April 27th, 2011

Surgery is finally back on the schedule!!  April 27th is the day!  While not ideal as far as time goes....we were hoping for something a little sooner, but the doctors feel that time will not be a huge issue as far as the cancer itself goes.  Mesothelioma takes YEARS to present symptoms, and so it grows at such a slow pace that 1 month won't really make a difference. 
Last wednesday Dad was having a really hard time breathing.  We had to take him in and have the fluid removed from his lungs again.  They took about 2 liters of fluid off of his left lung!!  He felt much better after getting drained. 

Dad has been such a trooper through this whole thing!  He is my hero!  All the poking and prodding and testing, and he has never complained....just been positive and has kept us all positive!

Thanks agian for all of your prayers!

One test after another!!!

Oh the joys of nothing going our way!!  Dad was scheduled for surgery today....that was cancelled.  The doctor in Boston noticed a problem on Dads EKG and cancelled surgery until we could get some more tests done on his heart.  Yesterday we did a stress test and a TEC (transesophageal echocardiogram.)  The TEC test showed aortic stenosis which is a thickening of the aortic valve.  Dad had rheumatic fever as a kid and the doctor said that something like this is common in cases where the patient had rhematic fever as a child.  He also said that he would go ahead and support dad having the surgery on his lung and that we could go years before addressing the heart problem.  GREAT NEWS.....until the cardiologist called and said that we needed to go back again today for yet another heart test!!  Today they will be placing a catheter dads artery!  So, after today....we are hoping to be able to reschedule the surgery in Boston, and give my dad a tiny sense of normalcy for a while!!  He has been through more in the last 2 months then anyone deserves!!  We will keep you all posted!

Fundraising.....a BIG job!

Preparing food to feed 500-700 people is no small task!!  We washed and wrapped potatoes until we didn't care to see a potato again!  But, we all did it with a smile!!

We ended up wrapping about 700 potatoes that day.....with great hopes of serving EVERY SINGLE ONE!

We also filled 300 cups of sour cream, 500 cups of butter and around 400 cups of ranch dressing!

The fundraiser was a HUGE success!!  About 500 people came!  We were so overwhelmed by the love and generosity that people showed for our dad.  We wanted to say a very special thanks to the following people:

Broulims

Walker Farms

Ball Brothers

Albertsons

Robin Spencer Photography

Chris and Heather Campell

Dr. Robert Ellis/West Wind Dental

Rush Truck Center

Floral Classics

Cala Alexander

The Garfield 5th Ward

Rita Rasmussen

Reed Tucker/Loft Reception Center

Keith Walker

Mike and Lorraine Hathaway and Family

Ardis and Kent Roberts

Idaho Sod

Mike and Debbie Glass

And to ALL of you who attended, donated, or helped!!  We appreciate you all!!!