Safe in Texas

I wanted to give everyone a quick update, we arrived in Texas earlier today. We are hopeful for a great week and great possibilities for treatment. I don't think we will have any news until Tuesday or Wednesday but I will keep you updated. 

Dad on Airplane

Texas - HERE WE COME!

Hi everyone, we are so excited, finally some prayers have been answered and we got some good news today! The paper work needed from the Dr's office and the insurance company was completed today and dad has an appointment for MD Anderson THIS Monday. It just so happens that the delay in getting the Soafenib is in our favor because it may have made him ineligible for possible clinical trails. (If this does not make a lot of sense - please read the previous post.)

Also for anyone that may want to visit dad this weekend (he is at home) we wanted to let you know that anytime after 4:00 on Saturday afternoon would be best. Becky asked that you please call one of us or send a message (her number is 265-710-1518). We will have a busy weekend getting ready to leave town and will fly out sometime on Sunday, we still have yet to book our flight.  

This has no doubt been a difficult week but dad is feeling better everyday and even more so after getting the blood transfusion today. Keep those prayers coming our way!

More information about treatment plans

Hello everyone, I wanted to give another update about dad and what our treatment plans are. It has been a busy week thus far and will continue to be that way for the next week and half. The last week has been really difficult for us as we try to process all of this information and deal with the insurance company. Some of this information is repetitive from the last post but these things have been repeated to us so it's worth repeating. 

We continue to learn that there are a lot of factors to consider when treating cancer. The type of cancer it is, size, if it has spread, and how well your liver and kidneys are working seem to be the most important things for us right now. As of yet we have been unable to get a detailed explanation of dad's cancer. To be honest I think the doctors are a little perplexed themselves, but I have decided that those details are not as important because we know it is a liver cancer and the treatment options are the same depending on all of those factors I just mentioned. 

I would have to write a book to even begin to explain all of the details that we have been given but I can fill you in on what our treatment plans are. We are still waiting to start a specific oral chemo, we were excited last week that there was one thing they thought could slow down the progression of the cancer but we are still waiting on the medication because of the insurance paperwork. All of that has been done now so we hope to get it by FedEx tomorrow or Friday. 

Next we are waiting to get things in order to go and get a second opinion from MD Anderson. They are considered the best choice for the possibility of a clinical trial and Levine is helping us get in. Again, once the insurance paperwork is completed we will get an appointment with MD Anderson made. We are hopeful that they can see him very soon. 

We met with the liver surgeon's NP yesterday for surgical follow-up and we asked every possible question imaginable just like we have done with any doctor we see. We want to make sure we explore every possibility for treatment and there are actually a lot of treatment options out there but, in dad's case it keeps coming back to 'what is the risk versus the benefit'. The liver is such an important organ and needs to be working it's best so he doesn't get toxic. All surgical options are too risky for bleeding.

Today dad met with his oncologist again and had more lab work done. The doctor is concerned for the kidneys and has referred us to a specialist. We are waiting on that appointment to be made. He is still anemic and will be getting another blood transfusion tomorrow. Overall, dad says he feels better everyday and his fluid retention is decreasing everyday so we don't understand why the labs are off some, as I have said this is all very complicated. 

Please continue to pray for comfort and healing for dad. He appreciates your visits, cards and messages. I will post again when I have more news. Please pray that any news will be good news. 

I wanted to share another scripture;  

"Surely he hath borne our griefs (literal Hebrew = “sicknesses”),

and carried our sorrows (pains):

yet we did esteem him stricken smitten of God, and afflicted.

But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities

the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed."

Isaiah 53:4-5

Be sure to check out the new pages.

The Plan

We finally have a treatment plan! I really wanted to post this yesterday but duty calls for me to be a dance mom this weekend, so I am updating in-between our busy schedule.

