Phil's Progress

Buriel video

2009-04-10T12:18:00.005-06:00

Letter Phil wanted read at his funeral

2009-02-22T17:11:00.002-06:00

Dear Friends,

I am writing this letter to you, to tell you that it has been a great ride. The journey started on January 23, 1947. The first born son of Margaret and Frank Ortiz. We moved many times in my youth. So I do not have the memory of my youthful friends. I began a good chapter of my life in September 1961 my first year at Marquette High School. During the entrance exam a young man, Charlie Odya, met and remembered me. I met him again when we began our studies at Marquette. We were friends until he died at 49 years of age. I miss him to this day. While at Marquette I also became friends with Pete Jakubek. He and I talk with each other until a few days ago. He has also been a wonderful friend. I will miss him.

I have three brothers, David, Allen and Stephen and three sisters, Francesca, Mary and Anna. All though we have been separated by distances and difficulties in our lives they have been very supportive and helpful in the past two years. I have fond memories of them and my childhood with them. Thank you for the special things you have done for me.

The next chapter of my life began at the end of 1967. I met the most wonderful woman in the world. Judy Sporer came into my life. From that day until now we have been partners. We have done every together. Life, financial and personal decisions were made together. Judy has made me a better person. She has given me the most wonderful children in the world. My daughter has given me a wonderful son in law and three very special grandchildren. Judy has guided me through the high and low points of my life. We have done a lot of remodeling and building. Judy is a skilled sawsall, chopsaw and nail gun user. When we dreamed for a retirement in Door County we had a lot of work to do. But we were able to live that dream during the last two years. It is a shorter time than we wanted, but it has been a good two years. I will miss her smile and warm tender touches. I will always remember her warm kisses. I will miss dancing with her. I will miss the walks in the woods holding her hand. I will miss holding her at night.

When I married Judy, I married the Sporer family. Mary and Tony were so welcoming and accepting of me, I felt like their son. The whole group have been more than just in laws to me they have been my family for the past 40 years. Bill and Diane, Jim and Nancy, Mary and John and all their families and in laws are very special to me. We have dealt with the good times and the bad times. We have played together and prayed together. We have camped and vacationed. We supported each other and cared for each other. I miss Tony and Mary and will be glad to see them again along with my parents, Margaret and Frank.

My sister in law, Mary, who I adore, has had two wonderful husbands. The present one I met in 1971 and he had been my best friend, comrade-------------- ever since. He has helped me many times on projects and never once ask to have the favor returned. When I think of him and what he means to me I cannot come up with the words. I can only cry. Thanks John for being you.

Mary, reminds me of her mom. Both people wanted to please and tried to make everything fun and included everyone in what ever they did. She is too wonderful for words and Judy and I love her very much.

This last chapter of my life has been difficult and wonderful. It has been hard at times when I have not felt good. Judy has tried her best to take care of me. She has been able to keep track of all of the appointments and stuff that had to be done. We went to Ireland to see the Emerald Isle. In the beginning of summer 2007 all of us went on a 4 day trip on the Mississippi River. That was a great time. Kyle and I sat on the beach, Kyle played in the sand and I read a book while I watched him. We went on the annual Door County Camping trip in 2007 and 2008. John Koss and I made the spaghetti diner. I hope that he and Rhys, Mark and Michael will continue this tradition. I hope that every year you will send a toast to me. In January 2008 Judy, Rhys and I went on a trip to help the Katrina Hurricane survivors and to visit The Jakebek’s and The Fietelberg’s. I went fishing for big fish. Something I never had the opportunity to do before. In the fall of 2008 Michelle, Kyle, Michael, Judy and I went on a trip to Beaver Island, the birth place of John R. McCauley (my grandpa). All of these trips made my last two years wonderful and exciting. Thanks to all.

There were many other trips and people that helped us along this journey but too many to list here. You have been thanked by me before and you all know who you are. I am thanking you again.

Quilting has become an important part of the last two years. It is something I could do without needing a lot of strength and it kept my mind active. Many of you have benefited from my work. Had I lived long enough many more would have. Judy gave me the push when I got down in the dumps and she is a marvelous color coordinator.

Good Bye to All. I love and will miss all of you. Take care and God Bless.

Full Military Honors

2009-01-25T12:19:00.020-06:00

We think that one of the reasons that Phil lived so long was that when they present the flag to you they tell you that it is on behalf of the Presdent of the United States and he did not want us to get a flag from George W.

Another birthday for my dad

2009-01-23T19:13:00.004-06:00

Well, today is my dad's 62nd birthday. His remains were buried this morning by the pond at Holy Cross Cemetery. It was bitterly cold. The wind chill was in the single digits.

My dad was buried with full military honors.

The last day

2009-01-22T16:12:00.000-06:00

On Sunday morning, the day Phil died, was a special day for me. I got up in the morning while everyone was at church and I shaved and bathed Phil. Not an ordinary bed bath, but a soothing way to say good bye. He moved his face as much as he could to help me shave him. I kissed him on the forehead.

Then I gentle washed his face and arms and legs with warm water. I messaged him with lotion. I washed him very lovingly, much like you would stroke a loved one. The bath was very soothing for both of us. After he was all cleaned and changed and his bed was changed I just held his hand. The bath must have taken more than an hour and I was not eager to have it end. His skin was so dry from lack of fluids and the lotion seemed to make it look so nice.

I combed his hair and brushed his teeth with some mouth wash and mouth sponges. He seemed so comfortable. It was very comforting. Later that day his breathing became more labored and his nails more blue. As late afternoon came his lips got a blueish ting to them and his breathing was very labored with long periods of no breathing.

We all went into the dining room to eat supper. I was sure he was not going to need anything because he was incontinent just a hour of two before that. It was unusual for him to be incontinent but he seemed to be sleeping much deeper then usual.

A couple of time during supper I thought of checking on him but the kids and I were having such a nice conversation and I did not want to disturb that. Nothing I would do for Phil was going to change his outcome in anyway. I was sure he could hear us talking and he did not feel alone.

After supper, I walked into the room and there appeared to be no breathing. He was warm and I felt for a pulse. I was pretty sure he was gone but there seem to be a faint pulse in his wrist. I then put my head on his chest and heard nothing and could no longer feel a pulse. I just sat there with him saying good bye over and over mostly in my head.

A few minutes later Michael came by the door and I told him dad was gone. My whole world was gone. I would be forever changed.

Funeral arrangements

2009-01-20T13:38:00.002-06:00

Services to be held on Thursday, January 22 at St. Sebastian Church, 5400 W. Washington Blvd., Milwaukee

Visitation from 4:00 pm until Mass of Christian Burial at 7:00 pm.

My mother will be greeting many people at the services. She feels that my dad would best be honored if people who know him would share a favorite saying of my dad's or a brief anecdote.

Phil: January 23, 1947 - January 18, 2009

2009-01-18T22:23:00.003-06:00

Just yesterday my dad gave me the hand signal that meant he wanted to go to heaven. I responded, "You will, Dad."

God took mercy on my dad this evening. At a little after 7 pm, angels came and guided my dad to heaven.

January 17, 2009

2009-01-17T16:26:00.001-06:00

This morning Phil decided to get up at 4:30 am. I told him yesterday that if he lived one more day I would have to shave him again. He always says that you should not let a woman next to you with sharp objects. I guess he felt he got up at that time of the morning I would not be interested in shaving him and he would get out of it for another day.

Well when he woke he asked to go potty. We did that and he asked me if he was still alive. When I told him he was he said "shit". Then he asked what time and day it was and wanted some water. After several sips of water he requested pain medication. I fell asleep for a while and he reached over and hit my hand and wanted to know where his glasses were. I had put them aside because he was sleeping all the time. He use to tell me he needed them to see his dreams, so I asked him if he needed them to find his way to heaven and he said yes. I placed his glasses on him and in a few minutes he fell back to sleep. All and All he was up about an hour or so.

His breathing is more shallow now and he has long periods of apnea. Maybe that is the last conversation I will have with him. He has not been editing these emails for the last two weeks. I still read the responses to him but many times he is asleep.

Phil is another day older

2009-01-17T00:34:00.000-06:00

Phil is still here. He still communicates with us but sleeps most of the time. He says that he has no pain and he is comfortable. He rarely talks, maybe one sentence a day. He uses all his energy to breath.

A few days ago I thought he was as thin as he could get but he has exceeded all my expectations. He is nothing but a skeleton with skin. His eyes are sunken in and he looks terrible. However, every day I tell him he looks great because I know how saddened he was when he would look at himself and see how thin he was getting. I am glad that he no longer looks at his arms and I would never give him a mirror. Cancer can be so cruel. I just want to hold his hand and keep him close to me.

It is getting late now and I am tired. I will move his bed close to mine and hold his hand as I fall asleep. I will pray that tomorrow he will be gone, because I know that is what needs to be.

stories

2009-01-15T12:42:00.003-06:00

I have a few stories to tell because they are on my mind. The first is that I was instant messaging my son in law and we were talking about it being the end and how hard this was and maybe it would be better to die suddenly.

Well, Phil and I think that we got a pretty good deal here. With the disease that he has he was going to have this last bad month no matter what. The good deal part is that we had two pretty good years to remember when looking back at the past bad month. Had he died in a couple months as many people with pancreatic cancer do we would not have had the past two years to make extra special memories with our family and friends.

He also had the opportunity to have so many people tell him what he meant to them before he died. Those words were just amazing to both him and me. I have kept all the emails and I think that sometime in the future they will be comforting to read. Maybe, I will read them with my children and grandchildren.

One other story just lets you know that Phil was Phil until the end.

When the grandchildren were little Phil would always say that babies including them come from Sears because "Sears has everything" as their ads use to say. The kids made a joke out of it as they got older and it has been a common line in our family.

Two days ago when Phil was asking for the urinal, I asked him when he does not eat or drink "where do you get all this urine from?" He answered "Sears". I just closed my eyes and shook my head.

I hope you appreciate my stories. Thank you all for all you have done to make our lives what it is today. You are all special people.

phil 61 years and 357 days old

2009-01-15T12:36:00.002-06:00

It is a new day and Phil is still with us. He sleeps on and off. Mostly he is sleeping but you never know when he is listening. He talks very little but when you do something he does not like he knows how to use that GD word. He still follows directions only if he wants to. (Nothing new there)

His breathing pattern changed, so he is getting closer to the end. Yesterday, his blood pressure got lower and his pulse higher another sign he is getting closer. However, he still can tell you when he has to use the uninal. I know that because when I ask him why he is moving around last night, he said, "I got to pee, god damm it." I put the urinal in place and he used it. It is nice that he stays dry for the most part, because he does not like me changing his clothes. I think it is too exhausting for him.

When he was talking all the time, he told me it really tired him out to change and get cleaned up. With the new IV medication he does not have any of the spitting and vomiting any more. He asked me for water last night but that was the only time he asked for it yesterday and he only took one sip. He seems almost in a coma but then he moves around and I ask him things and he answers with a nod or a hand signal.

He no longer tells me he loves me but I tell him I love him several times a day.

Later

I had to stop typing because he just told me,"nicely" that he had to go potty quick. After he went potty, the nurse came and he has some rattles in his lungs and his heart rate is going up more and blood pressure going down more. We figure a day or two. But we have been wrong before.

Michael brought some nice music to play for him and I am just sitting on my, bed next to his bed, and listening to him breath. Last week he told me to cut his ear hairs and nose hairs so that he looked good. I look at him now and even though he is thin, I think he looks pretty good. He is clean with clean clothes, a fairly good shave, (I gave him the last one) a nice hair cut, no excess hairs and no sores on his body. I lotioned his skin, because it was so dry, so it is nice an smooth. His dark skin color makes it hard to see that his circulation is as bad as I know it is. He looks peaceful and comfortable.

It will be hard not to have him here next to me, but it is hard to see him be only half of what he was.

Soon, Dad, I pray

2009-01-14T14:49:00.000-06:00

Yesterday my dad told me with his hands that he wanted to go to heaven. I answered, "Soon, Dad. Soon"

I pray God will have mercy on him and take him soon. Please pray, too.

Thank you all for your support over these past two years and two days. Sandwiched between helping my parents and taking care of my own family has left me with a tremendous shortage of time. I regret not being able to respond personally to all of you that have taken the time to email me recently. Please know that your emails mean a great deal to me. They hold me up when I feel weary. I especially love to hear stories of how my dad touched your lives.

