right thing and immediately called 911...she was about to give him the liquid glucose when they arrived and gave him injectable which works much quicker.

Subway is not adequate for dinner...they both need to have another snack (something healthier than a cookie!)before bed. Anyway, it was scary for mom and weird for dad who said knew all these guys walking around his bedroom but he couldn't wake up from this strange dream. Scary...and he had to take in extra food, OJ, etc. today to offset the drop expected from the quick fix they gave him this morning.

Will have to be much more diligent about the evening snack!

Scheduled for a CT scan next week, possibly changing to a different therapy

We met with Dr Hassan, dad's oncologist today. Because of issues with potassium and generally not feeling well through this therapy regimin, doc would like to consider changing his therapy, possibly back to the Gemzar / Cisplatin he had previously and responded well to.

We have a CT scan scheduled for Tuesday morning and then blood tests Wednesday for a status to make sure his fluids / chemicals are good and to see whether his tumor marker goes up or down, to indicate if the chemo is helping him (it takes a while to start kicking in so doc wanted to see where it stands next week). Then we'll see the doctor again the following week to begin a new therapy.

So he has a couple weeks to hopefully regain some strength and weight. Good news is, he gained weight over the past week or so. About 12 lbs gained from where he weighed in at, two weeks ago! He is feeling better the last few days, though still fatigued.

Any way you look at it, cancer SUCKS.

back in for fluids and potassium this week

Dad was not feeling well at all over the weekend and lost a lot of fluids. We took him in on Tuesday and Wednesday for fluids and potassium infusions, along with a prescription for liquid potassium since those horse pills wouldn't stay down. Today they tested his blood again and potassium levels were coming up, so no infusion today. He is feeling much better now, though still not good. He has had some pain and trying to address it with the pain patch and other med's.

Hope the new potassium supplement keeps him feeling better. We go back on Monday for blood tests.

two weeks off

Dad got another potassium infusion today, and now he gets two weeks treatment free, only blood tests.

today's treatment

All was well with dad's blood work, except...very low potassium. So, after his chemo treatment, (about 5 hours) we had to go to a different building in the hospital complex, for a potassium infusion (4 hours). Then he will probably get another one tomorrow morning. Very long day.

Then he gets a much deserved two weeks off!

No infection - seems just another unexplained fever

Bloodwork showed no problems, and dad is feeling much better. Maybe just too much peach cobbler? Next time we'll stick to pineapple upside down cake!

third treatment in this cycle completed Wed-Thurs

Everything went well with treatments this week, blood work looked good, and Dad's weight is holding pretty steady. However, this morning he's running a slight fever. They want to see him to run some tests, so we're on our way into Joplin shortly.

Back on a new 6-week chemo cycle today

As I posted on Facebook last week, the oncologist opted to skip his treatment (and make last week plus the prior week when he had surgery, his two "off" weeks). Today he began a new 6-week cycle (four weeks of treatments, two off). Tomorrow we go back to get the 24-hour pump removed.

Good news: his bloodwork looked very good, and tumor marker has continued to go down! Also, he gained 4 lbs! So the surgery appears to have cleared up the plumbing problem as we hoped.

As a side note and perhaps a good omen, on the way home from his treatment in Joplin today, we saw two spotted baby deer and their momma in the woods. Ahhh...

Hope to be released from hospital tomorrow

Dad is feeling quite a bit better and eating now, keeping it down! So most. Likely they will release him tomorrow. He will be glad to be home where only the dogs wake you up!

surgery went fine

They connected his stomach directly to the small intestine, bypassing the stricture. He will be in Joplin freeman hospital over the weekend, then come home feeling much better and stronger. Will probably skip this coming week's chemotherapy for recovery time. We are waiting to go see him in the recovery room now.

overnight in the hospital

Today they were unable to do the endoscope, as they found dad had ulcerated his esophagus with all that fun upchucking, so...they are keeping him overnight,and will do a surgery tomorrow, three tiny incisions and putting in a stent so he can start really eating again. The past few days were tough. The IV fluid will really help him too. Then, we'll see how he does the rest of the week and maybe skip chemo this coming week. Some patients do this therapy every other week, so if he needs the rest by golly, he's gonna get rest.

