7 days, 168 hours, never the same again
As mom my said this morning, "It's just been a week--7 days--168 hours. How can life change so quickly? It certainly gives new meaning to "Carpe Diem"--SEIZE THE DAY!"

I apologize I have not updated in a few days but once we get home, all I want to do is go to bed and we keep [retty busy at the hospital. Today we completed post operative day 3 and the doctor said this morning dad is "textbook" if not progressing better. He continues to sleep most of the day, being awakened frequently for all sorts of things and quickly dozes back to sleep. Although we would like to take advantage of the time we are spending together, if he is comfortable- we are pleased! Tomorrow the anesthesiologist will remove his epidural and allow him to not feel so sedated all the time. We now pray his pain can be adequately controlled without the epidural!

A nurse aide commented today "he sure hasn't lost a sense of humor!" For those of you who don't know dad, he is quite the comedian! Despite his sleepiness, he continues to keep us all entertained. You never know what he is going to say when he wakes up- usually a guaranteed laugh though which is so comforting in a time like this that we can find something to bring a smile to our faces. One of my favorite stories so far took place the first day after his surgery. Dad had been begging me for something to eat, and I kept reminding him that he could only have ice chips and popsicles until such time that his colon was "working again." He said, "Heather, make me a sign! I want it to say: Will Fart for Food!" Needless to say, my wonderful father in law made the sign which hangs directly behind his bed. Our other good news is his bowels did wake up yesterday so we are moving forward with liquids and hopefully to solids by Monday. Who would have ever thought a fart would bring a tear of happiness to my eye!

We received the pathology back from his procedures and it was consistent with what they had imagined. The cancer in his colon is an adenocarcinoma and the biopsy of his liver was as well. This is a good thing because it means the liver/lungs is a metastasis and not another random kind of cancer that would change everything. Our oncologist is out of town so we met her partner today. She was very nice but said very little so we hope to learn more on Monday when Dr. Dagg returns.

Our plan is to hopefully be discharged from the hospital by Wednesday. The surgeon will put in a port for dad's chemotherapy prior to discharge from the hospital so back to the OR. Fortunately, this is a pretty simple procedure. Rob will head back to Tulsa tomorrow (Sunday) and I am planning on staying at least until dad gets discharged to help mom. Then, lots of road trips to Norman once we start chemo in a few weeks.As always, thank you for everything! We continue to get by each day by the grace of God and the love and support from YOU! I can't wait to share everything we have experienced with dad and for him to be able thank each one of you when we FULLY recover from this...and we will! We love you!

Blessings,

Heather and Rob