Rick Update from the UW

Today was a long day at the University of Washington Medical Center. My parents arrived for Dad’s procedure at 6:30 AM and all of us kids arrived shortly after. Mom and I just left the hospital at 10:00 PM and are staying a mile away at a hotel so that she can try to get a much needed night of rest. Apparently she did not sleep for a single minute last night because she was worried for Dad’s surgery. She said that her steroids were making her feel “funny” and were also doing their part to keep her awake all night. The good news is that I ran her a bath and got her tucked into her bed nice and cozy when we got back here to the hotel. I am praying that I hear her snoring any time now…

According to Dad’s doctor, his surgery went well. The chemotherapy drug was successfully administered into his right lobe of his liver and that was the goal. He did mention that there was a minor complication during surgery that ended up working out just fine. Apparently my dad’s Hepatic vessel closed itself off sometime during his battle with cancer so it created a new challenge for the doctor who planned to travel his instrument through there today. He had to find a new vessel that was also leading to that lobe of his liver. Lucky for us he found the vessel and the rest is history.

Upon returning to his hospital room we quickly noticed that Dad was showing high blood pressure readings. Even with his sickness he tends to be like clockwork when it comes to blood pressure…120/80. After surgery it elevated from 160/100 to eventually 181/108. By that point I was getting scared and so was the nurse. They gave dad a shot of medicine to lower his blood pressure and we waited. The worst side effect of today’s surgery for Dad was that he had severe back/stomach pains and he literally could not move his right leg or sit up in his bed for 6 straight hours. He was in pain and going stir crazy because he could not move around to get more comfortable. After allowing his medication to kick in and finally being able to urinate we immediately saw a dramatic drop in his blood pressure. When we left tonight it was 144/95.
I tried to post this blog late last night (Tuesday) but the internet at the hotel was down. It is now 7:20 AM and I am trying this again before we head back to the hospital. As for an update on Mom, she seems to have slept pretty well last night. Her breathing was labored and she woke up several times coughing but I jumped right up and got her water, more medicine or just crawled in bed with her and rubbed her back for a few minutes. Each time she fell back to sleep within minutes. Her poor little body really needed some rest.

One of us will write a quick note when we get more details about Dad’s progress later this morning.

Dreaming Big and praying for a Starbucks coffee,

Angie