Update

Wednesday afternoon Rod was admitted to the hosptial.  Due to the radiation, his throat is severly burned and he is unable to swallow anything.  He is on IV fluids to stay hydrated and is being told he will more than likely be in the hosptial through the weekend.   He has received blood transfussions and platelets to help strengthen him as well.

Prayers for his healing and ability to eat & drink are appreciated!  Thank you again for all of your love and support. 

This Past Week

Rod had another round of chemo this past Thursday/Friday.  He is having blood cultures and an MRI on his back done on Tuesday.  Thursday he is having a bone strengthening IV as a follow up with chemo.  Friday he is meeting with the spine specialist to evalute his neck and back.

We all appreciate the love and support of family, friends, and community.  Most of all everyone's continued prayers. 

PRAISE!!

Rod is HOME!!!!  So thankful he is healing from the infection and acting like himself.   So good to have him back after such a scare.

He continued radiation treatments while at the hospital with the exception of last Monday.  His next chemo treatment was supposed to be Thursday the 16th, but the Dr's want his body to heal from the infection, so they pushed it back until the 23rd. 

Thank you again for all of your support.  We are really feeling the prayers and from the bottom of our hearts appreciate everything you have done for us.

Quick Update

Rod is still in the hospital.  They are going to keep him there for the weekend.  He has been up and moving around.  They would like to see him have more of an appetite and gain some strength back before sending him home.  He is also still on IV antibiotics to help with the infection.

Thank you again for all of your thoughts & prayers. 

Monday May 6

Monday May 6 Rod was taken to Spectrum Health ER by ambulance.  He was having a hard time waking up and somewhat unresponsive.

After nurmerous tests, at 8:00 pm Monday evening he was diagnosed with a blood infection.  They started him on strong antibiotics and said he will be at the hospital for at least 48 hours.

Thank you again for all of your thoughts & prayers. 

Diagnosis

As many of you know, Rod was diagnosed with esophagial cancer in April.  While he was waiting to start his chemo treatments, he was having severe neck pain.  At that time, they discovered he had a compression fracture in his neck due to bone cancer. 

He has started chemo and will continue chemo every 21 days.  The duration is still unknown.  He is also doing radiation focussing on his neck every weekday for 3 weeks.   As of today he will have 11 more radiation treatments, and his next round of chemo is May 16th.

He will be seeing an orthopedic spine specialist on May 8th to stabilize & monitor his neck.

We as the family would like to thank everyone for your continued support and all of your loving cards, meals, and prayers.  I will continue to update this when new information is available.