As we have learned over the last couple of weeks, there are a lot of factors to consider when treating cancer. From the type of cancer it is, if it has spread, and how well your liver and kidneys are working (just to name a few). Dad has a complicated case and finding the right treatment has been challenging. One of the nurses from Thursdays visit even made the comment that he was one of the most complicated cases that they had ever had. I say all of this to tell you that our treatment options depend on numerous things that can change day to day and week to week. Without going into a lot of details I will explain as much of this as I can.

First things first though, I would like to say that after spending some time with dad on Thursday and Friday it seems that he is finally starting to feel better. He is taking a little less pain medicine so he can move around more and and more and any activity is good for his health right now. His spirits are also well, he is absolutely determined to beat this so we are supporting him and are willing to do all we can for him. We know there are a lot of people praying for him and we ask that you keep that up, we never know what God as planned for us but we know it is with-in his power to heal.

Due to the type of liver cancer that dad has, he is unable to take certain types of chemo. We did find out on Friday that he is able to take an oral chemotherapy that we hope his cancer will respond to. Depending on how this chemo works will determine what our future options are. This means we just have to wait to see how things go. They are going to FedEx this to him directly from the pharmaceutical company, as of now he still hasn't received it but hopefully he will on Monday.

Meanwhile we are working on a few other problems that we can do something about, it just takes time and some patience. It is our goal to keep him as healthy as possible because a lots of things are dependent on his health. For example; he was having a hard time eating last week because of some medication he was taking, we were able to get the medication changed and now he can eat more. Another example is the edema that he has had, we don't want to put any undue stress on his heart, liver and kidneys so we needed to adjust some medication, work on getting him active, and hopefully massage therapy will be beneficial. It seems that one problem can cause another and we want to prevent that as much as we can.  

I promise I will keep updating, I also have several new pages in the works so be on the look out for those. I am trying to make this site informative as well as a place to share things about my dad that you may not know or a memory that may hold a special place in your heart. As I have said before everyone has been so supportive and we all need your prayers, well wishes, and to be able to laugh and cry with joy and love in our hearts for this special man. 

I wanted to share this picture that I have been waiting on, this is my dad (Billy) with some old friends as well as some new ones! We cherish each and every friendship ever made over the years!

Old friends and new ones! Thank you all for your love, support & visits!

Many of you have asked me for his address and I wanted to let you know what it was. 721 Anchors Bend Cove, Clover SC 29710.

Tonight's Scripture, I selected from many sent to us from the our friend and Reverend, John Ware. 

"...and he...healed all that were sick, That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias (Isaiah) the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses."

Matthew 8:16-17

Update March 20th, still waiting...

Hello everyone! I know you have been waiting on an update. Dad still didn't get to start chemo today, we are so disappointed. We are still waiting on the pathology results. The doctor stated that pathology was really taking their time with getting him the final results. He does think we could find out tomorrow but it could be Monday.

We did have a long visit with the Dr. today. Dad really has a couple of issues that are troublesome for him. One of those is the amount of swelling he has in his legs and the other is keeping the blood work within normal ranges. We are thinking the two are related and talked about different things that could be done for comfort and/or relief until we can start some type of treatment. 

Please continue to pray, I am working on some news pages for the blog, one of those is a collections of prayers, you should be able to view it soon. Sorry this post is short, I wish I had more news. 

Weekend update. March 16th

Hi everyone, I just wanted to give a quick update. I think dad has been feeling better the last couple of days. He is able to move around more without as much help so that's good news. He just needed some time to recover from last weeks surgery. He is still needing a lot of pain medication and still needing a good amount of rest but it's good to see him feeling better when he is awake.

I just wanted to say thank you to everyone that has helped out with Alex and brought over food while Becky as been gone, we really appreciate it. We also really appreciate your prayers, well wishes, cards and just making us smile or laugh. It's amazing how much love and support he has been shown over the last couple of weeks. Please continue to keep him in your prayers he still has some hurdles this week. Some of the medication he is taking makes it difficult to eat, and drink fluids. It's important for him not to be dehydrated on Thursday so they can start his chemo. 

