Delta = Home

Daryl has officially been "released" from Baltimore, MD and will fly home tomorrow afternoon!!!! Both of his remaining drainage tubes were pulled today so he'll be much more comfortable on the flight home. He is struggling with a head cold, so continued prayers are much appreciated.

Thank you to our dear friends who have provided buddy passes enabling Dad and Daryl to fly home with some flexibility. We're hopeful they'll be able to get on their flight as planned and spend as little time as possible sitting on the plane and in the airport.

We will post again (I'll have Daryl do it this time!) once he's home and rested. God Bless...

Benign...

Although we were thrilled when we received the "benign" diagnosis, as the agonizing days of recovery passed we couldn't help but ask ourselves if Daryl was enduring such a challenging surgery and recovery for no reason. Should the tumor simply have been watched? Would anything bad ever have happened.... anything worth enduring the agonizing recovery?

So before I left Baltimore I asked the Surgeon point blank - if the benign tumor had been left in, could it have changed and become malignant/metastatic? His answer was a quick and certain "yes." By removing the tumor, Daryl has been cured surgically while the tumor was still benign...before it had a chance to grow and spread (metasticize) to the lymph nodes or grow into other areas of the pancreas. Leaving it in would have left Daryl at a high risk for a metastatic diagnosis down the road.

So, as horrible as this experience has been for him, it was necessary and curative. I think he has to keep reminding himself of that every day!!

D-DAY!!!!!!!!!

Praise the Lord!!! Daryl is being released from the hospital today!!!!

Don't ask me what happened between yesterday and today to change things around...I'm not sure, but I'm sure not asking questions!

He is planning on spending the next 2-3 days at the hotel in Baltimore with a follow-up visit to the Surgeon on Tuesday to have his final two drains removed. If all goes well, Delta may bring him home to us on Wednesday. We'll keep you posted.

Pushed Back Again

No release right now - bummer - but the Surgeon is adamant that Daryl be/feel well before he goes....and we know that's the right thing. They're trying to figure out why he's experiencing the dizzyness and vertigo, so consulted with physical therapy. Their assessment will continue early next week. The nausea is not as bad today, I'm told, but still not gone. Hopefully he can eat more and gain some strength. Daryl's white blood cell count went back up a bit, so they're keeping him on the antibiotic.

On a personal note (hopefully Daryl will enjoy seeing this) Little Miss "C" was blessed with an Easter package from some very dear friends. She was still in her jammies this morning as she tried on her new Easter Bonnet and Purse.

Still a Bumpy Road

Dear Friends & Family - I'm safely back in Atlanta (thought I'd never make it with the weather, etc...) only to hear that Daryl has struggled with dry heaves and throwing up today. He's barely eaten anything. An ENT group was consulted and they really have no clue what's going on. He's being given something for the nausea, but says it's really not helped. And the sweats/chills are back this evening.

Here I sit at home - torn to pieces because I want to be in both places and know both need me. I know this too shall pass - just one of those steps back. He's still focused on trying to be released tomorrow...maybe being out of the hospital environment will help in and of itself. So we'll see what his surgical team says when they round in the morning.

On a positive note, as I was walking down the hallway to leave for the airport Daryl's friend Forrest was walking towards his room for a totally unexpected visit! His timing couldn't have been more perfect. Daryl wishes he'd felt good and been better company, but just to see a familiar face was "good medicine." Thanks, Forrest, for your time and effort to make Daryl's day special!

There's a Light at the End of this Tunnel

Good news early this morning! Daryl's white count has come down significantly, so the hope is to be discharged from Hotel Hopkins tomorrow!

And, as is typical, with this good news has come a morning of nausea....always something.

But we'll take the good news and make plans accordingly. He'll probably have a follow-up appointment next Tuesday with the Surgeon to have another drain or two removed, and then be released to return home hopefully on Wednesday.

Will keep you updated - I'm on my way home this evening.

Another CT Scan at "Hotel Hopkins"

"Hotel Hopkins" must be a term the physicians around here have coined and right now it feels mighty accurate!

Daryl had a great day yesterday. He dressed in his own clothes complete with the requisite ball cap and enjoyed some Internet time, computer games with my brother, reading your Get Well cards, etc. He started the IV antibiotic and we expected that "things" were looking up.

Last night around 7:00 the sweats/chills and cramping came back with a vengance after seemingly having disappeared two days back. An on-call surgeon came in the middle of the night and ordered another blood workup to be sure there's no infection in the blood. The weird thing is that Daryl never has a temperature during these "episodes" so the nurses aren't quite sure what to think.

This morning Daryl's surgical team has ordered another CT of the abdomen to look for any other potential abnormalities with the drainage tubes that are still in place. One of the drains continues to contain consistent puss, which they have assured us is the likely source of the infection. The Surgeon himself came in this morning and reassured Daryl that the antibiotic had not had enough time, that things should be getting better, and that the CT is just precautionary.

I'm sure you can "hear" it in my words....everything seems to be dragging out, his 6-10 day hospital stay now at 12 and counting. Daryl really wants to check out of Hotel Hopkins!

I'm listening to all of you and am clinging to your encouragement. Tomorrow I go home and I hate to do it - yet know I need to get Little Miss "C" her Mommy back. The Lord can take care of all the details and I pray He will, whether I have to return here or whether someone else may be able to come up and help my Dad if Daryl's discharge continues to be delayed. So again, wish I could come up with a stronger word than "thank you" to express how critically important and treasured your prayer support is and has been. We love you -