It’s been one week…

since I have been released from the hospital. Guess it is time to get back to life. I have been on the couch most all of the week. The pain is coming and going and is very strong at times. Have had a few take your breath away moments with the pain, but am pushing through it. The appetite is coming back very slowly. At least the sight of food does not disgust me anymore and I am trying to eat more. The wound on my incision is healing nicely. It will take a few more weeks to heal, but the infection is gone and the healing process is moving forward.

I would be remiss if I did not take the time to thank my wife for everything she has done and is doing. Being at the hospital everyday, just being there for me. Now that I am home, she has the house and kids to deal with, an me on top of it all. She faithfully changes the dressing on my wound, makes sure I am eating, makes sure I am on top of my pain meds, makes sure I am resting, etc. I absolutely would not be able to walk this journey without her. I cannot thank her enough. She is a strong woman, but even strong women need prayer. Please pray for Sandi that she has the strength and sanity to take care of everything she needs to. Love you, Babe!!

I would also be remiss if I did not thank all of you who visited me. It was great to see all of you and I am sorry if I was a little strung out on my pain meds when you were there. I know I drifted in and out of sleep on some of you during our conversations, so sorry about that. Yes, the pain medication that I was on gave Sandi some memorable and laughable moments at the hospital. Just ask her to share some stories!

Right now, we are doing ok. I would ask for prayer support on the following:

1. Physical and mental strength to continue to fight this battle. It is getting harder to fight.

2. Growth of appetite.

3. Complete healing of wound at the incision site.

4. Regaining of strength to make it through the day.

5. Complete remission/eradication of the cancer.

Thanks, again, for the prayer support and everything else you have done for us. We do not take it for granted and we appreciate what people are willing to do for us.

Take care and stay tuned.

We’re Home

Wow, we’re finally home. It was a long 13 days, but we finally made it. Thank you for all your prayers and well-wishes. Stefan is glad to be home and will hopefully recover more quickly here. Please continue to pray for his pain and lack of appetite. He is in quite a bit of pain today since we’ve gotten home. He also still has pretty much no appetite. He is currently at his lowest weight since starting this battle. We would love to see him gain some weight. Thanks again for checking in. Sandi.

By the way… this will probably be my last post as Stefan will hopefully be getting back in the driver’s seat.

The Latest

This will be a pretty quick post as I am posting from Stefan’s phone in his hospital room. He is definitely doing better after Wednesday’s set-back. We are hoping that he will be able to go home tomorrow. This time around he has had more pain, nausea, and fatigue. This combination unfortunately sometimes gets him down. The past couple of days have been somewhat of a struggle for him. We would appreciate your prayers about this. He is also struggling with eating as he has no appetite. He really can’t afford to lose more weight. If you could pray for his appetite to greatly improve, we would love that. Thanks for checking this blog, visiting, and the many cards, gifts, and acts of kindness. We are truly grateful beyond words.

Another Update

Sorry that I haven’t updated everyone in a couple days. Stef is still in the hospital. His NG tube that removes the acid from his stomach is still in place. He’s ready for that to be removed so that he can start eating. His intestines have not woken up yet, so until that happens, the tube stays in. He also had an infection at his incision site. They removed about 8 staples and got as much of the infection out as they could. They then packed the open wound with gauze and taped over it. The dressing and gauze packing has to be changed twice a day. I will be doing this for him when he comes home. They did not re-staple it so that it could heal from the inside out. This has increased his pain over the last couple of days. Thankfully, they have been attentive to his pain and are giving him great pain medications. Please pray specifically that his intestines would wake up. His surgeon will not remove the tube and think about sending him home until this happens. It is so tiring to be at the hospital all day, and I know he is tired of being there. Thanks to those of you who have stopped in and cheered him up. It’s been great to see you. Also, to our wonderful prayer warriors. We are so grateful for your constant prayers on our behalf. I’ll keep you all posted on any new news. Goodnight.

