Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Good Night / Great Night
Well who could ask for anything more, dad is out of surgery and recovering. It appears that he is getting the rest that he needs and we will see what tomorrow brings. I have to tell you that we all apprecaite all the support that everybody has had for Bob and I will be taking the time tomorrow to read all the comments folks have left.
Out of Recovery
Dad is back in his room and recovering nicely. They said that everything went well and he is happy to be done. When we get an update from the Doc we will post again but he woke up long enough to say "Hi".
It is 4:20 and Mom is going back to the house to get a little rest and unwind.
Success!!!!
Dad is out of surgery, and according to his surgeon, it went well. His surgeon said "his colon was completely diseased and about to fall apart" so they removed all but one small section at the end that they hopefully will use down the road for surgery #2. He said nurses that had done this for years gasped when they saw dad's colon, so we made the right decision, his body could never repair that.
We should be able to see dad in an hour or two. He was still in surgery getting stitched up and all the tubes removed.
Keep the prayers up, we need to hope no infection sets in.
All our love,
Kim, Sue, Chris, Kim2, etc.
Operation Day
Kim, Brenden, Sean and I got to NJ at 2:00am and I was able to get to the hospital at 8:00 to see Dad. He has a good rest last night all things considered and we in a positive mood. Sure he was nervous but he was also excited to get past all the pain and discomfort that he has been having. He told us he just could not take the pain any longer. Before Dad went in we had a few laughs and then walked him down to the OR. Mom, Kim and Luke are at the hospital right now and I am back at the Holmdel house checking on Kim and the kids.
We will updated this post just as soon as we know anything. Thank you for all your calls and your prayers, Dad can really feel the support.
We will updated this post just as soon as we know anything. Thank you for all your calls and your prayers, Dad can really feel the support.
Monday, September 29, 2008
Bob is going to have surgery
Dad is going to have surgery tomorrow to remove his colon. His body is failing right now and even after a blood transfusion last night his potassium, iron, proteins, etc. are all at dire levels. He did every thing they asked of him, fought as hard as he could but he's just not winning this one. I was at the hospital with him this morning, I left when they took him into xray for a PIC line. Mom will be there with him all day.
We are meeting with his surgeon and other doctors at 6pm tonight to get the details of what will happen in surgery tomorrow. I will try to update tonight when I get home and hopefully I'll have the time for his surgery then.
Please say some prayers for Dad. He's very, very weak and his immune system is weak as well right now. He could use all the help he can get!
We love you all,
Kim
We are meeting with his surgeon and other doctors at 6pm tonight to get the details of what will happen in surgery tomorrow. I will try to update tonight when I get home and hopefully I'll have the time for his surgery then.
Please say some prayers for Dad. He's very, very weak and his immune system is weak as well right now. He could use all the help he can get!
We love you all,
Kim
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Sunday Update
Dad had a fairly good day yesterday, he was feeling a bit stronger and more optimistic. They let him have some toast with his meals, and again, it caused havoc for his system so since about 5 this morning he's having a real hard time and is in a lot of pain. That is a concern for the doctors, if they can't get his body to accept solid foods, he will still have to have the surgery to remove the colon. He's already lost 30 pounds, he's almost back to his college weight, but its sure not the way to get there!
Mom and I think he's still scheduled for his second Remicade infusion this upcoming Friday and we are thinking they will wait to see if #2 helps before opting for surgery. Sometimes it takes several infusions to see constant results.
So please keep Bob in your thoughts and prayers, he's feeling a bit discouraged with all these set backs, and he's spent the majority of September in the hospital, no one should have to deal with that.
Thank you all!
Kim (and Tyler too)
Mom and I think he's still scheduled for his second Remicade infusion this upcoming Friday and we are thinking they will wait to see if #2 helps before opting for surgery. Sometimes it takes several infusions to see constant results.
So please keep Bob in your thoughts and prayers, he's feeling a bit discouraged with all these set backs, and he's spent the majority of September in the hospital, no one should have to deal with that.
Thank you all!
Kim (and Tyler too)
Friday, September 26, 2008
Friday Update
Dad is doing better today, at least compared to yesterday which was one of the worst days we've had in a while. They are continuing the IV antibiotics for the MRSA. The other test results showed nothing new, the set back is apparently from the colitis. They have Dad back on an all liquid diet; they think it might have been too soon to reintroduce solids. This seems to have calmed his stomach down a bit.
We think he is still scheduled for an additional Remicade treatment next Friday, maybe a second dose will do him some good. In the meantime they are monitoring him closely, keeping him on the steroids and colitis meds and trying to keep him s comfortable as possible.
My mom picked Tyler up from Kindergarten today and took him over to the hospital to see Papa. The visit should do them both good!
Dad appreciates everyone's thoughts and prayers, thank you all!
We think he is still scheduled for an additional Remicade treatment next Friday, maybe a second dose will do him some good. In the meantime they are monitoring him closely, keeping him on the steroids and colitis meds and trying to keep him s comfortable as possible.
My mom picked Tyler up from Kindergarten today and took him over to the hospital to see Papa. The visit should do them both good!
