Today has dawned bright and clear in Kansas City and Jerry's room is bright and as cheerful as we can make it. The room is dotted with artwork from 3 very talented kids under 5; pictures of family cover the room and Jerry is covered by a blanket left by one of our cousins.
He is doing pretty good today. Yesterday, they did a CT scan on his head to ensure there was no bleeding going on as his pupils were a bit different in size. They were both responsive, but they were a tad concerned since they were not equal. Found out later- ALL IS GOOD. No worries there.
He is doing good on the dialysis machine. last night and today they have really started pulling a lot of the toxins, potassium and such out of his body- they are constantly changing the bags which is a beautiful thing.
His blood pressure continues to be problematic. They have him on 2 different meds to help regulate it. It's doing better, but still not as great as they would like it to be. They really are trying to get it regulated and normal so they can start pulling the fluid from his lungs and limbs.
Jerry is really quite alert thru most of this. A squeeze of his hand to say "I Love you" gets a squeeze back; a loud hello causes a turn of the head and a raise of the eye; a bad joke by a sister gets the ol' eyebrow raise and roll of the eyes (some things never change I guess). A loving touch on the feet as mom leaves the room gets his head and eyes on her to let her know he is aware.
Last night, Trent, Michael and Scott read to him and kept him company thru the midnight shift and he was even able to sit a bit more upright for a short time period.
We are still not out of the woods yet, but slight improvments here and there help. Let's see what today brings and we'll go from there.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
I Vant To Suck Your Blood...
The doctor has told us that it's a good possibilty that Jerry may need some blood transfusions in the next few days/weeks depending on how his treatments go.
I am told with the Chemo in his system that it's a good possibility that he will need to have transfusions to replenish the lost blood in his system. It doesn't look like they will need to transfuse platelets or plasma at this point.
If anyone would like to donate blood, i would encourage it. Jerry is a type A Positive...but anyone can donate regardless of your blood type - the blood banks can always use all types of blood. One person donating blood can save 3 people's lives (yes, I pulled out the factoids there).
You can go to any local blood bank to donate. Donation time is usally approximately 1 hour (max).
Thank you in advance for considering this option. Jerry and the Blood Banks thank you.
I am told with the Chemo in his system that it's a good possibility that he will need to have transfusions to replenish the lost blood in his system. It doesn't look like they will need to transfuse platelets or plasma at this point.
If anyone would like to donate blood, i would encourage it. Jerry is a type A Positive...but anyone can donate regardless of your blood type - the blood banks can always use all types of blood. One person donating blood can save 3 people's lives (yes, I pulled out the factoids there).
You can go to any local blood bank to donate. Donation time is usally approximately 1 hour (max).
Thank you in advance for considering this option. Jerry and the Blood Banks thank you.
A Message From Trent
Well, Trent and I tried to post this as a comment for him, but after about 15 minutes of not getting it to work, we are posting it here....
There are a lot of things in this world that you sometimes take for granted and my 2nd family was probably one of them. After being down here for the last week it put back into perspective how blessed I am to be part of the Cahills. Even though you have to be somewhat crazy to fit in most of u know that's usually not too hard for me either. Scott did an awesome job of painting the perfect picture of what is going on down here and it is something we will all be able to look back and smile considering the circumstances. The girls have been strong and there for each other like never before (if u know them u know what I mean). Tanya and Tracy are at home with their kids this morning trying to re program them after Kev and I have been doing what we can to keep life normal. By normal we r talking about pizza for breakfast the first 3 days followed up by birthday cake and ice cream the next day and yesterday it was left over chocolate sundaes from McDonalds that Tanya and Xander shared in the car in front of the hospital for their time together for his b-day. So as you can see I think they’re really enjoying dad’s way of normal. We don't know where this journey will lead us but everyone is onboard the new ride at Disney the "Jerry Cahill" roller coaster it will scare the shit out of u. To all of our friends and family all over the place thank u you have made a bad situation bearable. And to gramma margie "Thank u" for leaving your life behind and being a nanny, doctor, nurse, counselor, cook, maid, party planner, and a rock when nobody else knew where to turn you gave the advice u thought was right and it always was whether it was accepted at first or not. I almost forgot the whole reason why I sat down and started babbling Tanya and I have our hands full with the 2 little spirited rascals that keep us smiling and hard to imagine but sometimes trying to win arguments that u know we can't win. Tracy and Kev are the ones that deserve the congrats so we can stop the rumors before they start. Thanks for everything.
