Soccer hits another shoulder

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

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)

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

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

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

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

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!