Vanderbilt Again

Hi, this is Rita.  Ray had been home for three days post surgery when he developed a systemic infection and had to return to Vanderbilt.  After several hours in the ER, he was transferred to the SICU.  Doctors said at one point that he was the sickest man in the ICU. Thanks to God and the wonderful team at Vanderbilt, he has made great strides.  It is not clear, at this point, when he will be able to return to regular posts but he is anxious to do so.  He so enjoys reading your messages.  We thank you for your prayers and kind words.

Oh Happy Day! Home Again!

  Hello Family, Friends and Prayer warriors,

  This is a good day !!  I was released from Vanderbilt mid-day and got home about 2 PM. A huge thank you to Dan and Jeanene B. for the ride home! Thank you to all who visited, brought goodies, sent cards, and all the phone calls, texts and emails. Most of all, thank you for the prayers which sustained us.

  In short, the Whipple is one of the most complex surgeries out there, only a small percentage of pancreatic tumor patients even qualify for it, and God brought me through it in a record time recovery with very little pain. I am eternally grateful.

  God isn’t through yet! Pathology came back this morning and it is mostly cancer. less pancreatitis. I will begin a course of chemo/radiation/chemo in February for 5-6 months. Dr. Parekh says we will “hit it hard”. He isn’t one for much speculation or percentages, but he is the best, so we will trust God to lead him to the most effective treatment.

  It is wonderful beyond words to be home. It is very cold outside but toasty in here! I will be writing more in the days ahead, but that’s all for now.

  Again, thank you for the thousands of prayers and keep praying that treatment is effective.

  God Bless you all!

  Ray;

Update on Ray

Hi, this is Ray, posting from Vanderbilt with Rita and Wendy's help.  Surgery was long, and more complicated than expected, but went well.  When they began surgery, they discovered pancreatitis as well as the tumor they were expecting.  The pancreatitis surrounded the tumor, and the surgeon removed the whole mass.  Frozen sections were sent to pathology which determined that is was cancer, but we are waiting on pathology results from other areas to determine the extent and stage.  It did not appear to have spread.  I'm doing very well in recovery so far.  I have very little pain.  I am just waiting for the stomach to wake up, which can take awhile after major surgery.  In about 5-6 weeks, I will have to have chemotherapy and maybe radiation.  This will last for 5-6 months.  I will update as soon as possible and answer emails when I return home. Love to all of you.  I appreciate your prayers and support.

Last Update Before Surgery

Hello family, friends and prayer warriors,

 

  Just 2 1/2 days until check in for surgery. We cannot thank you all enough for the literally thousands of prayers and emails, phone calls, cards and notes of concern.  It is so comforting to know of God’s Army out there praying for us. We wholly trust Him for the outcome.

 

  Just a few notes of how we are doing. The past 4 nights have been the best sleep since early November. The jaundice is greatly reduced and the itching has abated to the point that I have slept those 4 nights with no ice packs and little lotion. I have maintained a great appetite, have eaten well and had no pain or nausea throughout this ordeal, and Praise God for that. The weight loss has slowed though total weight loss since 1 year ago is now approaching 60#. My body just can’t utilize food until we correct the problem and get the enzymes and digestive juices flowing correctly. We look forward to post surgery and treatment, to gaining strength while maintaining a healthy weight.

 

  We have been blessed this past week with a visit from old friends Pat & Kathy. Pat is a 7 year survivor of Stage 4 Burkitt’s lymphoma and we had a wonderful time of sharing and prayer one evening. I visited by phone with Terry, husband of Melanie whom we met at Vanderbilt. She prayed openly with us on our very first visit to Vanderbilt. Terry had the same surgery I will have 2 1/2 years ago and I appreciated his input.

 

  We were blessed with wonderful soup and bread and another Sarah Young book from our friend Paige, with milk shakes and a quick visit from Tom and Dottie, and with a 10th birthday party with family for grand-son Jackson. Plus cards, letters, emails, blog comments and phone calls from so many more. God bless you all.

 

  Lastly, I trust God completely during this time. I want the last words on my mind before anesthesia to be “Help me, Jesus” and the first words when I awake to be “Praise you, Jesus!”

 

  Please pray also for an added measure of strength, peace and grace for my beloved, Rita.