Trent
There are a lot of things in this world that you sometimes take for granted and my 2nd family was probably one of them. After being down here for the last week it put back into perspective how blessed I am to be part of the Cahills. Even though you have to be somewhat crazy to fit in most of u know that's usually not too hard for me either. Scott did an awesome job of painting the perfect picture of what is going on down here and it is something we will all be able to look back and smile considering the circumstances. The girls have been strong and there for each other like never before (if u know them u know what I mean). Tanya and Tracy are at home with their kids this morning trying to re program them after Kev and I have been doing what we can to keep life normal. By normal we r talking about pizza for breakfast the first 3 days followed up by birthday cake and ice cream the next day and yesterday it was left over chocolate sundaes from McDonalds that Tanya and Xander shared in the car in front of the hospital for their time together for his b-day. So as you can see I think they’re really enjoying dad’s way of normal. We don't know where this journey will lead us but everyone is onboard the new ride at Disney the "Jerry Cahill" roller coaster it will scare the shit out of u. To all of our friends and family all over the place thank u you have made a bad situation bearable. And to gramma margie "Thank u" for leaving your life behind and being a nanny, doctor, nurse, counselor, cook, maid, party planner, and a rock when nobody else knew where to turn you gave the advice u thought was right and it always was whether it was accepted at first or not. I almost forgot the whole reason why I sat down and started babbling Tanya and I have our hands full with the 2 little spirited rascals that keep us smiling and hard to imagine but sometimes trying to win arguments that u know we can't win. Tracy and Kev are the ones that deserve the congrats so we can stop the rumors before they start. Thanks for everything.
Trent
A quick update
Jerry has been pretty out of it over the past 12 hours since they started him on the dialysis machine. They have kept him fairly sedated to ensure that he remains calm.
Due to the addition of dialysis on a continual basis, the hospital staff has asked that we only have 2 people in the room at any given time so that we are not in the way of the machines and the nurses ability to check on Jerry if needed.
We'll continue to watch over him and see how things go- but for now, stable is good. :)
Due to the addition of dialysis on a continual basis, the hospital staff has asked that we only have 2 people in the room at any given time so that we are not in the way of the machines and the nurses ability to check on Jerry if needed.
We'll continue to watch over him and see how things go- but for now, stable is good. :)
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Moments of Beauty
It's 2am on Wednesday morning Haley, Kevin, Trent and I are sitting with Jerry in his room as the dialysis machine sighs while cleaning Jerry's blood. Sherri has done a masterful job in updating everyone on Jerry's condition, but for those of you who aren't here to witness it there have been some really beautiful moments that I want to share. The Cahill clan took over one of the waiting rooms in the ICU for the last several days. It is full of loved ones 24 hours a day with people sleeping on the floor and under the furniture to avoid the glare of the lights that don't turn off. You don't realize how wide a path Jerry has made until you see the many different people who have come to him, family, friends, young, old all brought together by their love for this special guy. Then there are the moments, a father lovingly shaving his stricken son, a sister arranging stuffed animals and pictures, a friend swabbing Jerry's dry mouth with Diet Coke, friends arriving with homemade dinner for the entire group, a lawyer friend setting his own emotions aside to help guide Jerry through the legal maze of his situation, an expectant sister spending her third night sleeping on the hospital floor and then feeling guilty when she had to leave to go to the ER to care for her own health issues, a child sharing his fifth birthday with his favorite uncle in the ICU, a mother assuring her son with a kiss, the way he responds to someone holding his hand, or grandma margy taking on babysitting duties so the exhausted dads can take their shift to comfort their brother-in-law . The room overflows with symbols of love sent from every corner of the country. Everyday we take time to read the blog posts and cards aloud and are constantly reminded of the love and good carma coming are way. I just thought you should all know that no little gesture goes overlooked, even in the midst of these very difficult times the Cahill family has stuck together like glue. Its been and honor and a privileged to witness people rising to the occasion and creating these moments of beauty.
What a Roller Coaster Ride!
Thank you for riding, pull the lap belt tight across your lap and please be sure to keep your hands and feet inside the vehicle at all times.
Whew! What a ride the past few days have been.
We received the test results back from today on the CT scan.. and let me tell you, it's pretty darn good after everything else we have heard.
For the most part, the scans looked about the same, HOWEVER, the lymph nodes do not look as swollen and the tumor appears to be about the same size. They are currently putting him on dialysis and he will begin receiving continuing dialysis for an indefinite period of time. They will get rid of the toxins in his system and then begin getting rid of the fluids in his system. Once the dialysis begins on a regular basis, his kidneys should be able to pump the toxins out of his body.
He is still connected to a ventilator and will remain on it for at least 24-36 more hours. While he is on the ventilator the doctor will get additional drugs into his system that they might not have been able to while he wasn't on the machine. Once they start to take him off the ventilator, it will take a few days as they want to be sure that he will be able to breath on his own without complications. All told, it looks like Jerry may be on the ventilaor for about 5 days (if things go well).