Some trouble with eating

Dad has been having occasional bouts of getting sick. This is making him lose weight and certainly not helping in the battle. The past couple days and especially last night were tough. It is probably not the chemotherapy but rather, the stricture in his duodenum which is not letting food exit his stomach. So, long story short, he is going to Freeman East tomorrow at 2pm to have an endoscope to check it out, and put in a stent if needed. Sure wish they'd done that a month ago. Will keep you posted.

two treatments done

After the first treatment last week, Dad had one or two days where he just felt wiped out, no energy. But this week, after the treatment which included the third med Oxaliplatin, he
 has been feeling pretty good, no exhaustion. He did, however, experience this drug's most common side effect, extreme sensitivity to cold.  He touched a frozen package of meat and it was like ice picks in his fingers. Yikes. And so he can't eat ice cream, which I imagine would be quite pleasant. Great, right at a time when he really needs the calories! Life is definitely not fair.

Dad's treatment plan in Joplin

We went to "chemo training" once again - this time for a new regimen that has shown some success in fighting mestastatic pancreatic cancer. Dad is scheduled to start on Tuesday. It's a 6 week cycle, week 1 and 3 are two drugs delivered via a pump for 24 hours (he goes home with this pump on) - 5FU and Leucovorin (a vitamin complex which increases effectiveness of the chemo and helps reduce chemo side-effects), week 2 and 4 are those two drugs plus Oxaliplatin (which is an antineoplastin related to Cisplatin he received in his first chemo treatments, when the tumor shrank by 1/3).

Info on 5-FU Antineoplastin
Info on Oxaliplatin Antineoplastin

The day after these drugs are administered, Dad has to go back into Joplin to have the pump removed; so that's 2 days a week into Joplin. Week 5 and 6 are no drugs, but once a week he goes in for bloodwork.  This 6 week cycle will be repeated up to 6 times (36 weeks of treatment).

We all hope to see good results and that Dad doesn't suffer ill-effects and weathers this as well or better than his other rounds of chemo. He has had a couple episodes of vomiting which we believe are caused by the stenosis (stricture) in his duodenum - it is very likely he will need a stent put in to solve this problem.

Overall, he is feeling okay but very tired. Doctors and nurses all have recommended he get in the habit of grazing all day, rather than eating 3 big meals; it's hard to break lifetime habits.

We're home in Seneca

Sorry for the delays in updates, have been posting updates to Facebook and calling family, but forgot there are quite a few folks who don't use facebook and aren't seeing the updates.

How the surgery went:
Unfortunately, when they took dad in for surgery and did the initial laproscopy (where they make a couple of incisions and explore to make sure the resection is safe), they discovered some very small spots on the liver; these were biopsied and confirmed as pancreatic cancer. So at that point, they will not put the patient through this severe whipple surgery since the cancer has metastised beyond what they would remove.  We are all very disappointed but not giving up hope!

Going forward:
Dad has a couple weeks of recovery from the laproscopy surgery (awfully sore for a few days!), and then it is back to chemo therapy. We met with Dr Hassan yesterday (oncologist at Freeman) who is conferring with his St Louis doctors to decide on the best therapy. I found several active clinical trials in Kansas City, Springfield, and even one back at Barnes Jewish involving a new drug showing promise at preventing spread of pancreatic cancer.  Will try to keep this updated more often.  We should have some idea of his next therapy options and be starting that plan next week.

A Date for Surgery at last

CT Scan / radiation results in St Louis:
We headed to St Louis on 5/31, Dad had a CT scan on 6/1, then an appointment with Dr Parikh (radiation oncologist) and they also scheduled dad for minor surgery the next morning to replace his stint, which they did with a metal stint this time rather than plastic. Then they squeezed him in Dr Linehan's schedule (surgeon) to discuss options.  We were first very concerned because Dr Parikh said the tumor did not appear to have shrunk much from the radiation; however, Dr Linehan said it appeared to have moved away from the veins (which was his ultimate goal to make the surgery safer). Dr Linehan wanted to move ahead immediately with the surgery to remove the tumor. 

This is fantastic news as it is curative (ie., successful surgery means no more treatments, cancer is gone and dad would just need regular careful monitoring to make sure nothing returns).