 

  Love,

 

  Ray

 

  Surgery: Wednesday January 15,  8 AM central

Red Maple in front of house

  Hello Family, Friends, and prayer warriors,

  Today I had another CT scan and a follow-up with the surgeon before surgery on Jan. 15. The last CT was nearly 2 months ago. Dr. Parikh said the pancreatic tumor is about the same as it was Nov. 15! Praise God! It is great news that it has not grown during that time. I so very much appreciate the prayers of so many. God is good and all is well. We place our trust entirely in Him.

  Surgery will be at Vanderbilt Wed. Jan. 15 at 8 AM CST. On Tuesday afternoon we will go to Vanderbilt for a few more pre-op screenings. Since we live over an hour away and our check in time Wednesday is 6 AM, Son Dave suggested we stay in a hotel Tuesday night. Then he promptly searched the internet on his phone and found the Scarritt-Bennett Center which is just blocks away from Vanderbilt. It is a beautiful retreat and education center which at one time was a Methodist school. They rent rooms overnight for $50, so we have a reservation there next Tuesday night. What a blessing! Click this link if you would like to see their web site.

 www.scarrittbennett.org/

  The surgery will begin at 8 AM and is a 5-7 hour surgery. Hospital stay is about 7 days, plus or minus. I will try to send another short email next Mon or Tues so that, in the words of my cardiologist Dr. Jackson, “We will ramp up the prayers” !

  Rita will try to text or email as many of you as she has contact info for after the surgery.

  God Bless You,

  Ray

New Year Update

  

  I posted this picture because it represents hope for me. God's beautiful flower creation which I hope and pray to again admire in a few months.

 

Hello friends and family,

 

Here is a weekly update and a look forward.

 

I have been feeling stronger and much more normal this past week. Though the itch persists, we have learned to manage as well as possible.  My weight has stabilized for which we are very thankful, so I can be strong going into the surgery. I have lost about 55# in 2013, but needed to lose that much; the challenge will be to maintain after surgery. My appetite has been great, I have enjoyed eating more than ever, which is a blessing, since many with pancreas problem cause nausea and loss of appetite.

 

I have been able to get around much more this past week. Yesterday, I went out in 21 degree weather, tended the chickens and started the tractor so it would fire right up for Steve when he came to feed. It is a cold blooded diesel and does not like to start in cold weather. Praise God, it started with just 1 shot of starter fluid.  We needed to go to town and I drove for the first time in weeks. It felt so good! We splurged and stopped at Captain D’s for a wonderful fish and cole slaw meal. I probably “overdid it” some but the heart is now strong.

 

We are expecting near record low temps the next 3-4 days. Though it is 45 right now, there is a cold wind blowing about 15 mph. Tomorrow is to be over 50 with rain, then temps plunging with 2” snow, Monday morning 9 with a wind chill of –7,  11/3 on Monday, 20/12 on Tuesday then warming some and the rest of January near normals of 40s hi and 20s lo.

 

I go to Vanderbilt on Tuesday for another CT, then an appointment with my surgeon. Surgery scheduled for Jan 15.

 

Seems as when it rains it pours. Dave and Katie are at the hospital right now (Saturday 1 pm) as Katie has abdominal pain most likely related to her surgery last Spring. Please pray for them and for a good outcome. Caring for Caleb right now is an issue as Dave, Steve and Wendy all must get back to their jobs, my surgery approaches and Rita has her hands full with me, plus she is having shoulder and wrist problems that keep her from lifting Caleb. And in addition to that, Steve and Wendy;s refrigerator went out overnight. They have Jackson and Caleb with them right now as they are out shopping for a new fridge.

 

Please pray for:

 

* Katie and Dave that the outcome of these tests going on right now will be good, for their peace and God’s rest, and for solutions for caring for the boys.

 

* For Steve and Wendy – they are always “on call” and such willing servants; pray for God’s continued strength and peace for them.

 

* For Rita, for relief from shoulder & wrist pain and continued strength. She is my angel !

 

* For our church family at New Heights Chapel, whom we miss so much and so look forward to again worshipping together. The Chapel had a water leak yesterday that did some damage, but services continue, Praise God. So many of you have prayed, called, sent cards, offered help. God bless each one of you.

 

* For good news after my CT and consultation Tuesday. We are expecting a Praise God time.

