Another Bump

Well, reporting another bump is really not the post we want to be posting today, but alas we have no choice, because dad is once again in the hospital. His fever was elevated enough last night to warrant him being admitted.

His body is still struggling to fight off this darn infection. They've had to go easy on the antibiotics in order to keep his kidneys functioning correctly, and it just hasn't been enough to take care of the infection. They have now called in for back-up, and have him working with the infectious disease specialists. Hopefully they will be able to pinpoint the bug giving him trouble so they can get rid of it once and for all. Dad thinks that if they can't figure it out he wants to get that doctor from "House" on the case. So dad's sense of humor is still intact, and that's a good thing.

There is other good news to report too. He is eating and drinking better all the time, which is fabulous. The infectious disease guys are running lots of tests on him right now, and have ruled out of couple of things that would have really been trouble, so that's encouraging too.

We will keep you posted on his progress. Thanks to all of you for loving and caring about our dad. Your prayers, notes and phonecalls keep us all going.

Love,

Jenn

Bumps In The Road

"Set backs are bumps in the road, they are not the end of the roads."

Yes friends Steve has hit some bumps in the road the past few weeks.

Continuing infection at the port site - MRSA- for any of you medical types. Very hard to get rid of as it is resistant to most antibotics. The one antibiotic it does respond to (Vancomycin) has done a number on Steve's kidneys and they and not filtering as they should. We are hopeful that the kidneys will kick in soon and that there won't be any lasting effects. The medical staff say that they should do so and don't seem hugely concerned. A continuing problem is that Steve is having a difficult time eating and drinking, last week we were in clinic each day for IV fluids. They are renal dosing the antibiotic and he still gets it IV, just not as often.

Steve didn't have the energy to make a post but wanted me to let you know that he is miserable and has resorted to whining! Love that his humor is intact. Thanks for the calls and emails - I got word that the blog was of no help and to get with it and post something. We did enjoy the calls so maybe I'll quit updating.

Home Again

Steve was able to return home from the hospital on Wednesday afternoon. Jennifer was here during his hospitalization which was good for both the patient and the caregiver. Thanks to Gary and the kids for sharing her this past week. Steve is still having difficulty eating and drinking - the progress has been very slow. He does have an active infection at the central line site - cellulitis - this will be a slow healing process as well. We continue to visit the clinic at the Huntsman often for lab work and IV infusions as he is not able to take in enough fluids on his own yet. We are giving IV antibiotics at home and hoping to eradicate those nasty germs soon!

We would both like to thank the staff at the University of Utah Hospital they took good care of Steve. Below is a picture of Suzy who happened to be his nurse for four days in a row. As you can see she was a ray of sunshine - great sense of humor and a good nurse to boot. Bob gets the award for the consummate night nurse, he gets in and out quickly, doing his work efficiently allowing his patients the rest they need. Thanks for the follow up call Bob. Elma was his nurse again and he finds her very competent and oh so kind. Thanks to all and please don't take it personal as we hope we don't have to visit you again!!

Suzy getting Steve ready to go home.

Again thanks to our family and friends for your love, support, prayers and for participating in the fast this past Sunday. We hope you all have a wonderful Easter with your families.

Thanks for the Prayers

Once upon a time, dad had a blog. Now it seems to belong to mom and the girls. This is Jennifer, Steve's other daughter. Thank you everyone for your fasting and prayers, dad has responded well to the antibiotics and his white blood cell count is going up every day. He is eating and drinking on his own again, and is hoping to be home soon.

He is managing to maintain his usual sense of humor, joking and giving the nurses and aids a hard time. He has been lucky the last few days to have had very good nurses.

(Yes Rick, we all like Suzy!)

We will let you all know as soon as he gets home, and certainly when he is cleared to have visitors. Thank you again for your prayers, blog comments, email, and phone calls.

You are the greatest friends and family in the world.

Dad loves you all.

-Jenn

Fast for Steve 4/5/09

Dear Family and Friends, this is Kelly (Steve's daughter) for those of you who don't know me... I am taking over dad's blog for a bit to update everyone on what is happening with his treatment at the moment.

My dad is currently undergoing his last round of chemotherapy at the Huntsman Cancer Institute this week, and he and my mom have been staying down there for the past few days. Last night he was hospitalized with what they believe to be a minor port infection. This kind of infection is fairly common - but still a bit unnerving as he has little immune system to speak of at the moment. Mom, Jenn and I (and our families) are going to be fasting/praying for him tomorrow (April 5) and would love it if you would join us. Our prayer is that his body will respond well to the antibiotics they have him on, and his engraftment process will move along quickly so that he can go home soon. The doctors and nurses are quite confident that they will be able to handle this....but as my mom put it this morning when I spoke with her "Doctors and nurses are human, so let's get God involved". :)

All our love to each of you - we are blessed with such wonderful family and friends, and hope all is well with you! :)

- Kelly