Well, it's been a little while since my last post...sometimes life just gets in the way of doing fun stuff!
What we've been up to...
...suffering through what seems like a long, snowy winter...
...enjoying the cold instead of fighting it...skating in the sunshine at Silver Star www.skisilverstar.com
...realizing that we do live in a beautiful and scenic part of Canada...that's valley fog that we got above when we were at Silver Star
....celebrating our middle son Jason's 20th birthday..
...and of course, a lot of our time is spent hoping that my dad will make a full recovery from his esophageal cancer surgery. It was only 2 months ago, but it seems like 2 years ago....a long and bumpy road. Dad had his esophagus stretched for the second time this past Thursday. He was unable to eat or drink any fluid by mouth. He is still on his tube feeding but has now lost a total of 20 pounds. Luckily, his mental clarity is much improved. Today, he can eat soft foods and liquids...I am almost envious of his diet of ice cream and pudding! He is having his esophagus stretched again this Thursday in hopes that it won't be back to the size of a pen refill again. The 'connection' site does not have very good blood flow so the tissue is not healing well and staying stretched. They will continue to do these stretches in hopes that he won't have to have a surgical procedure to correct it. We just don't want Dad to have general anesthesia again if we can help it. There's the concern of mental deteriorations that comes with that but also the chance of more heart attacks. So, we'll keep hoping that the stretches will help so he can have some freedom from the tube feeding and enjoy eating a more normal diet and gaining back some weight. Here's a great photo of him from Jason's birthday on Jan.27....
...and in between all of that, we continue to plan for our holiday to Mexico. We are scheduled to leave in just 11 more days! Yikes! Haven't even begun to pack so it will be a last minute dash to get ready....all depending on how stable my Dad is. For his sake and my mom's, I hope he is doing much better after this next procedure. They deserve a holiday too!
So, that's our life in a nutshell lately.....thank you to all of our good friends who continue to be so kind and supportive for the past few months...we so appreciate it!
Let's hope the sun keeps shining on this road of life that we are on!...
Doris, I've been following your blog about your father. I also understand this. I'm now 64 and my Dad has passed but it was very difficult for me about 29 years ago. My brother had already died so I was the only child living. It was very difficult because my mother had already passed and I had a close relationship with my father. I'm glad to hear your father is making some progress and seems to be doing as well as can be expected. Hopefully you'll have him for some years yet. Appreciate everyone of them. Thinking of you and hoping you can have a wonderful time in Mexico. Wish we were going. Thinking about it but some other situations seem to take presendence. Bill just said to me "you need some time in some sunshine". Yes, I do! So have a great time and help me enjoy it through your trip reports.
ReplyDeleteSally
Doris: Thoughts and prayers with you and your dad for a speedy recovery. I went through 8 weeks with my dad being in the hospital following an auto accident and while I could take the physical ailments, it was the mental deterioration that was most difficult to deal with so I know where you are at. We will be coming to Isla on February 15 for our 10th trip. Hope to run into you. Dianne & Tom
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