He is now re-connected to nutrients as well.
Jerry is aware of the ventilaor and does not like having it (would you?) he has abeen trying to remove it from his mouth a few times. As long as there are 2 people back there, the nurses will not have to strap him down to prevent him from pulling the tube out of his mouth. I think we have the covered with as many of us as their are!
After we received this news, we were all extremely relieved while at the same time a bit skeptical. Can it be real? Is this really a shift in his prognosis? it sure seems that way... what a ride!
On a side note, we were all so excited to have this good news and start planning "time away in a real bed and showers" that we came up with a plan of shifts to keep at least 2 people here at all times in with Jerry. Well, that took a little time and became a bit of a show (who knew planning 3 hours shifts for the next 24 hours would be so difficult?), but was nothing compared to the sideshow that was going on around this: the great pillow debacle of 2009. Determing what stuff to leave in the Camp Jerry waiting room and what to take home, became a bit of a struggle and a comedy of errors. (You really had to be there to enjoy the humor, so just take our word on it).
So we shall see how the next few days and weeks pan out, but we are definitely in the zone for improvement now. Next stop: CHEMO in 2 weeks.... that is our goal today.
Whew! What a ride the past few days have been.
We received the test results back from today on the CT scan.. and let me tell you, it's pretty darn good after everything else we have heard.
For the most part, the scans looked about the same, HOWEVER, the lymph nodes do not look as swollen and the tumor appears to be about the same size. They are currently putting him on dialysis and he will begin receiving continuing dialysis for an indefinite period of time. They will get rid of the toxins in his system and then begin getting rid of the fluids in his system. Once the dialysis begins on a regular basis, his kidneys should be able to pump the toxins out of his body.
He is still connected to a ventilator and will remain on it for at least 24-36 more hours. While he is on the ventilator the doctor will get additional drugs into his system that they might not have been able to while he wasn't on the machine. Once they start to take him off the ventilator, it will take a few days as they want to be sure that he will be able to breath on his own without complications. All told, it looks like Jerry may be on the ventilaor for about 5 days (if things go well).
He is now re-connected to nutrients as well.
Jerry is aware of the ventilaor and does not like having it (would you?) he has abeen trying to remove it from his mouth a few times. As long as there are 2 people back there, the nurses will not have to strap him down to prevent him from pulling the tube out of his mouth. I think we have the covered with as many of us as their are!
After we received this news, we were all extremely relieved while at the same time a bit skeptical. Can it be real? Is this really a shift in his prognosis? it sure seems that way... what a ride!
On a side note, we were all so excited to have this good news and start planning "time away in a real bed and showers" that we came up with a plan of shifts to keep at least 2 people here at all times in with Jerry. Well, that took a little time and became a bit of a show (who knew planning 3 hours shifts for the next 24 hours would be so difficult?), but was nothing compared to the sideshow that was going on around this: the great pillow debacle of 2009. Determing what stuff to leave in the Camp Jerry waiting room and what to take home, became a bit of a struggle and a comedy of errors. (You really had to be there to enjoy the humor, so just take our word on it).
So we shall see how the next few days and weeks pan out, but we are definitely in the zone for improvement now. Next stop: CHEMO in 2 weeks.... that is our goal today.
The Day Thus Far....
This morning the doctors have come in and things are about the same as they were yesterday. They ran an X-ray this morning to check out his lungs, they are also going to run a few additional tests: a CT scan.
They have connected Jerry back to a feeding tube as well.
Because of the fluid in his lungs, they will be connecting him to a breathing tube in order to run a few additional tests on him today. If Jerry is responding to the treatments/tests today, and how the results come back, they may keep him on the breathing machine.
He is resting most of the time now, and we are trying to limit visits with him to 10 min or so in order to not tire him out. there has been an outpouring of love and support for Jerry and our family and we truly appreciate it, more than everyone knows.
We still remain in our Camp Jerry waiting room in the hospital, so please check in with us when you get here, so we don't have too many visitors in his room at once.
They have connected Jerry back to a feeding tube as well.
Because of the fluid in his lungs, they will be connecting him to a breathing tube in order to run a few additional tests on him today. If Jerry is responding to the treatments/tests today, and how the results come back, they may keep him on the breathing machine.
He is resting most of the time now, and we are trying to limit visits with him to 10 min or so in order to not tire him out. there has been an outpouring of love and support for Jerry and our family and we truly appreciate it, more than everyone knows.
We still remain in our Camp Jerry waiting room in the hospital, so please check in with us when you get here, so we don't have too many visitors in his room at once.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
