New Date with the Surgeon

My second surgery is now February 10 instead of the third. So I will have another week to recoup from surgery number 1.

That is all.

Chemo and Such

So today I went down to Children's hospital to receive chemo. this will be my first time getting chemo a chldren's hospital since last June when I moved back to Provo.

So it started with getting my port accessed and also getting an IV in my arm for the CAT scan. the nurse messed up on my left arm and had to try again in my right arm. So after being poked three times I met with the wonderful Dr. Schiff. She said I looked good and was surprised to hear that Dr. Seanz (my surgeon) and I had already planned the surgery for the other side of my chest for a week for this wednesday. (Feb. 3) that will be exactly 4 weeks to the day of my first surgery.

She said I looked awesome and that I am the best patient any doctor could ask for.

Anyways after the doctors check I went and got a CAT Scan and once again felt like I was going to pee my pants due to the weird feeling from the contrast they inject in you during the CAT scan.

After the scan I got my chemo which took about 2 hours and then I got a ultrasound just to look at my lung and diaphragm to see how they are doing after the surgery.

So I will have a lung capacity test tomorrow and blood work next tuesday and then surgery again a week from wednesday.

So that is all for now. I will post tomorrow after my lung test.

Home

After
19 X-rays
7 needle poke for IVs
One epidural without gaining a child
10 days in the hospital
Drinking 4 oz. of prune juice to get my bowels moving
Two Chest tubes
and the removal of a catheter

I was able to return home Saturday around 10:00 a.m.

It is good to be home and to be able to sleep in my own bed and not being woke up 4 or 5 times every night to either take pills, get my vital taken, or having my IV machine beep due to the infusion of my antibiotics being done.

During my stay I also lost count of how many pills I had to take but I can confidentially say that it is above 70.

I will just now be kicking it at home letting my chest continue to heal.


This Tuesday I will be going to get the staples that are holding me together removed and then Chemo probably on Friday or next Monday. The Chemo part is not yet scheduled.

That is all for now and I just wanted to thank everyone again for the many Get Well Cards and would like to thank my cousin Clarke Anderson for his Speech. It was Awesome!

If you have any questions about my past surgery or future treatment feel free to comment on this blog or email me at cansirboi1986@gmail.com. I will answer them the best I can.

Thanks for all your prayers you never can have to many!

Update #3 ...

Daves' sister here with a little update ...

His chest x-ray today looked really good.

If it looks as good tomorrow, his surgeon says his last chest tube will come out,

and, hopefully, (cross your fingers) he can come home tomorrow evening!

Dave really wants to come home,

take a shower,

lay in his king bed,

enjoy his new TV,

and eat food not made in a cafeteria.

But, he is also experiencing another difficulty that he wanted

me to share with you, his blog readers.

He can't go #2.

Yep, that's right. He is a little backed up.

So, since my family always turns to a big musical number for inspiration

he wanted me to share with you his song for today.

He is really hoping it will help to get things moving!

As you can tell, Daves sense of humor is still alive and kicking!

Thanks again for all you support!

Update ...

This is Daves' sister again. He wanted me to post a little update so everyone knew what was going on.

I spent the night at the hospital last night with him, and I am on my way back again. He has had 3 of his tubes removed, but we are still waiting for the last one to come out. We are hoping it will come out tomorrow, which would mean he could come home on Wednesday.

Now that he doesn't have the epidural, pain management has been a little more difficult, but they keep trying different things to get the right balance for him. His morphine drip is still his best friend. He is sick of living off of tortilla chips and teddy grahams and will be happy when he can eat sausage links and ham.

His spirits are good and he still has his sense of humor!

There have been some inquiries regarding donating blood. For those interested, you can call the Blood Bank at 1-877-659-2001. Let them you know you are donating for him and they will schedule a time for you to come in.

We appreciate all the love and support we have received. Everyone has been so kind, and we are very grateful!

Surgery Update ...

Hello Readers,

This is Davids' sister here to update you on his progress. Here are his surgery stats:

*They removed a large tumor from his diaphragm. We were told the tumor was the size of a golf ball and they removed a section the size of a piece of bologna in order to get clear borders.

*They removed a small portion of his lower left lung that contained 10 small tumors.

*He has been in the ICU for a few days and today was moved into a regular room. His new room has a bed that is much more comfortable, a DVD player, AND room service ... so he is feeling pretty good.

*Both the surgeon and his oncologist are very pleased with how the surgery went and with his recovery thus far.

*Right now it is looking like he will be able to come home on Monday or Tuesday. He will do some out patient chemo in a few weeks, and then, depending on how well he heals, will have surgery on his right side in 3-4 weeks.

*He has kept his sense of humor. He has been on an epidural since the surgery for pain. When the nurse came in to check on him after he had woken up from surgery he jokingly said to the nurse, "So, since I had an epidural, when do I get my baby?". He is definitely the nurses favorite patient!

He appreciates all your prayers and encouragement. Hopefully, he will be back to posting on his own soon!

T minus Tomorrow

Tomorrow is the big day.

I will be arriving at the hospital at 5:30 in the morning to get all ready for surgery at 7:30.

I will keeping up my blog during my recovery in the hospital.

So Love you all and thank you for your prayers.