I hope everyone has a good week! I have a busy week ahead but I will definitely give another update sometime Thursday. 

Update Thursday March 13th

Hello everyone, I wanted to check-in and tell you how our last few days have been. I am sure many of you are wondering how our doctor visit went today so I will fill you in on that as well.

On Tuesday dad had his port put in and a laparoscopic procedure done. He has definitely been feeling the effects of being poked and prodded for the last month. It was just 4 weeks ago today that he had his prostate removed. Now he has about 3 areas that cause him pain. He is feeling better today than yesterday so hopefully by this time next week he will be ready to start his chemo.

Speaking of chemo, we did see his lead oncologist today. We were hopeful for more information, but we just didn't get much. I will tell you what I know for sure; We have 2 areas of concern, the most important is the tumor in the liver. The second area is the lymph node in the chest. Preliminary pathology tells us that these cancers are different but they could be related, or maybe not. The doctor's exact words were 'it's complicated' Although we really want to know as much information as we can, it doesn't really change the overall plan. Pathology is needed so the doctors will know exactly what kind of chemo to give him.

First things first, we need to treat the liver tumor with chemo and we need it to respond. So please pray that this tumor responds to chemo. If it does, then it will greatly increase the possibility of removing the tumor surgically. It is also our hope that the lymph node will respond to chemo as well.

We were initially told that the liver tumor was a type of cancer called sarcoma, there are at least 50 different types of sarcomas and with-in those types are sub-types. We have been given some more details about that, but he said that there is a chance that final pathology will tell us something different. I do know that this is a rare type of cancer, it is even more unusual to have this 1 single lymph node that just doesn't fit into the puzzle. I say all of this to tell you 3 things; (1) I don't want to post anything that I don't know for sure about, (2) I have asked every single question I can possibly ask and then some twice. (3) Although information is limited we are still very confident that the doctors have done the many necessary test that need to be done in order to give dad the best treatment available, and we remain hopeful that we will win this battle. We all know it won't be easy and that we have a long road ahead of us, but like anything else in life dad has done, he is ready to face it head-on.

Please continue to pray, there are daily needs for comfort and healing. Please pray that his liver and kidney functions will remain strong so that his body can receive the chemo. Please pray that the chemo will work. 

I will continue to post daily or every other day but he will not start treatments until next Thursday. We were hopeful to start sooner than that but his body does need time to heal from the recent surgeries. 

Dad is working from home, I am forcing him to drink
stuff he doesn't like, but he's trying and still smiling!

Some good news...

Short update; Dad is in recovery and they have completed his surgery. The doctor thought it was very beneficial to do the laparoscopic procedure. The tumor, is large but contained to the liver, this is certainly good news! He also did more biopsies so that we can get better information about the cancer. They still don't know if he is a candidate for surgery or not and I will briefly explain why.

Over the last week one of the things we have learned is that dad has a very rare type of cancer. Without getting into a lot of details, basically they don't know enough about the cancer to be able to determine if it will spread or how it will respond to treatment. So they are not telling us much.

We will meet with the lead oncologist Thursday and we hope to know more then. We have been told that dads case has been discussed extensively here within the experts at this hospital. The doctor today also assured us that they are taking a team approach in planning his care. 

Dad will get to go home today. Keep praying for more good news Thursday. Also keep Becky, Ethan and Matt in your prayers as they travel to Alabama.  

Sad news today....

We are very sad that Becky's mom Ann Adkison passed away last night. Please remember Becky and her family during this difficult time.  I had only met her mom a few times but she was a very sweet lady and she always had a sweet smile.  I know not everyone has Facebook so I wanted to share the message that Becky posted this morning.

"Last night I not only lost my best friend but my mom. My mom was such a giving and unselfish person. My mom had such wonderful faith.

I now have two angels looking over Billy through his journey.

