This was not a blog I wanted to write. This blog had been in draft mode since about the second week in August. Things got a little crazy and I never finished the blog to post. Now the news is past history.
Dad left this world and went to be with Jesus on Saturday August 26th. My brother, Wayne, me, his wife Barbara and her oldest Karen were with him when he breathed his last breath.
You can read his obituary here. If you scroll down the page there is a slideshow of pictures you might enjoy looking at.
The post I started that I didn't finish was about the trip I made to see Dad the first week in August. Below is the post that I began.
Dad had another hospital stay. He had a wreck on July 7th. He told me about it when we talked on July 9th. He said he didn't know what happened. One moment he was driving on Interstate 35 headed to Liberty. He remembers seeing the exit for Kearney then the next he remembers the car is sideways in the interstate! He had hit the concrete barrier in the median making his car undriveable. He wasn't hit by anyone and he didn't hit anyone nor did the airbag deploy! I count it a miracle he wasn't hurt or anyone else! Barbara has a daughter and son-in-law that live in Kearney. He called him to find out where to have the car towed and take him home.
On Tuesday July 11th I called to check on him. It was about 11:30am. It went to voicemail. I realized he never called me back so I called again around 5:30pm. It sounded like I woke him up. He sounded very groggy and was mumbling. What I did understand didn't make sense. I told him I would call later. I called my Uncle Alan (Dad's youngest brother who lives 12 miles from him) and asked if he would check on Dad. He was still at work and would be driving right by the road to his house. He told me he would. The day before Home Health had drawn blood for lab work. When Alan arrived the Doctor's office called saying Alan needed to take Dad to the ER right away as his kidneys were almost shut down. He was admitted on Tuesday July 11th. He was dismissed on July 19th. There was a point that the doctors were talking about dialysis but Dad's kidneys slowly began showing improvement and that wasn't necessary. It was discovered on this hospital stay that the cancer had gone to his brain. We believe that it was the tumor on Dad's brain that may have caused him to "black out" therefore causing the accident he had. Doctor's gave 2 options of possible treatment for the brain cancer. Blanket radiation which is a lower dose but treats the whole brain or targeted radiation which only treats the tumors that are visible. He could not do the targeted radiation until his kidney function was better.
Dad's kidney function did improve well enough to do the targeted radiation treatment of the brain cancer. The plan was to do 3 treatments on Monday, Wednesday and Friday the first week of August. The week I would be there.
Alan took Dad on Monday. Vanessa, Korin, and I were traveling to Missouri that day. I took Dad for treatment on Wednesday and Friday.
(This picture Vanessa took. This was Friday I took Dad to his treatment. I was praying for his as we walked down the hall.)
Alan had just finished mowing the grass as I walked with Dad to the mailbox. He snapped this picture of us.
Dad's face is a little puffy due to the steroids he is taking for brain swelling.
We left to come home Saturday August 12th. It was harder to leave this time. The hugs were tighter and longer and not without eyes filling with tears.
The day before we left I had received a group text of our church leadership. One of our Elders and dear friend (age 62) who was diagnosed with cancer in January was in his final days on earth. My hope was he would hold on until I could get home to see him. When we got home, Doyle & I went to see him. He went to heaven Wednesday August 16th.
I received a text and phone call that Dad was unresponsive and was being taken to the hospital on Sunday August 20th. This was the beginning of the end. Wayne had already planned to visit Dad that week and was leaving on Monday to drive there from Wyoming. When he got the news he headed to Missouri. He spent his week with Dad in the hospital. Dad had severe pneumonia. By mid-week he wasn't getting any better and his kidney function was decreasing. The doctor suggested talking to Palliative Care. Doyle, Vanessa and I drove up on Friday. I got a chance to see Dad and tell him I loved him. I spent the night in the hospital with him so Wayne could have a break. We chose to wait until Saturday morning to place him on Palliative Care. He was gone is just minutes.
I'll share more in another blog.
