He Can

Things are about the same. Dad is slowly getting stronger and we feel like he will be ready to come home in the next few weeks. We are going to start looking at our options for therapy and nurse care once we take Dad home.

We brought Dad home last Friday for the day. We knew it may be hard when it was time to take him back, but we thought after a month of a hospital bed he would enjoy his chair and his bed if only for a day! And that he did....It was a good sight to see him in his chair! :)

Thank you for continuing to pray for us and support us. God is good and He is faithful. I read something the other day that really spoke to me: It was another blog that said:

We are not praising God because we know he will heal Dad. We are praising Him because He can.

When you stop and think about that, it really reminds us just how big and awesome our Lord is.
I pray that He blesses you today. :)

STILL Fighting with our Hero......ONE YEAR AND COUNTING!!!

Dad is moving right along and continuing to get stronger. YEAH! He is also continuing to get back to "Gene." For example, if you were asked to name a famous American who would you say? Tiger Woods, George W. Bush, John F Kennedy, George Strait............When Dad's speech therapist asked him that question- he names Tonto!! Then today he devised a plan for Mom and I to kidnap him!! He keeps us laughing! :)

We are so thankful that we are seeing improvement. Yesterday was one year that we found out Dad had cancer. That day will forever be etched in my mind, but God's amazing provision will be as well. It has been a roller coaster, but our sweet Lord has been there every step of the way; just like He promised. He never promised it would be easy, but He said he'll see us through the storm. And that He is.

At first thought, this seems like an anniversary that you do not want to acknowledge. While we wish we could turn back time, and change the events that have unfolded-We cant. The Lord knows the exact numbers of hairs on Dad's head, (Or the hairs he USED to have;) and he has a perfect plan for him. We have to trust Him and His plan. When I think back to the nightmare on July 23, 2007 and the days that followed, we did not think we would be celebrating many more anniversaries. Especially Dad fighting and defeating this cancer for ONE YEAR!!! At that time, we were told we be lucky to have Dad around at Christmas. Praise God-He had a different plan!! It is truly humbling and amazing that in the midst of this nightmare, God is providing. He is showing us that he listens to us and He loves us more than we can fathom. We don't know how much time we have left, but we do know that we are thankful for each day that we have and we are celebrating that Dad has been brave enough and strong enough to keep going, even when the battle gets tough.

God didn't promise days without pain, laughter without sorrow, sun without rain, but he did promise strength for the day, comfort for the tears, and light for the way.

WE BELIEVE!!

Howdy Folks....I'm back :)

To say the Bahamas was absolutely amazing is an understatement!! We had a blast, and saw some of God's amazing creations along the way. To be out in the ocean, see all the different creatures and beautiful sunsets makes you feel so so small in this big world. And to think that God loves me so much more than any part of his creation is very humbling and refreshing.


Dad is doing well, things are about the same. He is doing his therapy, and slowly getting a little stronger. Now he has moved on from the cup cakes to popsicles! Mom said he eats about 20 a day!!! But I am confident he would still welcome cupcakes..................even if they had worcestershire!!!!!!!!........(If you need a reminder about that story click here). He has had a lot of visitors which he really enjoys, so thank you to those of you who have gone to see him! That is the good thing about being close to home. :)



I will post some Bahama pictures soon, but I thought I should start with some wedding pics ;)

........and they live happily ever after!!!

Hey Gang-

Dad is still doing well. The therapy team came in and evaluated him today, and they will begin therapy tomorrow. He will get his therapy at the facility, they have OT's and PT's on staff. Another funny story for you....one morning when I got there, the nurse was helping Dad eat his breakfast. As soon as I walked in this was the conversation:

Dad: Gina, go in the other room and find my cupcakes.....(The nurse is cracking up)
Gina: Well Good Morning Dad, why don't you finish your breakfast and then I will get you a cupcake.
Dad: No, I want a cupcake.
Gina: How about you say 'Hello sweet daughter how are you this morning?' Then we will check into some cupcakes.
Dad: Hello, GIVE ME A DA#* CUPCAKE!!!!

I thought the nurse was going to die from laughter!!

Now for the afternoon: (Remember that Dad calls Mom his "Little Flower."

Dad: Where are my Cupcakes? ( I still get no hello or sweet daughter comments!)
Gina: (Trying to distract him form cupcakes) Dad, your little flower is here.
Dad: Well, I don't know.
Gina: What do you mean you don't know?
Dad: Well........(long pause) Sometimes you get a flower and sometimes you get a weed........

He is definitely back to the Gene that we know and love :)

This will be the last update until next week............. I am headed out in the morning for my Honeymoon!!!! Allan and I postponed our trip to make sure everything was ok with Dad. When we got the good report on June 9th, we rescheduled for this week. We are headed to the Sandals resort in the BAHAMAS for a week!!! We are so excited!!!!

Please keep the prayers coming!!!
we Believe!

Settling In

Dad is settling in pretty good. Everything is going well. He is eating good and wanting to start his therapy, so that is a start in the right direction! He has been cutting up some and cracking jokes, You can only imagine the possibilities that come with a nursing home. :) Today I took him to see the dining room, and I was not sure where it was. He said, "Just follow the old people, you'll find it!" It has been such a blessing to know that Dad still has his sense of humor after all that he has been through. It keeps us going!

