Update

Surgery went well. Dr. Duke says that the right side looks really clean, and the left side has been looking good for a while now. This is necessary as we move toward grafting.

A fistula has developed in the bowel and while Dr. Duke has tried many times to fix this he has temporarily called a truce with it. The plan is to one day (no real timeline given) go back and make this repair. For now Dr. Duke will just work on getting the other wounds ready for grafting. When the day comes to go back in and fix the bowel, hopefully the bowel will be stronger and able to be repaired. In the mean time his digestive tract will be bypassed and he will remain on TPN.

#45

In surgery now for a wash out. Please pray.

CHEERS!

Thank you all for your continued prayers!

Surgery Update

Surgery went well and dad was able to stay on trach collar again. We are done with the maggots! Dr. Duke still plans to keep the Monday, Wednesday, Friday surgery schedule to do wash outs until the wounds are well enough to graft. I know this is a short report, but thankfully things are going well.

#44

In surgery now. Please pray.

Not much new to report

Dad had a good day yesterday. There's not much to report on non-surgery days, but uneventful isn't a bad thing. He got a new line, pulled out a drain, and even got some sleep. Today's he'll go back to surgery to bid farewell to the microsurgeons.

Until Later,
Tracy

For those of you that have been waiting....

I must admit that I forgot that I promised to tell you Dr. Duke's cure for dry skin. However, in the last week two people ask me about it. So drum roll please.....Dr. Duke swears by the powers of Bag Balm.

He assures me that the "older country folks" will know all about it. I must admit I had to google it.

Bag Balm was originally created to soften cow's utters. Since then it has become a favorite of people and animals alike. It has also been featured on Oprah (I'm thinking that doesn't matter much to Dr. Duke!)

If you want to read more about it or pick your self up a tub you can go to their website.

http://www.bagbalm.com/

Abby

#43

Dad went to surgery this evening and he's now out. His vital signs are good, he's moving, and he even came back from surgery on trach collar (rather than the full vent). All good things. Please continue the prayers.

Few Notes

Today dad should go back to surgery for *possibily* the last round of maggots. There's no word of when surgery might be, and of course Dr. Duke might have already changed his mind about ending the maggots. We'll see. Dad's blood pressure and heart rate both look good today, and over the weekend they also changed out his trach to a smaller one. All good things!

Easter

Many, many of us gathered for Easter at the hospital. Someone in guest services was nice enough to loan us a conference room for a few hours so we could all have Easter lunch together. Our immediate family, aunts, uncles, cousins, totaling around 30 people were there. We all met for mass in the chapel, then visited and ate lunch (while taking turns going to visit dad). Rain spoiled our plan to have the kiddos hunt eggs across the street in Hermann Park, but very luckily the Easter Bunny was able to hide eggs in the ground floor lobby (that as usual was pretty vacant).

Easter Poem written by Marilyn Goerig (preceded our lunch prayer)

FAMILY

At our last Easter dinner,
Who could have known or said
How much our lives would change
In the coming year ahead.

We would cling to one another
As our husband and father died;
Always finding new strength
Through all the tears we cried.

We came together several times
To celebrate a wedding;
More tears and family time
Now in a happier setting.

When Louie entered the hospital
We prayed that God spare his life;
God listened and He heard our prayers;
We know Louie will survive.

Whether tears of joy or sorrow;
It doesn’t really matter;
Life brings us many gifts
When a family comes together.

As a family, we know one thing;
We will always make it through.
We are here to lift each other up
Whatever it takes, we will do.

• Bonnie, Me, Suzanne and Mom with our favorite Guest Services Employee "Danny". Danny has become our friend and he ate Easter lunch with us.
  

• Mimi enjoying the grandkids.