Phil's final days

2009-01-14T14:31:00.002-06:00

Yesterday started out with Phil vomiting. I called the doctor and we came up with another new mixture of meds to try to help. They brought it over about 7 pm and he was vomiting when we put it in his IV and he stopped right away. So that is one problem solved.

He slept most of the morning yesterday and in the late afternoon he started to get restless while Roberta Arndorfer was visiting about 2 pm. His restlessness increased throughout the afternoon until his was extremely restless about 6 PM. My sister, brother in law and Michelle, Mark and the kids were here and he was asking for things that did not make sense. The nurse finally came with the new drugs. We hoped the the new drug also would help the restlessness and it did settle him for about 15 min before he started up again. We all tried to settle him with no avail. After two doses of pain meds and two doses of medication to combat the restlessness he fell asleep about 11 pm and did not wake until 4:30 am. I gave him some more medication at that time and he went back to sleep.

He only wakes now if you disturb him to change his clothes or his position. I think that he does hear us talk because he occasionally nods or shakes his head appropriately. However, I think this is probably a turn toward the final stage.

On the other side of the fence, my special godson and nephew Brian and his wife Jane came over this morning. Brian sat with Phil while Jane gave me a massage. Jane and I also spent time talking and it was like I was in heaven myself. They are special people to share with me their rare day off together without children.

Two years have past

2009-01-12T21:31:00.003-06:00

Two years have past since my dad was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. In those two years many of your have asked how you can help. Here is one opportunity. I believe it is possible for future pancreatic cancer patients to have a different fate than my dad will suffer.

Please take the time to contact your U.S. Representative to support the Pancreatic Cancer Research Act (H.R. 7045) using this link. It is too late for my dad to benefit from new pancreatic cancer research. However, it upsets my dad to know that other people will suffer like he has. WE CAN CHANGE THE FUTURE for pancreatic cancer patients. Let's do it!

If you want to know more, follow this link. It explains why more federal funding is a priority.

If you'd rather make a personal donation, follow this link.

Please send me an email to let me know what action you've taken. I'll pass the word on to my dad. He and I will be very moved that people took the time. Thanks.

Contact your U.S. Representative about H.R. 7045

Why federal funding for pancreatic cancer research?

Make a personal donation

January 12

2009-01-12T13:34:00.001-06:00

My computer has been my salvation for the last 2 years. Sending the emails and receiving any response to them lets me know that all of you are listening. This has been my outlet, my way of expressing myself. My way of talking to all you out there who are listening. So far I think that all of you are listening because no one told me to take you off the list. People only ask to be added.

You all asks how I am doing. I am a nurse and you are the friends and relatives. A good nurse would never tell the friends or relatives of a dying person that her personal life sucks. So this is my outlet. When I am sitting here typing, I am writing to no one. I don't hear your voices and see your faces and so I don't see your pain I only feel mine. It is dam miserable to sit here and wait for your husband to die. My whole body aches and I am in pain, arthritis in my knees, pain in my elbow, sciatica from my permanent partial disability of 20 years ago. On top of all that I am depressed and I know longer have anyone to take care of me every day. No one to care for me 24-7 when I get old. All I have is a husband to watch die. Life just sucks. But God only gives burdens to those who can handle them. So I will make it through this and what ever life has to offer in the future. It is what it is and I know there is a reason some where out there for this.

You all ask what can you do. There is really nothing to do. It only takes one person to watch someone die. I have done it many times before and it is not very physically hard for a person as small as him. All he does is ask for the urinal and ice chips once or twice a day and other than that he sleeps and whispers how much he loves me and I tell him he looks great and I love him. Bathing and dressing him only takes a short time and we do it piecemeal so that it does not wear him out too much. He has a young heart and lungs and kidneys and the cancer never went to the liver so he just has had no major organ failure to take him away to the place he wants to be.

Most people have said their goodbyes and we are just waiting and waiting, for what is taking forever. However, I don't want him to leave, there is something comforting to have him here. It is an oxymoron. We pray together every night that God will take him, we say goodbye and then he cusses in the morning when he is still here. Then he falls back asleep.

He is comfortable and just wants to sleep now. He rarely vomits now and we are only giving him pain meds because he says his muscles and joins ache when he moves around. All and all things are not changing.

I am keeping busy by making scrap books of our last two years. It may be tough now but we had a wonderful two years and no one can take that away.

Maybe he is waiting to see Bush get out of office. Only 8 more days.

Love to all of you.

January 11

2009-01-11T09:58:00.005-06:00

Now on the 10th we celebrated Phil's birthday. Phil's birthday is not until the 23rd but God willing he will not make it to the 23rd. Phil only had 2 candles on his cake, two of Michael's ended up at the bottom of the trash so we could not reuse them. Phil's brother in law, Mike, his sister, Anna, Mark, Michael, Michelle and the grandchildren shared in Phil's party. He smiled. It is wonderful to see him smile. He had a taste of the dark chocolate cake with dark chocolate frosting. He said it tasted good.

Phil also found someone last night that liked Gin and Tonic. His sister Anna's husband Mike. So Mike and him had one again last night, well, Mike had two. He really does like them. Phil sipped on his and then spit it out, this way he did not vomit it back up again.

On the 9th he was a bit confused at times so I cut out the ABHR salve that I was putting on him and he did no more vomiting on the 10th than he did on the 9th so we are done with that drug. On the 10th he was not confused at all but slept more.

He spends a lot less time awake now. He woke about 4 pm yesterday and was asleep again by 10 pm. He wakes during the day if you wake him to talk to him but he falls right back to sleep. Talking exhausts him so much that he says very little. He has learned to use sign language well.

It is tough to see him fade away like he is. Although he is comfortable physically he is in a lot of emotional pain. He never thought that this stage would last so long. He has not eaten since Thanksgiving and not much then. He has not had any type of bowel movement for almost two weeks. He has had only sips of juice, water and gin & tonic since he came home from the hospital. We once tried ensure but he vomited that right away. We once tried an IV but he vomited a lot when we gave him that. These are all things that the doctor told him would happen but we needed to try because he was having some bowel movements that were leaking around the obstruction and we hoped it might have opened.

We tried to stand him on the 9th but he was unable to do that. It takes all of his strength to lift his arms up over his head. We pray each night that his suffering ends soon. Yet I love this man and I want him here with me even just for that moment a day when he says "I love you".

Happy birthday to Phil 13 days early.

Michael's party

2009-01-09T22:07:00.003-06:00

On the 9th we celebrated Michael's birthday and it was nice. We gave Michael money because he wants to put it toward a new expensive camera. Phil and I picked out the card when he was up and about but I put the money in it. Phil asked Michael to let him see how much money was in the card and when Michael showed him, he said, I would have only given you $10.00. That got a laugh out of everyone. Phil likes to make it sound like he is really cheap. We only had 4 candles in the house so that is how old Michael had to be.

Today was Michael's birthday and we all sang to him.

Friday

2009-01-09T12:08:00.001-06:00

This is Phil clapping for the Choir.

Yesterday Phil had more visitors. It simply amazes us sometimes who comes to say good bye to him. Phil takes the opportunity to tell people goodbye also. He is staying awake most of the afternoon and evening with dosing here and there. He does have trouble talking so he only whispers.

About 8 PM last night a very special event occurred. The Saint Sebastian Choir, 47 members strong, came to sing christmas carols to him. The gathered on the driveway and sang several carols. Phil laid in his bed with a smile on his face, the window opened, and directed the choir with his arms. It was a special moment.

He also got a phone call from his niece in Australia. He enjoyed that and she sent him a picture of her with ah koalas bear which we got printed.

The weather is bad again, 6-8 inches of snow expected, The snow keeps people in their homes. We don't expect a lot of visitors today but it is nice that Michelle and the kids, my sister and her husband can walk over and Michael lives close by.

Today is Michael's birthday and that is a special day. We are hoping to do something nice with him.

Wed and Thurs

2009-01-08T16:13:00.002-06:00

1/7/2009
Phil is getting closer to the end as I know we all are but his end is closer, I hope, then the rest of ours. He spends most of the time asleep. He wakes and says good bye to those who visit and then falls back to sleep.

I am hoping that we have his vomiting under control finally. That has been tough for the last three days. The answer was reglan, zofram and cut lemons by his bed. I think that the lemons was the only thing that really worked because the drugs did not work until we tried the lemons. The hospice nurse suggested it. Anyway, we are going to keep giving the drugs because we don't want the vomiting to return and experimenting is not our goal.

The kids are spending a lot of time here and that is good. They answer the phones and greet the guests. They are a blessing to have. My sister and her husband have spent a lot of time and that is also good. People who need are welcome to come and say their good byes. I told him he is not allowed to die on the 9th because that is Michael's birthday and that would really suck for him so he has agreed. He would like to schedule it for today.

1/8/09
Yesterday was a good day for him. In the afternoon he perked up a bit. While visiting with Michael he asked to have his irish cross replaced and the replacement blessed. He lost the cross that he wore around his neck when he had a CAT scan done. They asked him to take it off and he lost it and never found it again. I bought it for him when he got prostate cancer and he wore it always. Michael left and went to buy one and that was much easier than finding a priest to bless it. Thank you Father Bob for being available.

While Michael was gone he was visiting with his sister, Anna, and decided that he wanted a gin and tonic. We found the gin but had to call Michael and tell him to also pick up the lime and tonic.

Later, my sister, Mary and her husband, John, came over with cup cakes to celebrate John and Michael's birthdays. John's birthday is today and Michael's is tomorrow. About 8:30, the guys toasted with their gin and tonic, which I have to tell you Michael and John do not like. Then with the candles lit Michelle, Rhys, Muriel, Mary and I sang Happy Birthday to Michael and John.

We laughed and Phil drank some of his gin and tonic. He said it tasted great but did throw it up a couple hours later, which he knew would happen. We then all watched Barbara Walter's interview with Patrick Swayze who is also dying of Pancreatic Cancer. While watching it we could see how much we were like them at that stage of the illness. We had a good day. Thank God for good days.

This morning I got up and druged my husband, crated my dogs and spent 20 min. soaking in a hot bath.

Jan 6, 2009

2009-01-06T09:37:00.002-06:00

Phil is getting much weaker and we got a hospital bed for him yesterday. The bed is making him more comfortable because it is an air bed with pockets that go up and down alternately. Now that he says that it is comfortable and I doubt that he will ever get out of it.

We got a lot of films and suggestions. The one he seems to like the most are the Johnny Carson tapes that his brother-in-law John brought. They don't require a lot of attention span and he does not have much anymore.

We got some new medication for the vomiting and that seems to be helping a bit. He is to the point where he most enjoys hand holding and one on one conversations. Not a lot of questions about how he feels. These last days don't seem to be the best. He is tired of this part of the journey and is scared but ready for it to end. As much as we would like it to end neither one of us want him to die. It is a dilemma that I am sure everyone has at this point.

2009-01-05T22:03:00.002-06:00

Phil had a special thing happen. His grandson Rhys got his star rank in boy scouts. Phil was very proud.

Constant changes

2009-01-05T10:48:00.004-06:00

Another message from my mom:

This is a new day and we are trying to figure what works best for us so be patient with our constant changes. He changes every day so that is a problem. He can only handle one conversation at a time in the room. He has trouble focusing on too many things happening at once. He does enjoy talking about old and funny stories.

We really enjoy reading emails especially the ones that talk about funny stories and all sorts of stories about his life. Because there is not time to look to the future, looking to the past is enjoyable for him. I know that everyone cannot visit and a whole house full is too much for him anyway, but we can schedule one or two hour or even 15 min visits for those who want to come. Others can send email stories or just mention a good time we had with you. I read him all the emails, and he usually is part of the response if one is needed.

He also likes watching funny movies. You know the silly ha ha belly shaking kind. Any suggestions would be welcome.

Phil and Judy Ortiz

Jan 2, 2009

2009-01-02T11:24:00.002-06:00

Just an update on "the man".

He has not eaten more than a tablespoon of food a day since Thanksgiving. He drinks about a cup of liquid a day and vomits occasionally. He weighed about 90 lb. last week. He is very weak and walks with a walker and assistance. He wears oxygen because it makes him more comfortable. He does not have enough strength to dress or wash himself. I get him up about noon and get him cleaned up and moved to the couch. About 11 PM I take him back to the bedroom stopping at the bathroom. He rarely has pain and when he does I give him medication and it goes away. God must still have some plans for him to keep him going this long.

He is usually awake and most talkative in the mid to late afternoon. He enjoys company and reminiscing. However, he has not had much company lately. The grandchildren have the flu and our son is on a business trip to New York. The dogs love sitting on the couch with him. This is the hardest stage for both of us.

