Do cankles make you sad?

Dad had a couple of doctor appointments today. One to do a ultrasound and check for blood clots in his swollen legs. The swelling has gone way down... and his mood is much better today.. Perhaps he was just depressed about the cankles. (No clots either!)


Um... not really.

 His other appointment was with his surgeon, the incision is healing... Maybe the lack of a oozing wound can add to ones happiness.
I think he is just excited about playing with his kids! Watching the Superbowl with Matt! And being able to walk more and more each day!


I don't think we are allowed to play this game..





 Personally I am hoping for a family photo worthy of http://awkwardfamilyphotos.com/... Good stuff!

It's good to see Dads spirits rising.. Good days are good!!!!!

Guide lines for brewing antics

I was talking to Dad this morning,  about everyone coming next month..
He laughed and said he has to prepare for the practical jokes that always find a proud place at our reunions.
I promised to advise all, that Tabasco in his wound dressing was not funny..
 Here are some guide lines to keep everyone safe!

I know it is tempting.. but don't do it!



Messing with the morning shower or first cups of coffee... not funny



That ain't right!

Remember, if it offends.. then it is probably funny... if it has anything to do with feces then you have gone too far!

The cat whisperer

Everyone knows that Dad is a reasonable man. So when he tries to tell Bella how she is going to act, I just laugh.
"Bella, you can come up here, but not on my chest."
"Bella, you know you aren't supposed to do that!"
Uh huh.. sure Bella, like any feline, is going to listen then obey. Not!
Okay maybe. Bella is in love with Dad. 
When he first came home from the hospital she curled up on his lap and the two reconnected. She missed him.


"Sure... whatever you say old man."

 Where as Mom and I dress her up in tacky outfits, poke her because it's fun to make her scold us, and make fun of her great girth.

Hide the power tools!

Dad couldn't take it anymore, he needed a project or two.
He switched out the thermostat in the Sutter Home. Messed with some old weather stripping. Then took a little cat nap with the cat.


Something is wrong here















I told Mom that if he starts to feel any better we are going to have to hide the ladder. I am pretty sure he is itching to get up on the roof and fix some shingles and tinker with the furnace. (Furnaces and a/c units are installed on the roof here in Vegas)


We are going to try to keep his feet on the ground.



He still has a lot of recovering to do.. But I am glad to see that he is feeling well enough to attempt the little things!



Time to start planning round two

Dad is still trying to wrap his head around last weekend and the group of  family that we were glad to host. (Actually it was great seeing everyone! Thanks for coming out and making us smile..)

Oops.. How did that picture get in?

 He had to cancel his oncologist appointment today, his incision is still not healed enough to try chemo.
But Mom on the other hand is starting to plan for everyone in February!

The hotel / casino down the street is really nice.


Great location!



Hot women!



I think this is the room Topher and Josh booked..







Great decor.. and secure!



"Rene'  where are my bebe's"

And entertainment for Mike!



I am glad to hear that rooms and flight are being booked!

The things you dont think about.

With the focus on Dad and how he is recovering from surgery it is easy to forget about the other things involved with being sick.
Everyone asks how he is doing.. How Mom is doing.. it is a hard pill to swallow, Dads cancer. 
With such a huge gray cloud looming over them it's easy to forget it's the little things that start to wear you down.

The hours upon hours that Mom and Dad have spent in waiting rooms are just part of the fun of having cancer.. I am not just talking about the day of surgery. The GP's office.. the follow up at the surgeons, the oncologist. 
Scheduling and keeping such appointments.

The time spent on the phone asking which pharmacy or office takes their insurance..

Waiting for the prescriptions to be filled at the pharmacy.

Fighting the traffic in the rare Vegas rain and snow...( The inclement weather waits for Dad to have an appointment.) Vegas doesn't do weather well..

Coordinating the right time for the home health care nurse to visit.

Making sure that with all this chaos that the daily chores of life are getting done.. remembering to pay the bills. Is there gas in the car? Is there food in the fridge? Is there food in the house that Dad will eat?

Everyday Mom takes on all the challenges of Dads illness. Never kvetching, only showing her concern for his health, physical and mental.

Do you hear that?

Shhhhh

The houses are empty.... It was nice seeing everyone, but now it is time to celebrate the lack of chaos.

Um.. And just as a side note to all those hauling babies around, dirty diapers don't really belong in the recycle bin.. Just saying.

I think it says in here dispose of diapers in outdoor trash only.. far far away from Auntie Rachael.

