What a Beautiful Day!

Wow! We have had such a beautiful day here in Georgia. Sunny and 74 degrees. We had such a nice afternoon sitting on the porch visiting with friends. We did not want the day to end! 

Steve went to church this morning! He was so excited to see everyone at church. His face lit up with every new face he saw. He sat most of the time and was very tired, but he really enjoyed being at church again. He was even singing a little : ) 

Steve had a good week overall. We have been trying new foods by blending them and putting them through his tube. While it is a challenge to keep enough pureed and balance all the nutrition, it seems to be working. He has not thrown up at all this week!!! 

Swallowing has not been successful so far. Steve has tried to swallow some water, tea, broth, and coke but he just has no control over the liquid. He has no tongue movement at all right now. Not sure if that will change or not. I know Steve is worried about not being able to swallow again. He has no feeling in his lips and surrounding area. Since his saliva is not swallowed, he tends to drool. This really bothers him, but we are hoping this is temporary. 

On Friday we were on our way to the church to drop Becca off for a retreat when Steve suddenly realized the doctor took his teeth out on the bottom right back side of his mouth. He was pretty surprised and upset. He thought he was only missing the bottom front teeth. I think he has gotten used to the idea now. 

While Steve is very weak, he has been stir crazy too. So, he has made some small trips to the store with me. You would have enjoyed seeing him terrorizing people in the aisles at Walmart while driving the motorized wheelchair! He was outside yesterday and today repotting some plants. He even played with the neighbor kids next door for a little bit. 

We continue to be blessed by your prayers, cards, visits, meals and gifts. As I am constantly reminded, God is good...all the time. May you be blessed and receive this week! 

P.S. Sorry for such a long post. I had more to say than I thought : ) 

Doctor's Visit Results

We had our appointment on Monday with Steve's oncologist, Dr. Grist. Overall, it was a good report that we received. They removed all of Steve's stitches and staples. He does not have to have the bandage on his leg anymore. Dr. Grist told him to start using his leg more by walking around. Steve is able to put his weight on it now without pain, so he is not using the crutches in the house. Dr. Grist cleaned out the stitches and other surgery "leftovers" from Steve's mouth. (Last night Steve said his mouth felt so much better!)  He told Steve to start brushing his teeth and keeping his mouth clean. Steve was given permission to try to swallow when he is ready. The doctor said he really doesn't know if Steve will be able to swallow at all. He also mentioned that he might only be able to swallow liquids. 

I saw the twinkle in Steve's eyes. I know that now he feels he has permission to start pushing himself more. He seemed pleased and upbeat again. Dr. Grist told us that we should not think about this cancer as having reoccurred from September to December. Instead, he feels that it was the same cancer and that the surgery in September just was not complete enough (they had not discovered the cancer in the jaw at that point). That gives us some piece of mind. We are praying that the jaw bone had the cancer all this time and was feeding it to the mouth. This way, the source is gone. Dr. Grist feels that this could be the case. 

God answers prayers each and every day - little and big. Steve was up and about more today. He was a little bit talkative. He talked about business, our plans for the week and the weekend! While we still have a long way to go with the healing, feeding issues, teeth implants, pain control, etc, it sure is nice to have one good step of progress. Steve has lost about 35 pounds through all of this. Today he told me he has gained back 2 pounds in the past couple of days! Small steps forward. Thank you Lord! 

Monday, Mar 2

Let me apologize upfront if this sounds disjointed at all. I am trying to catch up so I am multi-tasking! 

After having a god day on Wednesday, Steve had a rough day on Thursday. He got sick to his stomach, fell asleep, and slept through the whole day without any water, food or medicine. After talking with the nurse, we decided to make some changes in his food on Friday. I gave him a different "formula" because Steve feels he is allergic to the stuff we have been using. He has not had trouble with it in the past, but you never know. So, we tried just regular ensure type stuff all weekend. We have also used soy protein powder, vegetable supplement, gatorade for the electrolytes. On Sunday I fed him some baby food carrots and we blended mandarin oranges in the Vita Mix we borrowed from Steve's brother. I am working on reading about diets for cancer patients and will work on giving Steve what he needs. 

