June 21, 2006 - Good evening, we have been out of town for a couple days so that is why there was not an update - sorry. Molly and I had Freshman/Parent Orientation at Western on Tuesday and Wednesday. Charlie got to hang out with his sister Jan, who is a nurse and could take carei of his needs, while I was with Molly (thanks for everything Jan!) Things are going well. Archie and Renee located at hospital bed for Charlie because he is getting sore sleeping in his recliner. We tried the regular bed one night but that didn't work well. Charlie's brother in law, Jim Beltinck, found a program for Charlie's computer that will speak for him after he types in the words, it's pretty cool! Things seem to be going good to me. We have found that Charlie has a hard time outside if the wind is blowing strong so we have to wait until the evening when the wind sets down to get out walking around the yard and driveway (except tonight it is still blowing pretty good). I have noticed the last couple of days we haven't had to use the suction as much - I am taking that as a good thing. I know that once in awhile Charlie does swallow so maybe he is swallowing more and doesn't notice?! Jan did talk Charlie into using his pain medication more as he was trying to be a he-man and only take it 2 times a day now matter how bad the pain was. Now he is more comfortable so he is animated and wants to get up and move. Well will add more tomorrow - We are thinking of you. Thanks.
June 23, 2006 Hello everyone. Everything is going good here. Charlie and I went into MI Microtech yesterday so Charlie could see them. We were there about an hour. It worked out well. Then last night we went to Collin's last ballgame of the season. We thought we could go for an inninng or two and sit in the truck, but when we got there Charlie decided to get out and stand by the bleachers and that was where he was for almost the whole game. The wind was at his back so it didn't bother him too much. He did have to go to the truck a couple times for suctioning but he did great. He said it felt good to stand there. The greeting he got from everyone at the game made him feel good too. Yesterday he spoke a whole sentence to his brother Tom and I and then he tried to cover the trach and breath through his mouth, he could but not well enough to try capping it. Today I was in the living room working on my lia sophia business and he said my name from the dinning room. It sure is nice to hear him talk even just a little. He doesn't sound like himself of course and sometimes he sounds like someone talking underwater but it is still music to our ears! At this point though I doubt that the trach will be coming out on Wednesday unless things start happening fast. All in due time. More later. Please use your power of prayer and good thoughts toward that pathology report, we are sure it will be good but every little bit helps!! Thanks.
June 25, 2006 - Good Evening. We had a good weekend. Lots of company and we even got out of the house for a while. We went to Shepherd to watch a ballgame. Charlie did well even when the wind picked up. Good sign!The poor guy bit his tongue today - so the swelling has went down far enough that is tongue will now go between his teeth. He can't open his mouth very far so that is saying a lot. He can barely get his teeth apart - he has some work to do before he tries to get a Gern Burger in there. He has been feeling better every day, his biggest problem now is his back hurting, he cannot take a muscle relaxer right now so he is letting the pain medicine do it's job. We have been having a wildlife week around here. On Wednesday after we got home from Kalamazoo we had a baby weasel in the house. I think it must have came in while we had the door open unloading the truck. They just took the hay off around the house and I think it must have got separated from it's family. It was like a Laurel and Hardy show for a while - I had the door standing open trying to chase it out but it keep going around the circle from the dinning room, kitchen, and entry. Charlie finally chased it out with the broom. Later that day Renee and Greg came over and it scared her in the garage but we haven't seen him since that day so I think he found his way home. This morning Charlie and I were in the dinning room talking and a racoon came up on the porch and stood on it's hind legs and looked at us through the window. That was strange, what was a racoon doing out during the day and it didn't act like it was scared of us. I don't mind the critters but they can stay away from the house - out in the field is close enough for me!! What do you think about those Tigers!! What a season they are having. I told Charlie they are doing good because they knew he needed something good to watch! More later!! Keep those thoughts and prayers coming!! Thanks!!!
June 27, 2006 - Well tomorrow is the big day, our follow up appointment in Ann Arbor. The trach will definately be staying in for a while longer. The swelling has not went down far enough to let Charlie breath through his mouth yet. That is nether here nor there as we know that eventually that will happen. Our big thing is the pathology report - I will try to update as soon as we get home tomorrow so you know what we find out. Our appointment is not until 2:10 pm so it will be the evening before we get here. After I posted the last update we had a rough night (Sunday). We found out how much the humidified air is needed. Charlie did not use it all day and got dried out. His mucus got dry and thick. I removed the inner part of his trach to clean it (which I have to do 3 times a day) and couldn't get it back in. I did get it all the way in one time but then Charlie couldn't breath as it was blocked by the thick, dry stuff . I ended up calling Bland and AJ to come over and help me get him cleaned out because at one point I thought he was trying to tell me he couldn't breath but he was trying to say (and this is kind of gross but good because it means the swelling is going down) that the phlem was coming up into his mouth but when he tried to cough to get it out it would go back down his throad so it was struck between. Even with the professional help I had we couldn't get the inner cannula put back in the trach. Poor Charlie spent a sleepless night because he thought that his hole would close, but he did not hear AJ explain that the collar (the outside edge) of the trach was what kept the hole open not the inner cannula and we never remove the collar. I stayed awake because I was worried that he would not be able to pass the thick phlem when he had to. The next morning the visiting nurse helped me get the inner cannula in. We had Charlie on the humidified air all night and that helped loosen things up but it still took the visiting nurse a while to get it in. So needless to say that Monday we just layed around trying to catch up on sleep. So a little scare - actually a big scare at the time I thought he couldn't get a good breath. Well we will let you know what we find out tomorrow. Prayers welcome!
June 28, 2006 - Well we got good news and bad news today. The good news is very good and the bad news isn't that bad. The good news is the surgery did exactly what is was meant to do, the cancer is gone. The bad news is that there were 19 lymph nodes that had cancer in them (14 from the left side and 5 from the right side) and because of the aggressiveness of the cancer Charlie is in the high risk catagory for reoccurance. The surgeon is going to get with the oncologist and the tumber board to see what the next step will be. They will either just keep a close eye on him or they may recommend that he go on a low dose chemo therapy where he will have to take a pill once a day for 6 months to a year. We go back in 2 weeks and will know then. In 2 weeks we are hoping to have the trach out. The doctor wouldn't let Charlie write his questions he made him talk. The next 2 weeks will be spent getting to the point of getting that trach out. Will write more tomorrow. Thanks.
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