***  The BIG surgery is scheduled for June 15.  ***
Please everyone say a prayer and send good vibes our way! 
It is a major procedure called the whipple, where they remove most of the pancreas, and several other partial organs in the vicinity, and basically re-plumb your digestive track.  It is huge - and success is mostly dependent on the skills / experience of the surgeon and his team. Linehan is highly reputed, as are several surgeons at Barnes Jewish, which is why we wanted to be there - surgeons in smaller hospitals and towns just are not exposed to this surgery enough to have the skill to complete it successfully. Barnes Jewish specializes in this surgery; Linehan does several per week and has been doing so for 17 + years.  We have very high hopes for success!

A Scare and everything's okay
We did have a little complication the evening we arrived home from St Louis; Dad got sick (fever spiked to 103), we paged the surgeon who'd put in the stint, and their oncall surgeon of course said to take him to the emergency room, which we did. We were ushered into a private room (so dad's not exposed to germs); his fever was down to 99 and he was feeling MUCH better, so they simply ran blood tests, etc. to make sure he doesn't have an infection; fever is not unusual in cancer patients and does not necessarily mean there's an infection. No signs of infection except for elevated white count (which he has had throughout most of the chemo treatments); they gave him very strong antibiotics as a precaution.  This took about 7 hours (as expected, on a Friday night, at an emergency room which is now the ONLY one in town, since the tornado took out St Johns). We got home about 1:30 am.  Long Day.

Visit from Steve
My brother Steve is now in town for a visit (SURPRISE!) for the next week; mom and dad are both enjoying his visit and we are very very happy he could get away from his busy schedule to take this trip.  :-)
Wish he could stay longer though.  He leaves on Sunday, and then we head back to St Louis Tuesday. Timing worked out perfectly!

Pictures of Joplin

On Saturday, we headed into Joplin for Target for some basics (Target is north of the "hit area" but certainly not "unaffected" as everyone in the area is affected; everyone knows someone who was lost). We've spoken to many who narrowly survived, and some who lost homes but are very thankful their family members survived. Also spoken to many of the cleanup crew and volunteers who have seen unimaginable things. 

Dad wanted to go to Jim Bob's for lunch (which we had heard had only "minor damage").  From the photo below, you'll know it wasn't open for business!  I wouldn't have called that minor damage, but I guess relative to the horrible devastation in the block just south of Jim Bob's, they came out okay.

In the Iron Gates area where the tornado first touched down just north of Hwy 44 and Hwy 43 intersection; this is almost exactly 16 miles north of Seneca on Hwy 43; so very close



This restaurant appears relatively unscathed, but look at those steel beams of the sign!



We think this is the playground of the Chick-Fil-A



This might have been the Long John Silver's



One of hundreds of vehicles nearly unrecognizable



What's left of the Academy store



Another mangled car



Shopping center on west side of Range Line looks terrific compared to what's just across the street




Outside the Radio Shack



This photo really hits me hard - a shopping center which is completely unrecognizable - and this monster tornado hit on a Sunday at 5:40 pm - this is the most congested part of all of Joplin on a weekend!



Jim Bob's Restaurant on Range Line



My favorite store - Goodwill

Pictures of the flooding in Seneca

 Just after the tornado, we had torrential rains which kept us tied down and was horrible for the folks in Joplin. In Seneca, the lower parts of town were evacuated - as directly across this "field" below are homes and the high school, and the "river bed" of little Lost Creek which was way over its banks!


The field at the bottom of mom and dad's hill became a flowing river




Pharmacy and Dollar General in Seneca



Old 60 and Sherwood, raging torrent of water rushing at the bottom of the hill



Downtown Seneca after the big storm



Catching up - next week we're back to St Louis.

Gary and I took a trip using our timeshare while Dad had the first two chemo treatments (every other week) right here in Joplin.  After we got home hehad an issue with a fever which they think was a urinary tract infection; treated with antibiotics. He was scheduled for one last chemo this past tuesday, but needless to  say with the tragic events in Joplin, he skipped this week.  The folks at Freeman are all focused on helping victims and our hearts go out to all the people impacted and those who've lost loved ones.