We also love reading emails.

Love to all of you and God bless,

Happy New Years

2009-01-01T01:01:00.003-06:00

Lady over did it.

Happy New years everyone. Phil is getting weaker but still doing well.

Return to Tosa

2008-12-28T00:58:00.001-06:00

Our last day in door county.

email from a friend

2008-12-27T15:37:00.002-06:00

I wanted to share this email with you because many of you will remember these events and I thought you might enjoy the memories Allen Miller sent:

I am so grateful for the "Memory Quilt" that Phil made for me. It is hanging in my living room, and will be as long as I have a living room. There are so many unique memories from our 35+ years of friendship like

...... how many different camping-related experiences over the years, manifested in later years with Peninsula week (weeks). Dells balloon weekend, Father's Day at Long Lake, Lake Ottowa, New year's partys to fill out reservations for you to hand carry, Ries' packing up in the night, hayrides with Judy chasing the wagon to pass on the root-beer schnaps, bottles around the campfire, girl scout song sheet singalongs/fire starters, Park Purity Patrol, burying the kids in the sand (and vice-versa), picking cherries, transporting in water-filled coolers, making cherry bounce, masses at the campground with Fr Tom

......brownie scout activities with Terry, and me sometimes (camping weekend), scout names like Sunshine, Petunia, Honey, Bluebird, knot-tying, crafts planning and making, ceremonies

......"Irish I Had A Schlitz" T-shirt that Phil gave me for helping him pick up 2 hot-water heaters from Sears at Brookfield for your duplex

......"Lordy Lordy Jim's Forty" (and everyone after that who turned 40)......"Allen has a perfect score, boys 0 girls 4" sign, which then became "Good friends live here" that I had fun hanging on your window without you seeing

......the Ortiz family including me in their large family Holiday dinners, Phil's efforts to find a companion for me, extra efforts to include a single person in a world of couples

......dances at Sebs with tables of friends for me to fall asleep at

......rum and cola, not diet - except I never had any but diet

Phil, you are the "Friendship Star", the quilt is the symbol of how you lived your life. See you around the stump, my friend...

December 27, 2008

2008-12-27T13:50:00.004-06:00

We continue to celebrate with the family in our Door County home.

Phil is helping Rhys with his spread sheet.

The kids were busy making a snow man that Phil could see from the window. All had a great time. Phil laughed at them. They threw snowballs as part of the fun.

It ended up to be a snowlady. She might date Michael.

I took my walk in the woods today with the dogs. During that time I snapped this picture. The thing about our woods is that everyday God paints a different picture of the same trees.

Phil is weaker today but still seeing guests. Holly, the librarian and Rich Woldt visited for about an hour today. He is getting very weak. He walks with a walker most of the time. He had to have Michael help him shave today. He has taken a lot of time talking to each of the kids and grandchildren. The entire Christmas in Door experience has been wonderful and a fitting way to close the journey, if God chooses.

Christmas Letter

2008-12-25T11:17:00.005-06:00

This is the Christmas letter for this year.

The presents are all opened and the kids are absorbed in their new gifts. It is quiet and Phil is on the couch with Lady. Tilly is on my lap. Mark, Michelle and Michael are still in bed or at least on the lower level. Christmas music is playing and all is peaceful. The sun is shining through the woods and the trees are wrapped in snow. So many windows, every where you look their is beautiful trees and forest. God paints the greatest pictures.

We went to church last night and they had a kids mass. It was wonderful, the kids played out the Christmas story and we were able to get Phil to mass. The usher talked to a man and he willingly gave up his seat, so Phil could sit and see the kids. Then he made sure that someone came down the isle to give him communion.

So many wonderful strangers. So many wonderful friends and family. It is impossible to explain how much everyone has meant to us in the past year. We have taken many trips but the greatest gift we have received in the past year is the people, friends and family and even strangers who have helped us along the way.

As I sit here and see my husband, whom I love dearly, failing, tears come to my eyes. He told me this morning that living through Christmas was his gift to me. I told him I never had a better one. Muriel showed him an ornament and he had trouble telling what it was. He sleeps a lot more now and has trouble tracking things. His conversations are more confusing because he gets so many things mixed up and remembers things all wrong. However, the children and grandchildren are wonderful and so kind to him. He smiles when they show him their things and truly enjoys having them around.

Life is good right now and God has helped us through this journey. Every moment is special. I wish all of you the most blessed Christmas of all. I hope God is special in all your lives as he is in ours. Treasure these moment with family and friends. Finally, never forget to love one another, life is to short.

Judy Ortiz

Phil dictated this added statement:

I want to thank all the people who prayed for us, especially the people who have helped do things for Judy and I to make these last two years beautiful, special, loving and caring. It would not be right to name anyone in particular because all the things that were done, small, medium and large meant something to me in different ways. The tree stump is very close, Amen. God bless, take care and keep the faith. (Thank you, Judy).

Phil Ortiz

December 23, 2008

2008-12-24T11:21:00.001-06:00

We went to Door County today. The roads were snowy but we made it safe and sound. We are all going to be together for the Holy Day.

When we arrived we had a special treat. Rich, a freind from Door County had the house all ready for us. Decorations put up, a turkey in the freezer and a ham in the refrig.

December 22, 2008

2008-12-22T21:27:00.005-06:00

Phil went to the Sporer Christmas party on Saturday. He had a great time and got lots of hugs and kisses from the Great-nieces and nephews. The kids are all very special to him and he told them all to vote Democratic in the future.

Our plan now is to leave tomorrow afternoon for Door County and return on Sunday.

Phil was vomiting today and is weak but still talking to people. His sister, Mary, came to see him today. She is here from TX.

Merry Christmas to all.

Wii

2008-12-22T11:00:00.006-06:00

I need to show you all why Phil is having so much fun with the Wii system even though he does not have the strength to play it.

This is Kyle playing baseball against the computer:

This is Kyle playing tennis against Rhys.

December 18, 2008

2008-12-19T19:20:00.002-06:00

Just an update. Phil has been vomiting again. Only once per day so far and only a small amount. No poop since Wed night. He is still taking visitors and recieved a bobble head Miller Beer Deliver Guy today from a special friend that works at Miller. Thanks you the younger Jim Arndorfer. Phil is very proud of his new gift.

Finally, we got ourselves some entertainment while locked in the house. It is a Wii system. Very cool. Michael bought one too. I understand that we can connect it to the internet and play against each other with out leaving our homes. The grandchildren moved all the furniture in the living room to make room for the three of them to play tennis and baseball and to bowl. Phil is their cheerleader and has a great time whatching kyle laugh at the reruns of himself. It is a great Christmas present for all and I get excersize while playing dancing with the stars and bowling.

Also check out the web page www.am920thewolf.com. The following is the wording on it. Also, we got a letter from the DJ Gregory Jon. The letter follows the web information.

Phil's Christmas spirit is alive and well
Friday 12-19-2008 10:07am CT
Here's an update on Phil
Hi Greg,
Phil is still with us, riding up and down on life's roller coaster, some days are good some not so good as he continues with his cancer. He keeps on going like an "Energizer rabbit" even though he gets a little weaker each day. He smiles, shares stories with all that call or stop in to visit and keeps a positive attitude.... something that most people find hard to do.
This week, his brother returned from Kosovo and with another brother and sister stopped in to share family photos and memories along with Phil and family. They visited Phil for 6 1/2 hours and he said this seemed to perk him up, bringing laughter and tears to all. He is still waiting for his sister and brother who live in Texas and are planning to do a road trip to visit, we hope that the weather won't postpone their trip.
I have also attached a picture of Gus (my Bischon) Wilbur (my daughter's Bischon/Poodle) Tilly (Phil's Poodle) Phil (he is the one with glasses) Lady (Phil's Bischon/Poodle) Red (a neighbor's Bischon/Poodle) Gus and Tilly are husband and wife and are the proud parents of Gus, Lady, Red and two other Bischon/poodles. They bring lots of joy and smiles to Phil's life each day.
I thought I would give you an update and thank you and WOKY for all your kind words and prayers.John and Mary
Phil's Christmas Wish was granted
Wednesday 12-10-2008 5:09pm CT
Here's the latest on Phil
Hi Gregory
Here is a picture of the print that hangs on Phil's bedroom wall, it is about 5 feet high by 8 feet long and brought a smile that was almost as big to his face. Phil is still with us, fading away each day in weight and health but not in spirit.... he must have some things that he needs to complete before he concludes the final chapter in his book of life.
A person came forth and donated the print to Phil and the family at no cost and in less than 12 hours when they heard about Phil's request for a fall scene with a tree. I would love to acknowledge the person, however, he wishes to remain anonymous, My guess is hearing about the smile that it made on Phil's face was thanks enough. There are people in this world that do kind acts like this one, making huge differences in a person's final days.
Please share my thanks to all the well wishers, friends and relatives of the family that keep calling, stopping to visit and sending cards to Phil. I am sure that is why he is still with us for another day.
I will keep you aware of Phil's final journey as it changes a bit more each day.

Thanks again,
John
This is what Christmas is all about
Friday 12-05-2008 1:36pm CT
Here's an e-mail I recieved this week. (I left out their last names}
Good Morning Greg,
I have a very urgent Christmas Wish for my brother-in-law who is on his way to heaven in the next couple of days/weeks. He is in the final stages and days with pancreatic cancer, this is his third cancer in his lifetime (each of a different type) and the one that he won't beat this time. His name is Phil and his wish for his final day would be that he would walk in to the woods in Door County during the fall, sit down under a tree looking at the beautiful colors that the Lord provided and doze off to meet his maker in heaven. Well, this won't happen since he is in home hospice with only days to weeks left before his final chapter in life comes to an end. I would like to find an artist to paint this tree/fall mural or someone who could take a digital photo that I would provide and make a print that would cover his bedroom wall behind his bed. This would be the most wonderful final gift to one of the best people that was ever put on this earth. If the"Wolf" could make a "Holiday Wish" like this one happen, I am sure that Phil would have a smile on his face for the remaining days of his life and for eternity.
John and MaryJen came through...
Hello,
I heard the request for fall pictures. I hope these are acceptable/enjoyable. They happen to be of my/and my parents yard. I live in Northern Wisconsin, and commute to the Southern part of the state to go to school (about a 5 hour drive).
Included in these pic's are a picture of Buddy(he's the one driving the sled, I'm shotgun). He was a therapy dog and I took him to the local nursing home on a weekly basis. Buddy's previous owner threw him away, and I adopted him from a local shelter when he was 6 years old. I lost Buddy this year he was 14 years old. (The other picture of Buddy is with my dad on the hill). Adopting Buddy was the best thing I have ever done. He brought such joy (and was a driving force behind me making it thru an extremely terrible and traumatic event).
Please encourage your listeners to consider adoption when looking for a pet.
Saturday the 6th will be my first birthday without Buddy, and unfortunately I will not be able to get home because I am down here at school. So please play a song for my little angel.I hope these pictures are what you are looking for. Click Here I enjoy your station when I'm doing homework on the computerJen

Letter:

Hi John and Mary,

That's such great news. I chatted with Archbishop Timothy Dolan this morning, and he said he'd say a special prayer for Phil. I do have some more pictures and a DVD for Phil from a listener. If you'd like you could pick them up next week. Hopefully there won't be another snow storm. Thank you for letting all of us share in this true Christmas story.

Greg

Wyatt (black)

2008-12-18T12:00:00.000-06:00

Lady on the left and Wyatt on the right.

Wyatt on the right and Lady on the left.

This is another picture of Tilly's puppy who came to spend some special time with us on Wed evening. Check out tillyspups.blogspot.com for more pictures.

Tilly's pups

2008-12-17T16:34:00.003-06:00

We have one more picture of one of the puppies. This is one mailed to us of Blue. His name is Rusty. They said they were going to name him Buddy, but they changed it to Rusty.

December 17, 2008

2008-12-17T16:30:00.003-06:00

Phil is doing well. The roller coaster continues. We do not know why or how it happens but yesterday Phil perked up. He is again eating, and he has had bowel movements. I am not sure that he is completely unblocked. The cancer is still raging in his abdomen, but he has stabilized for now. It must be the prayers. He has again confounded the doctors.

This morning he called Michael and asked him to bring over an Egg McMuffin. He ate 1/2 of it. His brother-in-law John called, and he told him he felt great.

