Dad has "exploded" out of depression

My mom reports that my dad is doing fantastic. My Aunt Mary wonders if maybe he can be turned down a bit. From my mom's report it sounds like he is involved in life again. My dad back to arguing with my mom, complaining about things, driving all over, and planning activities. Before the new medication, he was just watching life go by from the sidelines. If you call him now, don't be surprised if he talks your ear off!

I talked to both my dad and mom by phone over the weekend. When my dad called me on Friday, he was very emotional. He wanted to let me know he had received a response from the National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) to his request for his dad's military records. My dad specifically asked which medals were awarded to his dad.

My paternal grandfather was a World War II Veteran. The NPRC letter states that my grandpa earned several awards. These included a Bronze Star Medal, a Purple Heart, a European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, American Campaign Medal, Combat Infantryman Badge, World War II Victory Medal, and an Honorable Service lapel pin. My dad is very proud of his father's service to his country.

My grandpa enlisted in the Army Air Corps in California ten days after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Later, he somehow ended up in the infantry and fought in combat in Europe. The military records detailing my grandpa's actions and whereabouts were unfortunately lost in the 1973 fire at the NPRC. Near the end of the war in Germany, he was shot in the knee by a German soldier. In a letter describing the incident my grandpa wrote that the soldier was possibly SS.

My dad is also interested in whether there could be a link between his three different cancers and his father's military service. My grandpa was in the military when my dad was conceived. My dad is wondering if there was possibly a chemical his dad was exposed to or a medication his dad may have taken that could have contributed to my dad's cancers. Medical records are among those records destroyed in the fire.

Oh, I almost forgot to mention that my dad hasn't vomited since the stent was put in!

Good news from the head CT

The CT scan of my dad's head showed no tumors. Some of you already joked that you didn't need a CT to prove there was nothing in his head! We appreciate the humor.

His medications have been changed to increase his appetite and lift his mood. Everyone is hoping for good results soon.

Please don't hesitate to call, email, or send a card. My dad enjoys hearing from his family and friends. If you don't have an email address for him, just send your message to me at the link to the right (in "About Me"). Put "Please forward to Phil" in the subject line, and I'll make sure he gets it.

I really love all the little notes and stories I've been sent about my dad from those of you reading the blog. Thanks! They surely help me remember better times when he is feeling down.

The finished staircase was installed in the Door County house early this week. My dad says it is just beautiful and that the pictures don't do it justice. Well, here are two pictures anyway for those of you who can't make the trip.

What's in Phil's head?

Well, yesterday my dad had a follow-up appointment with Dr. Ritch. He also saw Mary Jo, the psychiatric nurse practitioner. Although physically my dad is feeling fairly well, psychologically he has been extremely depressed. He has been taking an antidepressant medication since he was initially diagnosed. However, following each episode of vomiting, my dad became physically weaker and psychologically more depressed.

Because the symptoms of depression are similar to the symptoms of a brain tumor, an MRI of the brain was suggested to rule out the possibility of a tumor.

As with many well laid plans, this didn't work out. The recently placed stent is stainless steel. Because an MRI scanner uses a large magnet, the magnet could move a newly placed stent like my dad's. (After time, my dad's body will grow around the stent and secure it in place.) So, for now a CT scan of my dad's head was done instead.

The results should be available soon. This scan was done simply as a precaution, so Mary Jo knows that what she is treating is depression.

Also, Dr. Ritch restarted the chemotherapy on Thursday. My dad is back on the biweekly schedule.

My kids and I were able to spend almost half of the last two weeks in Door County with my parents. In two separate trips we were able to enjoy the changing weather of fall in Wisconsin. For the first trip we were joined by Mark and Michael along with many, many other family and friends.

The kids and I enjoyed the time in Door County. The house in Door County sits on 14.5 acres of wooded land. Before the house was built, a tree house was constructed there. Rhys, Muriel and Kyle enjoyed playing in the tree house, hiking the trails and building with Legos while they were there. I played with the kids and our dog, talked to my mom and worked on my latest knitting projects.

It was relaxing to be there, but I was saddened to see my dad so hopeless. I know there is so much more he could share with us. It is not time for him to go yet. When he dies, he will take with him stories and knowledge that will be missed. We can't possible collect all of this information from him. When I want to know about the history of Milwaukee, I will miss him. When I can't remember a detail from my childhood, I will miss him. When I have a question about something he worked on in my house, I will miss him. When I wonder about my paternal ancestors, I will miss him.

I don't want to sit for hours and extract information from him. I wouldn't remember it anyway. I simply want to enjoy the time we have left together. Hopefully, he will feel better soon. I know he will die, but for now I want us to get back to living each day as fully as we can. We don't know how much time is left.

The stent is in

I just saw my dad. He looked groggy from the procedure, but the stent is in place.

Back at the end of December when my dad first started vomiting, the doctors thought there was a blockage in the gastrointestinal tract. However, doctors can't see the whole GI tract even when they use both an upper GI scope (EGD) and a lower GI scope (colonoscopy). Both procedures were done on my dad in late December and early January to diagnose the cause of his vomiting and diarrhea. He also had a CT scan done at that time which showed the suggestion of a blockage.

The CT scan from yesterday showed a narrowing in the GI tract. The narrowing is what is believed to be the cause of my dad's vomiting. It is in this area of the gastrointestinal tract that cannot be seen with either scope that my dad has a narrowing. So, Dr. Dua had to be a little creative to get the stent in. He connected a wire to the stent and, therefore, was able to extend the reach of the scope to get the stent in the proper place.

Pictures from the riverboat trip

Here are some pictures from the Mississippi Riverboat trip in June. These are pictures Michael asked me to post, so I am happy to oblige.



My dad sliding down the waterslide on the back of our boat while Michael and Mark are jumping off the top deck. You can unfortunately only see Mark's arm. (Actually, my brother picked another picture to include, but I like this one better.)



My dad, Muriel and Kyle "holding up one of the bridges". This was my dad's idea, and the kids enjoyed playing along.



Finally, my dad is finishing up a John Grisham book on the beach.

A stent enters the picture

I was at the doctor's appointment today with my parents. Many changes are taking place in my dad's treatment.

The CT scan showed a narrowing of the lower portion of the duodenum. (See the diagram below.) The narrowing is caused by the tumor in the pancreas placing pressure on that portion of the digestive tract.


Dr. Ritch set my dad up to have a stent put in tomorrow morning. A stent is a small plastic or metal tube that will keep the duodenum open. It will be done as an outpatient procedure using a GI scope, so no incision! This procedure will be performed by Dr. Kulwinder Dua. Dr Dua was Dr. Ritch's first and only choice to perform this procedure on my dad.

Also, the chemotherapy treatment for today was cancelled. Dr. Ritch wants to wait and see how thing go; then he'll decide about restarting the gemcitabine (chemotherapy drug) or going to another alternative.

I am very hopefully that this stent will improve my dad's quality of life. Ideally, it will stop the vomiting. It is also possible that the stent would enable my dad to eat without "feeling full" on small amounts of food.

The see-saw continues

Last night (Tuesday) my parents came back from Door County. My dad has an appointment with Dr. Ritch scheduled for tomorrow morning along with a CT scan and a chemotherapy treatment. The CT scan will be used this time to try to determine what is causing my dad's vomiting, so we can better manage that symptom.

Unfortunately, my dad has started vomiting again this evening. Hopefully, this bout will be short. More news tomorrow.