I hope everyone reading this first post of 2014 enjoyed all that the spirit of Christmas has to offer....faith, family, food, fun and more family (and food)! The Rueckert house was bustling with siblings, inlaws, outlaws, and cousins from Christmas Eve through the 30th. It was nice b/c there was one overlap day when ALL of us were together at Mom and Dad's house.
Now that our house is empty again, Sam wants to know who's coming for a sleepover next. Lego building and Hot Wheels racing preferred resume activities. Any takers????
On the 23rd, Dad went back to UMMC for Intervention Radiology to take a look at the drain and determine if the abscesses had been adequately drained of the infections. Thankfully, when Mom and I met Dad back in recovery, all the drainage apparatus had been removed! This was a fairly good birthday present; Dad is a Christmas Eve baby, and turned 72 this year. Getting that "thing" removed was a nice boost to our spirits, and it felt like forward progress was in the works. ALL of us needed that!
The last couple of weeks have been "eh." Not terribly horrific, but not tremendously great either. Just, "eh." We're all just taking it one day at a time, and celebrating each success, no matter how small. For a period of time after the hospitalization, Dad's mobility consisted of a 10 inch round trip commute between the recliner and the couch. He needed assistance to travel any further, and going upstairs was not happening. At one point, my mom's walker (from her hip replacement days) was introduced. Dad was extraordinarily weak and fatigued very quickly. This was one tough infection and bouncing back has been like a golf ball in a sand trap....not so bouncy. It's taken a whole lot of "wedges" to chip this ball out! Steadily, and I mean s-t-e-a-d-i-l-y, progress is being made. Dad is finally able to make it upstairs and sleep in his own bed, enjoying the soft (or not so soft) hum of my mother's snoring. He's eating more, and able to taste Mom's cooking again (muy importante!). My inbox was added to this morning for the first time in a long time, and Dad was talking about working on his taxes. Sooo.....small steps to normalcy are attempted each day, but Dad just doesn't have the "juice" to maintain his efforts. Frustrating.
Dad has been taking Cipro and Flagyl for almost a month now in attempts to completely get this infection under control. Hopefully, once he's off these drugs, gets his full appetite back, and can eat more, he'll regain his strength and get some energy back.
What next?
January 7th is a CT scan to take a look at the liver and make sure all the abscesses are totally gone. Before any decisions related to the cancer can be made, the infections have to be eliminated completely. Please pray that the course of antibiotics erases all traces of unwanted bacteria. Forward progress, please!
January 9th is a follow up visit with the "I love pus" docs.....infectious disease. They will review the CT scan with us, and we'll find out if all is clear. Forward progress, please!
January 14th is a visit with Dr. Jiang, the oncologist. I'm not exactly sure the purpose of this visit, other than blood work and discussing a time frame for future treatments. Again, though, no cancer treatments until every bit of infection is gone.
As always, please pray for continued healing, and to rid Dad of these infections and the cancer. Pray that both my parents get back to enjoying a good quality of life. Pray for forward progress!
Thanks everyone, and much love to ALL!
Jen