From left to right: David, Alan, Judy, Phil, Mike, Anna and Pat

Last night, Phil's brothers Alan and David, David's wife Pat, Phil's sister Anna and Anna's husband Mike all came to dinner. We ordered carry out chinese. Michelle and her family joined us, too. Phil had a wonderful time and even ate some supper. He also had some dessert. They talked from about 4 PM until 10:30 PM. It was just wonderful remembering old times. His cousin Pat and wife Mary were just leaving when David and Pat arrived. Mary and Pat brought old pictures of the family. Lots of laughs and memories of youth.

Now we are planning on going to the Sporer family christmas party on Saturday and then going to Door County for christmas next Wednesday, weather permitting.

Puppy visit

2008-12-14T21:04:00.006-06:00

Phil and I had 3 of the puppies together with mom and dad on Saturday. It was fun but hard to get them all to sit together for a picture. We had Red who looks just like Gus, dad, except he was in need of a hair cut at the time. Wilbert is also apricot colored and the biggest, he has a red harness on. Mom, Tilly has a heart tag around her neck. Lady is the smallest of all. In the above picture Gus is on the left end, then Wilbert, then Tilly, Phil and Lady, with Red on the right end.

Rhys had got Red with the red tag on the left had side of the picture and Wilbert on the right hand side. He has Gus on the right side of the floor and Lady between his legs and Tilly on the left hand side.

They all played together and we had a great time watching them.

the radio and my brother in law

2008-12-13T11:13:00.001-06:00

http://www.am920thewolf.com/pages/Gregory.html Check this out and also the back page of Saturday's cue section on the bottom.

December 12, 2008

2008-12-12T10:34:00.003-06:00

I need to tell everyone that Michael is working from our house one day a week now. What a wonderful son. The first day he came, I went to the spa and got a massage and it was Michael's treat. Wow did I feel special.

Michelle and the kids came over yesterday and we watched Mary Poppins. Phil enjoyed it and it was a nice afternoon. Things have been very nice. I got my christmas present from Michelle also and we gave out our Christmas presents to all the grandchildren and Michelle and Mark. Michael only wants money to help him buy a very expensive camera so we will give him that anytime. Every one seems to enjoy their gifts and I also go my gift from Michelle. I got chains for my shoes. They go on like rubbers but they grip the ice and snow when you walk. I walked the dogs this morning and did not slip on the icy sidewalks at all. I am very happy. Thank you Michelle.

December 11, 2008

2008-12-11T11:01:00.001-06:00

Phil has been eating about 1/2 cup of food a day and taking in about two cups of liquid. He occasionally has a little bowel movement that is liquid. He is alert and orientated. He sometimes gets things more confused than usual. He is taking morphine long acting two times a day and short acting at least once a day. His stomach does get upset and we give him meds for that every day. He has vomited 3 times since we came home but nothing in the past week. He is comfortable and depending how much morphine he has had decides his talkativeness.

He is getting weaker but continues to plug along and has been enjoying his visitors. He is amazing. Phil's brother will be coming home from Kosovo on Monday and I am sure that Phil will be around to visit with him.

Judy

Grandpa and Rhys

2008-12-09T23:15:00.002-06:00

This is a photo of my dad and Rhys taken at the end of November on Rhys's 14th birthday.

Here are Rhys and my dad 14 years earlier on the day Rhys was born. (Rhys was born on Thanksgiving Day.)

Michelle's quilt

2008-12-08T12:42:00.003-06:00

This is another picture of Michelle's quilt

December 8

2008-12-08T11:34:00.007-06:00

Phil is getting somewhat weaker. He is still enjoying friends. He is taking morphine and Zofram to keep him from being uncomfortable and nauseated. He is doing some "poopies" as he calls it, but not enough to make a difference. He sips on juices and water maybe a cup full a day and takes in a taste of food when he feels like it. He had some popcorn and watched a movie with Rhys and Muriel last night till 11pm.

We have gotten trees in our bedroom thanks to an anonymous donor.

The following are some pictures from taken in the last few days.

Check out the the pants from phil's grandson. This is Phil and Lady.

Phil and his cousin Pat McCauley.

Phil, his cousin Pat and a long time special friend Jim Ries.

The visits and emails have been exceptional. Thank you all. Thanks again for the prayers.

Getting weaker

2008-12-05T09:40:00.001-06:00

We have put away the quilting as Phil can no longer do that. He has been able to talk to people when they come and he stills enjoys the company. Since coming home he has ate some pot roast that Jim Arndorfer made and smelled so good he had a piece of potato and carrot. He had a sugar cookie that Jim Ries brought him. (He told Jim that he could not come without his famous cookies). He had a teaspoon full of gillies chocolate custard brought by Jim Bors. Also he has taken some sips of water and juice. He did vomit last night and no longer poops, so no more intake. He is getting weaker and weaker and the time is coming closer.

People are doing amazing things and saying amazing things about him and the way he touched peoples lives. We enjoy reading all the emails and blog comments that have been sent.

I told Phil that all these years I thought people only liked him because I was so great. He said he thought the same thing and we laughed. Phil says that is one of the benefits of dying slowly. You get to hear what people thought of you.

It has been an interesting journey. However, soon he will be at the ultimate end with the One who loves him the most.

Christmas Wish

2008-12-05T08:50:00.002-06:00

Today I got this email from a dear brother-in-law (special friend). A man with the biggest heart I know and I cried.

Phil and Judy,

I wrote an e-mail a couple of days ago to WOKY 920am as part of their 2008 Chrismas Wish program. This morning, Gregory Jon aired this request at 7:30 and I am sure that it will be on several time through the day and week. Maybe, with all the Country Western listners in the Milwaukee area, I will get an e-mail or call and we will put the smile that I am asking for on Phil's Face.

John

Good Morning Greg,

I have a very urgent Christmas Wish for my brother-in-law who is on his way to heaven in the next couple of days/weeks.

He is in the final stages and days with pancreatic cancer, this is his third cancer in his lifetime (each of a different type) and the one that he won't beat this time. His name is Phil Ortiz and his wish for his final day would be that he would walk in to the woods in Door County during the fall, sit down under a tree looking at the beautiful colors that the Lord provided and doze off to meet his maker in heaven. Well, this won't happen since he is in home hospice with only days to weeks left before his final chapter in life comes to an end.

I would like to find an artist to paint this tree/fall mural or someone who could take a digital photo that I would provide and make a print that would cover his bedroom wall behind his bed. This would be the most wonderful final gift to one of the best people that was ever put on this earth.

If the"Wolf" could make a "Holiday Wish" like this one happen, I am sure that Phil would have a smile on his face for the remaining days of his life and for eternity.

John Koss

Life and Death

2008-12-04T19:14:00.005-06:00

One of our friends sent us this after a seminar that they went to and Phil and I thought is was a great way to understand what we believe. We want to share it with all of you.

The Professor used the following analogy to describe life after death. "Perhaps the following analogy will make the interpretation more intelligible. If we wish to send a rocket equipped with sensitive data-gathering instruments into outer space, we must join it to a much larger and heavier rocker booster filled with physical fuel. The booster and its fuel enable the delicately equipped rocket to be launched and propelled beyond the tug of the earth's gravitational field. At that critical stage in the rocket's history, its booster is no longer needed and has become an impediment to the attainment of the rocket's "higher" destiny. The rocket, accordingly, has been designed to separate from the booster so that the rocket may soar into outer space and commence its goal of acquiring new information about out vast and awe-inspiring universe."

The rocket booster in this analogy may be compared to our physical body. The detached rocket is comparable to our conscious spiritual center, which, having been "launched" by our physical body and its physical energy, is designed to separate from the physical body and survive its dissolution. We will then be ready to enter into our "higher" destiny of conscious participation in God's eternal Self-exploration. We cannot say what form the spiritual enery of our personal center will then have. We will have to wait and "see"."

December 3, 2008

2008-12-04T00:02:00.011-06:00

Phil is home and feeling well. He has had a lot of visitors and it has been nice. He continues to work on his quilts and has gotten some tree pictures, offers of live trees and two large fake trees showed up in our small bedroom when we returned. All have made us smile and laugh. However we still have not completely solved our mural for the bedroom wall, but people are coming up with possible places we could get it done. I anticipate will have it solved by the end of the week.

Here are some more quilt pictures and a picture taken today of Phil with a friend and his new Amvets hat. He is now a member of the Sturgeon Bay group of veterans.

Phil and Rich Woldt

My cousin's quilt

Phil's brother's

A Christmas Quilt

My niece (Friendship Star)

My nephew (pinwheel)

Milky Way for my son-in-law Mark

More quilt pictures

2008-12-03T20:30:00.001-06:00

These are some pictures of the queen size quilt that my dad and mom made for me. They gave it to me for my birthday last year. The inscription reads "Door County Wild Flowers will shine on you Forever. Dad + Mom 2007". It is beautiful, and I love it.

The final weeks

2008-12-02T17:46:00.007-06:00

Another update from my mom:

They say no news is good news. Well, you are getting news so it is not good.

We have had a wonderful two years. We have fulfilled a lot of dreams. However, we need to accept God's plan as it is.

The CAT scan done on December 1st showed that Phil has a blood clot in the lungs which we are not bothering to treat because it is inconsequential. It also showed that there is fluid built up in his abdomen from the cancer. Again, we are not going to try to remove it at this time because it is not causing him any discomfort. There is a cancer mass in the lower abdomen. Finally, the bowel obstruction is not cleared. It may not be complete any more, but it is not cleared.

They have removed the tube going to his stomach through his nose and he is much more comfortable without it (and he no longer looks like an elephant.) They have taken out all the IV's and he can drink and eat what he wants (which is little or nothing). He is taking no pain medications because he is not uncomfortable at all. He is reading his books and trying to finish some quilting before he goes. Phil is sorry that he will not get to make quilts for all the people he wanted to make them for.

They are delivering some equipment that we need to the house, and we are going home to Wauwatosa. Because he would like to die under a tree in Door County, we are planning on bringing a tree like setting to the bedroom in Wauwatosa. Paint the wall, put up wall paper of a picture of the trees on the land or something like that. We are not sure yet, but I would like to make something like that happen for Phil.

To our relatives, old friends and new friends, thank you all for sharing this journey with us.

God bless you all,
Phil and Judy

Monday night 12/1

2008-12-01T23:51:00.000-06:00

No real news yet. Lots of visitors today and that was enjoyable. Tilly even came to visit and we hope that Lady will make it tomorrow. Phil is feeling pretty good now.

No more pain and they have taken out the catheter so he could pee on his own. They also took off the oxygen and he is happy to be connected to less tubes. He is passing some stool but the doctors are not saying that he is totally unblocked. In fact the one xray that they did do this morning shows the blockage to be about the same as last night and his stomach is still distended.

He had the CAT scan at 8 PM tonight. The doctors told us that they will not give us the results of that until tomorrow. He still has the tube in his nose and no one is talking about taking it out anytime soon. In fact if it makes him too uncomfortable to have it out, they are talking about ways to put it in permanently by putting it into his stomach through a hole in his abdomen. This way when he gets sick to his stomach or gets stomach pain we could open it and suck out the bad stuff without going to the hospital. The doctors are also recommending that he start on hospice service when he gets home.

Hopefully we will have more information tomorrow. He is feeling really good now he is quilting again and walking all over the hospital.

My plan is to go home for a while tomorrow and get cleaned up. However, I don't want to miss all the doctors. There was about 15 here today but only three teams. The medical team only has one doctor. The surgical team has 10-13 and the palliative care team has 3. They come in at all times and come back and forth all day.

Monday Morning 12/1

2008-12-01T09:03:00.003-06:00

Thank you everyone for your support. We enjoyed reading the emails. A comment made by Karen Orellana under "surgery not an option" and an email sent by Abbe Feidelberg were great and made us laugh out loud. Both of these were memories of Phil. We are so thankful for the wonderful friends we made through the years. All those people praying have really helped.

Phil will be having the CAT scan done about 7PM tonight so we don't expect to know anything until tomorrow.

However, the good news is that he has had somewhat of a bowel movement this morning, so we just may be proving the doctors wrong again. At least there is a glimmer of hope. So many people praying is turning out to have more effect than the doctors and their doom and gloom.

More updates will come as they happen.

Judy

Room number update

2008-11-30T17:52:00.004-06:00

My dad was not put in the room that my mom originally thought he would be in. He is in 2 North Tower Room 30 (or 2NT30).

The doctors and my parents are still planning to do the CT scan tomorrow. They are assuming that his kidneys will recover enough to make that possible.

My parents are waiting for the results of the scan to decide what course of action to take next.