Dad's next step is a ct scan at Barnes Jewish to check the tumor and determine next step, hopefully surgery to remove for good!  We head to  STL this week and will hopefully have great news at the end of the week.

Everyone's home - 2 weeks of rest

Friday morning, Dad got to "ring the bell" at Barnes Jewish in honor of his last treatment of radiation.  This is a nice ceremony to celebrate completion of a treatment plan.  We got home Friday afternoon - I drove mom and dad, while Gary drove the truck. All happy to be home.

The plan for surgery has been adjusted a bit. Since radiation continues to shrink the tumor for a significant time frame after stopping the treatments, they want to wait 8 weeks before surgery. In the meantime, he is supposed to get chemo every two weeks - we're trying to get these scheduled in Joplin rather than St Louis - a half hour drive vs. a 5 hour drive and two night stay - that's a big difference. 

They want a CT Scan done maybe at 4 weeks, and definitely at 8 weeks. For that, we'll have to go to St Louis. Also, it sounds like Steven Strasberg will be the surgeon - glad to hear that since he was very highly recommended as one of the best in the nation (though any of their 3-4 surgeons who do these twice a week would be terrific).

Nice and warm here - 80 today but dangerous weather threatening (tornados, etc.) tonight. Good to stay home and relax.

Thank you all for your kind words and well wishes! 

One more week of radiation

Sorry for the lack of updates - got a virus on both home computers (yikes!) and just got them back today from the Neosho Computers shop. My laptop is with mom and dad in St Louis, so we were offline for a while.

Dad's still doing very well - they were home in Seneca for this past weekend (didn't bring the laptop home unfortunately), then returned to St Louis on Monday. It was good to have them home (the dogs were very happy!) and I am sure they enjoyed relaxing at home.  We had fantastic warm weather.

Dad has 5 more treatments this coming week; Gary and I will go to St Louis to accompany them on the drive home, this coming Friday. They will be home for 4 weeks, before having to head back for a CT scan and one more chemo treatment. We thought he would have the CT scan in 3 weeks, but they said 4 weeks - apparantly, the tumor continues to shrink for several weeks after radiation. Then they will schedule the surgery - possibly for 2 weeks after than - perhaps the week of May 9?  It's been a long tough road for Dad but he is doing great.  The radiation department there at Barnes Jewish says he's making them all look good.  :-)

Almost half way and still doing well...

Dad is still feeling well though a bit tired (understandable).  His radiologist suggested he take anti-nausea medicine just in case, because the treatments build up on you.  Two days after starting that pill, his ankles started swelling up (similar to what would happen a couple days after he took anti-nausea pills with his Joplin treatments). He thinks it's related to that med and I think he's right! He stopped taking it, but it takes a while for the swelling to go down. In the meantime, walking is difficult so they opted not to drive over to my cousin Ron's house in Wentzville this past weekend, which had originally been the plan.  (Plus Kimberly has a bug, so it's best not to get too close.) Sorry they missed the visit - missed out on more of Kirsten's great cooking!

Also, his red cell count was a bit on the low end, so they skipped one of his weekly chemo treatments (while continuing the radiation).  I think he's not eating enough red meat!!! Also supposed to have lots of green leafy vegetables - but unfortunately those are not allowed in any large volume due to his blood thinner medicine (slight conflict of interest which presents a challenge). Hopefully with a 2-week break in-between, his red cell count will come back up for the next treatment. He always had a 2-week break for his Joplin treatments.

We are all hoping for the best, that his results from these treatments will be as good or better than in Joplin. Shrink that tumor by another half! 

I am sure Dad is looking forward to a break, and they are both looking forward to coming home.  They are planning on driving back to Seneca this Friday (St Patty's Day) and then driving back early Monday morning. If he's not feeling up to the drive, I can take the bus from Joplin to St Louis to help out on the drive back, or the other way, or both. Will post later in the week.

So far so good for the radiation in St Louis

Dad has had no ill effects so far, after one chemo treatment Monday and several radiation treatments. The Hope Lodge is comfortable and working out well, with a shuttle to Barnes Jewish for treatments, and several restaurants and grocery store nearby.

Mom and dad are planning on coming home for one weekend, if all goes well.

