It's Raining, It's Pouring...

In typical Dad fashion his 4 day hospital stay has now turned into 9 and the end to the stay is not in the immediate future. He has had a roller coaster week, with ups and downs coming in his blood pressure, temperature, heart rate, but never in his attitude. Even when he was in ICU last Saturday he said he felt fine. The good news is, he is not in pain.

The story is very long and involved for what he's been through in the last week, so we'll just play the highlight reel...lots of fluids in...2 gallons of fluid drained off his stomach...started chemo...ICU for 24 hours because of low blood pressure (ironically, this was at the same time the Cardinals lost the series, which would make you think his blood pressure would have gone up)...liver not functioning correctly...had to skip chemo this week because of low platelet counts. The bad news is the fluid from his stomach cavity contained lots of cancer cells, which means it is 'everywhere' according to the doctors. So, what next?

Dad's friend Fr. Anderson came yesterday and gave Dad the sacrament for the sick. Father guaranteed him this doesn't mean the end and he can even get it more than once. When he was finished, Dad asked how long it was good for. Even in his weakened state he is cracking jokes. They hope to get another round of chemo in him soon, to fight off the cancer and get his liver to start functioning properly.

The book signing is still on for Monday night. Dad will be there, although it may be through modern technology. So, come join us and raise a pint to Dad on Monday, October 19th at Schlafly Bottleworks in Maplewood at 7:00 p.m. He will either be there in person or via Skype. While you are there you can pick up a copy of this book Dad co-authored called 'St. Louis Brews.' It is really a great book (I'm truly not biased) and you can see the cover and a description here: http://www.reedypress.com/

On another note, that is so ridiculous it's almost funny (almost)...Mom torqued her knee and had to make a trip to the orthopedic surgeon and get an mri. They think she tore her meniscus - we'll find out more next week. In the mean time, she stole Dad's walker since she can't bear weight on that leg. Sue's husband Jeff suggested they get a double-walker, similar to the double-strollers for twins. I took a picture of Mom with the walker, but the gesture she was making at me made the photo rank above a G rating, so I didn't post it here. When it rains, it pours....and I'm sitting in the middle of a tsunami. (Did I mention my niece has swine flu...my car broke down...Amy's car broke down...and the list goes on and on.)