Back Home again . . .but not for long!!

The doctor gave Dad the ok to travel so they will be leaving early March to visit with Bill, Amanda and the girls in Nashville. Sarah will be going to Nashville for Spring Break and we will be heading down as well. Nathan will stay around long enough during his break so that we can all be together for a few days. Then Dad and Mom will be flying to Phoenix on March 9th.

The tests that were run at the Clinic have all come back okay so far. We are still waiting for a few results but don't anticipate anything that would require them to stay here. The doctors there seem very happy with his progress and his coordinator told him to hit the putting greens when he gets to Arizona (;

Check-up Time

Dad will be going to Cleveland this week for some tests and a routine visit with the liver surgeons. It will be the first clinical appointment that he will make (all the others were cancelled due him being hospitalized). The plan is to go up on Tuesday afternoon and come back home on Thursday. He has been doing fairly well - continuing with heart rehab. and walking at the mall. The nausea has come back a little though. He is fighting what appears to be a cold this weekend. We are hoping that the doctors will say he is fine to go to Arizona for awhile. The snow is really getting to him (and mom). They are planning on heading west early to mid-March if all goes well.

I'll update later in the week.

Feelin' Good

Dad has had several good days - no more nausea since the procedure. He has actually been getting hungry! He started back at rehab. today. Just wanted you all to know that prayers are being answered.

A Long Day

Dad tolerated the procedure very well. The doctor did find some narrowing of the duct so he used a balloon to widen it and placed a stent in. It will need to be checked in 8 to 10 weeks. Dad was hungry once he was good and awake and ate well when we stopped on the way home. He didn't seem to be nauseated so that was an improvement. We are hoping he will feel better now. Most of his lab work showed improvement this week so that was also a positive sign things are on the way to being better.

Tomorrow he has an appointment with a gastroenterologist here in Findlay. Mom is trying to get him established with some local specialists so that if something simple crops up they can handle it here in town.

A Special Celebration and then Tests tomorrow

Dad was out and about for awhile today. He attended worship service this morning and then Jared's Eagle Scout Court of Honor in the afternoon. He still isn't feeling great - still having some nausea even with medicine to help with it. He stayed in tonight - as he told a lady at church this morning - to study for his test tomorrow.

He will be having an ERCP test tomorrow to check his duct work (ha) for any narrowing due to scar tissue or other causes. He isn't too excited about this but he should be asleep during the whole procedure. It is supposed to be an outpatient procedure. The procedure is at 2:00 and should take under an hour we are told.

Here is a picture from this afternoon. I'll update when we get home tomorrow evening with any news.

Biopsy Results

Dad's biopsy came back fine - no signs of rejection. However, his numbers are still somewhat elevated so the doctors will be running another test next week sometime. They will check his bile duct to make sure that it isn't narrowing. I believe this will also be an outpatient procedure.

Liver Biopsy

Dad and Mom are headed to Cleveland tonight. Dad has an outpatient liver biopsy scheduled for tomorrow morning at 7:15. They will stay at a friend's home in Amherst tonight and finish the drive in the morning. On Monday when the labwork came back some of the liver numbers were high. The doctor wanted them repeated on Wednesday with the agreement that if they were worse they would do a biopsy Thursday or Friday. The results today were mixed - some better some worse. The biopsy will show if there is a rejection issue and then the doctors can adjust the medicines to treat it. Dad has still been dealing with some nausea but has been feeling better until the last couple of days. He doesn't let it keep him in though. He has been attending church services, doing heart rehab and going to the boys basketball games. I'll update again later tomorrow when we hear the results and have a plan of action.