We Believe

Pine Forest

Well folks we finally left MDA today after 3 weeks and 2 days! Mom drove Dad to Pine Forest Nursing and Rehab center off Tram Road in Beaumont. He is in room 504, Visitors are welcome :) It is literally 4 minutes from the house. He has a private room, and we have already taken him his Harley blanket and filled the room with pictures :) Now I just need to see if Pets are welcome so I can take Haley to see him!! I must admit, it was not easy walking into that place and getting it ready for Dad. It just doesn't seem right. But, we know that we do not have a choice. It is the best place for him, and everyone there gave us a very warm welcome. I feel confident that Dad will receive very good care. Our prayer is that he will get his strength back and be able to come home!!

Thank you for your continued prayers, support and comments!!

We Believe!!

We are getting the process started to get Dad out of MDA! The Doctors there have recommended a skilled nursing facility for Dad. We have spent the last few days researching and looking for the best place. This is a very hard thing to do-We want Dad to be able to go home, but that is just not possible right now. Our hope is that it is temporary. It will be a place where Dad can receive his therapy and the nurse care that he needs, and then go home once he regains some strength. His doctor has also told us that continuing with Chemo would not be a good idea. She thinks it will harm him more than hurt him. So now will concentrate on getting Dad stronger so that he can go home! Once we transport him he will be one step closer to home and you guys can come visit him and keep him going!!

Thank you for your prayers-We Believe!

Dad is continuing to come back to us :) This morning he was cutting up with the nurses as they gave him a bath, now is that Dad or what?!? He asked them if Mom was paying attention.....I tell you what-Those kind of comments are music to my ears right now! For the past month he has been so crazy and hallucinating so much it is so awesome to have him back. The doctor should be in today and maybe we can get some news on getting Dad out of there! We still have some tough decisions about what to do when we do get to leave. Dad has been in that bed for almost three weeks so he is going to be very, very weak.

Please pray that we will have wisdom when we make these decisions and that Dad will understand that we are going to do what is best for him and for Mom.

Thank you for your comments, I enjoy being able to keep you all updated and I am so thankful to have so many of you walking this valley with us.

We Believe

Wake up Call

A wake us call is normally not a pleasant thing...especially to those of us who like our sleep :) Well, I received the best possible wake up call this morning......It was Dad saying good morning to me over the phone!! He woke up this morning asking for a coke!! He has not asked for food or anything to drink in about 8 days!! And since he has woken up he has not said anything crazy!! We are so so excited and thankful! He is still very tired, but at least he is improving. I am reminded of a simple hymn that we used to sing in church:

God is so good

God is so good

God is so good, He's so good to me.

He answers prayer

He answers prayer

He answers prayer, He's so good to me.

Sometimes just a simple verse speaks volumes. God is definitely good and we are so very thankful for your prayers!!

We Believe

Happy 4th of July!!

Happy Fourth of July! I hope you are all able to enjoy the holiday and spend time with family and friends-That is what it is all about. Through all of this we are reminded daily to be thankful for the many blessings we have, and to make each day count. I know that Dad would say the same to all of you-Have fun and enjoy the things you have!

Unfortunately, Dad has not gotten much better. The CAT scan looked fine. This infection and all the medications have just really knocked him down. His kidneys are functioning better today, so that is a good sign. The medication they were giving for the Viral Meningitis is what caused his Kidneys to act up. They have stopped that medication. Dad is just sleeping most of the time, and when he does wake up he is not responding verbally. He will squeeze our hand, but he does not say much. We sat him up today and I did get him to say Hello! That is an improvement from yesterday :) Mom told him she loved him and he said I love you too. That was awesome! We saw Dr. Loghin this morning (Lucky for us she is on call this weekend!) She said we just have to see how he does over the next few days to see where we stand. She is concerned that we continue to have problems instead of Dad getting better. We really need to see some improvement over the next few days.

We need lots of prayer that Dad can snap out of this!!!! We know that NOTHING is impossible with God on our side! WE BELIEVE!!!

Thursday

Dad is having a rough day, some of the medication they have given him for the hallucinating is making him totally out of it. They could not even get him to wake up this morning, but he has done better since then. They are pretty confident that it is the meds so they are taking him off that medication and they are going to do a CAT scan today just to make sure everything is ok. His doctor is on call this weekend so that is a good thing :)

We'll keep you posted :)

Wednesday

Ok, Let me see if I can explain this right. There is still one test we are waiting on, it is to show if there is any type of herpes (sp?) that may have caused the meningitis. Originally, they ordered a snapshot look which would have told us by now if that was negative or positive. For some reason the head honcho at the pathology lab canceled that snapshot so now we will not know for sure for 21 days. Dr. Loghin's nurse explained that this was out of there hands and that they were really upset about. It is not the first time it has happened. Very frustrating. However, that is not really a big deal-They are treating him for it as if it were positive, and if he was able to be released he could take a pill from home. Basically we are waiting to see if he is going to bounce back from this infection. They have explained that he may never get back to were he was mentally. He is still hallucinating and talking crazy and there is chance that will not change. Only time will tell. Once we see if he is going to improve, we can make some decisions on were to go from here. We are looking at all our options. Maybe more Rehab or some type of skilled nursing facility.

Hope this all makes sense! Thank you for continuing to walk this road with us. Please keep praying! Prayer is powerful and effective!
We Believe!!