I miss you so much mom but you are now with daddy again and I know you are once again happy." ~Becky Standridge

Ann and Ray Adkison, 50th Wedding Anniversary

Arrangements have been made, services will be Thursday March 13th at the Annunciation of the Lord Catholic Church in Decatur Alabama. The family will receive friends at 9:30 and services will start at 11:00. Ridout's Brown-Service Funeral Home will be handling the arrangements. 

I thought this prayer would be good today, submitted by Jennifer Tate:

The deepest level of 

worship is praising God

in spite of the pain,

thanking God during the 

trials, trusting Him when

we're tempted to lose 

Hope and loving Him

when He seems so 

distant and far away.

At my lowest, God is my

hope. At my darkest, God

is my light. At my weakest, 

God is my strength. At my 

saddest, God is my 

comforter. ~Spiritual Inspiration 

Glad to be home.

Greetings everyone, I hope you have enjoyed the weekend weather as much as we have! I wanted to give everyone an update about our weekend. As you know Dad went home late Friday evening, so most of Saturday was spent getting settled. As I was helping Becky load the car Friday afternoon I told her it looked more like we were checking out of a hotel rather than the hospital since we had so much stuff! 

My family as well as Deedra's decided to visit today. For those that may not know, Dad lives in Lake Wylie so it's about an hours drive for us to get there. He seems to be feeling so much better and it was great to see him active again. Becky put us all to work outside for a while and dad would check on us, supervise, and give a few orders.

Gracie, Deedra, Melana, Jason, Izabel, Eliza, Ethan, Becky, Billy, Taylor, Stacey, Travis
Can't Forget our K-9 friends Rousey, Bessie and Charlie
We missed having Jody and the twins with us today.
Funny how Matt and Alex seem to disappear when the cameras come out.

As I reflect on this last week, the ups and the downs that Becky and I went through as well as the rest of the family, I can't recall one single moment when dad was anything but positive. He reminds me so much of his mom (Maw-Maw Jo). Aside from the pain, he was always ready for whatever testing, therapy or surgery the doctors did or discussed with him as possible options. I guess being really, really, brave is one of those qualities he still has from being a race car driver. It's still shocking that he could have all of this happening when he seemed to be in perfect health just a couple of weeks ago. Please don't take your good health for granted! If your having a bad day just stop for a minute and think about all the blessings you have in your life!

Our big days this week will be Tuesday and Thursday. Tuesday he will have a port put in and a laparoscopic procedure done with a liver surgeon and Thursday we will meet with his primary oncologist. We hope that all testing results will be in by then. Meanwhile all of us have lots of work to catch up on. I promise to post as soon as I can but it may not be until the following days so I am signing out until then. 

For my ending message today I wanted to dedicate this last picture to Paw-Paw Gerald (Billy's dad). Gerald has been home recovering from some health issues of his own so he has not really been able to visit and I know he has been worried. Paw-Paw, dad is doing well, hopefully he can come visit soon so you can see for yourself, until then this picture is for you! We all hope you get well soon!

Becky, Gracie, Izabel, Billy, Taylor, Melana, Eliza

We appreciate everyone's continued prayers for dad and for our family. We also enjoy reading and appreciate your comments!

Dad is Home!

I will do another update later today or maybe tomorrow but I just wanted to let everyone know that dad is now at home and very glad to be there. He actually got home late yesterday evening.

The plan for now.

Hello everyone, I have lots of news today. It seems that dad is going to give these doctors a challenge.

Here is what we know:

1. He had prostate cancer that was considered low grade and then removed. As I said in an earlier post it should have been limited to just prostate without any complications, or lymph node involvement.
2. Found Sarcoma which is in 50% of the liver, they are not really sure if it is outside the liver or not, more information needed. CT/PET test is limited in giving us this information.
3.  Lymph node positive for cancer that is different from the liver,  but is in the same family as the prostate, however it is not typically the path that prostate cancer would spread. The doctors seem to be a little mystified by this. They are basically waiting for pathology to tell us more about these cancers but we have enough information to be able to start some treatments.