I think they miss the dogs - who went to the vet today for rabies shots - so the dogs don't particularly like me right now. Plus, we don't have any donut seeds (cheerios) to give them - oh the heartless neglect. However, I have been putting left-over prime rib in their meals, so that should make up for the cruel lack of cheerios.  These dogs are so spoiled....all pets should have it so good.

Mom and Dad off to St Louis...

Mom and Dad left for St Louis this morning - hopefully they beat the coming severe weather (thunderstorms and tornados likely through this whole area).  Dad's first radiation treatment will be tomorrow; he also will be seeing Dr Tan the oncologist, and getting his first weekly chemo treatment for these sessions.

I hope they will be comfortable at the Hope Lodge, and that dad keeps feeling well while getting the results we want with these treatments! 

Will post updates after dad's initial treatments there.  It will be mightly lonely here in Seneca while they're gone.  The dogs are all very sad too; Maggie faithfully watches out the window and never relaxes.

American Cancer Society Hope Lodge

Here's a link to the Hope Lodge in St Louis where mom and dad will stay for 5+ weeks during dad's radiation treatments, beginning on February 28.  It looks like a terrific and very supportive place to stay, so much better than a hotel room (which would be unaffordable anyway!) and all funded by ACS. What a blessing. 

HopeLodge/MO_StLouis

Pictures from our trips to St Louis

Our trip last week was the "postponed" trip, after the "blizzard" the prior week which buried us in 18+ inches of snow (a whole lot more than this area is used to!) and closed everything down for several days. Nevertheless, we were still hit with another 4-6 inches of snow on the "newly scheduled" trip - so we headed out, hoping it wouldn't be too bad. Dad took a few photos along the way - thought I'd share some.

shoveled path to the driveway the day before our trip - clear but very cold

downtown Seneca as we headed to St Louis - look at those piles of snow!

a pretty little barn in Seneca

this is the "highway" on the way to St Louis - 4.5 hour drive turned into 6 hour drive

got even worse when passed by crazy truckers (many times - we were slowwwww...)

fantastic view of the gateway arch from our room

skies were clear, returning to Seneca - the piles of snow were even higher!

Returning home to blue sky and a new layer of snow

St Louis "mapping session" went well! Dad is tattooed

Gary drove mom and dad to St Louis on Sunday, since I had a bit of a cold and didn't think it would be right to sit in a confined space with them for 10 hours of driving.  They stayed at the Parkview Hotel which is connected to the hospital by an enclosed pedestrian bridge - that worked out very well. 

Dad had his mapping / planning session on Monday morning. This is where they use a CT scanner to map out exactly where the tumor is in relation to the metal marker within, and then mark his chest and abdomen with exact coordinates for aiming the radiation.  They actually even made a mold of his body so that he lays exactly the same for each treatment!  He has "sharpie lines" all over (which he has to try not to wash off), and then a few very tiny tattoos (which are permanent) for the radiation treatments.

We now have a 2-week break before returning on 2/27 for the radiation treatments.  Dad needs to go into Joplin for his blood test next week, but that's it for now. Dad got some cool pics on the road and in St Louis, will post those later.

St Louis trip went well

The blizzard was over, but we still had snow! Well past Springfield, it was snowy and only one lane cleared on the highway; even through St Louis the road was kinda ugly / wet / snowy.  We stayed in Illinois just across the river from the Gateway Arch, with a great view of the river and arch, with a 10-minute drive to the Center for Advanced Medicine / Barnes Jewish.

Dad's procedure on Thursday went great, no problems - he has a new stent good for another 3 months+, and a metal marker placed in his pancreas for the radiation. He felt pretty good afterwards, though with a sore throat. We were very impressed with Barnes Jewish so far; all the medical staff seem knowledgable, helpful, and thorough. They have a great reputation and we will keep hoping for continued good results.

Note: the downtown Barnes Jewish cafeteria was outrageously expensive (1 cup of fruit, 1 yogurt, 2 coffees = $10).   We won't be eating there often.  I prefer the West location where they had free cappuccinos in the waiting room!

