I want to thank all of you for continuing to pray for Mike, myself and our family. There have been a couple of very difficult days this week, but I'm hoping things are leveling out enough to settle our spirits and our nerves. A "good day" can be loaded with great concern and anxiety, but we've learned it can get a whole lot worse on a "bad day".

Mike had the tissue surrounding his lungs drained last Friday and this past Tuesday. You would think with that much fluid collected, Mike would automatically feel so much better. But actually, he didn't. In fact, Tuesday night he vomited from eating 3 meals that day, and then Wednesday, he was in worse shape. He couldn't sleep because he had so much reflux, he was burping and hiccuping non-stop. All this with hardly eating. Thursday morning, I called Mike while I was at work to see how he was doing. He told me he had vomited again. Because his behavior had changed so drastically overnight, I asked him to call the oncologist.

So Mike called yesterday late morning, and they wanted us at the hospital by 2 p.m. to run labs, and to see the doctors. Mike could barely walk. He looked troubled about even getting to the car. So we ended up inching our way to the car. Thankfully, Tuesday I got our handicap parking pass, so when I got to the hospital, I was able to get a close parking spot and a wheelchair. After they did Mike's labs, he asked me not to move the car, just to push him all the way over to the front of the hospital to see his doctor. He didn't have the strength to get back into the car and drive around to the front.

As soon as we got to the chemo-lab, the nurses jumped into gear by giving Mike two large bags of fluids. They also spoke with the oncologist. I raised the concern that Mike never feels hungry. That every time he tries to eat, he feels full before he starts, and if he pushes through that, he eventually throws it all up. For the first time, I felt they understood what I had been trying to explain, since June 10th, when Mike first landed in the hospital. They wanted to scope Mike's esophagus to see if they could find any blockage, but the doctor that would do that, would be unavailable till the end of August. So the oncologist decided to try a new anti-nausea medication, given intravenously, and then to put Mike on another medication (Reglan) at home, to see if there were any improvements, before putting Mike through the stress of another procedure.

When Mike weighed himself yesterday, after he vomited last, his weight was down 10 more pounds to 122. It had us both pretty upset. We both realize he can't continue to live at this pace. If this new medication fails to help, the plan is to get Mike scoped either here in Russellville, or in LR. If a blockage, or mass is found, they are considering putting in a feeding tube, to nourish Mike. The recent CT's didn't show any tumors in that area, but I suppose there's always a chance, something could be hiding.

Before we even were released from the chemo-lab, Mike was feeling much better. It's just the craziest thing....balancing fluid in him...to fluid getting out of him. He's either dehydrated, or excess fluid has built up in his abdomen and lung area. So far, his tubes are holding up and the infection he had last week has passed. He has pulled out the middle tube by about 3 inches, so we're anticipating getting that repaired next Monday or Tuesday.

I'm sorry to leave so many of you worried. The stress of dealing with all of this has been very exhausting and time consuming. Needless to say, I've got my hands full.