 

God continues to teach me so much through all this. The devotional book “Jesus Calling” by Sarah Young has been recommended by many of you and Dave got me a copy a few weeks ago. What a blessing! God is in control. All is well.

 

I will send an update after Tuesday.

 

God richly bless each one of you!

 

Ray

Christmas and Update

   Grand-kids on Christmas Day.  L to R:   Katie, soon to be 14, Caleb, 9 months today, Brittany, soon to be 17, and Jackson, soon to be 10.

 

First of all, praise God that last night was probably the best night’s sleep in 2-3 weeks. And today I feel more “normal” than in quite some time. I have learned a little about managing the itch, since it won’t go away until after the Whipple surgery.

 

Yesterday we saw my beloved cardiologist, Dr. Jackson, and he cleared me for surgery, which is scheduled at Vanderbilt Jan. 15. I will go off the Plavix on Jan.6.

 

We had a wonderful Christmas with all the kids. The picture is of all 4 grandkids on Christmas Day.  Today is Dave’s 36 birthday and they will all be here soon to celebrate.

 

I cannot thank you enough for all your prayers and concern. I will post again before than, but please keep the prayers going up until and through my surgery.

 

Pray for:

            * Continued improvement in sleep and managing the itch.

            * That our faith, trust and hope in our great God remains strong. He is teaching me so much, and I love the songs and worship in the night as I fall back asleep.

            * That the surgery on Jan. 15 will go as God directs and that I will recover quickly.

 

God bless each of you.

 

Latest Update

  I'll try to keep this brief today, but I want to keep all my blog readers up to date on what's going on.
  Since my last post a week ago, much has happened. In brief, after 2 more episodes of passing out, 2 more ambulance rides to the ER, a 2 night stay and a procedure, things are advancing. The jaundice and itching is worse than ever, so my beloved cardiologist, Dr. Jackson conferred with Dr. Parikh at Vanderbilt; they agreed this itching & jaundice must be controlled before my Whipple surgery for the mass in my pancreas. They enlisted Dr. Shondra who Friday performed an endoscopic procedure to put a stent in my biliary duct. It was successful and I only had a moderate sore throat for a day or two.(They stick a tube down your esophagus and through the stomach!!)
  However, today is day 4 and the itching is still at max level. Dr. Shondra said yesterday that it will subside, but a little longer yet. Please pray for relief because the itching is a huge issue right now, and no medications touch it.
  Other good news is that the Jan. 28 confer date with the Vanderbilt surgeon has been scrapped and they think they can do the surgery in about 3 weeks That is an answer to prayer.
  I continue to thank the hundreds and thousands of people praying for me. It is simply amazing...a God thing. I am trying to keep a timely spiritual journal of what God is doing and share it after the surgery.
  Rita cared for the chickens today, Steve is coming any minute to feed 2 more round bales to the cows, neighbor Grey, the vet, stopped to talk with Rita at the mailbox last evening and offered concern and support, wonderful church family and friends have stopped by or called or visited the hospital to offer support and pray with us. Family, friends and bloggers have called, emailed messaged in various ways and I love and appreciate all of it.
  I want to conclude with the words from Rita's favorite card that she sends to friends in need...

I Know That Spot.

The one in life where

you find yourself wondering

if God is still watching,

still listening, still caring.

God is always faithful-

I know that for sure.

And maybe the only reason 

we can't see Him sometimes

is because He's holding us

right up close.

  He will cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you can hide. His truth will be your shield and protection. Psalm 91:4 NCV

