Getting stronger, Dad in hospital

I know that this blog is "Pulling For Denise" but there are a couple other people to pull for mentioned tonight. I hope you don't mind. First off, let me tell you about good things with Denise.
Denise continues to improve. She's a little sore, but only because she's trying to work out with more & more weight and range of movement. Yesterday she helped prepare two meals. Yum! She's also having a much better time at home than in the hospital. I heard her walking around just a few minutes ago. It's weird how I got used to the sound of her gait before getting sick. Now when I hear her walk around, it sounds like a stranger's in the house because I'm not used to her "new walking sound" yet. But I'm glad to hear it, just the same. We've got a whole bunch of doctor appointments lined up for this coming week. So much for a relaxing Easter vacation, huh?

I took my mom & dad to emergency this afternoon and my dad was admitted to the hospital tonight. Apparently he's got an infection and they need to do blood tests and keep a good eye on him for the next couple days in case he goes into septic shock. Last Sunday he told me of pain in the hip area. I badgered him about calling his doctor, but he didn't think it was necessary. He only mentioned general aches to my mom, and he didn't say anything to his oncologist when he went for a chemo treatment on Monday. Yes, he's trying another round of chemo. Apparently one of the drugs that he did respond to (5FU, I believe) was not manufactured for a period of time and only recently became available again, so they're going to try it on him again. Anyway, today he had pain in his lower right back to the point that his doctor wanted him to go to emergency. As of the last I heard when I left tonight, there were no hospital beds available at Kaiser Hospital, so they were planning on keeping him overnight on a gurney in the emergency section.

I feel compelled to mention some sad news concerning extended family members that've really been pulling & tugging for Denise. Immediately after posting the last blog entry, I learned that my great uncle & aunt from Washington (the great uncle that flew down here a week or two ago when my other great uncle died) had just lost their daughter. Imagine that... losing your brother one week and your daughter the next. She'd been battling illness for decades and had been in & out of the hospital almost too many times to count during that time. I am reminded of something I heard from a friend that said parents are designed to do lots of things, but burying their children isn't one of them. I thought of how devastating a feeling it was to lose baby Daniel back in July, and can't help but think that it must be even worse to lose a child that you've gotten to know for several decades.

So a little extra pull for some family members aside from Denise would be appreciated right about now.