Dereks' amazing mind

You can accuse me of being biased, and, being his dad, I'll cheerfully admit it. Derek has put another post on his blog (http://www.penmachine.com/2007/08/my-love-is-vengeance), and, if you read it, you'll likely agree that the theme of this post is totally different from that of his other recent posts. I'm constantly amazed at the depth and breadth of Dereks' interests and knowledge. I can't even pretend to know what Derek is talking about in that post (my interests are quite different from Dereks' and that regard), but what astounds me is that he seems to be able to divorce himself mentally from his current medical problems and concerns.

Derek and I went down to the hospital to talk to the surgeon (Dr. Phang) who removed Dereks' cancerous rectum. Derek wanted to find out whether his current symptoms need some attention. Dr. Phang told us that what Derek is experiencing is quite normal. He said that the recovery will be lengthy, and painful episodes will still occur with some regularity. Derek will take some Tylenol 3 when necessary to combat those. On Tuesday, he will meet with the pain management experts at the BC Cancer Institute for further information in this regard.

My relief, and I'm sure Dereks', too, is palpable. While having to go through this is no fun, it's obvious to me that this information is contributing to Dereks' renewed interest in blogging about other subjects.

My wife and I are very proud of him.

Getting rolling

As you all know by now, Derek is not too strong right now, so walking is a chore, rather than a pleasure. We have a wheelchair in our family, which has had some use in the past. I picked it up from our downtown storage this afternoon to make it possible for Derek to be rolled to places other than the immediate surroundings of the house, where he then can go walking. The Metrotown Mall is not far away (and it's a big mall), with many interesting shops and many people, where he can have a meal or coffee. We also have a nice park in our neighbourhood. Additionally, the wheel chair is light enough to put into the car, and be taken to areas farther away. Vancouver is a beautiful city; there are many interesting spots.

I'm sure that all this will lift Derek's spirits. He already sounds much happier.

Flat line today

You'll have noticed that Derek's not been blogging lately. While he is eating more and more each day, he still feels very weak and gets tired very easily. He does try, though. This afternoon, he went for a one and a half block (slow) walk, and he just took another one in our garden and in the back of the house. Nonetheless, he doesn't feel any better than yesterday.

I think that this can be expected. Derek's body has been subject to a major medical assault. His weight loss cannot be made up in short order. The restricted diet he has to follow limits progress in some ways. Recovery rarely occurs in a linear fashion, there are ups and downs.

It's easy to talk this way, because when you feel the way Derek does right now, this is all academic talk. It's painful as a parent to see him labour to do any of the things he used to do easily - Derek feels this most of all, no doubt. For Derek, the time must seem interminable.

Of course Derek, Airdrie, Marina, and Lauren have our unquestioned support. It is depressing to think that we can't speed up his recovery - time is the only healer.

Sometimes you get sore

Literally..... Derek has developed a bedsore from all this lying on his back. It's something he can handle, but it does affect his sleep. Otherwise, he's eating more regular food, and intends to go for a walk later on. There will be a home care nurse visiting tomorrow, to make sure that Derek is progressing and to deal with whatever issues Derek has.

A little while ago, my sister and brother-in-law dropped by, and we had a beer. Derek joined us (he can't have any beer yet), and ate a fair bit of ice cream, and we had an animated conversation about various things; food and colon cancer, mainly. My brother-in-law has just recovered from a very similar bout with colon cancer, so the discussion was "authoritative". You sure can see that, at the bottom of it all, the only things that count are still the basics: health, food, family, and a roof over your head. It sure gives you a sense of perspective.

A day of rest

No doubt Derek is appreciating the "home" feeling - no hospital noises and the feeling of having his family around. He is eating more. He and Airdrie went for a short walk outside the house to the end of the block. Derek knows that excercise and any physical activities promote healing, so is doing as much as he can. Naturally, this is still tiring, and so he also has to rest.

I haven't seen a post in his blog for today. Maybe he'll blog a little later.

In any case, it's great to hear his voice around the house again.

Home

Derek's home, but very tired. So, I don't think that he'll be blogging today, but who knows, sometimes he does things during the night when he can't sleep. I any case, we're all glad to have him back.

Before he left the hospital, his friend Simon came to visit, and they spent an hour or so together, in the room and the little lounge at the end of the hospital hallway. Simon may be leaving the hospital tomorrow. I imagine that Derek will leave a post on his blog tomorrow as well

Perhaps coming home?

Derek just phoned from the hospital to tell us that he may be coming home today. He'll have his lunch at the hospital, and then he'll decide whether he feels up to it. He told us that he walked all the way across the street to pick up a cappucino (his room is on the 10th floor of the hospital), and walked up a flight of stairs as well. It sure looks like eating normal food makes for rapid improvement. More later, perhaps from Derek on his own blog

Moving along

This morning, we visited Derek again at the hospital, and we went down to the internet room where Derek put in a post on his own blog (http://www.penmachine.com/). You can see his comments there.