Dad appreciates everyone's thoughts and prayers, thank you all!
Thursday, September 25, 2008
A Litte More Info
Figured I would help Chris out...
When Dad first went into the hospital, he was fighting a bacterial infection along with the colitis. Kind of a chicken or the egg thing. They got the infection cleared up with IV antibiotics, and they tried every standard colitis medication. Unfortunately, Dad appears to be one of the 20% of people in the world who don't resond to traditional colitis treatment. Last week, they opted to try an infusion of Remicade which is used to treat Crohn's Disease patients and patients like Dad who don't respond to traditional colitis meds. We did see some improvement after the Remicade, he is scheduled for another infusion next Friday.
The set back last night/today could be due to the MRSA, the antibiotics for the MRSA or the colitis is flaring back up. He is also on large quantities of steroids to help the inflammation in his colon, and the colitis has been so severe, that he's malnourished.
Everyone just keep Bob in their prayers and let's hope his body can get strong enough to fight all of this and let his colon heal!
If anyone has questions, you can always reach me at kj2617@gmail.com
Love to you all and we all thank you for all the well wishes!
When Dad first went into the hospital, he was fighting a bacterial infection along with the colitis. Kind of a chicken or the egg thing. They got the infection cleared up with IV antibiotics, and they tried every standard colitis medication. Unfortunately, Dad appears to be one of the 20% of people in the world who don't resond to traditional colitis treatment. Last week, they opted to try an infusion of Remicade which is used to treat Crohn's Disease patients and patients like Dad who don't respond to traditional colitis meds. We did see some improvement after the Remicade, he is scheduled for another infusion next Friday.
The set back last night/today could be due to the MRSA, the antibiotics for the MRSA or the colitis is flaring back up. He is also on large quantities of steroids to help the inflammation in his colon, and the colitis has been so severe, that he's malnourished.
Everyone just keep Bob in their prayers and let's hope his body can get strong enough to fight all of this and let his colon heal!
If anyone has questions, you can always reach me at kj2617@gmail.com
Love to you all and we all thank you for all the well wishes!
A little history for ya
Here is a note that my sister posted to a site. I just cut and pasted it
Bob was admitted to the hospital on September 2, with the exception of 3 days at home, he's been in the hospital since than. When he was first admitted, we thought he was suffering from a severe stomach flu. He was dehydrated, his blood pressure was dangerously low and his white blood cell count was sky high. Once admitted, we found that he had a vicious bacterial infection of some sort and was suffering from acute ulcerating colitis. He ran a 104 fever for days, even while on IV meds.
Long story short, they have the infection under control, the fever down, but his body has been completely unresponsive to traditional serious treatment of colitis. His digestive track is torn to pieces, anything that enters his body comes out immediately so he's suffering from dehydration and malnutrition.
As a last ditch effort before surgery, they gave him a Remicade infusion (used to treat Crohns patients among other things). They are giving this 5 days to work, if there isn't improvement, they are going to have to do surgery and remove his entire colon.
We could use some prayers that my dad's body stops attacking itself and reacts positively to the Remicade treatments. He's been so sick for so long... I thought maybe some Big Blue Prayers could help!
Bob was admitted to the hospital on September 2, with the exception of 3 days at home, he's been in the hospital since than. When he was first admitted, we thought he was suffering from a severe stomach flu. He was dehydrated, his blood pressure was dangerously low and his white blood cell count was sky high. Once admitted, we found that he had a vicious bacterial infection of some sort and was suffering from acute ulcerating colitis. He ran a 104 fever for days, even while on IV meds.
Long story short, they have the infection under control, the fever down, but his body has been completely unresponsive to traditional serious treatment of colitis. His digestive track is torn to pieces, anything that enters his body comes out immediately so he's suffering from dehydration and malnutrition.
As a last ditch effort before surgery, they gave him a Remicade infusion (used to treat Crohns patients among other things). They are giving this 5 days to work, if there isn't improvement, they are going to have to do surgery and remove his entire colon.
We could use some prayers that my dad's body stops attacking itself and reacts positively to the Remicade treatments. He's been so sick for so long... I thought maybe some Big Blue Prayers could help!
September 25th
For those that don't know Bob has been in the hopsital for most of September. He has Ulcerative Colitis / Colitus http://curezone.com/dis/1.asp?C0=826 which has had him down for the count. Bob / Dad has bee one hell of a trooper thus far and is really doing all he can to get well. A few days ago dad was put on some special medication that I like to call Ryboflavin cause I can't remember what it is called and it seems to have a positive effect on him. He is getting better and they moved Dad over to solid foods. Last night was not the best.. He was diagnosed with MSRA yesterday and they stared him on som Anti-biotics to cure it. What might have happed is the drugs messed with his stomach but we will not know until the docs give us the word later on today. Well please keep Big Bobber in your prayers and we will try to keep you posted as often as we can.
Rather than sending email after email I will do my best to update the blog as often as possible. Feel free to post here, we may actually get Dad on the computer to read these some day soon.
Rather than sending email after email I will do my best to update the blog as often as possible. Feel free to post here, we may actually get Dad on the computer to read these some day soon.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)