Just trucking along

Well folks, it's been a real rollercoaster ride lately. My dad seems to be doing a little better. The chemo has been really knocking him for a loop. They have been giving him extremely high doses and he winds up in the hospital then. He started out unable to eat. Just the smell of food was making him sick. He wound up in the hospital to get rehydrated and eating again. They stopped the treatments for a week to give him a chance to get some strength back. They started chemo again and this time he wound up in the hospital from dehydtration and unable to control his bowels. Mom went and got Depends for him and had to help him get them on. He was that weak. The nurses are basically changing his diapers for him. I was up to see him yesterday afternoon and he was in good spirits.That surprised me! Come to find out the doctors told him that they have the cancer under control now. From what I understand, they have stopped it's spread. My mom called me this morning and was quite excited. She said Dad was perky and the sparkle was back in his eyes this morning. With help from the nurses, he was able to sit up for awhile and they want to get him out of bed and walking around within the next few days. I don't know what to expect for the next while. I hate having to be out here on the road, but bills have to be paid. At least I'm staying close in case of emergencies. I was able to drop a load in Green Bay yesterday so that I could get to the hospital to visit.
Thanx for all the moral support and prayers. It's a good feeling to know that there are still people willing to do that for strangers. I used to think I was as strange as they came until VM!! It's amazing that we live in very different parts of the country yet think so much alike. I try not to hold it against anybody that's not from up here in Gods country!!

Category: General

Just to let everyone know,I'm doing much better and have an urge to annoy someone other than my wife!! I had the chance to visit with my dad over the weekend and feel alot better now. He has pretty much accepted what is going on with his cancer and looks like he isn't just going to sit around and wait to die. Nobody else was at the hospital so I was able to sit and talk with him and not be interupted. I think we both felt alot better after that. I know I sure did! My sister said he is home and actually went out to help with some of the yard work. I'm going to see if I can talk him into going out for a boat ride with me and some of the grandchildren. At times like this I sometimes wish I had a 9 to 5 job and home everyday.I'm going to have a talk with my travel agent and see if I can just work Monday thru Friday. I want to be around a little more so that I can help the folks out more than I have been. My mom has been doing alot of hinting in her e-mails about seeing more of me. My parents don't like asking for help.But they are always willing to put us to work if we show up and ask what needs to be done. My youngest sister has been going over alot with her 2 daughters to do the yard work. Our work around the house will just have to be put on the back burner once in awhile so that I can help out. Getting in late on Fridays and leaving rather early on Sundays doesn't leave much time for doing our work and then going over there. Thank God my brother and sisters live nearby and are willing to help out when they can.

Category: General

Today started out being a great day.Lots of sunshine and cool temps. But things went downhill real fast. I got a call from my sister that I was dreading. My Dad is in the hospital. He's been getting chemo for awhile now and has been having trouble keeping anything down. Now I just found out that they are giving him about a year to live. That is something nobody wants to hear. The worst part is I'm over 400 miles from home and having a serious breakdown(emotional). I finally had to park and swap loads with my wife.We're both at the Petro @ Perrysburg, Ohio.The load I had goes to Youngstown and hers will get me home. I'm in no condition to be out on the road right now, so I'm going to stay here and wait for her to get back. Even with taking happy pills to control my depression, I still took a major down hill slide to the point of having some very bad thoughts again. Thank God for my wife and cellphones. She stayed on the phone with me and helped me get through it. I'm doing a little better now. At least I'm not having the suicidal thoughts right now. This next while will prove to be extremely hard on the whole family. I wish I could say he will make it through this, but right now it's real hard for me to stay positive. I watched my father-in-law slowly die from lung cancer. Everytime I got home for a weekend I could see how much his health had deteriorated. It was hard to watch. Now it's happening again. He's already dropped alot of weight and strength.

Category: General