Here is the plan for now:

Dad will get to go home today, and his pain seems to be better managed thanks to palliative care. We are happy to get him home with his pain managed and resources to help us if we need it.

The next plan for now will be to start chemotherapy to shrink the cancer and to get more information about these cancers. In order to do that on Tuesday morning he will come back and have a port put in during which time they will also do exploratory laproscopic surgery. The port is so that he will be able to receive his chemotherapy through a central IV, which will make it easier to get the chemotherapy in his body. We are very fortunate that a specialist in Liver surgery will be putting the port in because he will also do the exploratory surgery to see if he can determine if the cancer is in any other organs that are by the liver. This will help them decide if surgery to remover the tumor in the liver will be an option in the future.

Meanwhile, we are waiting to see Dr. Livingston, he will likely be taking over dads case because his specialty is sarcoma cancers. He will also educate us about the type of chemo he will be receiving and the side effects that we can expect. 

Although we still don't know everything we know enough to get things started. We are hopeful that therapy will be beneficial in shrinking  the tumor and that they can surgically remove the tumor. Pathology should be able to tell us more about the cancer found in the lymph node in the next couple of weeks.  One of the things we keep hearing is that they need to know the primary source of the cancer, we think they are still trying to figure this out. This is all a lot of information to take in and explain. 

Today's prayer submitted by Jan Blanton

A Prayer for Strength by Rachel Wojnarowski 

Our Father,

Sometimes the cares of the day

seem to multiply,

while the blessings fade so quickly.

Our bodies grow tired

and our minds even more tired.

Jesus, help us.

Give us the strength You’ve promised

in Your Word.

Give us the power

to take the next step.

Give us your grace.

For we know in our weakness,

your strength is revealed.

May we receive it today.

Amen.

Not the news we were hoping for...

The initial test show that there is cancer cells in the lymph node. The team of doctors will be meeting tomorrow to give us treatment options. We still remain hopeful, and will continue to battle this cancer. 

Palliative care also started today and they are working hard to get his pain medication regulated. 

I will let everyone know more when we do.

Today's Prayer by Jody Standridge:

Lord we come to You today for Your uplifting spirit of love, support, and comfort for our family as we endure these difficult times. Wrap Your loving arms around our entire community and family let us all see and feel the love of You, Jesus Christ. More importantly wrap Your arms around daddy and give him the strength to fight, the encouragement to live, and the ability to see the love from You! Please let him feel Your healing power we all know Lord, You will never give us a burden we can't surpass. Be with daddy as he patiently awaits a treatment plan, help keep his spirits high and his body strong.  Be with the Doctors, Nurses, and all the staff that are caring for him, we ask for the best of knowledge that they are able to use it as they care for daddy. Please forgive us all for our many sins and mistakes Lord, in Your name we pray, Amen. 

Quick Update

I know many of you are checking in for results of today's test. Dad's test has been delayed until 4:00 today, we do hope to know more after the test. I will post as soon as I know something, not sure if that will still be today or tomorrow. I can't begin to express how important this test is, we need this lymph node to be negative for cancer. Please keep praying for good news today!

Wednesday March 5th update.

Dad is still hanging in there, if he is up working on his laptop then we know he is feeling pretty good. This is what he was up to last night. Staying busy is good.

We bought him a printer to add to his hospital office.

He has had a few doctors by today and they have his next procedure scheduled for 10:00 in the morning. We hope that this will be his final test this week. One of his visitors was the head of the oncology department here.(thanks to Becky's Aunt Claudia who has a mutual friend of Dr. Kim) We really feel like we are getting the best care available, they like to make sure that the right experts are involved in his care.

I think that being here at the hospital as expedited the testing process and information. Even though I may complain about having to wait we are grateful that we have gotten so much information in a week's time even if it's not what we wanted to hear. 

