A picture of Uncle Larry and Aunt Carolyn at the hospital last weekend when Aunt Sandy was there with them.Instead of running 10 miles I heard that things were worse with my uncle so when my parents planned on going to Carson City on Thursday I jumped at the chance to go with them. We knew that he had been hospitalized because of the pain. My uncle has a very high tolerance so it had to be bad. His Oncology doc was out on vacation so his surgeon consulted and come up with a plan to remove the part of the tumor that was hurting him but they figured out that it wouldn't work. A Radiologist came into the picture and thought he could "microwave" the tumors to shrink them enough to subside the pain but had to nix that too since the tumors had grown too large in such a short period of time. In the end they decided to give him enough meds to make him comfy and it was good drugs believe me. He was pretty happy when we got there. The Radiologist Dr. Ho thought he could try to slow down and shrink the tumor by clotting it with a sand like particles. This should stop the blood flow to the tumor. That was the plan for Friday morning. Thursday night we had a few laughs and got to visit with him the way it should be.
Friday. They were supposed to take him at 8:30 and prep him for 9am surgery. That time came and went. At 9:30 the nurses came in and took him down for surgery. All went as planned. Dr. Ho had filled the vessel from the right side that would kill off some of his liver and from the top near the stomach. These should shrink the largest tumor in theory. We wouldn't know how long it would take though. He came back in so much pain. They couldn't give him enough pain meds without sacrificing his respiratory rate to make him comfortable. It was awful. He had to lay on his back and not move his legs or sit up, since they went in through the groin, for 4 hours. We left and let Aunt Carolyn sit with him so he could get some rest.
We went to Fandango Casino for an early dinner an a little gambling. I lost the $40 mom gave me to play with since I had run out of the house without taking any cash. Then I lost $5 more than on my last $5 I got down to $2.27 on the penny slots when I started winning. I won and I won and I won and ended up winning $79. I took it down to $75.15 and cashed out. I payed mom back $40 and we went to find Linner. (Lunch/Dinner). There was a restaurant in the middle of the casino. They had a special called the Fandango Fillet. it was a whole $5.99. It came with a big bowl of soup (clam chowder), a baked potato, grilled veggies and a bacon wrapped Fillet Mignon. It was yummy. All of us had steak, all 5 of us for $36. And it was good too. We went back to the hospital and could see that he was still hurting and still in and out so we went back to the hotel to sleep and recoup.
Saturday morning he was still hurting, bad but he was responsive and a little more like himself. We visited a little then headed down to the cafeteria for breakfast. We went back up and said our good byes. Uncle Larry said he didn't want me to go. I know he was kidding but that stuck with me, in my heart all the way home.
We went by this new sporting goods store called Scheels. It was massive! There is a Farris Wheel in the middle of the store! No joke. I bought my future niece or nephew a little t-shirt that has a tricycle on it and it says, "My first ATV". Cute hu? I bought myself this super soft Columbia light weight jacket on clearance for $20, and some yummy fudge. I love fudge. I can eat a little and be happy for weeks. I've only taken two slivers of it. I did have a sliver of moms rocky road fudge though on the way home. yummy.
I guess Friday Night Uncle Larry wasn't responding. They took him off his pain meds for a while and he was still unresponsive. Sunday morning Aunt Sandy, Uncle Jerry and Aunt Pam met Grandma at the pancake breakfast to explain that things had gotten worse. Since my grandma has severe Congestive Heart Failure they had to be careful going over the pass into Carson City. The altitude aggravates her blood pressure. But she's there and I guess he got up and tried to go home sometime today. I hope we know more soon. I guess there is some specialist at UCSF where they can do chemo right into the tumor. I'm not sure if this is a posibility for him but Aunt Carolyn is going to do as much as she can. If that isn't a choice they will take him home and get hospice. We are praying for a miracle.
Friday. They were supposed to take him at 8:30 and prep him for 9am surgery. That time came and went. At 9:30 the nurses came in and took him down for surgery. All went as planned. Dr. Ho had filled the vessel from the right side that would kill off some of his liver and from the top near the stomach. These should shrink the largest tumor in theory. We wouldn't know how long it would take though. He came back in so much pain. They couldn't give him enough pain meds without sacrificing his respiratory rate to make him comfortable. It was awful. He had to lay on his back and not move his legs or sit up, since they went in through the groin, for 4 hours. We left and let Aunt Carolyn sit with him so he could get some rest.
We went to Fandango Casino for an early dinner an a little gambling. I lost the $40 mom gave me to play with since I had run out of the house without taking any cash. Then I lost $5 more than on my last $5 I got down to $2.27 on the penny slots when I started winning. I won and I won and I won and ended up winning $79. I took it down to $75.15 and cashed out. I payed mom back $40 and we went to find Linner. (Lunch/Dinner). There was a restaurant in the middle of the casino. They had a special called the Fandango Fillet. it was a whole $5.99. It came with a big bowl of soup (clam chowder), a baked potato, grilled veggies and a bacon wrapped Fillet Mignon. It was yummy. All of us had steak, all 5 of us for $36. And it was good too. We went back to the hospital and could see that he was still hurting and still in and out so we went back to the hotel to sleep and recoup.
Saturday morning he was still hurting, bad but he was responsive and a little more like himself. We visited a little then headed down to the cafeteria for breakfast. We went back up and said our good byes. Uncle Larry said he didn't want me to go. I know he was kidding but that stuck with me, in my heart all the way home.
We went by this new sporting goods store called Scheels. It was massive! There is a Farris Wheel in the middle of the store! No joke. I bought my future niece or nephew a little t-shirt that has a tricycle on it and it says, "My first ATV". Cute hu? I bought myself this super soft Columbia light weight jacket on clearance for $20, and some yummy fudge. I love fudge. I can eat a little and be happy for weeks. I've only taken two slivers of it. I did have a sliver of moms rocky road fudge though on the way home. yummy.
I guess Friday Night Uncle Larry wasn't responding. They took him off his pain meds for a while and he was still unresponsive. Sunday morning Aunt Sandy, Uncle Jerry and Aunt Pam met Grandma at the pancake breakfast to explain that things had gotten worse. Since my grandma has severe Congestive Heart Failure they had to be careful going over the pass into Carson City. The altitude aggravates her blood pressure. But she's there and I guess he got up and tried to go home sometime today. I hope we know more soon. I guess there is some specialist at UCSF where they can do chemo right into the tumor. I'm not sure if this is a posibility for him but Aunt Carolyn is going to do as much as she can. If that isn't a choice they will take him home and get hospice. We are praying for a miracle.
1 comment:
My happy, positive thoughts are with your uncle Larry. I hope he pulls through.
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