Doctor Appointment Day
Mood:  quizzical
Now Playing: By John
Topic: Update
Yawn... early-rising day for Dad. Al & Becky chauffeured him to Fargo for a long day of tests, doctor appointments, and consultations: blood work, bone needle biopsy, EKG/EEG, Q-n-A sessions, meeting with Dr. Gaba. We won't have the results for 3-4 days, so we wait and hope there are no further 'miscommunication' this time. We'll know more about his Consolidation treatment schedule once the test results are in and his oncologist narrows his chemotherapy options.

The Cancer Support Group is holding its monthly meeting at PVHC so that Dad can attend this evening. He was instrumental in getting the group to accept spouses of cancer patients into the fold, and it became an important part of Dad's support system for dealing with Mary's death. Now it will hopefully become an integral part of his own battle with The Big C.

Therapy continues to go very well. Craig's got him working a lot on squats and stairs to build his strength and get rid of the wobbly knee syndrome.

Verna is attending the weekly Thursday morning Discharge Meeting with the PVHC staff to discuss progress, gameplan, and support. Medicare has some strict rules regarding their financial assistance for nursing home patients and our family is hoping that Dad takes full advantage of his rehab stint before he attempts to move back out to the lake. It's an ironic situation because every time he's shown progress and makes strides (moving out of ICU, discharge from Merit Care, etc.), the "system" rewards him with less help and assistance. We know he likes to set optimistic goals and that he really wants to be home for the Holidays, but we're just worried that he might back-slide or that he's not quite ready to be on his own... just yet.

The good news is that Gail (Mary's daughter) will be joining us this weekend at the lake for our Christmas celebration! Verna is picking her up from the Fargo airport on Friday. She'll have Dad's minivan for transportation while she's here and has offers from plenty of "lake people" to keep her company. Joel, Dori, and Amy (and possibly her boyfriend) are heading up Saturday afternoon. Myself and the girls will leave the Cities after Samantha's dance team practice on Saturday. Dad's made a X-mas dinner reservation at Spanky's, followed by festive cheer and our traditional 'round-the-tree present exchange back at the lake. We'll attend church at Zion on Sunday with Dad, then do lunch at the Cornfield. Joel's and my family need to depart Sunday, whereas Gail is staying until Monday. Feel free to give us a call at the lake while we're there this weekend (218-863-8119) so say HI, catch up, or visit with Dad, if you want.