4/05/09 “Change has come”, and in a big way !

Over the last few weeks I have been receiving emails stating “Change is coming” stay tuned. After one or two I thought nothing of it but they just kept coming. And this week checks began arriving from folks who had saved their change for the month of March and then in turn forwarded it to Peggy and I as April showers. I can’t believe the response to this, we have heard from people all over the country, and April has just begun! To those of you who have participated in this our heart felt thanks to each and every one of you. And I know that Cathy Marczyk spearheaded the whole idea so a great big hug and thank you to Cathy and Ron, what a wonderful idea and it could not have come at a better time.

This was a difficult week to put it mildly. Chemo on Monday with all of the cumulative effects of the radiation kicking in and you have a real tough situation. We have been experimenting with using the peg tube and one of the nurses put us on a medication to take half an hour before attempting a feeding. Every time we would use the peg tube fifteen minutes after eating I would have terrible diarrhea and lose everything I had just attempted to put into my stomach. Also the chemo has a caused a lot of vomiting and dry heaves this week which have been extremely uncomfortable. So weight loss was an issue as the week progressed. In fact most of the weekend was spent in bed between anti-nausea drugs. We did get extra fluids at the hospital every day this week and that helped a little bit. We also have have stopped using the medication before tube feeding and if we can plan it between the Lorazipam and the Compozine we have a decent chance of keeping it down!! Also this week the killer mucus started in my mouth. What makes it tough is it gets really thick and the salivary glands have stopped doing the job of thinning things out, so it is near impossible to clear from your mouth. I rinse with salt water about 25 times a day and that can help a bit. Good friend Dan Berggren came to drive me on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday and it was great to see him. I realize that these next three weeks will just get more and more difficult and I pray for all your positive thoughts as we move forward. Here is praying for a better week this week.

I once again thank all of you for your beautiful expressions of love and concern for Peggy and I. I have been so humbled by all of your support and I pray that I will have the strength to see through the next three weeks and then on to putting ourselves back together! Also thank you for your generosity, the “Change is Coming” campaign is a stroke of genius and all your support is so appreciated!! I’ll look for you all at 7.00.