Update and Pictures

  This picture was Thanksgiving dinner, another wonderful time to give thanks with all 10 family members present. Rita and I center, son Dave left and beautiful granddaughter Katie right.
  Just a little medical update: I am feeling great after the stent implantation. The itching from the jaundice is worse than ever and in itself can be quite exhausting. To be able to sleep, Rita rubs me down with anti-itch lotion and we put a flat freezer pad under the mattress pad under my back. With the house at 68 I sleep with just a sheet covering me. Cool feels good and when my body heat gets going, the itch becomes greater. I wake up about every 2 hours to reapply lotion. My next appointment with the surgeon is Jan 28 when they will do another CT and then he will review it with me and set a surgery date on the pancreas. I wish it were sooner, but I have to finish 30 days on Plavix and then let it clear from my system. I am trusting God in all this.
  I have a 5 pound max limit on what I can lift, so my chores are minimal. I just returned from gathering the eggs and visiting with my red headed poultry friends, but Rita, Steve or Wendy has to feed and water. Steve came by yesterday to take the cows 2 more round bales. Mucky job since we received 3.5" of rain in the past week. Thanks again, Steve. You are a good son-in-law.
  I am journaling my spiritual life during this time and I will blog about it one of these days. God is so good and is teaching me so much.
  My beautiful bride of 46+ years is the world's best home health nurse, especially when the patient is me! (Rita worked as a LPN in Idaho, Oregon and Washington). My appetite remains good, for which I am thankful. I am on a low fat & low sodium diet for the rest of my life, but I am eating like a king, because my nurse is also a great cook! My total weight loss since 1 year ago is now approaching 50 lbs. The good news is that I had it to lose, and after the surgery I am hoping to lose another 10-20.
  Please pray for relief from the itching and for healing because God is able.

Another picture from Thanksgiving, left to right: Steve, Jackson, Dave,Katie,me,Katie, Brittany and Wendy.

Me (yellow grandpa) with a Duck Dynasty birthday card.

  8 1/2 mo. old Caleb with his mama, Katie.

Caleb with big bro Jackson

Beautiful flowers from our wonderful church family

Medical Update Saturday

Hello family and friends,

 

A quick update this evening. Some of you may have already received some news via text or email from Rita, but I will send this to all. So many thousands of people are praying for me; I feel so blessed.

 

I had experienced no symptoms of any heart problems, but the Vanderbilt doctor doing my pancreas surgery requested clearance from a cardiologist before proceeding, as the surgery is 5 hours and stressful. After a heart CT and an angiogram, it was determined that I had a 90% blockage in the LAD artery, the “widow maker”. That was Thursday afternoon. I stayed overnight in St Thomas Rutherford in Murfreesboro and was transported by ambulance Friday to Vanderbilt in Nashville. God again had prepared the way; the excellent surgeon Dr. Joseph Salloum was waiting and I was taken in directly for a stent implantation. With today’s amazing technology, the procedure took 40 minutes, they accessed the heart through a wrist artery, I was awake the entire time and had zero discomfort. I stayed the night and came home today. I am tired and still itching from the jaundice, but am so happy to be home. I just praise our great God for His unfailing love, mercy and grace. Looking back, I can see so many things that at the time seemed bad but He has turned for good. I trust Him completely for the coming procedures.

 

Since I must take Plavix blood thinner for 30 days, the pancreas surgery scheduled for Dec. 18 will be pushed forward. Please pray for peace during that time, and that the tumor will not spread.

 

Thank you all so much for your prayers and concern,

 

Ray

 

"Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I entrust my life."   Psalm 143:8 NIV

More medical updates

  Just a quick post today with no picture, but I want to bring my blog readers up to date. So much has happened it can be overwhelming.
  After the visit to the Vanderbilt specialist, I was scheduled for surgery on Dec 18....a Whipple procedure that would remove the mass in the pancreas as well as the gall bladder, lymph nodes, part of the biliary duct and maybe other pieces. It is a 4-5 hour operation so as part of the pre-op I went to a cardiologist to be sure my heart was up to it. Well.....a heart CT yesterday showed significant arterial blockage, so tomorrow I will have an angiogram and the heart blockages will need to be dealt with before the Whipple surgery can be done.
  In addition to all that excitement, I passed out at home last Saturday evening and spent 2 days in St Thomas Rutherford Hospital in Murfreesboro. No fun, but we met so many wonderful doctors, nurses, aides, etc.  Just amazing that we could connect with so many compassionate, believing people in one weekend hospital stay.
  To think that just a few weeks ago I thought I was pretty healthy and I felt great. A doctor visit  less than 1 month ago to check on my early jaundice led to all this, so now we are facing heart surgery as well as cancer surgery. 
  Son-in-law Steve is feeding hay to the cows; 2 round bales every week or 10 days. He and Wendy are also helping with the chickens as needed. Son Dave and Katie brought me 2 books in the hospital which are wonderful: "Jesus Calling" devotions and Max Lucado's "You Will Get Through This". 
  More family, church members, blog readers, old friends and new friends are praying than we can possibly know or count. Thank you all. God is good, all powerful, he knew about all this before I was born and He will see me through.
  I will post with updates as I am able.Stay with me fellow bloggers!