Surgery not an option

2008-11-30T13:52:00.014-06:00

My mom sent out the following email this afternoon.

Things have not progressed in the right direction. Phil has a complete bowel obstruction and his kidneys have taken another hit over the past week.

We are at Froedtert Hospital. Came here at 7:30 this morning. Phil is not in a condition that will allow surgery.

The obstruction is in his lower intestines. The stint is clear and not a problem. The obstruction could be caused by two things either the cancer or adhesions from an old surgery. Most likely it is the cancer that is causing the obstruction.

We could make a better guess as to what is causing the obstruction if we could do a cat scan. However, he cannot do the cat scan until his kidneys are good enough to get rid of the cat scan dye. He also needs to get premedicated for the cat scan because he is allergic to the dye. The plan right now is to do the cat scan tomorrow if his kidneys are ok. Doing a cat scan without the dye would not give us a real answer.

No matter what the cause of the obstruction, two things can happen. It can resolve by itself which it has not done yet. He has probably been blocked since Monday night. I have been giving him IV's at home since Tue. Or he will only be with us for a very short time because you cannot live with an obstruction.

Obstructions that are going to resolve usually do that in 3-5 days per the surgeon. Right now he has an nasal gastric tube from his nose to his stomach and IV running. They will put a cath in his bladder to measure his intake and output. Oxygen to help his shortness of breath. He is comfortable.

He is watching the packers lose right now. We are taking him to room 4NE-25.

If it does not resolve in a few days, we will take him home.

Michael, do not come rushing home. If you get snowed in up in Green Bay and have to stay in Egg Harbor, give us a call from Egg Harbor. I am doing OK right now and will be happier when we know the results of the scan.

Phil and Judy Ortiz

Please continue to keep my family in your prayers (as I know many of you do). My mom does have her laptop at the hospital, so she can receive emails and will also be notified of comments left here on the blog. My mom's sister Mary is going to the hospital soon. My cousin Melissa and I are going to run an errand for my mom.

I know many of you regularly check the blog for updates. I wanted to let you know that you can subscribe to the blog. Updates will then be delivered to your email inbox. In the navigation bar on your browser there should be an RSS feed logo (shown below in its many forms). Clicking on that should get you started. Email me if you need help or have questions.

Bowel obstruction

2008-11-30T09:39:00.003-06:00

My dad is at the Froedert Emergency Room with my mom. He was bloated and short of breath. The diagnosis is bowel obstruction. She is waiting for the surgeon to come and explain the treatment options.

Thanksgiving

2008-11-29T10:37:00.007-06:00

My dad was able to make it to Thanksgiving dinner this year at Mary and John's. He didn't eat much. For many years my dad has been making the turkey, packing it up and transporting it where ever dinner was being held. He had planned to make the turkey again this year with help from Mark and Rhys. He was unable to do much more than direct Mark to the correct recipe book. Mark and Rhys put the 24-pound bird together and made the dressing, too. Later my dad said that the turkey was good.

Update from Mom

2008-11-28T22:28:00.003-06:00

We came home for Michelle's, Rhys' and my sister's birthdays and Thanksgiving, so we have been in town for about two weeks.

During this time we had someone replace all the windows in the house in Tosa. They look beautiful. Now they need to be stained and varnished but that can wait. The ones for the tenant are vinyl so only ours need the work. That is for another day.

Things have been going down in the last several days. Phil started to have more pain and so he was taking a lot of the vicodin and then he started having bad stomach cramps and took more vicodin. That began the constipation that sent us to the doctor and then he got on some morphine and then we started giving him laxatives and enemas. He finally started pooping and now has very bad diarrhea and is eating next to nothing. We are making some other changes in his medications to see what we can do but this episode of problems has taken a lot out of him and we do not know our next plans.

He is getting another CAT scan done on Tue and then is scheduled to see the doctor the following week. Maybe we will get some more information but right now things are not good. Here's hoping tomorrow is better. Keep us in your prayers. Judy

More pain and Germany

2008-11-25T15:43:00.022-06:00

My mom took my dad to see the Palliative Care Team at the Froedert Cancer Center this afternoon. He started having pain late this morning. Usually the pain subsides in a short period of time. This time was different. Vicodin (hydrocodone) didn't offer any relief.

He took the Vicodin just before his 12:00 appointment at the barber shop. He was in too much pain to drive himself, so I drove him there. We figured that the pain would follow the usual course. The Vicodin would kick in, and he would be more comfortable soon. However, that didn't happen. He was in a great deal of pain during the whole outing. Tom (the barber) and I struggled at small talk during my dad's haircut, but it was very difficult for us both to see my dad clearly in so much physical pain.

After the barber shop, my dad received a call back from the Palliative Care Team. He and my mom went in to see one of the nurses. She prescribed two additional pain medications: oxycodone and morphine. He is also constipated and was given some Milk of Magnesia. Constipation can be a side effect of Vicodin. It is impossible to know at this point whether the pain is being caused by the cancer tumors or the constipation or a combination of the two.

Just yesterday, my dad was feeling well enough to celebrate Rhys's birthday with my family and I. My dad had taken some Vicodin before he and my mom came over. He and Mark discussed the state of the economy. Also, my parents spent some time studying online maps.

My parents were using Google maps satellite views to try to find the house that we lived in in Germany. For about the first year of my life, my dad stationed in Germany and working at a U.S. Army Base in Zweibrocken. He was drafted during the Vietnam War. My mom, my dad our dog Co-co and I lived in Hornbach. There are five buildings in a row on the west side of Brenschelbacher. (The street name is over the image of the houses. You'll need to uncheck the "labels" box under "satellite" to see the houses on the west side of the street.) The house we lived in is the one with the reddish brown roof in the middle of that group.

Quilt pictures

2008-11-08T19:14:00.007-06:00

Part of Muriel's Double Irish Chain

Block for friends Pete and Pat: Friendship

Muriel's Twin Bed Quilt: Double Irish Chain

John's Flag Quilt

Rhys's Twin Bed Theme Quilt: Sand, Marsh, Loons and Sky

Michael's Queen Bed Quilt: Light Houses

Mary's Quilt: Cultivate Kindness

Kyle's Twin Bed Quilt: Silly Safari

For a friend, Sue (all hand done): Indiana Rose

Another update from my mom

2008-11-03T08:20:00.003-06:00

As you all know Phil has stopped his chemo treatments and now he is able to eat better and has more energy. He is getting Physical Therapy to increase his strength and that is helping. He takes his supplements so his calorie count is better. So in a general way he is doing better than when he was taking the Chemo. That is the good news but there is always another side.

Since May he has been having more and more symptoms of the cancer. Pain that he never had before began this summer. Many times it went away with tylenol or motrin but in September we got a Rx for Vicodin and he has been taking that on occasion. The pain is usually not, but sometimes, intense. Most of the time it is just nagging and in his back and stomach.

No more obstructions though so that is something that is very good. Sometimes when the diarrhea is really bad I give him some IV solution to help with the dehydration. He occasionally vomits but usually only once and then he is better. So the stints are still working.

He is extremely bloated and takes a lot of gas-x and metamucil type products which seen to do the trick as long as he doesn't forget them. Without the chemo his memory and ability to process thoughts has improved. (I sometimes wish mine would). He is, however, getting gradually weaker over the months. And when he does too much he then looses his appetite and just crashes.

We have been spending most of our time in Door County and the fall colors and weather has been spectacular. Phil's dream of a perfect death would be to go out in the woods sit on the ground with his back up against the tree and just go peacefully to heaven.

If that happened the plan is for me to get our neighbor and he and I would put Phil in the car. I would drive him to Wauwatosa and put him in the bed and call the doctor and say he died in Wauwatosa. Then we would not have to pay for a hearse to get him back to Tosa. Getting the body home is the humorous part of the deal and it has to do with how cheap Phil is.

Our life up here is pretty peaceful and we spend a lot of time at the library. The library in Egg Harbor is like the corner store in a small town. Gossip, Gossip, Politics and lively conversations. Phil is also making Quilt squares which keeps him busy. I have mastered the chain saw and spend time outside in the woods on the sunny warm days. I am also working on the woodwork in the lower level. However, most of my time is managing Phil's care and monitoring his meds and food intake.

Lady got a hysterectomy, oophorectomy on Friday and now is no longer a lady. She was laying low on Friday and has bounced back a lot today. Tilly did not know what to make of a slower, sleepy Lady. However things are normal again but I am giving her a couple of days before taking her out hiking.

We have been getting a lot of company and that has been good. Thanks to all who have made meals and visited us. Thanks to all of you who helped out with work. My brothers and sister-in-law made sure we had wood for the winter. Phil's brother, brother-in-law and sister put my bathroom on Stickney back together, after my family and friends ripped it apart in February of 2007. It looks beautiful. Another thing which I got done and am very happy about is the ceiling of the screen porch in Door County. This has allowed me to store things for the winter. Thanks also to Randy for cleaning my chimney. Thanks also to the many others who have been so helpful in many ways. Always, I am thankful to my sister and her family and my son and daughter and her family for all that they do everyday to keep the little things from getting overwhelming. (phone calls, e-mails, games, and tasks)

Keep up the prayers. Thank you for them. Love to you all.

Phil and Judy Ortiz

A lovely autumn

2008-10-28T10:44:00.006-06:00

It has been a lovely autumn here in Wisconsin. The leaves are disappearing from the trees. Things are changing with my dad, too.

Last week he met with the Palliative Care Team at the cancer center. Palliative care manages symptoms for people with life-threatening diseases. This initial visit introduced my dad to members of the Care Team. It gave the Care Team a chance to get to know my dad and better understand him.

A Stop to Chemotherapy

2008-09-26T16:41:00.004-06:00

Sorry I am late on this. Phil saw the doctor on Wednesday. The doctor and Phil decided to stop the chemotherapy treatments. Three bad weeks and one good week between the 5FU was not good. Phil was drinking the new shakes that we got. The shakes provide about 2000 calories a day. However he did not eat for all those weeks again, and so his weight only stayed steady. No weight gain, but more importantly, one pound of weight loss. The blood work showed that he was less malnourished.

The plan now is to get going on his exercises again, to eat, to take the shakes, to get stronger and to gain weight. We are seeing the dietician again in October. We are also going to see the palliative care team at the hospital just to get connected. If he is doing well enough, then we will check in with physical therapy again for more exercises.

In December, he will get another CT scan and see if there is an appropriate experimental drug available. If there is one, we may start it.

We are hoping that the better nutrition and the exercises will make him stronger and help him fight the cancer better than the 5FU did.

He is eating much better the last week and still taking the shakes. Thanks for all your prayers.

Judy

Trip to Michigan

2008-09-18T16:12:00.000-06:00

The last time Phil was getting treatment I came into the room and found him on the computer looking up information on Michigan. This was another trip we always talked about. He said he was thinking about going up there but that he was probably not going to make it to next summer. Which we are both thinking is true. We are going to give it another try though by stopping the chemo and seeing if he can eat again and get his strength back. We will talk to the doctor on September 24th.

Okay, I got off the subject. The weekend after chemo, Michael came up to Door County, and I asked Michael what he thought. I told him we could not do the trip alone, and it would be pretty cold up there soon. Michelle had just got back from vacation, but she was my next contact. I did not tell Phil right away. Michael said that he would check at work, and it would be tough to get away on such short notice. Michael decided on the 5th that he could go on the 14th. Then we had to see if Phil felt well enough to go. Phil asked about Michelle, and I called her. I knew if she said yes that he would pull himself together and go. She could not make plans that fast but she would consider it. A few days later Phil said yes. Then Michelle said yes, for her and Kyle, and we were off.

We left Manitowoc on the Ferry on Sunday afternoon. It was a stormy day and probably 1/4th of the people on the boat got sick. The Badger is a really big boat. Kyle enjoyed playing Bingo with the activities director. He won a sailor hat and a chance to get a free trip on the Badger. He was really excited. He liked the big boat. There was a movie theater and a museum and a quiet lounge. Two tv lounges but no Packer game. They could not get local channels on their satellite. They did however keep track of the score on the general sports network. Two restaurants were also on the boat and there was an upstairs area where people had radios on and we could listen to the Packers play. We did that. There was also a massage lady so I got a much needed massage. We left Ludington and drove to Mackinaw City where we spent the night.

Then the Monday morning we caught a boat for Mackinac Island. We got a carriage ride and lunch. (Kyle liked the horses.) It was a beautiful and sunny day as it always is when you travel with Phil. We drove up to see the locks at Sault Saint Marie. Watched two boats go through. We arrived just as the first boat was about to leave the lock. We did not know the schedule of the boats but we had Phil, and everything's goes right for him now. That night we drove to Charlevoix, MI.