Dad is watching his football! Something that he really enjoys. The last couple of weeks he has been too out of it to even watch.



Makes sense to me!

... It's the sounds of silence.

A couple of houses full of family..

Last night we had.. Mom and Dad, Mike, Sarah, Chad, Rhone, Janet, Quynn, Chelsea, Amy, Brad, Isaac, Stephanie, Jessica and myself.. 4 bedrooms, three air mattresses, and a couple of sofas..

You win a prize if you can guess who is taking the picture!

Given the freezing weather, we let Rhones crew brave the cold and play tourists on the strip..

Dad took a quick walk and then we hung out in the quiet of the Bella house.

Now the Utah tourists are back and it is off to do the other Vegas thing... eat! The buffet awaits!!

Oops this one is just for me!



Happy New Years!

The Udell houses are going to be full tonight. Mike, Sarah and Chad have been here all week. (Jake escaped last night.) Tonight Rhone and his crew of 9 are arriving on our doorstep.

 Vegas is out of hotel and motel rooms, the only thing available tonight are the rent by the week Prostitutie Chick crack houses...
Sutter Home and The Bella House are going to be bursting tonight!

Add another 10 bodies and we have a real New Years Party!

This afternoon I had to try and decide who is the bigger Princess..

Mike in his smiling lips happy chair....

Or Sarah in her Tiara!




I choose.............................

BOTH!!!!!!













Happy New Year everyone! May your 2011 be filled with good times and family..
Lots of laughter and winning lotto tickets!

Getting away from the crowds.

This week Las Vegas has been host to thousands. Apparently The Strip puts on quite the show. Every tourist trap feels like getting on a Tokyo subway during rush hour.
So the boys and I went to the local go-kart track and played speed racer!


Hi.. I am a big boy... I can drive it myself!



It was fun for the first few laps. Then it started getting cold fast. It's only in the 40's here. Brrrrrrr.

Dad is getting frustrated because he can't go play.

His incision is weeping and bothering him. The home care nurse comes to pack it in the morning. 
I am looking for some sort of magic to make him feel better.. Until I can get my hands on such a elixir, keep him in your prayers, and send positive energy this way.
Every little bit helps!

I am taking a break.. Tonights guest blogger is Mike.. you have been warned.

So for today's update I'm stepping in for Raych. it seems she fears that you have all become accustomed to her style and witty sarcasm. so for contrast you'll be reading my dribble tonight.
Mom and Dad visited the surgeon today. He removed the staples from dads chest despite any fears of his wound being ready to remove said staples. There has been some opening of the incision less then the grand canyon but enough to Merritt a bit of draining. It seems lake Mead is low and the folks at Scumberland want to do anything they can to help.
I guess that there is some daily packing to hold back the red sea as Moses is busy.


Sarah, Chad Jake and I all braved the crowd on the strip, we wish Moses had been available then too.
This weekend Rhone and his entire family are coming as well. We may need Moses to part the crowd then as well, but it will be at home this time. And you thought there were no more communes. But I digress.
Dads spirits seem to be holding so we brought him some flaming soup


Note the hot babe is just some chick from the Internet.
As promised I'm sure I've rambled and you may now either feel you should never read this blog again or spread mayonnaise on your lawn, but fear not Raych will be back tomorrow. Jake asked if he could add a few words.

HI everyone! These people are CRAZY. PLEASE HELP!

Getting left behind.

After a big breakfast buffet with the Teenagers, Sarah and the boys went to Hoover Dam this afternoon. 

Mom and Dad went to the casino down the street, while the kids were out doing the tourist thing. (I went to into work, finding my own insane entertainment)

They ended up winning!

Moms favorite machine

 It's good to see Dad get out a little more each day..
 Tomorrows big adventure??? They surgeons office. The Doctor gets to check out his handy work.. Maybe take out the staples?

It's all Mikes fault

Okay it's not his fault. But I need to blame someone for being late writing today's blog.. And after a few demanding wall posts on my Facebook wall, I get it, time for a Dad update.

I think Dad is going stir crazy.
He wanted to go to the airport last night to pick up Mike.. When have you ever heard anyone say.. "I want to go do a airport run!"?

Then this afternoon Mike and Dad went to home improvement adventure land.

He is feeling a little stronger... but not strong enough to do what he wants to do... We keep reminding him he was recently eviscerated and these things take a couple of days of recovery.

When family comes to play..

