Home update

The first few days home were a little rough, but things seem to be on the upswing today. He walked three times today, and is feeling more like himself, his blood pressure has been really good...They will do a blood test to check on things next week. Please pray that he continues to be in good spirits...this has been a big summer of lots of things to "digest" for the mind and spirit, I believe...

2nd day going well

Things are going well this a.m. It is noon already, and they have taken the morphine pump out now and he is taking meds. now by mouth. He is a little nausus(hmmm...this is a word I can't spell apparently), but it is manageable. Praise God for all the good things.

Day of 2nd surgery

Surgery was scheduled for 7:00 a.m., however, it was delayed until 8:30 a.m. He got out of surgery at 12 noon, and now it is 2:55 p.m. and he is still in recovery. Hopefully he will get a room soon. His dr. spoke with us after the surgery, noting that the tumor on this kidney was bigger than they thought it was and they found a 2nd tumor which they took out is well. The plan is that he will most likely not need dialysis at this point, but they'll know more later. The tumor they didn't see on the CAT scan concerns them, and he will probably have to have at least 2-3 CAT scans a year to hopefully try to make sure that there aren't any more. He also might have another chance to be part of another clinical trial for something for high-risk cancer patients. Good news for now that they got the 2 things they saw...they should know tomorrow if the other kidney is working, too. That's about all we know for now.

Relay update and surgery coming soon...

Dad seems almost back to normal. He is even going to help me get the pool cover off tomorrow afternoon for a time of splashing around with the kiddos. I praise God for such a quick recovery. Please continue your prayers as we go into surgery next Tuesday, Aug. 4 at 7 a.m.

In regards to the relay, we ended up selling 40 dozen cinnamon rolls. Wow...that's a lot of dough(real dough and money dough). We have exceeded our goals for raising funds, and feel totally blessed and humbled that so many people have expressed interest in getting involved. It is awesome. We will continue to raise support through the 21st of August. All of it will be donated to research in my dad's name! God, we pray that a breakthrough in cancer research would come out of this outpouring of love! Go God!

Next Surgery coming and...

The next surgery is scheduled for Tuesday, Aug. 4, at 7 a.m.
Everything still looks good with the first kidney. Praise the Lord.
The 2nd one should be even more saveable. Yeah!

Coming up on Aug. 22, the Gormley family will be walking in the Relay for Life, to support cancer research. Shawn's whole family is participating. Some of his sisters and his mom sold and are making homemade cinnamon rolls to raise support; they sold over 34 dozen! Yeah!! We are doing this in honor of my dad, to support research for cancer. The walk is 24 hours, recognizing that cancer doesn't sleep, and you can participate as little or as long as you wish. Seth and Susan are going to try to make a "change" in cancer research, in honor of their precious grandpa, by raising change to support this day...They are hoping to make special t-shirts and a sign in honor of grandpa as well. If you are interested in supporting our efforts in honor of my dad, feel free to drop something in the mail to Seth/Susan Gormley, 909 Oaklawn NE, Grand Rapids, MI, 49505. They are hoping to raise $50 total with their "change". We'll keep you posted.

Staples out

Staples are coming out on Tuesday. Yeah!

Continuing to improve

He daily improves. Not really much pain anymore, just a little slow yet with regards to the large incision. He hardly takes pain meds. now either. He is working about 6 hours a day rather than 8, but not bad considering the major surgery was just a week ago. God, we praise you for being the healer of all our diseases, and for regarding my dad as your special child that you take care of so well. Awesome God, you are!

Being home is good

Yesterday, we went to see dad and he was walking around a lot. They told him it is the best thing to do. He walked to get the mail, walked around the house, walked by the pool...and even enjoyed watching the kids in the pool for a while. It looks like the kidney is working and we praise God for that. His visiting nurse came to see him, and then she will be back in about 10 days. Praise God.

He goes home

After waiting and waiting, he finally went home around 3 or so today. He was waiting to get his drain thing out. There is about a 12" incision on his back from the surgery. He is super happy to be home. A traveling nurse will come to see him twice in the next 10 days or so to check on things and to take out stitches. We are still waiting to here if the partial kidney is working. Labs continue to come back great, but not sure exactly what that really means. I am checking in with my cousin who works in this field with kids, so maybe I can get some more clarification. Tomorrow we are going to go visit him, and clean his pool for him, and then Chad and Jenn will go back to SFO. All in all it has been a great week, and we praise God for a speedy recovery. He was moving and off pain meds. way quicker than we ever thought. Blessings to each of you.

Praise God for another good day!

Another good day. He was up in the chair and ready to walk when we got here this a.m. He is off the morphine, and just on pain pills, and later today the catheter and the iv will be taken out. He ate breakfast this a.m. and was super happy to find out he could also have a tootsie pop. He licked and licked and licked and licked, really enjoying it, and even gave one to his nurse. Now that tells me that dad is really back to normal. All the labs continue to come back good. They did tell him that the size of the tumor was the size of a big grapefruit, so we are very grateful for great labs and the production of urine. Dad is predicting he will be working from home by Monday and he'll be in church Sunday. We shall see; good goals! Looks like he will be discharged tomorrow a.m., but a slim possibility of this evening. Continue to pray.

