Today, I took Dad to his second appointment with the melanoma specialist.  The doctor was again very professional and caring as we discussed the next steps to be taken.  The two treatment options before us are either chemotherapy or immunotherapy.  Chemo is the more “traditional” treatment but has a lower positive response rate when used […]

Thank you for praying for Dad’s appointment with the melanoma specialist on Friday (11/9). The appointment lasted over 4 hours, but Mom and Dad came away from it very pleased with how knowledgeable and compassionate the doctor was with them. Several treatment options were discussed, but nothing was decided at this appointment because further bloodwork […]

Dad has been home for several days now and overall is doing well. He is consistently gaining strength and is able to move about the house with a walker and sometimes with just a cane. His appetite is still very good and his pain has been down to a much more tolerable level. The biggest […]

The big news from today (Friday 11/2) is that Dad is finally home from the hospital! Although the discharge paperwork and process took most of the day, by 5:45pm he and mom were back at the house and surrounded by loving family members. This is another milestone for dad because now, all of his remaining […]

Dad did not go home today due to some lingering issues, but Mom said he was doing better by the end of the day. His pain is now a more tolerable 7 and some of the issues are being resolved, so there is a good possibility that he may go home tomorrow. My grandparents are […]

Today we reached a milestone in Dad’s treatment as he finished his last of five radiation treatments. The clinic awarded dad with a certificate of achievement and dad rang a ceremonial bell as he left, signaling the end his treatments. While we understand that this is the first step of many, it is truly a […]

Mom and Dad didn’t get a lot of sleep last night due to multiple interruptions. Physical Therapy came in before breakfast this morning and worked with dad on a few exercises and dad was able to use the walker to walk around the room and he sat up in the chair for a few minutes. […]

Overall Dad had a very good day. He and mom were able to get about five hours of uninterrupted sleep last night, and that alone does wonders for the body. The pain today has stayed consistently around an 7-8 with the occasional drop down to a 6. The only time of intensely severe pain was […]

Both Mom and Dad slept for about 4hours at a stretch last night (Saturday 10/27) and until about 12 noon today (Sunday 10/28) his pain was the lowest it has been – around a 7. Dad was able to eat a full breakfast and livestream part of our church’s morning service. Around 12 noon his […]

We met with the neurologist first thing this morning and both he and the other doctors agree that we need to get Dad off of the heavy narcotic pain killer. As long as he is on the narcotic, we will never truly be able to pinpoint the cause of his headache pain. So today they […]