Steven away from keyboard...

Have a nice trip.


Journey mercies to you and your family.

Have a terrific journey Pip are you driving ?

Thanks Elyse and Margy;

No driving for me, at least this time.  It's 19 hours, if traffic is good and I;m traveling without the missus.

The mood I was under is lifting, the closer I get to flight time.

I think I'll be feeling fine once the plane crosses that boundary in the air where I feel I am once agin in New England.

best - Pip

My good thoughts are with you, Pip.


Elyse

Back home in Illinois...really good visit, saw the elders of my family about whom I was worried.

I was even surprised by my dad; took a spur of the moment day trip to visit the village where his maternal grandparents' families lived.  Walked the cemetery for over 2 hours and found several ancestors, plus a couple of boarders (who became family friends) mentioned in the census data.

It was a really neat afternoon.

Well..as my mood indicator for today states, Concerned...

When I spoke with her yesterday, my mom said not to worry. Her voice was tired, but not frantic.

My dad had a cough while I was home, which my mom said he'd had for a couple of weeks at that point.  Just after I got back to Illinois, he did go see the doctor and a chest x-ray showed pneumonia.  He responded to treatment (antibiotics and prednisone), but it came back a couple of weeks after that.

A second x-ray showed the pneumonia still there and the doctor sent him to a pulmonary specialist.  My mom said he's been great; sent dad to have a CT scan. They got the scan done a few days ago, a week earlier than anticipated because of a cancellation...dad was sent to the hospital.

Mom said he's resting comfortably, ate and is breathing easier...got a bit of color back.

Biopsy was scheduled for earlier today.  I talked with my brother, he said the results will be in late this afternoon or tomorrow morning.  Len also said my dad's made out an advance directive: surgery and radiation are okay with him, but no chemo.

Dad's 74 and I'm 52 (the oldest sib), mom's 72; they've been married 53 years (as of June 9).

They are such a couple.

Well, we are hoping for the best, but know the outcome may not be good.

My thanks to all who have given me kind words, think them of my dad now, please.

be well - Steven, son of Stewart

Good evening all;

Thank you for the words of support.

I spoke with my dad for about 10 minutes just now.  He sounds very
tired, but is hopeful.  He is also still concerned that Anita and I
are so far away from family when we have our health problems, more
than he is about himself.

He said the procedure went fine, only a little blood afterwards and
that his breathing seems to have eased.

The mass is a tumour, most likely cancerous, about the size of a
lemon.  It is in his right lung, near his heart.  A little more
testing to see if it has spread before a certain plan of action will
be made, but dad says that the likely course is radiation treatments.

He told me that my nieces and nephews related how I'd been writing
them on Facebook, and thanked me for trying to comfort them; not a
self-centered bone in his body.

He is in a good hospital in a new facility for cases such as his.  He
really likes that the medical staff treats patients like adults and
are speaking with him about everything.  He mentioned the calming
effect this is having on my mom.

His main personal concern is his weakness and current inability to sit
up.  This is the only time in the conversation a little something like
fear crept in...

He also said he told my sister to take my mom to dinner and then home to rest.

He only coughed a couple of times during our conversation; sounded
better than in July before he sought medical help.

I'm starting to rattle on now...

To honor him, I'll go to work as usual in the morning and give the
boss my best effort.  Dad would appreciate that.

So, here's to some lessons from my knowing him; do your best from day
to day to meet your obligations, stare ordeal straight in the face,
know that failure might be an outcome, but don't dwell on that, no
matter how bad things might seem for yourself, concern for others
never goes out the window...

Thanks again and be well - Pip

Thank you, Pip....that is "heart-provoking".  You Dad sounds like a real inspiration of perseverance & character.

:-),
Donna

I spoke with my mother and one of my sisters this morning...the biopsy did show that the tumor is cancerous.  However, the followup MRI has shown that it is isolated to the one mass in my dad's lung.

He and my mom are confident in the doctors; looks like radiation and low-dose chemotherapy will get it under control.  The oncologist must have a really good bedside manner, as my dad had been flat out saying, no chemo.

Right now they have him on a mild pain reliever, plus a low dose of prednisone, which is relieving the swelling of his lung due to the irritation of having a lemon sized mass in it.  My sister says he is
breathing a lot easier and not coughing nearly as much, so he's getting the rest he needs.

My thanks to all for your kind thoughts...

...and I'm wondering if this was why I had such a feeling that I needed to get home in July.

One of the things that I did talk to my dad about during the visit was to see the doctor and ask for an x-ray because the cough he had then wasn't clearing up.

I responded to your comment in the cat forum.  Came over to find out a little more about you.  Well... I was sad to read your info about you dad.  I will keep you and your family in prayers.  julia

Thank you for visiting Julia, and for the well-wishes;

My dad started chemo yesterday, but I promised my mom not to call for a couple of days, give her a little break on hearing the phone ring off the hook.

He's got a good handle on the severity of the situation, as does she.

Based on the oncologist's track record, there is some brightness in the outlook, but dad said not to have any false hope, because the reality is grim.

While we breath, there is hope.

Give your dad food made by you...he will love it a lot. Tell him you cooked it specially for him.

Heya Jag;

Wish I could, but 1100 miles separate us...my sister wants to send me a plane ticket to visit, so I'll (hopefully) get to see hm once again.

thanks - Pip

Once again the same dilemma between practical and not so practical.

One day the brain will be at the knees, behind the knee caps, and the heart will win, we all do what our heart says - just that day is required. When the day arrives, heart gives out orders, and we comply. That is the most beautiful day of the life. Things change, turn for the better. Life begins.

Take care
:-))