THE BEGINNING OF A NEW JOURNEY

Dave passed away this a.m. quietly and loved. I will miss him, but I know he is in good hands, and I will be with him again. The sirens are sounding in heaven!

FAMILY and FRIENDS, LAUGHTER and TEARS

The house has been full of friends coming and going all day and evening yesterday. Everyone has been so kind and understanding leaving some alone time for me and the kids. It's a wonderful, warm-filled house. Sully gets out his toys and Stella is always checking on her Boppa and telling him stories. Dave is resting comfortably and will sometime respond with a hand-squeeze, slight smile or a lifting of his brows.

I had a good night's sleep leaving Eric, Molly, Angela, D.J. and Paul in charge. It was a good time for the cousins to laugh, cry and reminisce. Niece, Camie, came in the afternoon and made a big pot of chicken and noodles and boy was that good.

Today is another day, another gift, which again will be filled with love, hope and promise. Please send out special prayers for our daughter, Rachel, and her family. They are unable to be here at this time, but we communite throughout the day. I know how hard this is on them being away, so prayers of strength and peace and love would be appreciated. God bless!

GOOD MORNING

It is so nice being at home with Dave. No more prodding and pokes, only a lot of love and comfort. I am amazed at how God has provided me with the strength and privilege to have this quiet time with Dave. Honestly, I was afraid to bring him home, afraid of not being able to "do the right thing" or that I would make a mistake. I, however, feel comforted because I now truly realize that we are in this together, Dave and I, and our family and many remarkable friends. God is good and has a plan, a wonderful plan, and I thank him.

Please continue your prayers for Dave and our family. It isn't easy, but you couldn't ask for a better outcome. Love to all

update

I'm just letting everyone know that my dad is going home today. The WF ambulance crew is picking him up from the hospital at 4pm and will take him home. Family, friends and hospice will be taking care of him. Prayers for PEACE right now........... -Molly

TAKE OFF!!!!!!!

Tomorrow morning we head for home. A transport ambulance will pick us up at 10 a.m. here at the hospital, take us to Boeing Field where we will board an air ambulance and head to the Flathead where Dave will be admitted to Kalispell Regional Medical Center. We are both very excited and Dave promises me he will eat when we get to Kalispell. He is so thin, but he has been this thin before, so I'll try not to worry too much. He has lost his hair again, but he is as handsome as ever!

Rachel, Bob and kids were here again this weekend and we hated to see them go back to Oregon. It has been so nice having them here every other weekend.

It was bitter/sweet leaving the SCCA House as I left behind some great friends, but I know we will keep in touch.

Hopefully, I will get some good photos tomorrow as it should be a Kodak day.

POKING and PRODING

What a week for Dave - he hasn't gotten a break at all. His cultures still showed bacteria, so it was decided that the bacteria was colonized around his port which has been in for 3+ years. A decision was made to remove it, which meant more IV sites. I have never seen anyone get so many pokes as he has. His veins are pretty much non-existent. Next a PICC line(peripherally inserted central catheter is a form of intravenous access that can be used for a prolonged period of time (e.g. for long chemotherapy regimens, extended antibiotic therapy, or total parenteral nutrition) was attempted, but no veins could be found to insert it. Finally, late this evening he was taken down to interventional radiology to have another Hickman catheter put in his chest. I really felt bad for him. He had a rough day.

Tomorrow should be better as Rachel, Bob and the kids are coming to brighten his day.

Looks like we will be picked up by a transport ambulance at 10 a.m., taken to Boeing field where we will get on an air ambulance and brought to Kalispell. Whitefish ambulance will pick us up there and Dave will be a direct admit for a few days to work on strength and eating. We have lots of people to thank for getting us home.

It's late and I'm pretty tired, so will close but will keep you posted.

START PACK'N

It's time to get things organized to get back to the Flathead!!! This has been a pretty tough last few days for Dave. He has really felt "punky", still with no appetite, yet very nauseated. This, along with a little depression (which is very understandable) made for a miserable weekend. Of course the realization of another bone marrow biopsy scheduled for today weighed heavily on his mind. But, today is another day getting us closer to home.