I think we’re on the upswing…

Thank you all for all your prayers for Stef’s recovery. Last night was pretty rough for him because of the pain. This morning, his surgeon was concerned because of his inability to sleep and his continued high rate of pain, so he added another pain killer to the mix. Tonight, Stef said his pain was around a 6 1/2, so that was encouraging. He is fighting incredible fatigue due to all the medication, therefore providing for some funny times, but hopefully, his body is getting some real rest!! Thank you to those of you who have stopped by. Even though he is pretty drowsy, we both really appreciate that you have taken time out of your busy days to cheer him up. It really helps get us through the day.

On a side note…may of you have asked about the kids. They are doing well at my mom and dad’s house. They are having lots of fun being spoiled by grandma and grandpa. Thanks, mom and dad for helping out with the kids!!

Also, another little thing… thanks to my niece and my neighbor, Lisa, for watching our crazy dog, Sprite. Even though this seems so minor, it has been such a relief to know that I don’t have to leave the hospital to take care of her. My niece takes her for the day, and my neighbor takes her to her house for the whole evening. It’s amazing how even the little things are taken care of.

Sorry for the rambling, but I just wanted to give a quick update and thank those who have helped so much. We have so much to be thankful for.

Take care. Goodnight. Sandi.

The Latest…

Hi, it’s Sandi again. I just wanted to let everyone know what we found out from the surgeon. He talked with Stef early this morning and said that the surgery went well. He had to remove a small portion of his right colon and right small bowel. This was an area where the cancer could not be “peeled away.” The surgeon had not expected to have to do this, but was not discouraged by it either. He was still upbeat about the surgery. Stef was still battling a lot of pain and nausea today. The nurses and doctors have been so helpful in trying to help gain control of these things. Hopefully, they will diminish over the next couple of days. They had him up walking 4 times today in hopes of waking up his organs. They tend to stay “asleep” for an extended period of time due to the anesthesia and the chemo wash. Hopefully, he can get some much needed rest tonight.

Thank you to those of you who continue to walk beside us during this long journey. I know it is a long road, and everyone else has so much going on, but we really appreciate the continued prayers and concern from so many. Stef is continuing to battle so hard as this is far from over. Please keep him in your prayers and continue to check in on him. It really helps his spirits. Thanks. Sandi.

Update on Stef

Good morning… I think. It’s about 2 am as I’m writing this. First, I want to thank all of those who prayed for us and asked about us today. We really appreciated it. I also had a wonderful support system with me at the hospital. My dad, mom, sister, niece and her fiance, Stef’s mom and sister, and Aaron Conrad sat with me during the day. My wonderful friend, Melanie watched all three of our kids all day for us. What an amazing thing she did by taking such wonderful care of them so we didn’t have to worry about them at all. The day was a little frustrating as Stef’s surgery got started a little late. He didn’t actually go to the OR until 2pm. His actual surgery was done by 430pm and the pump team was called to do the chemo wash. He then went to recovery at 6pm and stayed there until 9pm. He was kept in recovery so long because they were having difficulty managing his pain. I was also frustrated because I have not yet spoken with the surgeon to find out the results of his surgery. And when I left at 1 this morning, he was still in tremendous pain. Please continue to pray for Stef for his pain to diminish. He has a very high tolerance for pain, but this time around the pain is incredible. Hopefully, he will sleep well tonight also. Well, I’m going to try to get some rest as I will probably be up in about 4 hours to walk the dog and get back up to the hospital to try to talk to the surgeon. Hopefully, we can talk to someone and find out about the results of the surgery. I will post an update tomorrow night if I hear anything from the doctor. Thanks again to all of those who covered us in prayer today. Also, two of our pastors from our wonderful church showed up and that was so greatly appreciated. Stef and I are so blessed to have such amazing relationships through friends and the blog world. Good night and I’ll post tomorrow! Sandi

Surgery, take 2…

Well, I am going to sign off for a little while. Surgery on Monday. No internet access while in the hospital, so I am taking a break. Sandi will be posting updates next week, so stay tuned for those.

I am ready this time. Not as scared as last time. More of a cautious feeling this time. I am physically and mentally stronger this time around, as well. So, here we go again. If you are bored, come and see me, I will be at The James for about a week!

Sandi and I would covet your prayer support again, as we go through this.

REFUSING TO LOSE!!!

