Back in the saddle

So the Monday after 4th of July, Dad proceeded to take his 1st business trip post-surgery. Leave it to Dad to not make it a single city or 1-night stay. No, it had to be a 4-day, several city trip including Salt Lake City, Albuquerque & Alamogorda in New Mexico, and El Paso. So even though we were worried sick that he was doing too much too soon after the big 4th of July fireworks, it seemed to be exactly what Dad needed to get "back in the saddle" so to speak. Last week, he went to Las Vegas to meet up with his boss for some meetings. He's feeling more and more normal to the point that he and Mom are headed to Dad's high school reunion in California this weekend. His taste is slowly but surely returning and he's holding steady with an energy level of about 80% compared to pre-cancer treatment. He's even been tending to his fruitless pear and pecan trees with pruning, fertilizing, and watering in the mornings before it gets too hot.

All in all, pretty darn good by most people's measures. This is one time I don't mind Chris telling me, "I told you so" when I was so worried about Dad during his treatment and surgery recovery.

4th of July in Cleburne, TX

Crowd getting settled to watch the show

I think we had about 40 or so people at the party tonight.

Just one of the many great shots in Dad's 30 minute display.

He's only been doing this kind of thing since 1974.

That's Dad & Jonathan off to the left of the blazing fireworks.

Notice the 2 tables behind the blazes loaded with fireworks.

Chris was busy videotaping the show behind the crowd.

I think this was the best show yet!

Dessert buffet - yum! We went this route this year instead of the full-blown cookout.

Dad, Thanks for keeping the tradition going for another great 4th of July celebration!!!

We love you!

From Father's Day

Dad & I

Dad, Chris & Mom

For Father's Day, we went to an early dinner at Uncle Julio's with Mom and Dad. We enjoyed a big meal of fajitas (Chris), enchiladas (Mom & I), quail and chile relleno (Dad.) Yum!

And thanks to Aunt Lucy & Uncle William, Dad had 2 bowls of menudo yesterday. Although he's slipped to 183 lbs. Dad seems to slowly be regaining his appetite. Another good sign is he was cleared for travel today and is looking at several trips in July. Let's just hope he doesn't overdo it!

Hope you all have a safe & fun 4th of July this weekend!

Happy Friday

Friday afternoon after their weekly call with the nutritionist in the AM, Mom and Dad heard back from the surgeon's physician assistant that afternoon. The PA called with good news - Dad had done well enough during his trial week without the nightly feedings through his feeding tube that they were ending the feeding tube sessions. Pretty good even though he lost a couple pounds without the extra nourishment at night. So Dad is working on setting up an appointment this week to have the feeding tube removed. They celebrated Friday night by going to El Asadero where Dad ate a whole bowl of menudo. That should help fatten him up a bit too!

Dinner at Chadra's

As I was winding down from a crazy day at work yesterday evening (must be the heat that has everyone riled up!), I got a call from Dad to see if we wanted to meet him and Mom for dinner at Chadra Mezza & Grill (http://www.chadramezza.com/). They twisted my arm and I met them there after calling Chris so he could head over too. Dad was in good spirits even though they had just been to the hospital to visit a close family friend whose sister is in the hospital again due to her own battle with cancer. Dad is still having taste issues especially with meat like chicken which tastes rubbery to him. But he enjoys practically any soup or pasta dish so that's good. A coworker of Chris's suggested Dad try to eat pickles before he eats a meal because that seemed to "prime" her father's taste buds when he was recovering from cancer. If you have any other suggestions, send them our way! He seems to get a kick out of weighing around 185 lbs which was what he was in high school but we're still trying to fatten him up!

As for his energy level, he seems to be gaining some speed slowly. When he went grocery shopping with Mom over the weekend at Sam's, he walked on his own instead of using the electric cart so that's good progress. He's driving a little bit here and there but pacing himself so he doesn't get over-tired.

It's definitely heating up in Texas so stay cool!

Nutritionist Update

Mom just finished her weekly report to Dad's nutritionist down at MD Anderson. He's holding his weight around 185-187 lbs and based on his food/liquid diary, she recommended taking Dad off his nightly feedings for the next week. If he does well without them she will recommend that they remove the feeding tube altogether to his medical team. He's still struggling with "having food taste like it used to" which affects the satisfaction he gets from his food cravings but we understand that's normal.

Have a great weekend!

6 week mark

Yesterday, Jonathan met me at Mom & Dad's and we did a slew of chores outside. Thanks to our wonderful cousin Mat & his lawn service for mowing earlier in the week, which let us focus on more than just mowing and weedeating the whole 3 acres. We were finally able to check out the Ford tractor and get it ready for one of us to do the next mow in a week or so. We did an overall cleanup of the dog pen including mowing, weedeating, cutting back small mesquite trees that had re-sprouted, and cutting back low-hanging oak tree limbs around the dog pen and barn. Thanks to Jon's willingness to get on the roof, we were able to clear out the rain gutters too. Mom also pitched in especially as we fed the burn bin with limbs and leaves and made sure we had lots of water. She was also on fire ant patrol around the yard with the Amdro in tow. All in all about 5 hours of work and my arm/shoulder muscles are a bit sore today but it reminded me of "old times" when we did that kind of work every spring/summer with Mom and Dad. Dad helped replace a bulb in one of the "streetlight" outdoor lights when we first started and then supervised our work from his recliner in the sunroom and his new hammock in the backyard. Go Dad!

Tomorrow, June 8th, makes six weeks since Dad had his surgery. He's lost another pound or so and is sitting at 186 lbs. Taste seems to be his biggest challenge to eating more these days along with a smaller appetite in general. But overall he's doing well at the normal halfway point in his recovery. My boss, who is a physician, was quick to remind me that recovery from a Whipple procedure of any sort is about as big as it gets.