Patio nights

This past weekend ended up being one of those weekends we really needed. Between appointments, treatments, labs, and all of the unknowns lately, we wanted to do something that felt a little more normal and a little less clinical.

For a long time, I’ve wanted to take Dad’s patio from a plain concrete slab into a little oasis — a place he could really enjoy and find some peace in. Rug, patio furniture, covered pergola, wind chime, lights, little firepit…the whole shabang. Honestly, the designer in me couldn’t not take full advantage of the opportunity to accessorize and go completely overboard getting him all the cozy patio things.

Ever since he retired, I think part of me hoped I could do something liek this for him someday. As a kid, you always hope that one day when you’re older, you’ll get the chance to give something meaningful back to your parents. Dad deserves that.

This weekend we finally surprised him and got everything set up, and honestly it turned into one of the best parts of the week. Mary, Danny, Pat, Nancy, Zeke, Levi, Jake, Nick, Chris, and Mark all came together to help make it happen, and it meant a lot. Watching everyone pitch in, laugh together, spend time with Dad, and periodically yell at him to get off the damn ladder felt like one of those moments where life slowed down for a little while.

Patio gang

Today was another infusion day. Dad received his treatment along with medications to help with nausea and side effects. Overall, the appointment itself ended up feeling fairly reassuring.

One thing that came up was that some of his blood work showed elevated white blood cell counts. There are a few possible reasons for that, especially with everything his body is currently trying to manage between treatment, inflammation, and the cancer itself.

They also want to be cautious because Dad’s cough has sounded a little heavier lately, and he mentioned his urine had a stronger smell than normal. Because of that, later this week they’ll be doing a urine sample and chest X-ray to rule out infection or pneumonia as a possible contributor. The encouraging part is that his vitals today looked stable, his oxygen levels were good, and his sodium levels were improved compared to some of the more concerning lows he’s had recently.

We also received the results from Dad’s MRI late last week, and overall that brought some reassuring news too. The MRI did not show any tumors in the brain, stroke, bleeding, or signs that the cancer has spread there. One of the main things the doctors were evaluating was the pituitary gland because of some hormone irregularities tied to his sodium levels, and thankfully that area looked normal as well.

While the MRI didn’t fully explain why his sodium continues to fluctuate, it did help rule out several of the bigger concerns the doctors were worried about which honestly felt like a huge relief after a pretty emotionally heavy stretch of appointments lately.

There are still a lot of moving pieces, and we know this journey will continue to have ups and downs. As always, thank you to everyone continuing to check in, send messages, support Dad, and support our family through all of this. It truly means more than we can explain.