Observations on Golf…

Props to my buddy, Dave, for posting this one… Hardcore golfers will understand and nod their heads in agreement.

Don’t buy a putter until you’ve had a chance to throw it.

Never try to keep more than 300 separate thoughts in your mind during your swing.

When your shot has to carry over a water hazard, you can either hit one more club or two more balls.

If you’re afraid a full shot might reach the green while the foursome ahead of you is still putting out, you have two options: you can immediately shank a lay-up or you can wait until the green is clear and top a ball halfway there.

The less skilled the player, the more likely he is to share his ideas about the golf swing.

No matter how bad you are playing, it is always possible to play worse.

The inevitable result of any golf lesson is the instant elimination of the one critical unconscious motion that allowed you to compensate for all of your many other errors.

If it ain’t broke, try changing your grip.

Everyone replaces his divot after a perfect approach shot.

A golf match is a test of your skill against your opponents’ luck.

It is surprisingly easy to hole a fifty foot putt . . . for a 10.

Counting on your opponent to inform you when he breaks a rule is like expecting him to make fun of his own haircut.

Nonchalant putts count the same as chalant putts.

It’s not a gimme if you’re still away.

There are two kinds of bounces; unfair bounces and bounces just the way you meant to play it.

You can hit a two acre fairway 10% of the time and a two inch branch 90% of the time.

The shortest distance between any two points on a golf course is a straight line that passes directly through the center of a very large tree.

If you really want to get better at golf, go back and take it up at a much earlier age.

Since bad shots come in groups of three, a fourth bad shot is actually the beginning of the next group of three.

When you look up, causing an awful shot, you will always look down again at exactly the moment when you ought to start watching the ball if you ever want to see it again.

Every time a golfer makes a birdie, he must subsequently make two triple bogeys to restore the fundamental equilibrium of the universe.

If you want to hit a 7 iron as far as Tiger Woods does, simply try to lay up just short of a water hazard.

To calculate the speed of a player’s downswing, multiply the speed of his back-swing by his handicap; i.e., back-swing 20 mph, handicap 15, downswing = 300 mph.

There are two things you can learn by stopping your back-swing at the top and checking the position of your hands: how many hands you have, and which one is wearing the glove.

Hazards attract; fairways repel.

You can put a draw on the ball, you can put a fade on the ball, but no golfer can put a straight on the ball.

A ball you can see in the rough from 50 yards away is not yours.

If there is a ball on the fringe and a ball in the bunker, your ball is in the bunker. If both balls are in the bunker, yours is in the footprint.

It’s easier to get up at 6:00 AM to play golf than at 10:00 to mow the lawn.

Sometimes it seems as though your cup moveth over.

A good drive on the 18th hole has stopped many a golfer from giving up the game.

Golf is the perfect thing to do on Sunday because you always end up having to pray a lot.

A good golf partner is one who’s always slightly worse than you are…that’s why I get so many calls to play with friends.

That rake by the sand trap is there for golfers who feel guilty about skipping out on lawn work.

If there’s a storm rolling in, you’ll be having the game of your life.

Golf balls are like eggs. They’re white. They’re sold by the dozen. And you need to buy fresh ones each week.

A pro-shop gets its name from the fact that you have to have the income of a professional golfer to buy anything in there.

It’s amazing how a golfer who never helps out around the house will replace his divots, repair his ball marks, and rake his sand traps.

If your opponent has trouble remembering whether he shot a six or a seven, he probably shot an eight (or worse).

You probably wouldn’t look good in a green jacket anyway! A sweatshirt will do just fine.

Journey Update…

Well, we are on for surgery this coming Monday, June 16th!  We met with our surgeon today for a go/no go decision.  We decided to go.  Like I have a choice!  I have cancer in me and the surgeon can get more of it out. 

So, at 1:15pm on Monday, I go under the knife for a second time.  I should be in the hospital (The James) for about a week and then six or seven weeks at home again, driving my wife nuts!!

I am looking at it this way, I get the summer off.  Can’t do anything, but I get my summer off!

Sandi will be giving updates on my progress while I am in the hospital, so stay tuned!!