Wednesday 4/28 ... Still Here

Hello everyone. I wasn't able to blog yesterday but hopefully I can catch everyone up.

Yesterday about 5:30am Dustin started coughing up blood. Enough to cause the doctors some concern. Their theory is that it could be a combination of things. Parts of the lung are bleeding from the pneumonia attacking healthy lung tissue. It could be damage from the radiation, or it could be that his tumor has eroded a bit into the superior vein in his chest. Their plan is observation. Through the day he coughed up a mixture of blood and tissue. It does not smell like decay quite as much.

Our spirits were a bit down yesterday. He was feeling worse than when he came into the hospital. He had very little sleep, his appetite was down because his esophagus is being damaged from the radiation and he gets some heartburn. Overall, it was kind of a frustrating day.

I was fortunate to have our dear friend Lynda stay at the hospital with Dustin while I ran home. I made Dustin one of his favorite dinners to surprise him and brought it up to the hospital so he could enjoy a home cooked meal. I hope it helped.

Today, we are still here. He is still coughing up a mixture of blood and tissue. Not as alarming as yesterday. He was able to get almost an entire nights sleep. Thank the Lord. The doctors would like to keep him here for another day because there is still blood present in his sputum. Hopefully tomorrow he may be able to go home. We are playing it by ear right now. His mood is better, I believe from getting more sleep. His appetite has started to improve.

The bacterias Strep and Haemophilus grew out of the sputum culture. So he was able to be removed from the broad spectrum antibiotics and is only on 1 antibiotic that he will receive 3 times a day via iv when we return home. The home health aid is going to come once a week to check on things, but they will be teaching me how to administer the antibiotic to him for the next 6 weeks.

Today, I hope to break away long enough to attend Annelie's track meet, weather permitting, and perhaps we can catch the Jazz game.

That is where we are now. Just a lot of waiting, and talking to different people from the hospital about ways to help the kids through this, how to get respite care for myself, and the best ways to keep Dustin strong. Cancer is a new world.

Prayers to all. Much Love.

Dustin, Mandy & the kids.