the good thing

The last two days have been spent getting used to the feeding tube.  The home nurse came out and gave my Mom a tutorial on how to administer the cans of "food".  The first feeding went great. The second one.....not so much.  Air unintentionally pushed through the tube led to a long night.  This is new for all of us and there is a definite learning curve.  My mom is so patient and so steady with all of it.  She is a saint.  At some point in most of our conversations she says, "well, the good thing is..."  She is always able to find the "good thing."

So even though it hasn't gone completely perfect, the fact is Dad is getting some nutrition and lots of fluid and that is 1,000 times better than what it's been for the past 6 weeks or so.  He is starting to build up his strength for the fight ahead and that is a good thing.

The other good thing about the feeding tube is that some of his pain meds can be sent directly into his stomach and that gives him relief much, much faster.  Pain is a constant and keeping ahead of it is a little bit of a challenge, but the tube is helping with that.

He had a better day today, felt up to talking on the phone and joking a bit and that's a good thing too.

Tomorrow morning we'll meet with the Radiologist and review the treatment plan and Monday he will have his first chemo treatment. 

Every day this week has meant progress, in one way or another and for that we are grateful.  This week has been spent preparing for treatment and on Monday, we will go into chemo with everything we've got.

Thank you for standing by us. 

....Team Poppa