august 22, 2008 - carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ (galatians 6:2 NIV)

top of the morning, friends....

thank you so much for the thoughts and prayers for my dad. he is entering his 22nd day of his stay at the hospital. considering he underwent 2 major surgeries in 5 days, he is doing remarkably well physically. he is, however, struggling a bit mentally. he is terrified that something else will go wrong. his vitals are improving and various tubes are coming out almost daily. they have moved him to a step down unit--but still in ICU. he is so afraid of eating again, as that's when the last problem occurred. the dr's are taking it very slow, continuing to feed him via stomach tube. while he is still on mega doses of antibiotics, he continues to improve daily. he is very anxious to get home to his wife and his beloved dog, tiki.

i am sorry i haven't updated this earlier, but we wanted to make sure he was out of the woods. he appears to have "turned the corner" now and we're very optimistic for a full recovery.

on another positive note...5 more weeks to complete the MBA....then onto the next career search!

the picture above is the new 2009 harley "triglide." although i love the trike i'm riding....a girl can dream, can't she?

quotes for the day...

"believe in yourself and there will come a day when others will have no choice but to believe with you"
- cynthia kersey -

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"failure is the opportunity to begin again, more intelligently"
- henry ford -

kaila mcgarvey - good luck and have fun in your first year at loyola!

joyce channel - God bless you as you recover from leg surgery.

the ernestine abrams family - my prayers are with you after the loss of you mother. she was a great friend to me!

happy belated birthday to my friend, christy clark!

until next time...be blessed!

lisa - 1095

August 9, 2008 - "I will trust and not be afraid" (Isaiah 12:2)

top of the morning, friends....

thanks so much for all the thoughts and prayers for my dad. we've had quite a week. after dad's second major surgery within a week, he has battled infection, an irregular heartbeat, blood pressure issues, diabetes, and pnemonia.

but, on a positive note, while he still has a tube from his stomach up through his nose, as well as a cath, he is off the ventilator and there are signs that his stomach is starting to "wake up." he is still extremely tired and thirsty. the only thing he's had by mouth is a few ice chips. he is wanting to eat and drink, but due to the last episode, the doctors are being extremely cautious. they want to make sure the sutures in his stomach, pancreas, intestines, and bile ducts are healing sufficiently and won't break like they did the last time.

my family and i have been staying with dad around the clock to make sure he gets the attention he needs. even as sick as he has been, he has still been such a gentleman. he has however, said some pretty crazy and funny things when he has hallucinated. i hope we can all laugh about this later. for now, he is still in the critical care unit.

he needs to get well so he can resume fishing, hunting, and motorcycling!

thank you again for all the thoughts, texts, calls, cards, and visits. they lift dad up more than you all know. special thanks to trish mcgarvey, jenny burns, and lisa rowland for all the help they've provided during dad's ordeal. your kindness has been unbelievable!

i will attempt to keep you all posted.

blessings,

lisa - 1095

august 6, 2008 - "when I am afraid, i will trust in you" (psalms 56:3)

top of the morning, friends....

i hope this blog entry finds you all well.

it's been a tough week in the taylor household - but we're cautiously optimistic......

as many of you know, about 3 weeks ago, my dad went to the dr. for what he thought was kidney stones. he did, in fact, have a stone, but during the cat scan, a baseball sized mass was found attached to his small intestine--on the other side of the kidney with the stone. a biopsy was completed via a scope and colonoscopy and was deemed negative for cancer. the dr's decided that the mass was simply an ulcer and that it should be repaired, as it was located in a very critical and congested area. the plan was to simply go in and remove that small section of his duodenum and sew it back together.

last wednesday, dad entered the hospital for the surgery. when the dr's got into his stomach area, they found that the mass was larger and cancerous and is called a "gist" tumor. the surgery then entailed removing 1/2 of dads stomach, 1/2 of his pancreas, part of his bile ducts, as well as part of his intestine. the procedure is called a "whipple" operation. while the surgery was alot bigger and more complicated than originally thought, dad seemed to be doing pretty well sunday and was finally allowed to drink some clear liquids. he was so exited to eat--he had had nothing by mouth for almost a week. he had a popsicle, cranberry juice, some diet coke, and some chicken broth.

shortly after he ate, he started experiencing significant pain in his right side, having trouble breathing, and hallucinating. long story short, the sutures that had been performed a week ago had popped loose. the stuff dad drank ended up in his abdominal cavity and his stomach became very distended. he also became feverish due to the infection it was creating.

at 2am, the surgeons took dad back into the operating room to redo the previous work. dad is now listed in critical condition and currently on a ventilator. they are feeding him via feeding tube. please keep my dad in your thoughts and prayers, as each passing minute improves his chances of survival.

on a much more positive note, the doctors do think they got all the cancer, as it has not spread into the stomach, pancreas, or lymph nodes. they believe the tumor was completely encapsulated.

please keep the following individuals and families in your prayers:

joyce channel

the hauser family

the wright family

quote for the day:

"in the confrontation between the stream and the rock, the stream always wins - not through strength but by perseverance"
-h. jackson brown-

until next time...be blessed

lisa - 1095