The most important part of the trip was Beaver Island. The home of Phil's grandfather. Phil's great-grandfather, "Black" Pete McCauley, is one of the original settlers of the island. He and several others came from an island in Northern Ireland and settled on Beaver Island which is very much like Ireland in many ways. Everyone except Phil's great-aunt left the Island. (She married a Nackerman and had 5 grandchildren. One of her grandsons lives on the island next door to his grandmother's home, but he leaves the island for the winter after Labor Day. We expected to find no one on the Nackerman property.) When we got to the house of Phil's great-aunt, we found a car. Then we walked down the road to the water, where a lady was trimming a rose bush. It was Phil's second cousin who decided to come out for the day from the mainland. (Again, when you travel with Phil things just work out. God is watching over him.) We drove Phil down to the water, and he had a nice chat with his cousin about the family and the island.

We flew onto the Island on a 5 passenger plane. (Kyle loved the plane ride). Of course the skys were clear (we had phil) and we could see McCauley Bay from the sky. (The birth place of Phil's grandfather and the homestead of "Black Pete" McCauley. The actual home is gone).

After we landed, we drove to the McCauley Bay. Most roads on the island are not paved and many things are just the way they were over 100 years ago. Michael knocked on the door of the couple who own the land on McCauley Bay. They were very welcoming and told us to look around and spend as much time on the land as we wanted. We took rocks from the water on McCauley bay.

People on Beaver Island were very friendly. It was the off season and many things were closed. The lady at the airport on the island made a phone call to get the Beaver Island Historical Museum opened for the family of "Black Pete".

At the museum we found the birth records of Phil's grandfather and a photo and information on Black Pete. (You can see the picture if you go out to history of Beaver Island on the web.) The gentleman who opened it was very friendly and helpful. We also went to the cemetery and saw a stone wall dedicated to the founders of the Island. A rock in the shape of a fish was put in it for "Black Pete". We found many graves of the relatives who stayed on the island.

We saw the lighthouse monument to the citizens of Beaver Island who died at sea. One of Phil's great uncles names are on it. We just enjoyed the beauty of the island and the great weather. After our flight to the mainland we drove back to Ludington and the next day caught the boat to Manitowoc. The only thing I regret was not spending Tuesday night on the boat. It would have been better than waking up at 7 am to catch it. The boat ride home was sunny, with calm seas and warm weather. Kyle won a corndog playing bingo. Phil and I took a nap and watched a movie. Michael came in for the movie, and we all played games and sat on deck and enjoyed the weather.

The trip was wonderful. Although Phil got tired once when he walked on a short trail on Beaver Island, he said that he loved it. His favorite part was spending time with Michael, Michelle, Kyle and me. He really enjoyed having the kids learn about his family and could recall stories his grandfather told him about playing on the island as a kid.

We came home and are really missing our dogs. My sister and niece have them and are going to bring them up on Friday.

This has been a special 21 months since his diagnosis. It is hard to imagine that we did so much living in so little time. Keep the prayers coming.

Judy

Irish Fest

2008-08-09T20:28:00.016-06:00

Below is the information on Irish Fest that many of you have asked for. My parents are undecided on whether or not they'll make the trip. It is an exhausting ride between Door County and here for my dad.

Friday, August 15 at 6:30

at the Milwaukee Pub Gardens Stage

Mark will play the Irish flute and the tin whistle.

Rhys will play the bodhran (Irish drum).

Muriel will play the fiddle.

They are playing as part of the Irish Fest School of Music.

Admission is free from 4-5 pm on Friday. (Remember that kids 12 and under are always free.)

Mark, the kids, and I could really use some moral support, so please consider meeting up with us at Irish Fest this year. For those of you that caught the Irish Fest School of Music performance at the Domes in March, this performance involves less background noise and more amplification. :) The musicians in the performance are students, and this is their school recital.

Thanks, thanks, and more thanks

2008-08-06T22:31:00.013-06:00

I feel fortunate that there are so many people to thank recently.

I'll start with those that helped in my search for suspenders for my dad. Thank you to Roberta and Anna for getting suspenders to my dad. Thanks to Renee and Margaret for suggestions on where to get them. Below is a picture of my dad wearing a pair of smiley face ones.

Many of you already know of the annual camping trip each July to Peninsula. This year the trip went as scheduled, but definitely NOT without a hitch. The pop-up mechanism broke on my parents' pop-up camper. So, my thanks goes out to all those who helped my mom with the broken pop-up camper: including John, Ritch, Mark, Rhys, Brian, Rick and Muriel. (Please let me know if I forgot someone since I wasn't there for the set up or take down.) Thanks also to everyone who made food for my parents during the Peninsula trip including Nancy, Mary and John. Finally, I'd like to thank all those who visited with my dad on his campsite. Many times my dad was too weak to walk around and visit with his family and friends. Several times I stopped by his site to find my dad busy chatting with one or more drop-in guests often while working on one of his quilting projects.

In the picture above my dad is quilting, too. I mentioned back in the fall that my dad was taking a quilting class with my daughter Muriel and that he had done quilting in the past. Then, in November my parents gave me a handmade queen size quilt with a Door County wildflower theme for my birthday gift. What a surprise! I was so overwhelmed with emotion initially that I didn't tell anyone about it.

I had known for some time that he was working on a quilt, but I never dreamed that he and my mom were making such a large one for me. There were times I saw him go to the Wilson Park Senior Center to work on a quilt when he was very sick and nauseated. (Remember, this was when the depression was bad and before any stents were put in.) At the time, I was angry with him. I knew he was working on a special project that I wasn't supposed to know about. But, I didn't think anything could be that important that he should go when he felt so sick even if it was a surprise for me. (I always assumed the surprise was for the whole family. I never dreamed it was just for me.) When I received the quilt, I felt embarrassed that my dad had put so much time into something for me when he felt so ill.

Of course, later my dad and mom also finished a quilt for my brother in time for Christmas. Michael's is also a queen size quilt. For his brother-in-law John, my dad made a wall hanging. And my dad has made several small wall hangings for family and friends that my parents have visited since my dad was diagnosed. (I don't know whether or not my mom did work on the wall hangings.) Currently, he's finishing a twin size quilt he and my mom made for my son Kyle's birthday gift. He still has several projects that he's hoping he'll be able to finish. Fatigue is getting the better of him more and more.

So, my biggest thank you is saved for last. Although it isn't very timely, it is important nonetheless. Thanks to my parents for the quilt they made me. It is very special.

Hopefully, I'll someday get photos of some of the quilts up on the blog. We'll see.

Looking for suspenders

2008-07-20T15:06:00.004-06:00

My mom is looking for some clip-on suspenders for my dad. His pants aren't staying up very well. I thought it might be fun if he had some nifty designs on them like smiley faces. I'm looking for suggestions on stores that might carry these. (Plain ones would also do the trick.) Email me using the link on the right or leave a comment with your suggestions. Thanks.

The puppies are gone (except one)

2008-07-17T15:50:00.009-06:00

Today is a sad, but necessary day. The last of the puppies went home with his new family this afternoon. My mom really enjoyed the experience. Last week was the only hard part because my dad had a rough week. When I wasn't helping my mom with the puppies, I was chauffeuring my dad around.

Everything worked out well enough though. My parents were here for a long stay to help me out. I had periodontal surgery on Tuesday. My dad was feeling stronger by Tuesday and my mom was down one puppy. My kids got to spend a bunch of extra time with Grandma and the puppies because my recovery was slower than expected.

There is a great picture of my dad with one of the puppies on the puppies' blog. Check out the blog at tillyspups.blogspot.com, if you haven't already. My parents are keeping the puppy pictured with my dad on Day Fifty-One. She was the only female in the litter.

The update including a blood transfusion

2008-07-11T17:46:00.007-06:00

Over the past month my mom has struggled to get my dad's weight up with limited success. The dietician at the Cancer Center made several suggestions recently which have helped. However, on Tuesday my dad experienced another GI blockage. He vomited several times and couldn't keep any food down. This was a major setback in the struggle to get my dad's weight up.

My dad had blood work and a CT scan scheduled for Tuesday afternoon. Those tests showed his blood levels to be fine. (They are always checked before he receives chemotherapy treatment.) Also, the CT scan showed no change in the size of the tumor. This was the first CT scan done since switching chemotherapy drugs. (The last CT scan showed the tumor growing which is why Dr. Ritch switched drugs.)

Because my mom was out of IV fluid, my dad received IV fluids at the Day Hospital in the Cancer Center on Tuesday. On Wednesday, he was back in the Day Hospital for chemotherapy treatment and more fluids. My dad was again at the Day Hospital on Thursday to have lab work run to determine if he was bleeding internally. He had been having symptoms of bleeding within his gastrointestinal tract. The results indicated a slow bleed that seemed to be healing. A complete blood count (CBC) revealed that my dad's hemoglobin level was around 10. Another CBC run on Friday shown a slight drop in the hemoglobin level. Therefore, Dr. Ritch ordered a blood transfusion for my dad, and he received two units of blood at the Day Hospital on Friday.

And if all that wasn't enough to keep my dad busy, on Thursday I took him several places including the dentist for his teeth to be cleaned!

5-FU update

2008-06-27T00:04:00.002-06:00

After three rounds of the new chemotherapy drug (5-FU), my Dad is doing okay. He reports this drug to be much more difficult to adjust to than the gemcitabine.

Les Paul

2008-06-23T13:41:00.016-06:00

WOW! June 21, 2008 was a wonderful day. I attended the Les Paul's 93rd birthday. It was a marvelous concert. He is quite the musician. He can make his guitar sing the tunes like no one else. He had an eight-year-old boy play a few tunes. Also, he had a singer, fiddle player, tap dancer and a harmonica player. All of these people added to the aurora of Les.

I want to thank my brother-in-law, John. He was able to get advance tickets through Discovery World. John does not know how thrilled I was to go. And better yet Les put on a show that touched me. I smiled and cried in the Pabst Theatre darkness. I was like the kid in the candy store seeing and hearing the legend of rock and roll.

So you think that was all. Not on the hairs of my chinny, chinny chin. We were exiting the Pabst: Judy, John and Mary and me. John's cell phone rang. He told us we had to wait a minute. Eric Cudahy came out to give us two VIP tickets. These got us in to see Les after the show and maybe get an autograph. John and I went back into the Pabst to wait for Les. There was a long line of people waiting to have stuff autographed. Les came in, and I attempted to get his autograph prior to him starting the autograph line. The Discovery World people wanted Les to see his birthday cake; it was in the shape of a guitar. The people then led Les up to the table. My autograph chance was gone. Ah contraire! But to my surprise the CEO of Discovery World, Joel, waved me and John to follow them to the table. To our surprise Joel got us a photograph with Les. This is done before the line of people could get their stuff signed. He signed two tickets for us. John and I shook Les's hand. What more can you say....... WOW! What a great night.

Philippe

Note from Michelle: You can click on the ticket below to see the autograph. The autograph is written over the picture of a guitar pick.

Another significant weight loss

2008-06-12T08:14:00.002-06:00

My mom let me know earlier this week that my dad's weight is down to 124 pounds again. He hasn't been this low since the fall before the first two stints were put in. This time it isn't caused by excess vomiting; most likely it is related to the 5-FU. His appetite is down and food tastes funny. These are common side effects of 5-FU. Because his food intake is down, he is getting weaker. Hopefully, we can turn this trend around again soon.

I'll be seeing my dad soon and will write more after I see him.

5-FU Treatments

2008-06-09T08:10:00.005-06:00

After the second 5-FU chemotherapy treatment my mom explained some of the details of the new treatment.

As I indicated in a previous post, this is an old chemotherapy drug. To minimize side effects, it is being administered differently than had been in the past. My dad receives this new treatment every three weeks. A treatment starts with a vitamin bolus run in intravenously through his port. This portion of the treatment is done at the cancer clinic. Next, the chemotherapy drug is started while my dad is still at the clinic. It runs in for 46 hours through the port. My dad carries the IV bag and pump for the 5-FU in a fanny pack while it is running in. Finally, my mom disconnects the IV at home.

Tilly's Pups

2008-06-03T08:23:00.004-06:00

I've started a new blog for my mom to provide updates on news with Tilly's puppies. The link is provided below and in the "Links" list on the right. I hope everyone enjoys this story of new life!