  "Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I entrust my life."   Psalm 143:8 NIV

Goodbye Obie

  I thought my next post would be to pass along the results of my visit to the Vanderbilt cancer specialist tomorrow morning, but life has a way of throwing curves. We lost our little dog Obie today.
  His breathing this weekend had been fast and shallow. Rita had a Dr. appointment at 1:00, so she dropped him off at the vet on her way. I had intended to go, but I didn't sleep much last night because of the terrible itching that accompanies the jaundiced skin, so I tipped back in the recliner after breakfast with Obie on my lap and we fell asleep. Next thing I knew, Rita was taking Obie and heading out to town. The vet gave him an antibiotic and said he likely had congestive heart failure. Rita had no sooner gone back to the car and left the parking lot when he died, laying on the car seat. Needless to say, she was pretty shaken.
  Obie was a teacup poodle rescue dog. Some friends of friends found him 7 years ago in winter, weighing 2.5 # and in very poor shape. They all had dogs already so we agreed to keep him until they could find him a permanent home. That was 7 years ago! At first we thought he was a puppy, but the vet estimated him to be at least 6 at the time, so he was now at least 13 years old. He weighed 3.5 to 4 # when we got him back into shape.
  He was very difficult to photograph....kind of camera shy. The top picture is in my office, perched on the pillow on a chair where he could see out the front window, and the 2 pictures below show him in his sweater, tucking, which is what I called it when he tucked up as close as he could get, and a quick shot out on the grass earlier this year. He was the epitome of a lap dog. All he lived for was for someone to sit down so he could curl up on a lap. When you walked through the living room, he would try to "herd" you to a chair and grab some lap time! There was never a sweeter, more loving little dog.
  So, goodbye little Obie. aka Obis, Mobie, Mr. Mobis, Obiator and many other nicknames. You loved and were loved and will be greatly missed.

Preliminary Diagnosis

  This picture was taken about 2 weeks ago, fog hanging around in the morning with blue sky above.

  The focus of my posts is going to shift over the next weeks as I want to blog about my new "journey".  I'm hoping some of you faithful readers, and maybe some new ones, will walk with me.

  After the CT last week, the preliminary diagnosis from my surgeon was that there is a mass in my pancreas, most likely cancerous. She offered that it doesn't appear to have spread and that we may have caught it early. She is referring me to a specialist at Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center in Nashville, whom we will see next Tuesday, Nov. 26. I am so grateful that we are near a hospital with the credentials of Vandy and that I have been referred to a top notch specialist. I know that the road ahead will not be easy, whatever the final diagnosis and treatment, but I am so encouraged by a loving wife, children and grandchildren, sisters and bro-in-laws, cousins, church family, and friends of long standing as well as recent years, including blogging friends. It is impossible to know how many prayer lists I have been added to the past week; it is wide and far ranging and I am eternally grateful.

  I have so enjoyed this blog during this first year; even though the focus will change now for a time. It is my prayer that I will enjoy the birthdays of all 4 of my grandkids in January, February and March when they will turn 17, 14, 10 and 1. And that I will be planting new garden in the spring and enjoying the births of 5 new Angus babies in the next few months and blogging about it.

  "Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I entrust my life."   Psalm 143:8 NIV

Birthday and cartoon

  Today is my 68th birthday. I will "celebrate" by having an extensive CT scan focusing on the liver, gall bladder and pancreas. Your prayers are appreciated very much. In 45 minutes I get to "enjoy" the first of 2 barium banana shakes!
  I enjoyed this cartoon on the editorial page of our local paper yesterday.

"But if you like your head, you can keep it"

"You buying this?"

Checking in....still here

    I haven't posted in a week and a half.....busy with other things, but I don't want to lose touch with ya'll.

  This beautiful red maple in the back yard looked like this 10 days ago; nearly bare today and tomorrow is forecast at 43/23, so that should get the remaining leaves.
  I've been busy with medical tests recently and request your prayers as we try to zero in on the cause. Several varied symptoms coming to a head last week with jaundiced skin. Had blood tests Friday and echocardiogram and ultrasound this morning. I feel well in general, but obviously, something isn't right.
  Thanks for your prayers.