Night Night

We'll broadcast some more tomm. if he does anything but sleep:)

At Kosair

Recovery time... he and I both slept until noon and he had a cookie, two fries and a bite of chicken tender for lunch. He played a little, listened to a story and has slept a lot too. He'll have his dressing changed later, at which point he'll be given morphine!

Surgery A Success

Unspeakable Joy. Surgery successful. Doc removed one of the largest abscesses he has ever seen on a child. Going to be a rough few days with stitches but the relief is overwhelming. Thanks for all the prayers and offers of help. Might have hospital cam up and running later on Saturday. 

--
Jeremy Renner

Update From Kosair

MRI confirmed fluid behind ear and additionally showed a clot. Infection is somewhat localized.  If you are interested you can look at these items: 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mastoiditis

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thrombosis

http://www.surgeryencyclopedia.com/La-Pa/Mastoidectomy.html

The ENT actually does a Mastoidectomy on a regular basis, however not on young children. For this reason he has brought in a Doc from U of L (go Cards!) who is going to come in and do it, maybe even this evening. 

So it is good and bad: good that we were moved to a more advanced and child oriented place with all the bells and whistles and specialists. There is also no 'intercranial involvement' which, apparently is also good.  Bad, however because he just isn't getting any better.  There is an urgency to clean out the infection. 

Girls are with the Kanes.  We are in room 527 on 5W.  
--
Jeremy Renner

@ Kosair

We are @ Kosair Children's Hospital awaiting MRI Results.

Jeremiah To Be Transferred

Jeremiah will be transferred to Kosair Children's Hospital for a few reasons. He will have a better scan there and if surgery is needed it is a better facility. He will have access to an infectious disease specialist and the hospital in general is better and more kid friendly. (Though I will say that FMH is starting to make up for some of the previous impressions I held of them... another story) At any rate I don't know if I will have internet access down there or not, but I will try to keep everyone posted.

Hospital Cam

If hospital cam is down, it is b/c I have to log in to the 'system' every hour or so. Enjoy the view of the little fighter. We are actually going to be here for several more days.

Update On My Dad

Word for word pasted from fb:

About 60 of my fb friends are former students of my dad and another 30 are family so I thought I would post a little update about the last few days. 

My mom called me Sunday morning and was very, very concerned about my dad. He had not eaten anything for three days and was quite unresponsive to conversation. They had some close friends from Germany who were visiting and my dad wasn't visiting or talking to them, which if you know my dad it is quite the opposite of his character. 

I headed up there later in the day and spent from Sunday night til Wednesday evening there. 

Monday was pretty amazing, it was like a miracle had occurred and prayers had been answered. He was talking, he ate a pretty decent breakfast and even split a steak with my 4 year old at dinner. He had color and personality. My mom jokingly kept saying - I didn't mean to make you panic, he really wasn't this well yesterday.

If Monday was one step forward Tuesday was two steps back. He slept about all day and had severe cramping and constipation that eventually landed us in the ER. I'll give credit where credit is due, we were in and out of the ER in 2 hours. If you are ever in N. Indiana go to Elkhart General Hospital. They relieved 3 weeks of misery, at least in that area of frustration. 

I stayed today to take him to his radiation, which he will complete Monday and to do an errand with him. He didn't talk much, it seemed to put him out to answer questions (again, if you know my dad...) But I will say he had a decent breakfast and even a few small cups of water while we were doing an errand. 

What's next? Well radiation ends Monday, that will be 15 treatments. He has a follow up with oncologist 2 weeks after that. He has at least one tumor that isn't even being treated for all the other more prominent ones. For good measure let me add that he has diabetes, which was under control with diet and has had lukemia for years. And as you may or may not know he actually had a go 'round with this same cancer 12 years ago, in fact he was still in Germany and combined his hospital trip in Cleveland with a trip to this area for my wedding.

So that is essentially what I know. I'll add that I have never truly felt the presence of prayer as much as I have the last few days. It has been overwhelming and humbling. So thanks for the prayers and kind words of encouragement. I envision heading back and forth a lot this summer. 

I don't know where this kidney cancer came from. I know we were in Germany in 86 when the Chernobyl nuclear plant exploded in Russia. I know he was around a lot of second hand smoke as a child and adult and even puffed on a pipe from time to time himself. If you know me at all you know I am far from judgmental but let me, while I have your attention, implore you if you are a smoker to quit smoking yesterday. 

That's my update, that's my soap box. Go hug your kids, call your parents and pet your dog because life is short and uncertain. I have people on my friends list I have known my whole life and people I have met once or twice and know only professionally. I have a few former students and a few former teachers, but I have to say this week and these upcoming weeks have been made a little more bearable with the kind words and encouraging messages from you all. God Bless you and thanks for reading.