Doing Better
Dad is doing a bit better. But, they want him to stay in the hospital over the weekend. His fever is back to normal and Dad says that he is comfortable.

Have a good weekend!

Hospital
Dad's temperature was 102 this morning. Kathi called the our local Oncologist and he sent an ambulance over to the house. Dad and Kathi are at the ER right now and Dad is stable. This seems to be related to an infection of some sort. They are trying to narrow down the cause and treat Dad with a different antibiotic. I will update the website as soon as I get more information.

Home
Dad and Kathi are home now and very tired. It wasn't going smoothly this morning. Everything worked out fine. Dad still has an infection and that is the number one concern right now.

New treatment begins tomorrow.
Topic: Clinical Trials
Dad will begin his treatment of Avastin and CCNU tomorrow. Lets cross our fingers and pray that this is the treatment that will make a major difference.

Sgt. Richard L. Ford
With a heavy heart, I report that Alex has lost another soldier from his unit. Sgt. Richard L. Ford was a friend to Alex and an integral part of his unit, the White Faclons. Alex will attend the memorial service tomorrow in Taji, Iraq. Please read about this fallen, decorated hero. Gov. M. Jodi Rell Friday ordered U.S. and state of Connecticut flags to be lowered to half staff to honor Ford. Flags will remain at half-staff until Sgt. Ford has been interred.

Fallen state soldier mourned

News report on SGT Ford

Another story on SGT Ford

Dad is coming back home now, no problem...
Everything checked out fine. Dad and Kathi are on their way home now.

The rollercoaster continues...
Alex called us from Iraq this weekend. He was assigned to protect Condoleeza Rice when she was going to various meetings this past week. Alex is pretty much a body guard over there along with some other ex-military guys. When I called him a body guard he laughed and said, "yeah, just like the movie with Kevin Costner and Whitney Houston". I think he was kidding. Iraq isn't very glamorous. Anyway, he told me he is doing well and hasn't seen much combat yet.

Dad has been taken to the hospital today for observation. He started having a nose bleed this morning and may have aspirated. They just finished a chest X-ray and no one seems to be too concerned at the moment. Kathi decided to have him go to the hospital just to be on the safe side. Dad has not had a nose bleed before and Kathi was concerned because she gave Dad a new antibiotic last night for the first time. This may just be a side effect.

I'll update the blog when I hear more about Dad. I don't think it's a big deal, but I'm not assuming anything.

In the meantime, here is a picture of the movie that Alex had mentioned...

Good news from the doctor today... sent from Kathi
Mood:  happy
We just got home from the Cancer Center after seeing Dr. Jacobson today. He ran Bill’s blood (CBC) and it came back normal!!! His platelets are up to 292,000. Normal is between 150-450. We have a start up date for continuing treatment. The date is Feb. 27th. Dr. J said we still have to wait for the incision to completely heal. It should be completely healed by then. The doc couldn’t believe how great your dad looked. He read what he’s been eating and thought it was terrific. So you can update the blog with this good (great) news!!!!!

Valentines Day
Happy Valentine's Day to everyone. I picked up a little gift for Dad to give to Kathi today. I hope they have a nice day together.

Dad's health seems to be improving a little every day. That last treatment really beat him up. But, it seems to have beat up the tumor a little as well. His speech is still poor, but improving. He just doesn't seem to have enough strength to use his diaphragm when speaking... so he whispers. His left side is back to being worthless again. Dad promised me that when I come over this weekend that he will "put on a show for me" and move his left arm.

Hopefully this next treatment, Avastin plus CCNU, will be less toxic and still shrink the tumor.

Kathi's Birthday is today!
... and Dad is doing much better. His voice is getting stronger and he is off the feeding tube (he pulled it out and started eating... that's my Dad!)

Kathi is now one year older! I have no idea what her age is. All I know is that she put in a long year...

Have a great weekend and lets pray that Dad keeps doing better!