We are still working on getting his pain controlled so he can go home, we are still thinking that it may be Friday or Saturday. 

We will give an update as soon as we have more information. Please continue to keep dad in your prayers, he enjoys reading or hearing about your comments.

Our Prayer:

'Almighty Father, Thank you for your love, grace and mercy.  We pray that You will provide comfort to dad during this time of pain and uncertainty. Fill his heart with confidence that, though at times he may be afraid, he will put his trust in you.

We pray that you will give the doctors and nurses wisdom and guide them with his care.

I believe in my heart that You are here with us today and that with Your most holy power you will  give us the strength to endure the many trials we are sure to face in the coming days and weeks.

In Jesus' name we pray, Amen' 

Today's anxiously awaited news.

As you may know we had been waiting for the PET scan results so that we could have a game plan for treatment. Believe it or not we need another test. 

When dad was first admitted it seemed that he had some fluid in his lungs that indicated pneumonia. Because he does still have what looks like pneumonia, they want to be 99% sure that it is pneumonia and nothing else. Now we need to do a biopsy on a nearby lymph-node so we will know for sure.

Either way it sounds like the first step will be chemo-therapy. If surgery is an option then they will want to shrink the tumor first. It sounds like it will be a few days before they would even start that process. We would need all final results completed before any treatments would be started. 

The doctors here are really great, we feel confident that they will leave no stone un-turned and give dad the best possible care. We know that it will be a long road and a tough battle but we are ready for the fight. Please continue to keep us in your prayers and hope for good news.

As far as the testing, it could be as late as Thursday before they do the next biopsy. He will need to meet with the pulmonologist and I doubt that will happen today and the they will have to work him in the schedule. As for results, we may know something by Friday or Saturday. 

As a side note, after the biopsy is done he will be able to work toward going home. He may be able to go home as early as Friday. They are working toward pain control to make that happen as soon as possible.

The Test Begin

Tuesday March 4

Good morning everyone.  Billy had another good nights sleep last night.  The nurses and doctors here in Charlotte are so wonderful and are keeping his pain under control so he is able to sleep.

I just want to thank everyone for all of their messages and prayers.  Billy and I are so blessed to have so many wonderful people in our lives.

The Dr. ordered a Pet Scan last night.  He said it might take a day or two to get him squeezed in.  To our surprise they were here to take him for the scan at 8:00 a.m. this morning.  We are one step closer to getting a few more answers and figuring out what we are dealing with and how to treat it.  

Oncologist Visit Monday March 3rd 7:00 pm

We were able to meet with the oncologist and he explained what all of the test, up to this point, tell us about what were are dealing with.

Preliminary pathology shows this to be a type of sarcoma. He explained that sarcoma's start in the bone or soft tissue. It is rare that sarcomas start in the liver but in his case it would be a good thing. If the cancer is just contained to the liver then surgery is the best option for treatment.

At this point other test are needed to confirm the primary source of cancer. Once we know the primary source of cancer then we will be better able to know how to treat this. Obviously we are very hopeful that this is limited to the liver. 

Other news: The prostate cancer has nothing to do with this cancer. They are unrelated and his prostate treatment was standard procedure. We also know that his gall bladder is working just fine. Since his blood count has been low they are going to give him a unit of blood so that his body can build back up quickly and be ready for whatever treatments may be necessary.

The doctor is going to order more testing and we will make more decisions at that time. 

Please continue to pray for Becky and Dad as well as Becky's mom. She continues to recover in Alabama. 

"We're going to beat this"

If you would like to leave comments here dad will see them, if you plan to visit make sure you are not sick, we want to keep dad healthy. If you would like to visit he is in room 4929. 

A good night's rest can go along way.

Dad had a great night. He slept really well and I can tell he feels better because he asked for his computer and spent the better part of the day working on his laptop.

