April 2007 Archives

Everyone please join me in wishing my lovely wife a very happy birthday. She is {mumble mumble} years old today!
Happy Birthday Lisa!

Doh! Roger is back in the hospital. Wendy has updates:

I regret to say that Roger is back in the hospital. He is extremely dehydrated and still fighting an infection. He had been feeling very tired and started running a fever yesterday. We went to the ER last night at the request of his doctor so they could give him some IV fluids. It is definately a different experience checking in through the ER than when you have something scheduled! Unfortunately they have not located a bed for him so he is still in the ER. Luckily, he is in a room at the ER and not hanging out in the hallway like many other people we saw last night.

The doctors warned us that it is a significant challenge to stay hydrated after this surgery. Basically everything that he drinks is going right through him so his body isn't absorbing enough. The challenge is to slow the digestive process down which they will be focusing on through supplements and medications. They ran another CT scan to try and assess the infection and it looks like he may have another possible infected area. The good news is the other area of infection has gotten smaller.

After 15 days in the hospital, it is the last place Roger wants to be. I know this has been very difficult on him and these complications are not making things any easier. I'm very proud of him for following his doctor's orders, handling his own care, and staying positive through all this. It has been more difficult than we could have imagined. I'll pass along his new room information when I get it. He will most likely be there for a few days.

I just called and woke him up so I think he's trying to get some rest this am. He has a couple of procedures scheduled for today. All of them sound fairly unpleasant. Other than that he seems to be doing all right.

Thanks for everyone's support and kind words. It means a lot to us to have so many great friends and family. On a selfish note, I especially appreciate everyone's concerns about me and offers to help with our kids. My respect for single parents has increased tremendously and it makes me feel good that other parents understand the fun (and sometimes not so fun) challenges of raising these little people.

I have had the priviledge of travelling a bit in my single days and know that there are many people on this earth that have far more difficult situations than I. I will never forget travelling to South Africa and watching people stand in line for hours just to get a gallon of drinking water. Others in a mountain top community spent an entire day walking downhill to get firewood and then carrying it back up. So, when I am feeling exhausted, frustrated, short on patience or cringing at piles of laundry and the appearance of my house, I try to remember that there are many people who have far less than I.

Luckily we have a very supportive family and my mother is in her glory when her children need her. She's been helping a lot with the boys while I work and go back and forth to the hospital. Colin is headed to Disney World next week with Roger's folks, sister's family and auntie's family, so I think that will give us all a little break. He's pretty concerned about his dad and it has been hard to explain what is going on. Hopefully Mickey Mouse and crew will take his little mind off of things.

Just wanted to pass along the news that Roger returned home from the hospital the other day, which is very good news.

Dear Family & Friends,

I wanted to thank all of you for the support, phone calls, cards, gifts, and most importantly your thoughts and prayers while I was in the hospital. While the surgery went as planned, I hit a few road bumps on the way towards recovery but most importantly, was given a "Cancer Free" bill of health. I was released from the hospital yesterday, Tuesday, at 5:05 p.m. and was able to relax at home today. I really missed seeing my boys as Sam appears to have grown quite a bit in two weeks, but luckily, he didn't start walking yet (I told him he had to wait for Daddy before he took his first steps).

I still have a long recovery ahead as I still have a drain tube in my abdomen that is draining the spot that is infected and my incision, which was opened when they thought it may have had been infected as well, has a long way to heal. Also, due to the blood clots that developed, I have continuing care to monitor my blood thickness level (I have to be on blood thinners for at least 3 - 6 months). The surgery took a lot out of me and my energy level is pretty low. However, for me, the best medicine is just being in my own home with my family.

For those of you with entries into the Roger Pool, I will be working on tallying them (But the medical bill part may take some time as they take a couple of weeks to get processed)

Again, thank you all for your support and I will keep you posted on my recovery as it continues (At least the hard part is behind me).

-Roger