Update

Hey everyone. I know you've been wondering what's going on since I left town abruptly yesterday. Once I got to Chattanooga, I quickly got up to speed on the information. It looks like the doctors have decided not to pursue anymore treatment for Dad. They do not feel that he is capable of handling any more procedures. Basically, what he is experiencing now is complications with his radiation. The radiation treatment burned his esophagus so that nothing is able to pass to his stomach. Therefore, they have had to insert a feeding tube through his nose. They did not feel he could handle surgery to insert one into his abdomen. What this means is that his nutrition options are limited. We also found out through his hospital stay that the cancer is still active in him. Therefore, it is not prudent to continue to try to treat symptoms when the cause is untreatable. So, we are meeting with Hospice today to make plans to send Dad home. I had some great conversation with him yesterday. He was very alert, seems to know what is happening and is handling it much better than I am. I think my Mom called everyone East of the Mississippi to come now because Dad had visitors non-stop all day yesterday. He was exhausted by the end of the day. We don't know how much longer he will have. Hospice usually enters the scene when they expect a person to live no longer than 6 months. So we may have quite a bit of more time with him than I thought yesterday when I left town. However, much of the rest of our time is going to be under sedation. So I am thrilled that I came to have a few last good father-daughter talks! Thank you to all of you who have stepped in so many times to take care of my children and my family. Thank you for your prayers. Thank you for your emails and text messages. I don't know what I would do without all of you. Right now, you are my web. God Bless you. We continue to take it one day at a time. I will write more when I know more.