So here's the new schedule:
Sunday 2/13:    Drive to St Louis for 1-night stay at Parkview Hotel which is connected to the hospital by an enclosed walkway; we got a referral for a special hospital rate.
Monday 2/14:   Planning / mapping session (radiologist using scanner to map exact dimensions around metal marker to plan and tattoo for the radiation); drive home Monday afternoon
Two weeks wait
Sunday 2/27:   Drive to St Louis; mom and dad will stay at Hope Lodge (only accommodates 2 people) during dad's radiation treatment. They are booked there for 6 weeks (though dad's treatment should be only 5 weeks). The lodge is 2 blocks from the hospital, and has a free shuttle; they provide breakfast and dinner daily.  It's a wonderful service for folks with extended treatments.
Monday 2/28:    Start radiation 5 days a week (15 minute sessions) for 5 weeks. There will also be a chemo treatment once a week, 4 of those 5 weeks.  Hope dad weathers the treatments without being hit by the side effects!
April 1:   Radiation should be complete, and mom and dad will come back to Seneca; then we wait 6 weeks so dad can rest and recooperate.
May 16:   Possible date for surgery

St Louis rescheduled to next week

Because of our little blizzard (20 inches of snow here in Seneca, while they only got 4 inches in St Louis - the opposite of normal), the Joplin Freeman cancer center was closed yesterday and today, so dad's chemo treatment was cancelled. We will reschedule it when they re-open tomorrow. We also rescheduled the procedure in St Louis (getting a metal marker for the radiation, and replacing the stent for the pancreas) from this Thursday to next Thursday, which basically pushes the whole schedule out a week.

One unfortunate result of the storm: they had taken dad off warfarin pills and put him on the Lovinox injection to prepare for the St Louis surgery - and now he's on it for extra days.  The med is fine for him medically, but it is VERY expensive; 10 day supply was over $100 copay.  We'll talk to the cancer center tomorrow to see if they want him to take it all the way to next Thursday.

Today Gary and I may do a little snow shoveling (a novelty for us SoCal kids), maybe make a snowman and some snow angels.  It's warm out there - all the way up to 8 degrees today.

Here's the scoop

Our adventures in St Louis started with the apptmt with the oncologist Dr. Tan Tuesday, who, knowing we were from clear across the state, made special effort to get everything possible done in this trip. He got us right in to see the radiology oncologist that day, and then scheduled a CT scan (by their more expert operators) on Wednesday morning so they could really see exactly what / where the tumor still involved. They were also working on getting us in to the surgeon immediately, so we extended our stay through Wednesday night. 

After the CT scan on Wednesday, I took a side trip (more of a running dive, actually) down a flight of stairs outside the hotel (oops). It was really my lucky day - landed on concrete at the bottom, head first  (yikes), with only a slightly bent thumb and knee to show for it. Very lucky. Really should get the video from hotel security - sure it would be hilarious to watch....the next youtube sensation. Hahaha.

Dad's CT scan was reviewed by their conference of experts on Thursday morning (radiologists, oncologists, surgeons) and then we met with the surgeon Linehan - who does two of these surgeries per week, so right up there with Strasburg - one of three they have on staff at Barnes Jewish with this extensive experience.

They believe it is curable by operation (yeah!) but that the tumor still involves a vein, and that shrinking the tumor further will increase the odds of success. So they recommended the focused radiation I have read about online (studies at Stanford and USC, I believe); this involves a "metal marker" placed in the tumor, and then special equipment which ensures all radiation is focused directly there.  Here's the plan:

Feb 1 Tues:   One more chemo treatment in Joplin.
Feb 2 Wed:   Followup Neulasta shot in Joplin (shoots up the white cell count to ward off bugs). Then we drive to St Louis for a couple nights.
Feb 3 Thurs:  Barnes Jewish Ctr for Advanced Medicine, downtown St Louis: two operations in one, to place the metal marker in the tumor, and to replace the stint for his pancreas (as a precaution).
Feb 4 Fri:   We'll drive back home, then have to head back to St Louis on Sunday.
Feb 6 Mon: "Planning Session" in St Louis, where radiation experts plan how to direct the radiation.
Then a TWO WEEK WAIT for dad to build up his strength and be prepared for 5 weeks of chemo and radiation together.  Let's all hope he withstands the treatments (no nausea, etc.) while continuing his great response he has had to chemo so far (shrinking the tumor).

