Dad's Doctor Visit

This is one of my favorite pictures of Mom and Dad from 1958. Doesn't he look mischievious?

Dad went to see Dr. Hossein today, his oncologist. The doctor said Dad looked very jaundiced today,more so than the last time he saw him. Mom was telling the doctor that Dad was needing his pain pills every 3 hours rather than the prescribed 4-6 hours. So Dr. Hossein changed his pain medicine to morphine to help keep Dad more comfortable. Dad is having a hard time sleeping at night so the doctor had originally prescribed him a sleeping pill but when Dad took it, it knocked him out not only at night but all day the next day.....must have been some good stuff. :) The doctor gave him a different pill to try to help him sleep at night. We'll see how that goes.....

The doctor also put him on a water pill to see if that helps the fluid build up in his legs. It's getting so bad he's having a hard time walking. He's scheduled to get the fluid in his abdomen drained next Wednesday.

The hospice nurse mentioned to Mom that it appears as though his kidneys are beginning to be impacted as well. With all the information we've read, I'm fearing it's most likely the beginning of the end. That's very painful to say out loud. Mom said he's been getting progressively worse over the past week. He normally perks up when visitors stop by but he didn't even perk up today for the hospice nurse. Mom said his eyes were closed almost the entire visit.

Just FYI..Mom's phone isn't working correctly, the answering machine isn't picking up for some reason. So if you happen to call and get no answer after a few rings, just hang up. She's probably busy with Dad and can't get to the phone.

Turtle, Mindy and I are planning to leave either next Tuesday late afternoon or very early on Wednesday. Mindy and Turtle are leaving on Sunday to come home but I'm going to stay down there for a little while longer to help Mom out. She loves our visits and greatly appreciates our help. I'm thinking that everything happens for a reason and maybe the reason I was laid off from AT&T/IBM after 25 years was for this very reason...to help my Mom and Dad. (Of course the poor economy didn't help either) :)

Gary, Brian, Billy and Lisa just returned from a visit. Susan, Rob and the boys also visited last week as well. We're trying to spend as much time in Florida as we can since only God knows how much longer we'll have with my Dad.

Keep us in your prayers!

Love,

Theresa