Home is a No-Go

My sweet husband is still not able to keep even liquids down and he's starting to show signs of malnourishment, so likely he'll start receiving nutrition via an IV today or tomorrow. In my opinion this will be good, as his body needs to heal from surgery and can't do a very good job of it if he's not getting good nourishment. I think it will make him feel better.

So he'll stay at the hospital for now - and he's not really excited about the prospect. He just wants to be home...any of us could understand....yet needs to be here. We'll explore the possibility of him going home with the IV once we see how it goes. The hope is that as his stomach gets better he'll be able to keep down liquids and make some progress.

EGD News

Thanks for all of your email responses "standing with us" in this! Daryl's procedure this morning went well. The opening from his stomach into his intestines (which was re-connected during the initial surgery) was really small, which was likely the culprit. Some of that was due to swelling. The physician was able to stretch out the opening a great deal. Daryl has been sleeping SO WELL since the procedure - I'm thankful (and he is too) that he's getting some overdue rest. He can try a clear liquid diet today, but so far hasn't been awake enough to really try anything. We're hopeful that now he can move forward and start trying to get some nutrition in again. We're blessed by your support and will keep updating his status.

Scoping the Stomach Tomorrow

Just a quick update. Again, Daryl battled nausea & vomiting today - not anything in his stomach to come up, though. He's scheduled for a scope of his stomach tomorrow to be sure there are no blockages in the area where his stomach was re-attached to his intestines during surgery and to see if anything else may be going on "in there". Too many technical medical terms to repeat all the details (I'd mess it up big time), but I will update the Blog tomorrow after the procedure.

Heave Ho

From what I understand, Daryl battled nausea just about all day yesterday. He's the type who wants to crawl into a cave and be left alone when he's sick, so Little Miss "C" and I were at home most of the day until late afternoon when she went to play and I visited the hospital. By that time he was on 3 different anti-nausea IV drips trying to get something to work. One of them pretty much knocked him out, so I came home to bed.

What's going on? Not sure. Drs want to do an Upper GI to be sure everything is passing through his system OK, but Daryl knew he wouldn't be able to keep the radioactive stuff down long enough to run the test - so it's postponed.

I'm wondering if this nausea/vomiting thing is a typical complication with Whipples, as one of the patients on our floor at Hopkins was there 3-weeks post-op because she couldn't keep food down.

It's hard to see the forest being down in the trees right now. Please pray not only for answers and resolution physically, but also for encouragement that Daryl would somehow hold on to the hope that this is only a small fraction of time. Will let you know what we find out today, as I should be with him most of the afternoon.

Thanks ya'll....

ERs & Hail Storms

Does anyone else hate the feeling of being inside a building in a windowless room and hearing a horrible storm pummeling the roof? You just HAVE to find a way to a window and see for yourself what's happening outside - and if you can't find out, it's very unnerving. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you last evening at the hospital ER! What a storm - I'm still waiting to really "check out" the hood and roof of the car to see if there was any damage.

So Daryl continued to feel bad after his episode Monday night, and after a few more bouts with nausea, vomiting, fever/chills, etc. we decided to head over to the hospital for some tests to see what's up. He's being very well taken care of. I think just getting some fluids has made some difference. So the plan is to do a few more tests and see if we can figure out what's happening.

Frustrating after having had such a great weekend only 5 days go, yet not unexpected to be dealing with a few bumps in the road after such a major procedure. We'll keep you posted...

Yes, We're Still Going to "Post" Updates

Sorry! Our updates have been non-existent for the past week and many are asking how Daryl is doing with his recovery at home. Let me update you, beginning with Daryl's new "look" in our family photo on the left. Those who have come to visit with him over the past weeks have acknowledged that they wouldn't have recognized him if he'd walked past them!


Just as a reminder, Daryl started out (prior to surgery) around 195 lbs, ballooned up to the 230's with fluids while in the hospital, and is now down around 170. Quite a shock to his sytem and part of the reason his energy level/stamina are rather low.


He had a few really good days over the weekend, getting out for a few errands with me and helping a friend do a little work in our front yard. He was even able to go to church for the 1st time since he's been home. They were good days.


Monday night he had an epidsode of illness, probably due to food he'd eaten before bed. That impacted his energy level yesterday and was a bit of a setback. So, as before, it's two steps forward and then one step back.


We are blessed with friends who have called and stopped by to keep him in touch with the rest of the world. He's talking on the phone to work colleagues and anxious to get back to doing something interesting with his time instead of sitting/laying around the house in recovery mode.


I'm hoping his food intake will increase and that his body will get the nutrients it needs on such a small quantity of food. And hopefully the warmer weather this week will give him the right environment to get out and walk some more to build up his stamina.


Your continued prayers are coveted - we're still "in this"!!! Love to all -

Home Sweet Home

(Directly from Daryl, forgive any typos) Yes, I made it home, Thanks be to God. It is so good to see trees and green stuff again instead of buildings, concrete and yellow taxis. The pain is slowing improving but still with occassional reminders that my insides have been re-worked. It still requires pain meds. I have lost alot of weight with this thing, more than I ever expected--- even Caroline can eat more than I can at a single setting at present. That should improve over time.

You all have been so good to us with your encouraging words and the cards that were sent. I really dont know how to express our thankfulness. There were many nights in the hospital that your words and prayers helped us through them. Those days and nights may have just been the worst of my entire life. Thank you so much for seeing and praying for us through them. You have no idea how dark some them were.

I really want to dedicate this blog to my wonderful bride. Many of you already know how special she is, but really only know the half of it. I am sure that some of those nights with me brought back memories for her. Most of you dont know, but eleven or twelve years ago, she lost a gentlemen that she was engaged to due to respiratory complications from lymphoma in a Unversity Hospital setting. So, those days and nights of my shortness of breath were a struggle for her. The only difference was that here lay her husband complaining of the shortness of breath while he would"encourage" the Resident Physicians to do chest xrays and give "40 IV Lasix" to get the fluid off the lungs. Of course, the short order of it all was noted in the prior blogs.
Wendy was the real trooper. Here she is 26 weeks pregnant, sleeping at the bedside in a rather uncomfortable chair that is supposed to make out to a bed with a husband that is occassionally "challenging" the Residents -- while hallucinating about some old lady coming out of the wall and why the picture frames on the wall had a better brand of martial arts than him-- beating him up during night (effects of the meds). Go figure. She was there with me through the pain and the nausea. She helped me bathe and assisted me in the middle of the night with bathroom issues. She made sure that all of my needs were met and then some. Even when she needed a break, she made sure that a family member was there for me. She cried with me and prayed with me. She was the voice in the dark of the night that when I barely grunted or sighed different, she would ask "are you ok, honey?" She was my partner in this battle : My wonderful wife and beautiful bride. I love her so much and thank my God for having her in my life for such a time as this.

Daryl