Radiation / Chemo will be in St Louis downtown starting sometime around Feb 21; we hope to stay at Hope Lodge near the hospital Monday thru Thurs, then come home on weekends. The radiation takes about 10 minutes, 5 days a week, and chemo one day a week for an hour. That's end of February through March.

After radiation, they will wait about 5-6 weeks (depending on dad's health / strength, I suppose), then do the surgery, which should put it somewhere in the second week of May.

Though I know dad is getting tired of this stuff, his spirits are up and this week he is really feeling quite good (the last chemo didn't hardly slow him down).  He's keeping his weight up (very important) and hope his appetite continues.  Gary's keep us fat and happy with steaks and au gratin potatoes. Best news of all....a cure is in sight.

Thank you all for your well wishes and good thoughts.

Will keep you all posted.

Appointment for visit in St Louis

On Tuesday, they took dad off the Lovinox (bloodthinner) injection he started on Friday; he will continue to take the Coumadin pill (which one of the doctors called "rat poison" - so I hope he isn't on this drug very long). He is on a very low dose. At first, his oncologist was recommending he stay on the injection for 6 months (!) but based on his blood test results, she decided that wasn't necessary.

Dad has one more chemo treatment Tuesday. Then the following Tuesday, he has an appointment with the oncologist at Barnes-Jewish in St Louis. This will be for a review of his case and possible referral to the surgeon there (Steven Strasberg) who has a terrific reputation and has the experience level you want for any surgery so complicated.

Gary will be staying here to watch over the house and dogs, while I drive mom and dad to St Louis, probably on Monday, then coming home on Wednesday, unless we have subsequent appointments in St Louis. (Possibly a followup appointment that same week with the surgeon?  Would be cool to get that initial consultation done in the same week.)

A slight scare and a whole day at the hospital

On Thursday, dad started noticing his left arm was swelling a little bit (I didn't hear about this until Friday morning - or we would have been off to the doctor then!). By Friday morning, it was pretty darn swollen!  We called the cancer clinic; they said go over to the hospital for an X-ray of dad's chemo port (perhaps an infection? he had no fever though, no other symptoms).

So off to the hospital we went; 2 hours waiting for the X-ray, then 2 more hours waiting for the cancer clinic on-call to respond (they had already closed at noon on Friday); chemo port looked fine. Another 2 hours waiting for the next test - ultrasound of dad's left arm - and then an hour or so to get another response from the cancer clinic again. We were getting kinda tired of that little radiology waiting room.

Diagnosis: Dad has a blood clot in his left arm, I guess not an uncommon occurence in cancer patients.  They recommended we go over to the ER and potentially have dad admitted to the hospital. In the ER (which was amazingly quiet! you'd never guess it was Friday night!), they reviewed again, decided to put dad on bloodthinners to clear up the clot, but he did not need to be admitted.

So after a quick tutorial for dad on how to take the injection (pretty much the same as their insulin injections), and a stop at the pharmacy, we returned home at 7 pm. That was a very long day and dad is pretty tired though very happy to be home - today is a resting day!

Dad now has to take this injection once a day, plus a coumadin pill. Once the coumadin has kicked in and his blood tests out correctly, he will not need the injection.  (And a doozie it is - the first 7 days was $350.  But now that he met his deductible, future doses will be a fraction of that.)  Hope he needs to be on this injection for only a short time.

We'll be calling the cancer clinic on Monday to make sure they can do his blood level test during his Tuesday appointment, otherwise we'll be at the hospital lab on Monday for the blood test.

Keep thinking good thoughts for dad!  Blood clots are scary, and so are blood thinners.

Awesome news!

Dad's CT scan results from last week, comparing with the scan done in October, show that the tumor has diminished considerably.  In fact, it has been reduced to 2/3 its original size, and would no longer create any effect (ie., at its current size, would not create any impact such as the blockage which originally caused the jaundice).

We are all very happy for such tremendous results from the 4 chemo treatments thus far (he had his 5th treatment today). The CT results will be reviewed by his oncologist and the specialist in St Louis; awaiting their recommendations. Since the chemo has been so effective, I expect more will follow, prior to any surgery.

Woo hoo!  Thank you all for your good thoughts and prayers!  We're hoping this continues to go in the right direction....