Dad Working

As of 4:30 this afternoon we have still not seen the Oncologist. We are expecting a visit anytime now. I hope to give an update after his visit. Seems like all we have done is wait, and wait. We are ready for some good news!

Weekend Wall

By Friday evening around 6 we realized that getting him moved may not be an option until Monday. We were happy that his pain was under control and waiting on test results was all we could really do.

Saturday was a good day and we appreciated all of the visitors.

Sunday we did receive some preliminary results and found out that we were most likely dealing with some type of cancer but we still didn't know a lot of details. We decided then that we wanted to get the transfer done ASAP. After researching several places we realized that Carolina's Medical Center in Charlotte had a great cancer center and so Becky started the process early and dad was moved around 3. He is in room 4929.

By the time I arrived in Charlotte around 4:30, dad was settled and the medical doctor was already in the room getting his history and medications sorted out. The plan was to keep him comfortable until we could see an Oncologist sometime Monday. 

We were very happy being in Charlotte and remain hopeful that this is something we can treat head-on. Dad is very determined that whatever it is he will beat it!

Thursday and Friday More Waiting...

By 8 am Thursday morning we were very anxious for some test results. Around 10:00 that morning the doctors finally made their way and the news was good and bad. It appeared that he had one really large mass in or around the liver instead of several small ones as they first suspected. Of course we were very concerned about any type of mass and wanted to know as much information about it as possible. Unfortunately they said that we would need more testing to get the information we needed. The plan was to do a liver biopsy to get more information about the mass and then another type of imaging test to test the gall bladder function.

Both of the test were completed by Friday morning at 8 but we still didn't know anything and dad's pain was unbearable by this point. Becky had returned to Shelby by this time and we were trying to decide about having him transported to a different hospital.

We did find out that his gall bladder test was normal and that they finally were able to get him a PCA pump (patient controlled anesthesia). By Friday evening dad's pain was controlled. 

How we got here. Wednesday February 26th

We wanted to have a way to document our journey through this battle, keep family and friends updated and most importantly be able to share messages your messages with Billy (dad).

Dad, Becky, Charlie & Bessie Nov. 2013

On Thursday Feb. 13th, dad was scheduled to have his prostate removed due to prostate cancer. This was the morning following a massive snow storm, at least massive for Shelby. Dad spoke with the Dr.'s and decided to make the early morning trip through snow, sleet and rain to have the surgery proceed as scheduled. As a side note, Dad wanted Dr. Gosset to assist with the surgery because he has been his urologist for a long time.

The surgery itself was supposed to be done laparoscopic, but due to excessive bleeding during the procedure they had to take his prostate out, the "old fashion way', by incision. He also received 4 units during the procedure but other than that all went well. After a couple of days post-op he had to deal with a painful gout flare up but by Monday morning dad was feeling great and ready to go home.

Later during that week dad started having pain in his right side that was getting worse by the day. Becky contacted Dr. Gosset and he thought his symptoms were suspicious of gall bladder problems. On Wednesday morning (Feb. 26th) when I picked dad up, it was the first time I had seen him since he had gone home from the hospital. I was surprised by how much pain he was in. I took him to Dr. Gosset's office for the CT scan and from there we were sent across the road to the Emergency Room for more testing.

The ER Dr. saw him right away and an ultra-sound was ordered. After the ultra sound we still were not sure if we were dealing with a gall bladder problem or not. The Dr. was very concerned about a mass that was seen on the ultra-sound. Of course we were concerned to and the Dr. wanted to do more testing and therefore dad needed to be admitted to the hospital.

The very worst part of the day was dealing with the pain and waiting. We we were also extremely concerned for Becky's mom. Becky had just left at 4am to go be with her mom who was in ICU and not doing well. We never expected to end our day in the hospital. Finally 5 hours later we were in a room and the process for the next test had been started. by 8:00 that night dad had his second CT scan of the day, this time with the dye.