Tilly's Pups

Puppies, puppies and more puppies

2008-05-25T15:14:00.012-06:00

Between 2:00 and 5:00 am this morning Tilly gave birth to five bichon-poodle mixed-breed puppies. The litter consists of one female and four males. Four of them weighed in between six to eight ounces, but one puppies weighed only four ounces. We are hoping he will catch up with his littermates soon. All the puppies and Tilly are doing very well.

By the way, Tilly is a bichon-poo, and Gus (the dad) is a bichon.

The first 5-FU chemotherapy treatment

2008-05-19T22:57:00.007-06:00

The first treatment with 5-FU went smoothly. My dad was a little nauseated the day the treatment ended, and totally exhausted the day after that (Mother's Day).

5-FU is a 40-year-old cancer drug. I believe it was the only drug approved for treating pancreatic cancer until gemcitabine became available in 1998. 5-FU can have more side effects than gemcitabine.

Monday after Mother's Day my parents left for a short fishing trip to Lake Erie. They were invited by a couple they met last year on the trip to Ireland. They have been keeping in touch with this couple ever since.

My parents enjoyed the trip. They rode with their friends and stayed with them, too. My dad reported that the fishing was good with plenty of walleye and a few perch caught. My mom worked hard to sneak in this trip before Tilly's puppies are born, so it was nice to hear that they had a good time.

p.s. I realize that those of you who regularly check the blog are possibly confused right now. In the past several hours I added three backdated postings. I apologize. Two of those postings I started at separate times over the past three weeks, but never got around to finishing them. They have been sitting as drafts for all this time. It was easiest to just finish them and post them as they were. Otherwise, I would have had to rewrite everything as one posting. I didn't want to add to the delay.

Anyway, I just wanted you all to know that everything was added tonight despite the dates shown on the postings.

Stints, stints and more stints

2008-05-06T23:06:00.001-06:00

Dr. Dua added two more stints today in my dad's digestive tract and cleaned up some legions that were growing through one of the initial stints. Hopefully, that will take care of the vomiting for a while.

Also, I added a link to Dr. Dua's biography in the sidebar to the right.

The cancer spreads

2008-05-05T10:50:00.001-06:00

There is no easy way to reveal bad news. There are certain milestones along this journey we know we are likely to pass. One of those milestones came on Thursday. After a CT scan on Tuesday, Dr. Ritch informed my parents that the cancer in my dad is doing what cancer does. It is growing.

Now for the good news. (There is good news.) The tumor in the pancreas doesn't appear to have grown. The cancer has not spread to the liver or lungs. It is the studding in the peritoneal cavity that has begun to grow.

So. . . what does this all mean?

The chemotherapy drug will change from gemcitabine (Gemzar®) to fluorouracil (5-FU). The 5-FU takes 46 hours to run in via IV, but my dad won't be tied down. He'll be carrying around the pump in a fanny pack. I'm not totally clear on the frequency yet. The initial treatment will begin on Thursday, May 8. The next treatment won't be until after Memorial Day at the earliest.

My dad had some more testing done in regard to the vomiting. There is again a narrowing in the digestive tract. Dr. Dua will look at it tomorrow with a scope to see what needs to be done.

A bit of vomiting

2008-04-25T13:22:00.005-06:00

I apologize for being so graphic about my dad's physical state. Oftentimes that is simply the easiest way to describe what's going on. He has been having occasional bouts of vomiting. It is nothing like what was happening in the fall, but my mom and I would like to see that these get under control sooner rather than later. We don't want to see things get as bad as they were before.

Hopefully, there will be some information from the next CT scan that will explain the vomiting. Possibly adding another stint will relieve my dad's vomiting again.

Puppies?

2008-04-11T13:00:00.002-06:00

Around Easter my mom bred her dog Tilly with a Bichon Frisé. The Bichon is owned by my mom's sister Mary, and his name is Gus. Tilly is a Bichon-poodle mix. But, before the dogs could breed it was determined that they should tie the knot. (Personally, I thought that the whole idea was a little odd. Since I couldn't see that it would hurt anything, I did attend.) Below is a picture from the nuptial ceremony that took place on February 17.

If pregnant, Tilly is expected to give birth around Memorial Day.

p.s. This posting was created at my mother's suggestion. :-)

Update for the New Year

2008-04-11T11:42:00.003-06:00

I know it has been a while since my last posting. But, I'm happy to report that in this case no news is good news. So, here is some of what you all missed.

My family and I enjoyed a Door County Christmas with my parents and my brother Michael. We all had a nice time despite some poor planning which left us scrounging for dinner on Christmas Eve. Below is a picture of the house during our Christmas stay.

The new year brought another dream come true for my parents. Over the years my parents have acquired many do-it-yourself skills. Some of these skills were learned while completing various home improvement and remodeling projects, and others came during the building of the house in Door County. It was their dream to share their skills by helping those unable to do this type of work for themselves.

My dad read in a newspaper about a group of people from Door County who having been doing Hurricane Karina recovery work. So, he and my mom started planning a trip to the Gulf Coast, and they invited my 13-year-old son, Rhys, along. Rhys readily accepted their invitation. The trip took place in mid-January between chemotherapy treatments. My mom's account of the trip is included below.

Sorry for the length of this but we have been very busy. You can read it in shifts.

We just returned from a two week ride to a warmer climate. Phil, our grandson, Rhys and I went south. What started out as a few day visit to some old and dear friends of ours, ended up in a two week adventure.

Pete and Pat have been friends since Phil and I have been dating. Pete and Phil went to high school together and we often double dated. Phil was in Pete's wedding and Pete was in our wedding. They both got drafted at the same time and both ended up being stationed in Germany. Pat and I both went to live with our husbands in Germany. A few years after they returned Pete and Pat moved out of state and we have been planning on visiting them ever since. When Phil made the suggestion this time, we just went.

Another one of our dreams was that after we finished our house we wanted to use our tools and knowledge to work on habitat homes or some similar project. A Door County group had been written up in the local newspaper for the work they have been doing for the Katrina victims so Phil gave them a call and found out when there next project was going on. Lucky us they were going down right after Phil's chemo treatment. We then asked Rhys if he wanted to go volunteer with the Door County Katrina Relief Project (you can read about them in the Brett Favre article in Sports Illustrated). Rhys said yes and so we then made a phone call to his other grandparents in North Carolina and asked if they wanted to meet us somewhere. Charlotte was on our minds, because Phil had a friend from work that moved there and he was thinking of stopping by to see her. So the trip was planned. Leave Wauwatosa, stop at Phil's brothers in Beloit and head south to New Orleans and Kiln Mississippi. Then from there go to South Carolina and North Carolina and then back home.

We left after Phil's chemo and had a late lunch with his brother and sister in law in Beloit. It was great to see them and their remodeled kitchen. Then we spent the night in a motel. On the second day we went to see Graceland. It was really neat. Another night in a motel and then on to New Orleans. We spent some time in the French Quarter and then drove down to the area where the storm destruction was the worse. The devestation down there is overwhelming two and 1/2 years later. Although there is money to help build the corrupt government and the politics make it impossible for people to get anything done.

We then drove to Kiln where the base camp for the Door County Relief Project is. The people who own the Broke Spoke Bar (the only thing in Kiln, MS, other than the gas station and the church) fed us and offered their driveway to the group for their base camp. The first night we stayed in a trailer with some other people but the only bathroom was outside and Phil was concerned that he would keep the others up with his constant running to the bathroom. The next day the Relief Project put us in a hotel for the rest of our stay.

We worked on two houses one we painted the outside. It was a very warm Sunday and it felt good to be outside. It was just Rhys, Phil and I and it was only the touch up work. We finished in about three hours and Rhys worked very hard. The house had to be gutted and the back half rebuilt after trees fell on it and water got inside. The owner was a single teacher with two children and she still had no kitchen sink or counters. She was just grateful to be out of her FIMA trailer because 20% of her students were still in theirs and there were many in her neighborhood.

The second house we worked on was one that was rebuilt. Some of it had been done by contractors and some by volunteers. The man had insurance but it left him about 100,000 dollars short of rebuilding it with out volunteers. His mother is 90 and lives with him. He has been paying his mortgage and home owner, water and wind insurance since Katrina plus rent on a place that his mother and him are living in. If he does not pay for the insurance and mortgage he will not get re-insured when the house is finished. In this house we had a crew of about 11 or 12 to drywall the entire house. Some of the crew were old and some were young. Some had disabilities like Phil and could only cut or measure and some were strong and knew exactly what they were doing. It was a great crew. Rhys worked hard like a trooper and screwed in a lot of sheets of drywall along with many other tasks. P.S. he also helped get rid of any extra candy bars or cookies that were left at the end of the day.

In the evening we would go to the Broke Spoke for supper. We got some southern cooking and the Favre's hang out there. Rhys was able to get his picture taken with Bonita Favre and hang out a little with her grandchildren. She also signed the shirt he was wearing that said he was a Door County Golf Coast Relief worker. It says "Bonita Favre, #4's mom". It made his day.

We left there on Thurs and went to see the Aquarium in Atlanta, really neat, and then went on to see Pete and Pat in Anderson, SC. They took us on a side trip to the Biltmore Estate in Asheville and wow that was something else. A privately owned mansion completed in 1895 with 250 rooms and 43 bathrooms, 65 fireplaces, 33 guest and family bedrooms on 125,000 acres of land. Ninety rooms are opened for viewing and it is amazing.

After leaving there we went to another hotel and stayed with Rhys's other grandparents and went to a transportation museum just south of Charlotte. That was neat but some of the train exhibits were outside and it was only in the 30's, unusually cold for that time of year. After that we went to see the race car track in Charlotte and went on to see Renee and Herby. Renee worked with Phil at Rexnord. We watched the Packer game and spent the night visiting before leaving for home in the morning.

On the way home we stopped to spend the night in Georgetown, Kentucky. In the morning we toured the Toyota plant and that was something else. Very automated and very neat. Also they have an incentive plan that if you come to work on time and don't call in sick they have a big party for you at the end of the year and bring in big name singers or performers. They put your name in a hat and give away 11-15 new cars. (pretty good incentive) Finally, we stopped at the Indianapolis Speedway so Rhys could see what it was like.

Now we are home and it is very cold. Phil did very well on the trip. He did some of the driving. Due to his confusion and memory problems (chemo brain) we put on a few extra miles. Our friend gave us a GPS to use on the trip and that helped a lot (thanks Rich). Generally, we are great map readers and Phil always remembers his way back to the hotels or the way he is going. He spent at least 10 hours reading the maps and making notes before we left. (His obsessions are a little annoying but I am learning to live with them.) The confusion and memory problems and his inability to use high level brain functions frustrate both of us. Maybe me more than him because I don't always tell him that he made a mistake anymore because it just upsets him. Also because he is the male, people keep giving him directions about what we are doing and where we are going and then he does not remember and so we are left to figure it out for our selves.

All and all the trip fulfilled another one of our dreams and was very good. Rhys was a great help at the work site, with the maps and the GPS. He helped move luggage in and out of the car and he has a great memory which helped when over heard people talking to Phil or watched the roads as to which way we came.

Thanks to all our friends who spent time with us and opened their homes to us on the trip.

Judy

Happy Birthday to Phil

2008-01-23T11:15:00.001-06:00

Well, here it is. Another birthday for my dad. It has been hard to allow myself to dream this day would come. I didn't even dare hope for it, but here it is!

All those prayers have done wonders. I think my dad is feeling the best he has since being diagnosed. The vomiting has stopped. He is not in any pain. His personal affairs are mostly in order. But, unlike in the fall he is no longer just waiting to die. He is living!

So. . .

Happy Birthday, Dad!

He loves hearing from friends and family, so don't hesitate to call, send a quick email or post a comment to the blog. As always, I can forward email to him. 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.

Christmas party

2007-12-11T20:58:00.001-06:00

A friend of ours is having a Christmas party this weekend because my parents will be in Milwaukee. He has graciously asked me to extend an invitation on this blog to anyone interested in coming. Our friend is hoping that some people who may not have another chance to visit with my dad over the holiday season might come. Please email me for all the details.

Pumpkin Patch Festival

2007-12-03T14:17:00.001-06:00

Mom, Tilly and Dad

Mom, Dad and Family
(from left to right) Mark, Kyle, Rhys, Michael, Mom, Tilly, Dad, Muriel, Michelle and Sunny

Pumpkin Patch Group
October 2007

Above are pictures taken on the land in Door County in fall. Included is a picture of the LARGE group of family and friend that my parents hosted for the Pumpkin Patch Festival. Don't worry most of these people were not staying in the house, but they were all staying on my parents 14.5 acres that the house is on! There were 18 adults, 13 children and 6 dogs. Everyone had a great time, and the weather was very warm.