The bone marrow biopsy went smoothly and we should get some preliminary results this afternoon. Regardless of the results, Dave has chosen to return to the Flathead under the care of Dr. Boehme for any treatment forthcoming. I believe he has made a wise decision and will do better with gaining strength, eating and sleeping once he is home.

The staff at Kalispell Regional Medical Center has made arrangements for air ambulance to come to Seattle to bring us home a week from today. Thank you to everyone who is involved in this process. You are truly an amazing bunch!!! Liz, RN (who also is our neighbor) will assist us on the flight. God has blessed us with so many wonderful friends and family, we are amazed and anxious to get home and see everyone. I feel that words alone can't explain our thanks to everyone and I just hope our actions demonstrate our love for you all!!

Ric and Buzzie came and spent the weekend and although Dave wasn't feeling the best they were able to visit with him and spoil me. We had great laughs and I so enjoyed their company. As it usually goes, everyone I introduced them too thought Buzz was my sister and shocked when I said Ric was really my brother.

More pictures will be posted soon, and I will keep everyone informed on happenings.

THEY HAVE ARRIVED

Brothers, Robin, Brian and Richard arrived, and it has proved to be very entertaining! More on that later ......... (hint - don't put Richard behind the wheel of a very big Ford truck in a parking garage)

WHAT A DIFFERENCE A DAY MAKES

This morning I awoke to sunshine, what a blessing. I told myself that this was going to be a good day. And, a good day it has been. Dave walked 150 ft.! With help from the physical therapist and me pushing a wheelchair behind Dave (in case he needed to sit down), Dave got farther today than any day since arriving. Hooray! Each step he takes is a step closer to being home with friends and family. He is now very tired and sound asleep.

Richard, Robin, and Brian should be arriving here later this afternoon, and I'm sure they will add another boost to Dave's recovery.

They have started Dave on TPN nutrition and that will continue until Dave can actually do better on his oral intake. Let's keep praying for that.

Thanks, everyone for the calls, cards, prayers and well-wishes. It is the food that fuels our ability to stay strong.

BROTHERLY LOVE

QUIET

Easter weekend was busy with Rachel, Bob and kids spending it with us at the hospital. Dave's brother, Mark, came Sunday evening from Arizona and just left this morning. It was nice having him here as it gave me a little time to get a much needed hair cut.

All in all, Dave is doing pretty good; the major issue still being nutrition. He has no desire to eat and that is not only frustrating for him, but for me. I am relieved however, that IV nutrition should be started today. It's only a short-term fix, as he should regain his appetite soon. He does, however, enjoy Jone's soda!!

There is really not much else to report at this time, but we are working towards getting Dave's strength improved so we can come home.

BETTER DAY

We've made it through another week here in Seattle. It has been pretty tough at times, but along with the bad comes the good. Today was a good day for Dave. He started feeling better yesterday and actually sat in a chair for an hour and a half. That was a huge accomplishment. He also has been eating better. He said that "goolosh" (?sp) really sounded "good for some reason", so I took a hike to Whole Foods and bought the ingredients, came back to the SCCA House and got to work. Being very pleased with myself, I headed back to the hospital with a nice hot dish of goolosh. However, by the time I arrived in Dave's room, he was so nauseated he couldn't even think of eating. So much for that. Oh well, it was a good hike.

Today, Dave was taken off oxygen and has an 02 sat of 97% on room air!! He is breathing much better and actually slept off and on most of the day.

Tomorrow, Rachel and family will be arriving and Dave's brother, Mark, will be here Sunday night. This past weekend Emily Kew-Shagren and her husband, Eric, also stopped in to say "hi". It was so great seeing them and it was nice that Molly and Emily were able to spend some time together.

I hope everyone has a meaningful Easter and, remember, God is Good!

