home visit

Manford came home for about five hours today--we had lunch (the sausages he has been craving), and watched basketball, read and rested in a very quiet house, except for Charlie, who was quite overjoyed to see him. The kids are having a good time in Napier, and due back tomorrow. I will spend my second night alone in the house, realizing it has been years--possibly 16--since this has happened. I guess I'm not alone, really; Charlie sleeps under the bed. Manford got around the house very well, and is eager to stay home in a few days. For now, we look forward to another visit tomorrow.

Progress

Manford is doing very well, and they've decided that he doesn't need rehab, after all; he's now able to walk with just a cane, and they plan to discharge him home next week, probably Tuesday or Wednesday (Monday is a holiday), with the home hospital for support. They are the ones that came before he was hospitalized, and have a nurse that comes every day, and PT and OT. He is able to come home for a visit tomorrow (and hopefully also Sunday and Monday, if it goes well), and is looking forward to some sausages and his own chair. My father and his wife arrived on Wednesday, and how have taken Emily and Joseph out of town for a couple of days, to Napier, on the East side of the North Island.

We don't have an appointment with oncology until February 11, but we will be looking into what the options are before then, both on our own and with the help of the Cancer Society. My work and colleagues have been very understanding and supportive, and I basically have all the leave I need. In the midst of this, we did manage to hire someone to help at home, and she has been wreaking some order in our havoc, and I am very grateful. And grateful, too, for all your thoughts and prayers.
Carrie

Keep praying

We got the report from the biopsy, and Manford has gliosarcoma, which is a rare form of glioblastoma, grade IV. We will be talking to the oncology people in the next day or two, and starting radiation and chemotherapy sometime in the next two weeks. He is still waiting for a bed on the rehab unit, but is up and walking more. We met the rehab doctor, who is American, but she talks fast, so he still can't understand her...

Room with a view

Today they moved Manford to a new bed--same room, but a prime location by the window. He has had several visitors and was a bit tired, but still doing well. They took off the bandage to give his staples a nice airing...now Emily is scared to see him, but we'll work on that.

Saturday

It's Saturday here, and somewhat quieter at the hospital, at least in the corridors. Manford continues to do better--he is now on low risk of falls, and can get into and out of bed without help. I haven't gotten to talk directly to the doctors in several days--they manage to keep families away during rounds--and it is hard to tell who the doctors are, sometimes--everyone goes by first names, here, but I think the person I talked with today was probably the charge nurse, not the doctor. He said that the plan is for Manford to go to the rehab ward for a week or two after he leaves the neurosurgical ward, and that might be mid-to-late next week. We should find out the pathology results Tuesday or Wednesday, unless they are unsure and then they will send it to Auckland for a second opinion, and it might be a few more days.

The kids are doing ok; Joseph is avoiding mowing the lawn very adeptly, and neither is exactly rejoicing at the anticipation of school starting week after next. The summers aren't quite long enough here to get thoroughly bored, with Christmas and New Years taking up a good chunk at the beginning. Next week, my father and his wife arrive, and we are looking forward to that visit, though not exactly sure the shape it will take. But Manford really didn't want to go caving, anyway...

Surgery + 2 days

Manford is doing better today, walking much more easily (they still put this kind of handle belt on him when he walks, but then just walk along beside) and talking and understanding much more clearly. This picture is from just the day after surgery, and he is looking better every day; I'll take another soon. I took a picture of one of the MRI pictures...I couldn't look at these before the surgery (they showed them to us the day before, but I put them away) because they were just too scary. This is the worst looking one, really; it looks like the tumor is taking over his whole frontal lobe. A lot of that is edema, though, and it seems to be responding to steroids and the surgery. keep up the good thoughts.

more better

When I visited Manford last night, he was continuing to seem better and more like himself. He keeps getting the hiccups, which he insists on calling "diaphramatic spasms," which tickles the nurses. They took out the drain on his head, which is good because it kind of freaked out poor Emily; I will take the kids to see him again this afternoon.