Three hospital visits in 6 weeks ...

Every summer I work at Texas Bluebonnet Girls State as a staff member. It's a rewarding, great time and I was hesitant about going this year but decided to commit since going to the mythical 51st state of Girls State would be a nice escape from the pain of cancer.

The night before my 5 a.m. flight left from Tampa to San Antonio, TX my dad went into the Emergency Room. We were concerned because he forgot how to write a check, how to drive the car and even how to shower. My mom found him standing naked and cold in the bathroom not knowing what to do so into the ER he went.

The nurse said I would be fine to go on my two week trip. On the third day into Girls State, the day before the citizens came I was eating breakfast with the staff and my mom called telling me I had to come home. Worst call ever. My staff friends were great. Within an hour they had packed up my room and stuff and gotton me in the car to head to the airport to get on the next flight from Austin to Tampa.

My dad's lungs were affected by the radiation. They had become inflamed and were bleeding. His oxygen levels were extremely low, which explains why he wasn't thinking clearly. He was put on an oxygen mask and the reason they wanted me to come home was because there were about to intubate him. He would be out with a tube down his throat to breathe and there was a chance that he wouldn't come out of it so I needed to say my goodbyes.

My brother-in-law Jose picked me up and when I got to the hospital we were all there and I went into see my dad. They actually informed me that he got better! He was rallying and getting better. I came back into the waiting room and my mom sat me down. There was more news. My Granny had just passed away about two hours prior. June 12th officially went in as worst day of the year so far. We took it as a sign that Granny died and became an angel for her son because he got better around the exact same time. We couldn't tell Daddy about his mom passing away because he couldn't handle the news. We waited a whole week to tell him. We sent a gorgeous bouquet of flowers to Wisconsin for the wake and funeral had one of our cousin's read a poem on behalf of him:

On behalf of Helen’s Oldest Son, Ron, I would like to share the following poem.
My Uncle and his family cannot be with us today as he is battling cancer in ICU in Tampa, Florida.  They send their deepest love and prayers, knowing that he has his own Guardian Angel…His Mother.
"There's magic in a Mother's touch,
And sunshine in her smile.
There's love in everything she does
To make our lives worthwhile.
We can find both hope and courage
Just by looking in her eyes.
Her laughter is a source of joy,
Her words are warm and wise.
There is a kindness and compassion
To be found in her embrace,
And we see the light of heaven
Shining from a Mother's face."
Rest in peace with the Angels…Mom/Granny!

My dad spent 17 total days in the hospital, going between six different rooms. We celebrated father's day on the 4th floor of Tampa General and had a lovely time together. Although we had to wear masks, gloves and gowns each day. Happy Father's Day Daddy!

He was finally able to go home but he had to be on Oxygen and he was unable to walk anymore. He had a physical therapist and an at-home nurse assigned to him. At home I'd help him do his exercises, we'd try to fatten him up (he was down to 130 at this point at 5'11''). He is very picky about his food and then his food started really burning and it hurt to swallow.

Not even two weeks later he through up blood and ended up going to Tampa General in an ambulance at 5 a.m. This hospital stay was only 3-4 days. He had radiation induced esophagitis. His esophagus was inflamed and bleeding from the effects of radiation as his lungs were weeks prior.

He came home again and started eating a little better and I continued to do his work outs. A few days back at home it really hurt him to do his exercises and he started to not eat or drink again. This past Saturday morning my mom decided to take him to the hospital to get an IV as he was quite dehydrated. Turned out he had a collapsed lung .... and his chest cavity was full of infected fluid. They are still draining it. It started out brown and is up to 1000mLs that have come out of him. He started to not act aas fast ... he looks like he is in la la land and doesn't really focus or respond much. They had to put a feeding tube in him so they could feed him and give him his medicine. They are running all kinds of scans, MRIs and x-rays on his brain and chest. Surgery is planned for Saturday to remove the giant puss pockets out of his chest. The MRI of the brain shows slow activity.

I saw him this morning and he didn't look well at all. He says hello and I love you but he stares off into space and the doctor says his eyes and skin are turning yellow and that the prognosis isn't good. He is down to 120 lbs. Please send all your prayers/positive thoughts toward my Dad and my family. We really need them right now.

LiveStrong Daddy