On Friday evening, I spoke with the pain specialist about Steve  being groggy. We backed off on some of the pain medicine. Steve was more alert and aware of things yesterday. We watched a cute movie and enjoyed our Sunday afternoon while watching the snow outside.

This whole thing is such a learning process. It amazes me and confuses me everyday! I am reminded of my first few years of teaching - all the trial and error, but never giving up! 

We have a doctor's appointment today, so we look forward to seeing what Dr. Grist thinks about Steve's progress. I'll let you know what we find out. Have a great day.  

Wednesday's update

Steve has done well so far this week. He had a bit of trouble Monday morning with his stomach, but has been better since then. Today was his first day totally on his own : ) He texted me today and said that he was ok and everything was on good and right on track! It's funny how good that made me feel. He was able to handle his medicine and his feedings all by himself. His progress really is coming along nicely. He even went outside to enjoy watching his pigeons flying around today. He is tired now and is sleeping a lot but I think he enjoyed himself today.

Steve looks a little different than he did before surgery. I know that he is still healing and that a year from now he will look different still. But for now, I can't help but think how adorable he is. He is so sweet and loving, always worried about everyone else instead of himself.  

Steve is quite agile despite his leg. He is getting up and down the stairs very well. He wanders around the house trying to figure out what to do with himself. His attention span is not very long because of all the medicine he is on, but he is bored. He would love to have visitors, so stop by if you like. He is also using his computer a little bit more if you'd like to email him (stevebowman@bellsouth.net).

Lent starts tomorrow. Have you decided what you will add or take away to remind yourself of the sacrifice Christ made for us on the cross? Will you pray more, do charitable deeds, give up sugar, soda, or coffee? Whatever you decide, do it with grace, humility and love. Have a great evening!

Good day!

We had a good day. Today was all about Rebecca. She had a fabulous birthday. The youth group at church came over to do some mission work in the yard. They celebrated Becca's birthday with her! She was the star of the day. Just what she needed. 

Meanwhile, Steve did very well today. His pain was a bit hard to control. His jaw is pretty painful, but I think we got it under control. His migraine is gone, so that is good. He was on the couch all day. He took a bath and felt really good this evening. His leg is sore - throbbing a lot, but he is able to walk around without his crutches. We have been able to keep his food down and has not had the chills at all. Praise god for answering our prayers! I know it will still take time for him to heal, but he just looks so much better now that the infection is under control, it is hard to hold my excitement in check. 

Thank you so much to our church and all the girl scouts who have been providing for so many of our needs. I cannot begin to express our feelings of gratitude to you all. We are honored and humbled by your loving kindness! God bless you all.

Steve is home again

I brought Steve home today about noon. He is doing so much better! We will work on getting a routine and schedule down for his food and medicines. He will be resting too. He is determined not to get down and out again. He told me today that if he lays down he stays down and he is not going to let himself do that again. Yes, he is getting back to his old self now. It was so nice to have a real conversation with him today. I've missed him. 

Take care and thanks for all your prayers!

Doing better

Steve is doing much better today! It is amazing what a difference 24 hours makes. He looks and acts the best I've seen him since his surgery. He was sitting up a good part of the day. He was walking around the room more on his own. His trache hole is closed up so we do not have keep the gauze bandage on it anymore. All of his surgery spots are healing nicely. We were able to feed him full cans today with no problems. His left shoulder is sore, so we are wondering if he slept on it funny or something. 

The doctors think Steve's infection is from the IV site that gave him trouble on his right arm. He seems to be responding well to the antibiotics. I knew he was back to his old self today because he was bugging the nurse about pain medicine, not giving him enough of course : ) He might get to come home tomorrow.

We had a visit from one of the chaplains. Steve perked up right away and had a long, interesting conversation with him. It was hard to tell who was "preaching" to whom - ha! It turns out that the chaplain was just diagnosed in November with bone cancer and is undergoing radiation. He and Steve were able to relate so well to one another. I think it was a blessing for both of them.

We praise God for our many blessings!  He answers prayers so faithfully. Have a good evening.