Thanks to Katie's friend Jon for being the group's photographer.

Dad has "exploded" out of depression

2007-10-27T20:16:00.001-06:00

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

2007-10-25T13:53:00.000-06:00

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?

2007-10-19T17:18:00.001-06:00

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

2007-10-05T15:36:00.000-06:00

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

2007-10-04T14:02:00.000-06:00

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

2007-10-04T10:42:00.000-06:00

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

2007-10-03T18:05:00.000-06:00

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.

A new day

2007-09-29T18:34:00.000-06:00

After getting a full night's sleep (plus a couple of extra hours), my parents had a very good day today. My dad's mood has improved considerably. My mom first noticed an improvement in my dad's attitude after he talked to my brother and I last night. He has not vomited today and, thus, was able to keep some food down.

There are weeks where I lose track of the days. For me this has been one of those weeks. While listening to the clock radio Friday morning, I was confused about why there was a Friday only program on. It took many minutes before I realized that it was actually Friday.

I have shared with some people how this has affected my memory. Schedules and names have suffered the most. However, I have recently noticed an improvement. I no longer have the chronic feeling that I'm missing a scheduled appointment, event or activity.

The journey is by no means over, though. We are proceeding on this path. Along the route, we must sometimes make decisions about when to move mountains and when not to. Often without even realizing it, others have moved mountains to make things happen for us. Sometimes these people are strangers or people we hardly know, but most times it is an extended family member or a family friend. My family and I are extremely blessed to have such generous and caring people in our lives. Thank you.

"A see-saw battle"

2007-09-28T16:54:00.001-06:00

I just talked to my dad on the phone. After feeling better yesterday, he is vomiting again today. It is very discouraging for him, and he described it as "a see-saw battle". I reminded him that he went through this after Christmas and eventually got better. I told him that it took a while that time, too. Hopefully, things will turn around soon. It is hard to see his spirits so down.

My mom has talked to Dr. Ritch who ordered some additional medications to try to get the vomiting to stop. Dr. Ritch also mentioned using an nasogastric (NG) tube to empty the stomach. My dad had an NG tube last time he was admitted to the hospital. He hated it, so Dr. Ritch and my parents are exploring other options.

On Thursday my dad has an appointment with Dr. Ritch. Hopefully, Dr. Ritch and his team at the cancer center will have some new ideas to keep my dad comfortable.

Wishing for better news

2007-09-26T17:16:00.000-06:00

This morning I talked to my dad on the phone. He was feeling better, but tired. However, in the email I just received from my mom she writes that my dad has started throwing up again. My mom has started another IV of fluids. Please continue to pray. Hopefully, tomorrow will bring better news.

Thanks for continuing to read this blog. My family and I appreciate having so many people take the time to check the blog and keep up with my dad's progress. A special thank you to those of you who have left comments on the blog, visited my dad in the hospital or call him on the phone. That includes our family friend Allen Miller who is using the alias "Mr. Buquerque" in his blog comment! (For those of you wondering who "Mr. Buquerque" was.)

More IV fluids

2007-09-25T21:26:00.001-06:00

My mom started running IV fluids into my dad this morning (Tuesday) because he is vomitting again. I'll talk to my mom in the morning and hopefully give a more thorough update tomorrow. We are hoping it will turn around quickly, and he stays out of the hospital.

Soccer hits another shoulder

2007-09-17T09:08:00.000-06:00

For several years my dad was a soccer coach. He was also a soccer player. He played in an adult league for a short time, but he injured his shoulder. The shoulder injury required surgery. Following unfortunately in his grandfather's footsteps, Rhys has injured his shoulder playing soccer. On Saturday (at the opening game of the season) Rhys broke his collar bone. Although he doesn't need surgery, Rhys must wear an immobilizer for a minimum of three weeks!

However, back in July Rhys and my dad enjoyed some time fishing. Once they went out on Lake Michigan and another time they fished in the waters of Green Bay. Some camping friends took the two of them out, and they caught five salmon! Rhys caught the biggest one because he stole it from Grandpa. Rhys says that Grandpa gave him the pole. Also, Rhys says not to forget about the "quick and the dead". My dad has many often used sayings. Some of these saying are more colorful than others. But, by far the most commonly used is "the first rule of basic bayonette training: there are two kinds of people in the world - the quick and the dead". This is Rhys's defense. Grandpa must be so proud!

Time in Door County

2007-09-14T17:23:00.001-06:00

My parents are enjoying their time at home in Door County. They have had a couple of dinners with friends and went golfing. They continue to work on a variety of projects inside and outside the house there.

Next month marks 13 years my parents have owned the land in Door County. One of the first projects they undertook was building a series of short hiking trails through the 15 acres. They have cleared trees and moved rocks. Maintenance on these trails is an ongoing project that my parents have enjoyed tackling all these years. In a recent storm several trees fell over the hiking trails. My dad cut the trees and my mom moved them off the trail. Rhys enjoyed watching and helping Grandpa with this work so much that my parents got him his own set of earplugs!

Muriel and my dad finished up their quilting class as scheduled last Thursday. The quilt was recovered by our friend Kim. She drove four hours up to Door County with her three small children to get the quilt. That got it as far as Oshkosh (a little more than half way). My family and I drove to Oshkosh to get it. While in Oshkosh, Kim treated us all to a homecooked dinner, too! Many, many thanks to Kim for helping. Also, thanks to her kids for an extra measure of patience to sit for four hours in the car.

Muriel enjoyed picking out fabrics for the quilt including a navy fabric that sparkles with lots of glitter. She also liked piecing the quilt together, but doesn't enjoy quilting all the layers. The quilt she is working on is a checkerboard (complete with checkers).

Home again (almost)

2007-09-05T12:19:00.001-06:00

Today my dad will be sprung from the hospital. He'll have a chemotherapy treatment tomorrow. After tomorrow, he'll finally be able to get back home to Door County.

Muriel and my dad were scheduled to take the last of their two part "Me and My Adult" quilting class tomorrow, but the quilt was mistakenly left in Door County. Hopefully, we'll get this problem worked out without too much trouble. When the quilt is finished, I hope to get a picture of it up on the blog.

Muriel is using our sewing machine to put her quilt together. My dad took a quilting class in Indianapolis when he was working there. That class was about ten years ago; the same time Muriel was born. The quilt he did was a wall hanging sampler done completely by hand! It now hangs in the dining room in Door County.

Below I have included a recent picture of my dad. This photo was taken in the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Exhibit at the Wisconsin State Fair.

The kids and I have gone to the fair for many years with my parents. We enjoy seeing the animals and the craft entries. My dad especially likes to see the prize winning animals and the prices those animals sold for. Admiring the cake decorating, quilting, knitting, sewing, and other craft entries is one of our favorite parts of the fair. Of course, there are also plenty of displays and activities of interest to us in the DNR exhibit.

Back to the hospital

2007-09-03T21:31:00.000-06:00

After spending the weekend with family and friends in Door County, my dad is back in the hospital.

He started vomiting early Sunday morning (9/2). My mom administered a total of two liters of IV fluid on Sunday. We hoped by late in the day Sunday he would have bounced back. In the past the turn around time has been less than 24 hours with these types of incidents.

However, this time he didn't turn around in 24 hours. By Monday afternoon he was still vomiting. My mom made the decision to drive down from Door County and take my dad to the Froedert Emergency Department.

He will be admitted to the hospital.

A set back

2007-07-10T14:14:00.000-06:00

My mom sent out the following email on July 10th.

Well as you have seen on the blog about Phil we have been very busy. Life has been a world wind the last 6 months. We have seen Florida, Ireland and had the most wonderful of all a family vacation on the Mississippi River in our very own rented 58ft, 4 bedroom, air-conditioned, house boat, complete with a water slide and hot tub.

Phil has been doing very well. The cancer has decreased a little. He now gets chemo two weeks on and two weeks off because that is all his body can tolerate. He has never been able to get any more than that so now he no longer has to go in for the blood test on the third week. This gives us more time in our lovely home in Door County where we spend most of our time.

Phil says and I agree that it is just beautiful and peaceful on the land and the most wonderful place in the world to be. The house is essentially done in our living quarters and livable in the guest quarters. We do a little work and hang out with friends or just sit on the porches the majority of the time. Tilly goes for a lot of walks.

Now for the bad news. Really hit home again on the last day of the boat trip when Phil stopped his diarrhea and started vomiting again. We were able to medicate him and he got through the episode without going to the hospital. He started in the middle of the night on the last day and so he got out of packing and returning the boat in the morning. By the time we
arrived home he was better and started eating and drinking again. The diarrhea came back and all was well with the world.

Then on Sunday (July 8) afternoon he started feeling full again and the diarrhea stopped and he started vomiting again. We medicated him but nothing worked. About 1 PM he finally decided that he needed to go to the hospital. He had lost 7 lb in that 24 hours and we were on our way back (from Door County) to Froedtert hospital where he was admitted last night. He is hoping to get hydrated and be back home today. Thurs is his regular doctors appointment and chemo.

Soon we plan on going camping in the park with our family and friends. He will need to leave and come home for one chemo
treatment.

On a last note. The garage on Stickney has been torn down. No information on when the driveway will be torn out or the new garage built. The driveway in Door County has been prepared and is ready for the asphalt which should be done by the time we get back up there.

More about the boat trip and hospital stay later, but I wanted to keep everyone up-to-date. You can read about and see pictures of the houseboat at Huck's Houseboat Vacations' website. My mom rented us one from the Royal Series.

The chemotherapy schedule changes

2007-06-15T09:17:00.001-06:00

After more than a week in Door County, my parents returned for a chemotherapy treatment and appointment with Dr. Ritch. My dad has never had more than two chemotherapy treatments consecutively. For the third treatment he goes in and gets blood drawn, but his blood levels are not high enough for Dr. Ritch to approve a treatment.

Based on that history, Dr. Ritch has decided to change the treatment schedule. The new schedule will be two weeks of treatment followed by two weeks without treatment. (Now my dad doesn't have to show up at the cancer center and have the blood draw on the third week.)

Also, Dr. Ritch is planning to do another CT scan in August. He doesn't feel it is necessary to do another scan any sooner. My dad has to premedicate before every scan because he is allergic to the dye used in the scan. The medication, the dye, or some other part of doing the scan gives my dad a headache for a day afterwards. So, the fewer scans the better in my opinion.

To all dads I wish you a happy Father's Day! Daughters remember to hug your dads this Father's Day. I know I won't miss the chance to hug my dad this Father's Day.

No news is good news

2007-06-05T13:05:00.000-06:00

I didn't get around to publishing that last post in a timely manner. I apologize for that. It sat as a draft for almost a month!

No news is been good news though. My dad continues to do fine. He gets tired often and frustrated easily. But, considering what he is facing (leaving my mom, possible pain, ultimately death), I can understand. He is still able to work on projects at both houses. Mostly, he works on the house in Door County and supervises contractors they hire at home. My mom is continuing to work on both houses. To my knowledge his physical symptoms have remained unchanged from before the diagnosis.

My parents spend more than half of their time in Door County. They come home for chemotherapy. Sometimes they stay for a few days, but often they are back to Door County the same day or the next day.

My dad has planted some tomato plants, cantaloupe plants, and daffodil bulbs at the land. He also put in some tomato plants at home. I took him the garden center and bought the plants for him for Father's Day. He also picked out some petunias to plant in Door County.

Mark, the kids, and I made the trip to Door County for Mother's Day and Memorial Day weekends. My brother Michael joined us for Mother's Day weekend and made a wonderful breakfast on Sunday morning. Michael didn't join us for Memorial Day, but there were many other family members and friends that stayed on the land or stopped by to visit. My dad told me he is happy to see the visitors come up the driveway, but also is just as happy to see everyone go back down the driveway!

Many thanks

2007-05-09T14:19:00.000-06:00

Thank you to all the friends and family who have posted comments to the blog. I am encouraged to continue the updates whenever I see a new comment.

My dad is in an off week for chemotherapy. Last week he went to the cancer clinic by himself and had no treatment because of one or more low blood levels. (My dad didn't give me any more details.)

As summer approaches my parents have many trips planned. Some of these trips we will enjoy together. Several days will be spent on a houseboat on the Mississippi in June. My family, my brother and I will be joining them for this trip. Also, there will be several trips to Door County that have become annual events for my parents.