CHEMO

Dave finished his chemo yesterday - hooray!! Over the last couple of days, he has developed more shortness of breath and, of course no calorie intake. 4 a.m. today, his oxygen saturation dropped to 70; not good. They were finally able to get the oxygen level up as to avoid him being intubated and moved to ICU. The levels have held pretty good throughout the day. He has a large pleural effusion (sac of fluid) in one lung and are treating that with Lasix. That seems to be helping as he is now breathing better and peeing a lot!

He also ate today. I think it finally sunk in that food is a must if he wants to get better. He had a quarter of a egg salad sandwich, about 1/2 cup of split pea soup and half a piece of cheesecake along with two cartons of milk. Not bad considering he hasn't eaten in 6 days.

Because of a huge bed sore on his backside, he is now on an air bed, which should also help with the healing.

As for me, I'll be sleeping in his room tonight for peace of mind. Oh, by the way, it's a beautiful sunny day in Seattle.

MONDAY

Sometimes it is difficult to blog; not because I'm too busy, but because the days seem to blend together, or because there are days I want to forget. When I came into Dave's room today he was feverish and didn't know if it was morning or night. He has been without fevers for days now, so they will be investigating the cause. He had a swallowing evaluation this morning and did okay with that. Swallowing doesn't seem to be the issue as to why he won't eat. I, as well as the nurses, are encouraging him to be more diligent. He is, otherwise, tolerating the chemo treatments quite well. He still never complains and only gets upset with me when I get upset about his eating.

Blogs are great to keep everyone informed, but I do tend to use it as a journal for my own benefit. It's hard to know where the line is between what people need to know and what is coming from my own emotions. I do know that Dave has tremendous strength. There is no way I could go through what he has. He said this was going to be a "bumpy ride", but he never mentioned the "finish line", because he isn't going to give up.

We had a great weekend with Molly, Jeff, Sully and Stella. Dave perks up when he sees family and friends. Dave loved the foot massage, compliments of Molly. This coming weekend, Rachel, Bob, Jourdan and Grif will be back and, possibly, Dave's brother, Mark.

PLAYING IN THE CHERRY BLOSSOMS

WHAT A WONDERFUL DAY

Today was brightened with the presence of Stella, Sully, Molly and Jeff. Dave enjoys seeing the grandchildren! Of course, I don't seem to mind too much either!

BETTER DAY

Today, we laughed. Dave hasn't run a fever for two days now and he is out of atrial fibrillation and has no shortness of breath. Occupational therapy and physical therapy both worked with him today. It tired him out but he felt like he accomplished a lot. He had three evenings of chemo and then will have two days off, resume on the 27th for four 24 hr. days. These next four days will be really hard on his body. Please pray for strength to get him through this.

We laughed because all of a sudden he wanted Jones Soda and a lot of it. He drank 4 bottles of that stuff. I now have to go to a store and buy some more, as it is too expensive in the cafeteria. He also drank some Instant Breakfast after one of the nurses insisted on it.

D.J. and I went and saw Alice in Wonderland at the IMAX this evening. It was a great movie and got to spend some time with D.J. He will be leaving on Saturday and Molly and Jeff and the kids arrive tomorrow. We are so excited to see them. We miss our "babies".

FEELING LESS STRESS

Thanks to Belinda, our babies are happy and so are we!

FIRST DOSE DONE

Dave received his first dose of the "big guns" yesterday evening. He's relieved and not having any side-effects yet. He will receive the 2nd one this evening. He doesn't have much of an appetite due to the mucositis in the back of his throat; it's painful to swallow, but he's getting a little down in the form of fruit smoothies, carnation instand breakfast shakes and some warm cereal. Right now he is receiving a unit of blood. If anyone wants to help and doesn't know what to do, be a blood donor. Your blood does help others; Dave is an example of that. Thanks everyone. Special thanks to the Whitefish Animal Hospital for taking care of Ripley and Penelope. We feel better knowing they are being spoiled and loved. Thanks, Belinda for taking them home with you when you aren't working.

Grif giving Grandpa Dave a Shave