My Dad

The past few days have been the worst days any of us have ever experienced in my family. A few weeks ago, my dad started having some digestive problems that he thought was food poisoning, but it just never seemed to quite go away. The past week, the abdominal cramping got much worst- so bad, that he was passing out from all of the pain. He ended up in urgent care and was given pain meds and an antibiotic, thinking it was an infection. A few days later, he ended up in the emergency room and was hooked up to an IV for pain meds. The next day (Friday) he went in for a CAT scan, and just a few hours later, was notified that there was a blockage in his small intestine as well as swelling, his large intestine had collapsed and he had some swollen lymph nodes and to go to the hospital. He was admitted and told that he would most likely need surgery the next day to remove the blockage and see what it was, and that there was a possibility that it was cancer. He was also given a really nasty, painful procedure where they inserted a tube through his nose, down his throat and into his stomach to suction up everything that was being blocked.
Yesterday morning, he went in for surgery and was in there for about 2 1/2 hours. When it was done, my mom, who was at the hospital by herself waiting, was informed that he had cancer and it was advanced. I don't know exactly what the name of the cancer is at the moment, but whatever it is, it is impossible to catch and treat early because of it's location and the nature of its course. And even worse, even with chemo, apparently they can never fully get rid of all of the cancer and go into remission. So things look really grim. Once he's healed from surgery, they will start doing chemo.
I have never been so terrified in my entire life. I never thought this could possibly happen, and it's not fair that it's happening to my Dad. He's already gone through so much with all of his other illnesses and surgeries, why can't enough just be enough? It's just not fair that my children will probably never get to have real grandfathers (Nate's Dad died of cancer 7 years ago), Nate just doesn't seem to get to have a father figure in his life because they all die- his only uncle on his mom's side, his grandfather, his dad, and now it looks like my Dad will be taken from him, too, in a matter of time, unless we get the biggest miracle we've ever had. I just don't know if God has one in store for him. We've had lots of little miracles lately- Dad was supposed to be in San Diego right now, but the flight was cancelled due to fog in San Francisco where the connecting flight was, and he couldn't get another flight until the next morning, which he didn't make because of ending up in the emergency room. Also, Nate, Madelynn and I were still supposed to be in Mexico- me until the end of August and Nate until September 4, but because we got so sick the first week in Mexico, we chose to come home six weeks early and Nate just did the first six-week session. We were also originally wanting to move back into the SC 4th ward back when we knew we would be in Mexico, but when we returned, the place we ended up getting is only 5 blocks from my parents'.
I am so scared and I don't know what the future holds. I just can't believe that this is happening. I keep hoping that the doctors will have made a mistake or it's not as bad as it looks, or my Dad will respond well to treatment and will be the small percentage that is cured. Even if it could be treated and just kept at bay for a long time so he can be with us for as long as possible and see his grandkids come into the world and be there so they can remember him.

Not as interesting now....

Now that we're back from Mexico, I don't have seem to have as many interesting things to write about on here. We got home about a week ago, and then Madelynn came down with a double ear infection (the yucky big pussy kind that requires antibiotics) a few days later. I think it may be related to her teething- they're just popping up all over the place. She's pretty much over the ear infection now, and is sleeping a lot better, and is currently napping as I write this.
Last Monday, we went around and looked at places available to rent and found a duplex that we like. It has pretty much everything we were hoping for- 3 bedrooms, garage, washer/dryer hookups, fenced backyard and newer vinyl windows, which believe me are a big deal when you've come from an apartment with old leaky aluminum windows. It's not so fun to wake up in the middle of the night with a soaked pillow because the window has accumulated so much moisture that it's running down the walls and in a puddle on the windowsill.
This past weekend, Nate and I also went rafting down the McKenzie with my dad, one of his former students at USU and her two daughters. It was so much fun, and made me happy that we decided to come home early so we could do things like that. We're hoping to take our tahiti kayaks out in a week or two down the McKenzie again. I actually feel more secure in those, even though they're a lot smaller and you get thrown around a lot more, mainly because you're hunkered down so low in them that it's a lot harder to get thrown out.