Dad Again!

Once again I took this off of Cassie's blog....

DAY ONE...
Well today we spent the day up at Huntsman hospital. My dad received surgery. He got his hip replacement taken completely out. The doctor put in an antibiotic ball in it's place. The surgery went as well as what they expected. The goal is to get the infection gone and the pain lessened so he can continue with his Chemo treatments. We were somewhat optimistic when the doctor came out and told us he was finished. Then we waited 2 1/2 hours for him to come out of recovery. When they finally brought him up he was not himself. He was talking very strange and singing. He did not know who I was or my sister. And his right side was not functioning. This concerned the doctor. They immediately sent him to do a cat scan on his head and neck. They are not sure but there is a possibility that he might have suffered a small stroke. We will know more in the morning. Needless to say I have never had a more emotional, up and down day. With my dad pretty "loopy" on the medication we were either laughing or crying or we were laughing to keep from crying. At one point he tried to speak Spanish to the Spanish nurse...My dad does not know Spanish but sure thought he did. I hope and pray that he will recover soon and that the pain will be lessened. Time will tell.

Day Two...
As I said in the last post, my Dad had a CT scan yesterday. It showed a small mass in his brain. He just finished up with an MRI, which showed a much clearer picture of what they're dealing with. It is a small lesion (tumor) that is cancer on his brain, not a stroke. They are going to perform radiation surgery. They won't have to cut him open at all (thank goodness), but hit 5-6 different lasers at different angles at his lesion at the same time. The neurosurgeon said he feels this is all it will take to kill that tumor and prevent more from coming. My Dad will have to take steroids to keep the swelling down, and one of the side effects is massive swelling, but it's not an absolute, meaning the doctor had to tell us it's a side effect, but he's confident all will be fine and Dad can continue on with his life and there won't be any more problems. As far as the brain tumor goes. We still have every thing else to deal with. But this is good news.

I can't believe this is going on with my Dad. I guess because I am in AZ and my Dad is in UT I have a hard time picturing him in his very weak condition. Last year when I was trying to pass a rather large kidney stone I had never been in so much pain. For 4 hours I winced in pain with no comfort. Finally they gave me some drugs and I was given immediate relief. My Dad has been dealing with unbearable pain since November with no relief. No amount of drugs they give him will help. I just hope and pray that this new procedure and the surgery he had this last week will give him some sort of relief. Thanks to all for your continued prayers and support. It is much appreciated!