Things continue to go well

This afternoon, while we were at lunch, dad got his labs back and everything looks great. They actually said there's a possibility that he may go home tomorrow evening, but probably definitely on Friday. It's amazing to see all the good color in him. He is making urine which is also another good sign so far. We don't know for sure yet if the right kidney is working, but that we might find out tomorrow. He is taking morphine less and less, and has walked 3-4x already today. Mostly hurts when he goes from up to down or down to up to get in chair or walk or back in bed. He is beginning to be able to sleep a little bit too as he gets more comfortable. All good news so far. Go God!

Today is a good day

Today IS a good day. He had gotten up and walked by the time we got to the hospital already. He is taking morphine only every 15 min. rather than every 8, so the pain is manageable. He is breathing well on his own, no more oxygen. And he's sitting up in the chair now. Yesterday, he told some of the most funny jokes while he was on the morphine. He had a reputation with the nurses only after 1 hour of being in his room; the funny guy in 5441. Today, he's a little more subdued since he's more conscious. But he's in good spirits, as best to be expected after this major of a sugery. The drs. and nurses have been great, so lots of wonderful things to be thankful for already. And...he has a beautiful view out of his room that I think in time will really be a good thing.

Day of surgery

Surgery was done around 1:45 or so. They seem to think that they got all of the tumor, leaving about 1/3 to 1/4 of the kidney. The kidney will now go to sleep for a few days, and only after then will they be able to determine whether it will function or not. After removing the tumor, and stitching it back up, they did say it turned pink which indicates good blood flow and it's a good sign for now. He has been in recovery since then, and Linda has just gone to see him. He will move to ICU in the next hour or so, and then to a regular room later this evening. According to the dr., it went as well as it could for how big the tumor was. Please pray that it will work well enough to hold out while he has the second surgery in 4-6 weeks from now. I will update more once I know more.

Surgery pushed up

This a.m., my dad got a call early and they said their a.m. surgery had been cancelled so they would be willing to start my dad's surgery as soon as he could get there. So, it looks like it will start around 10 a.m.

Song to encourage my heart and yours

As this journey began, I have continued to listen to a song that has really got me in the mindset of Jesus. If interested, soak and listen as you pray for my dad.
Go to youtube.com, type in "healer planetshakers" and click the first one that comes up.
Be blessed.

prayer for the coming days

Greetings everyone...Shall we pray? Father God we pray for your healing touch to be upon my dad tomorrow at the hospital. We pray that you would supernaturally do wonders in that operating room. Guide the surgeons and all the other drs. and nurses in their care for this precious son of yours. Give him and all his family and friends peace as we await. Let my dad feel Your presence like never before, knowing You love him more than he could ever know. May You do miraculous things tomorrow. We thank you for already doing great things in his health, keeping him healthy since the news. And we thank you for all the support he has already. Jesus, we know you are here and we thank you for that. Love on us even more. Amen.
Surgery is scheduled for noon, so he will be there at 10. Most family and such will get there around 11/12 or so. The hospital has wi-fi, so I will do my best to update when I get updates. Surgery will last approximately 4-5 hours.
Thanks for all your love, care, and prayers. To Him be the glory.

Surgery is coming

On Thurs., my dad went to U of M for part of the clinical trial, stayed overnight and then returned home to take care of installing the generator for they had no power in South Haven and it wasn't expected to turn on til Sat. No new news, just a lot of tests. He will go in again on Monday for more tests and then should get a definite time for surgery on Tuesday as well. If it's super early in the a.m., he will most likely book a hotel room, with Chad, and spend the night, otherwise he will return home and then head to U of M Tues. a.m. I will try to post when I can on surgery day and after as to keep you all updated on how things go. Keep praying.

Stuff before surgery

So, it looks as though dad will go to Ann Arbor on the 18th for his shot. And then results will be read at 1 hour, 2 hours and 24 hours and then he will come back home. He also has to be there on the 22nd for more tests and then back the 23rd for surgery. Lots of busyness, but he mentioned that at least he gets paid a little bit for doing the clinical trial. One cool way to look at it.

more to know

The doctors hope to know this week sometime as to whether they will do the surgery from the front or the side. The front would be better as far as a faster recovery time, so let's pray.

June 5, 2009

At the end of April, we received word that my dad was diagnosed with kidney cancer on both kidneys. Some kidney pain on Friday and Saturday, and some blood in the urine those days alerted him enough to go to the ER on Sat. night. After numerous CAT scans and blood work the following week, cancer was the prognosis, and they expected to take out one kidney completely and half of the other one. It took a long while, which seemed like forever, to get in with the drs. at U of M and getting any type of dates for surgery. However, on June 5, my dad went to U of M to meet with the surgeon and anesthesiologist(spelling?). They told him he was the healthiest sick patient they have seen. Yeah God! He will be part of a clinical trial in the next few weeks; getting a shot some time this week, staying overnight and then getting some tests. Will it help? Maybe not him, but for future cancer patients, yes. And...it will get him a few extra "free" CAT scans for the drs. to look at before surgery. They now hope to save part of both kidneys, and both surgeries will be at U of M. Surgery #1 will be on the worser of the 2 kidneys, with it being on June 23, scheduled now for 10 a.m. We pray for God's continual healing power.

about this blog

When new information becomes available about my dad, Randy, I will post.