It's a good day because we have Sarah and Chad visiting. (I wasn't so sure this morning at 2:00am when we got home from picking them up at the airport.)

Dad had a visit from a visiting nurse, then we left him to his Sunday football while Sarah, Chad and I went down to the Strip. God only knows what trouble Mom got into unsupervised.


 Now we are back home to spend time with Dad, and suffer through The Sound of Music..
Soon, it's back to the airport to pick up Mike. Two full houses of family!



Happy to have his little girl and Grandson here!
 Looking more and more healthy everyday.



24 Hours Home

Dad is doing great being in his own environment! We just got back from a little walk down the street. It has been great to have him home. Bella is thrilled, she crawled up on his lap the moment he came over. They both took a cat nap.. It was too cute. Then later they were both zonked out in the guestroom. I have always said that Dad is a cat whisperer.

Translation. Meowwwwwwww

Mom wanted me to share Marti's idea for a family flag. 
Story goes that she takes solace in the night sky. Thinking of each of the big dipper stars as one of each of us kids and the moon and sun as Mom and Dad.
With that in mind she is designing a crest with that as a theme, any and all ideas are welcome! What a fun idea!

Who has the brightest star?

Christmas Eve

Thank God!
Santa came through.. we got our Christmas wish, Dad is home!
He broke out of Scummerlin this afternoon. His spirits are much better.
He can move in their king sized bed. No IV tangled around his arms and neck. No doctors or nurses poking and waking him every time he manages to fall asleep.
I haven't seen him this alert and happy in over a week..

See? Like always Mom was right, he needed to come home to heal!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

We loved him then and we love him now!

Moving Day.. (sort of)

Well, we were hoping that Dad would get moved out of ICU, finally.. he is looking better.. sounds more like himself..so why is he still on the Insensitive Callous Unit??  Do we need to break him out???


They did move him to another room on the unit.. He is closer to the escape door, that leads to the elevator!
Apparently the closer you are to the doors the better you are getting.. That is what the nurse said anyway..
They promised him a walk around the ward this morning.. as of now they still haven't taken him!

When I went in this morning Mom wanted to shave him.. She had grabbed a razor and a can of travel size shaving cream that Topher had left .. She tried spraying the cream in her hand and only a little liquid came out.. She thought that maybe gay boys had fancy shave cream that didn't foam and spread the liquid on Dads face..  When the razor didn't glide across his cheeks we decided that maybe it was just empty and that is what came out.. Off to the nurses station to find some good old fashion Edge!
While she was gone Dad looked at the can and chuckled. Mom was trying to shave him with Axe Deodorant and body spray!
 (They did give her a disposable electric razor.... but that is another story.)

Big steps forward tiny steps back.

We were hoping that Dad could be released from ICU today. His heart rate is once again erratic, so they have him back on meds for that and want to monitor him some more. But he can still eat and drink and get up.
They took out his catheter, so he has that freedom back!

With is claustrophobia the less tubes the better!
Home for Christmas is still our goal.. I think anyone who knows him will agree, once he is out of danger, he will recover faster in his own home.. 

Popsicles for Pop.

As you can imagine today everyone was worried about Dads procedure this morning. Bracing ourselves for a long wait again. We were surprised they took him down at 11:30.. still the a.m.! (Rhone predicted 9pm) Before they took him down the nurse asked him if he wanted to sit in a chair for a half hour or so.. "Yes!" was his answer before she could finish the question.


They were able to extract all the old blood hanging out in his belly.. no new leaks! And then...

Nurse Kelly brought Popsicles! For a man that has had nothing to drink for almost 5 days this was the ultimate in pleasure. I have seen people drink $100 dollar glasses of wine, but never with this much appreciation. (Who knows they may charge that much for frozen punch, we'll see when the bills start coming.)


Today was a much better day. Sitting up, having a little Jell-O and things to drink have made all the difference.
Having a nurse who actually cared, also helped! If not for him, Mom and I were relieved to have someone give him the care he deserves!

Scummerlin Hospital

I promise I am not going to dedicate a whole blog to the uncaring, horrid staff at the hospital.. I just saw that name on a review and I really liked it!

Dad does have some internal bleeding. Tomorrow morning they are going to do a procedure called angiographic embolization .. They basically go in through the groin and suck out the blood from around his spleen and pancreas. We are so glad that he doesn't need to be cut open again! Or a zipper to make fixing their mistakes easier.

This picture is dedicated to Dad and his fascination with really dumb tattoos