Saturday, January 05, 2013

Update on My Dad

My dad had a biopsy yesterday on the tumor in his bladder.  It was not good news.  It has grown from the size of a quarter to the size of a softball since August.

The doctor is going to discuss things with the oncologists and come up with a plan.  There is a possibility that they can go in and remove the tumor but we won't know until next week if that is going to be a viable option.

My parents are both tired and my mom is very sad.  But they are hanging on to God and He is walking them through this.

My dad was able to write his life story for his grandchildren and presented it to all of us at Christmas.  It was so cool to read the stories--many of which I have heard--but some I had not.  We also spent some time reminiscing about my dad's sense of humor and the jokes he had played on people over the years.

My mom came into the room and said, "Yeah....he pulled one on me last week at the hospital."  They have just started going to Cleveland Clinic for treatment, so all the doctors are new to them.  They have a doctor named, Dr. Stein.  My dad told my mom that Dr. Stein's assistant's name was Dr. Franken.  My mom, not expecting a joke from a very sick husband, thought nothing of it.
Until...
She came back from lunch one day and asked my dad, "Has Dr. Franken been in to see you yet?"
My dad gave her a look and then started laughing.
Yeah.
There is no dynamic-duo-doctors named Franken Stein.

We all went into gales of laughter imagining the look on the assistant's face if my mom had actually addressed him as Dr. Franken.
hahahahahahahahahahahaha

The little kids are completely impressed by my dad's ability to take a handful of meds in one gulp.  They all cluster around to watch the spectacle. 
My dad always says, "Down the hatch!" 
And the kids all chorus, "Down da hatch!"
They find this mesmerizing.

Here are a series of pictures of the morning event.
Getting ready to watch Grandpa down his meds.

"Need any help, Grandpa?"

This is truly fascinating.

"Down the hatch!"

Success!
"Good job, Grandpa!"