Dad

This post has been a long time in coming.  My emotions- depression and anxieties- have been off the wall lately!  Between Mallie having RSV (which she’s good now), Robby got Strep Throat and Pink Eye, and Hannah and Christopher got Pink Eye… my nerves were frazzled by the end of last week!  Yet, the other hard part was Dad getting sicker and sicker from his treatments.  Losing weight, not being able to hold anything down.  He was also in a lot of pain- his oncologist had to put him on a narcotic to help it.  Dr. Ben-Jacob, the oncologist, told Dad to be sure to tell his Radiologist about needing the pain medication, because it wasn’t too good to have to need it.  On Thursday, for some reason I’m not too clear on, Dad ended up talking to the nurse about needing the pain meds.  His doctor was walking out of the building, when he turned around- not knowing why!- and went to talk to Dad as he was in the hall with the nurse.  It came to the doctors attention that Dad was taking heavy duty pain medication.  Dr. Fisher told Dad that it was very odd to need narcotics while on radiation treatments, and ordered a CT scan to see why he was in so much pain.  They found that Dad has a tear in his colon, causing gas to leak into his abdomen, and has a condition called Typhlitis- which come to find out has a 50% mortality rate!  They admitted him to the Ogden Regional Hospital, and put him on antibiotics.  He wasn’t able to eat or drink anything- needing to let the colon heal- until Sunday when they finally put him on a liquid diet.  They gave him solids yesterday.  He’s been in the hospital until just this morning, when the were able to release him.  (This is all a VERY condensed version of what really happened- it was too difficult for me to write about it sooner, when all the details were fresh.)

The doctor had told Dad that his colon was disintegrating.  The whole right side and top of the colon was turning to mush.  They couldn’t have even done surgery to repair the tear.  Dad was three days away from dying.  The doctor said that had he gone home on Thursday, he would have died over the weekend.

Do you know how many times Dad has been on deaths door?  When he had his first surgery, when they found his first cancer, Dr. Belnap told him if the surgery hadn’t been done, Dad would have been dead in a week.  When Dad had the aneurism back in August, they gave Dad three days to live.  And, these aren’t the only times!  I am SO thankful for Divine intervention!  I am SO thankful to know that Heavenly Father has been watching out for Dad, and blessing him!  I am extremely thankful that Dad is still alive, and is now home!  Dad is a miracle- over and over again!

At the hospital on Sunday...

And another thing….. Dad’s doctor told Mom that Dad is now DISEASE FREE!  He doesn’t have cancer anymore! That’s the best news we’ve had in months!  What they’ve been trying to do with the treatments is sterilize the area so that the cancer doesn’t return.  Dad had 7 more treatments to go when he ended up in the hospital.  They figure it was the chemo that caused the Typhlitis- the radiation never touched the area.  Dad goes into the doctor on Tuesday and they will discuss whether to continue the treatments or stop- although Dad says that he is done with the chemo.

Prayers work!  Heavenly Father hears and answers us!  I am so thankful for all the prayers that have been offered in Dad’s stead.  Thank you so much to everyone who has been praying for him!  :0)