SLOW Going!!!

I realize that two weeks have gone by since my last blog entry, but David's progress has been extremely slow, so there is not a lot to report.  But, let me bring you all up to speed.  David's stomach tube was taken out at our last doctor's appointment this past Tuesday as David hasn't needed it to decompress his stomach in about three weeks.  Diarrhea / extremely fast intestinal transit time is now his biggest issue ... have tried all sorts of things to remedy this problem.  Here is what is working best for him right now ... a pediatric dose of Imodium (worried about using an adult dose because don't want to end up with an ileus again!) an hour before breakfast, lunch, & dinner.  This has allowed David to get through a meal in about 20 to 30 minutes instead of an hour & to sit quietly after a meal for 15 to 30 minutes instead of an hour while his gut settles down.  He has been able to get his caloric intake up to about 900 calories a day with his diet consisting of chicken, turkey, pasta, rice, potatoes, mushrooms, bananas, flour tortillas, & white bread with a tiny bit of honey.  Also trying to work on increasing his fluid intake to 2 to 3 liters (he had been limiting his fluid intake because fluids would just rush through him).  Because his food & fluid intake are still not adequate, we are continuing to do IV nutrition for 12 hours every night.  Weight gain isn't really happening, but he hasn't lost weight recently either.  His energy level is getting better & all of his incisional wounds are pretty well healed.  Emotionally we have our ups & downs ... the surgical recovery has been much tougher than we had anticipated, but we are very grateful for what everyone is considering a great surgical outcome so far & that we avoided many of the nastier post-surgical complications.

We are planning a quiet Christmas at home with our kitties.  We scaled things back a bit this year as our emphasis has been placed on getting David recovered & ready to begin chemotherapy again in January.  We have managed to decorate the inside of the house, get a few little gifts, & make some pumpkin breads to share with neighbors.  No Christmas tree this year, no outside lights with the exception of some lights that friends put on our bank in the backyard for us to enjoy, none of our favorite holiday foods as David can't eat them & Janet would then eat ALL of them, & for the first time in our 35 years of marriage, no Christmas cards or annual update letter.  For those of you that follow the blog, you know very well what we have been up to in 2013.

We do wish all of you a wonderful, joy filled Christmas spent with family & friends, and a happy & HEALTHY 2014!!