We spent a good part of the day with Derek. The thing that delights us is that Derek ate some really substantial food today. He had chocolate pudding, a real hamburger, a few slices of canned pears, and tea, as well as a tall Coffee "Americano" from the Starbucks I mentioned in one of my previous posts, along with a cheese sandwich. He is also reading quite a bit, and taking some naps to combat the fatigue which unfortunately still overcomes him after some physical activity. I think that, with the more substantial food, he'll overcome this situation soon.

In the early evening, we went to the cafeteria balcony, where Airdrie and their daughters Marina and Lauren dropped in a little later. This perked Derek up. Hilkka and I left soon after, to pick up some glucose strips for Dereks blood sugar tester.

Derek intends to watch the fireworks with Simon tonight.

The target for Derek's return home is still Monday. We'll see...

Another step forward

Derek is now off intravenous food and is eating more normally. Today Airdrie brought his Matzoball soup again; in addition had a cheese sandwich, some tea and a decaf tall cappucino from Starbucks. He weighed himself, too. With the lack of food at the beginning of his hospital stay, he is now down to 67 kg (148 pounds). This means that he's lost about 23 kg (50 pounds), a quarter of his normal weight. He also had a shower - at long last, he said.

The hospital food tray contained some fish, which, Derek was astounded to say, tasted very good. You'll notice that he's very interested in food.

He still tires quickly and his homecoming is now tentatively set for Monday (perhaps even part-time, meaning for some hours during the day). We want to make sure that Derek does not come home too early - we don't want to put him back into the hospital yet again.

During our visit, we all went down to see Derek's friend Simon, who is in hospital recovering from a heart valve replacement.

The loss of weight has made sitting in a chair really uncomfortable for Derek. so my wife Hilkka will buy him a "whoopy cushion" tomorrow, to see whether that'll help. His butt has no fat, so it's understandable. The recliner chairs at his house are what Derek is really looking forward to.

Derek is off all pain medication now (except the occasional Tylenol).

He'll have another chance to see the fireworks tomorrow, and he may also be using the "internet room". This means that you may see an new entry in his blog; watch for it...

More food

Last night, Derek watched the fireworks (it was Spain's turn); he said they were very good.

Derek is having more food today. Before we went to visit him, he asked us to bring him a special kind of soup of which Airdrie had brought him a little yesterday. He told us where we could get it, and we drove by and picked some up for him. This is one of those special, hardy Jewish soups, with motzeballs (meatballs). We brought him a large portion, and he ate it all (except for the carrots, which are too fibrous at this time). He also asked for, and we brought him some no-sugar-added pudding and he had one of those (the package contains six). He also had some tea. His doctor is saying that they're aiming for a Saturday release from the hospital. We'll see how things are progressing, but it's something to aim for.

After all that food, he had a rest while we were at his bedside. He still gets tired quite easily, but makes an effort to move around. He's been down to the cafeteria on his own for some tea (six floors down and some distance to walk). Since he's is still tied to his intravenous rack, this is a slow process, but things are looking up some more.

Up a little more

Derek had a good, if tiring day. Many visitors, among them a couple of his band's members. He's getting more food by mouth, some broth, bouillon, decaf coffee, tea, Jell-O, etc. He's enjoying it all; we kept talking about the food he's going to eat once he is back to normal. In addition, he's still getting his intravenous sustenance. Derek's spirits are up; he also intends to watch the fireworks tonight. The view from his hospital floor will be excellent. So he's come up a little more; we're all happy about that.

Progress

Derek finally got off the nose tube. He also tried, and tolerated, some basic food. We went to the hospital cafeteria balcony, sat in the sun, and Derek had a little of the scone Hilkka had picked up. He said it tasted heavenly, he was ready to cry. Somewhat later, he also had a little bit of ice cream, and later still a cup of vegetable broth. He is still on the intravenous feeding. He felt best about having the nose tube removed, and it also cheered him up to be able to go for some oral food. Another thing he felt good about was that the removal of the nose tube allowed him to wash his face properly, and he "bathed" his nose for about ten minutes. He called that another "heavenly" experience. Oh, the little things in life.... Tomorrow, he expects to "eat" some more "easy" food (clear liquids). Hilkka intends to make him some chicken broth - without the chicken and the noodles.

Airdrie, Marina and Lauren visited at suppertime. They had been to Playland, and had a lot of stories to tell. It's funny how sunny weather cheers everybody up.

The tube man

Today, when we visited Derek, he was just having his first calories (food hooked up and fed intravenously) since he re-entered the hospital last week. The food is liquid, looks like milk, and will provide him with about 1700 calories per day. The rate at which it is dispensed is like drinking about 1/2 cup of this per hour. Derek is extremely glad to be getting some real food, finally. He also had a visit from Airdrie (we had Marina and Lauren at our place during that time), and also had a visit from his good friend Tod Maffin. Derek is hooked up to a number of tubes, all of which add something or other necessary for his well-being.

You can see some pictures of Derek here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mimiandpapa/sets/72157600975748237/

Again, I want to re-iterate, as does Derek, that the nurses and doctors at St Paul's hospital are doing an excellent job. He is getting attention all the time. Derek says that the nurses told him that he is a very good patient (he never complains), and that's one of the reasons for his wonderful treatment.