Grandpa Update: Recovering Like a Boss!

A lot has happened since my last update and I apologize.  Life here in Florida has been busy!!!

If you missed any previous updates, you can find them on the blog to get you up to speed.

When I left Grandpa, (my last update), he was still in the ICU.  He still had his tracheal tube and therefore was not able to talk.  He was beyond frustrated with not being able to convey his thoughts, wants, and even jokes to everyone.  It was hard seeing him get so frustrated because it's a sight we rarely saw.
He had four drains, two in his neck and two in his chest.
He had an NG tube (for feeding) that went in his nose, down the esophagus, into the stomach and then into the small intestine.  This was another huge cause of frustration for him and he wanted it out.  Badly.  He loathed this tube.
He was not able to get up and move around.  The nurses would help move him from his bed to a chair throughout the day but that's all he was allowed.  This also frustrated him. He wanted to get up and be mobile.  He wanted to use a normal restroom instead of using a urinal at his bed or chair.
Despite all of this, he was healing and recovering so well!  The doctor has been so impressed with how well he's doing.  The nurses and staff are always so amazed to learn that he's 83 years old.  They all tell him and our family how they wish they are like him when they're that old.  (One nurse even said he wishes he was like Grandpa now! lol).
Grandpa is also such a badass that he's not on any pain medications!!!!  He hasn't been since the day after surgery.  Clearly, he's not human.  I mean, he was cut from behind his ear, down his neck, down his chest, a little onto his shoulder, and then the cut down his neck also continued under the jaw and chin, up the middle of the chin and into the middle of his bottom lip.  His lower left jaw was completely removed!  His palette was removed and replaced with a flap of chest tissue.  His shoulder, neck muscles, and chest were dug into.  How on earth he is not on pain meds and giving a "Eh...four?" on the pain scale?!  There are even times where he says his pain is a 0!!!!!!  THIS is the reason Grandpa is going to kick some major ass.  He's seriously the strongest person I know!!!!

My last update was Sunday the 9th.  Just two days later, Tuesday the 11th, it was mine and Nick's anniversary.  My phone began ringing and it was my Aunt Janet.  I answered and then heard, in a very raspy, semi-mumbled voice "Hello Melanie!".  IT WAS GRANDPA!!!!!!!!!  They had capped off his trach so that he can talk!!!!!  It was the best anniversary gift!!!  Of course I started crying (happy tears) and I immediately felt so much better about being back in Florida.  That's what I needed to hear.  Janet then told me that he has been moved to TCU (a step-down ICU) and has had two of his drains removed (leaving two still in.)  She also told me that occupational therapy had been in and had Grandpa put his socks on and off as well as doing some arm exercises.  Then Physical Therapy was in, starting with leg exercises, then walking up and down the halls.  The therapist had to tell Grandpa to slow down!!!  There is just no stopping this man!!!!

The very next day, Wednesday the 12th, OT came in and again did some arms exercises.  Then they had Grandpa change his pants into shorts, per his request.  After this, OT decided Grandpa is a badass and no longer needs them anymore.  He's too independent to need their help so that's finished.  Go Grandpa!  Physical therapy came in and took their turn again, first with leg exercises then with walking the halls.  This time, Grandpa walked the halls without his walker!  He's such a BAMF.

The main concern with today is that Grandpa is now able to talk and it's time for the doctor to tell him about surgery.  I know I have been vague about some of this, particularly Grandpa's surgery, diagnosis, and prognosis.  The main reason being that Grandpa did not know all of the information.  We thought it would be best to wait to tell him until he could talk and ask questions without the frustration of writing things down.

So here it is....

Grandpa's cancer was much more advanced than we thought.  The doctor said he hadn't ever seen it as extensive as Grandpa's was.  Going into surgery, we knew he had stage IV squamous cell carincoma and there was a tumor in his jaw and that it had metastasized to his lymph nodes.  When Dr. Boyd got in there, he saw that the cancer was around his voice box, his carotid artery, growing into the shoulder, and very, very deep into the neck muscles.  He was able to remove 98% of it but was not able to get it all from his neck muscles for fear of it compromising the use of his chest, diaphragm, and arm.  It had just grown way to deep, so he had to leave about 2% in Grandpa's neck muscle.  Despite the changes in how extensive it was, post-surgery was still the same as we had originally thought.  He will recover from surgery and then undergo a very rigorous and debilitating radiation regiment, followed by chemotherapy (which will seem like a walk in the park compared to radiation).

Now back to the updates....with Grandpa talking, we knew it was time for him to hear this all.  We weren't sure how he'd take it.  Dr. Boyd said he'd tell Grandpa himself so that he could get all the facts straight and answer any questions he had.  But the most amazing thing is that when we were told about everything immediately following surgery, Dr. Boyd seemed very grim.  He painted a very depressing picture for us all.  (Now you may see where my depressed posts came from.)  But now, after seeing how amazing Grandpa is recovering, seeing how incredibly strong he is, how well he bounces back, the fight in him, and his optimistic view, Dr. Boyd's attitude has done a 180!  He's now so optimistic and very confident Grandpa will beat this cancer!  Which was so incredibly refreshing to hear.  It makes us all feel a million times better to now know the doctor has 100% confidence in Grandpa's ability to fight this.  He told Grandpa that while he had to leave 2% in there, it's definitely curable.  And we ALL know, his family, friends, and doctor included, he can beat this!

The next day, last Thursday, the 13th, Dr. Boyd told Grandpa everything.  Grandpa didn't even bat at eye.  He took it all so well!  Granted, the doctor was so much more optimistic and encouraging than he was with us, but that's because now he truly believes this is curable for him.
Grandpa really didn't have any questions.  He was just his strong, optimistic, "let's get this done!" self.  Which is why I love him and I now know he's going to be okay.
This day he also had one more drain removed and his trach removed!!!!!!  He feels so much better being able to talk now.  His voice is raspy and a little mumbly, since he's missing that lower left jaw but with speech therapy, it should improve greatly.  As the trach hole closes up (they don't stitch it; it's just a giant gaping hole in his neck) the raspy-ness will decrease.  He also had all of the staples (from behind his ear, down his neck, under his chin, down his chest, and shoulder) removed!!!!!

Early Friday morning, they moved Grandpa to a normal room on a regular floor!  At first he was in a tiny room but they moved him to a much larger room (probably a good idea with how large our family is).  They were even so kind as to put another bed in there for Grandma to take naps in or if she ever wants to stay overnight.  (The staff at Mercy has been awesome...minus a few nurses in TCU one night but we won't get into that).  They checked his blood counts and his white blood count is elevated, but we were told this was normal considering the drains and the trach has been removed.
They had hoped to get Grandpa home this past weekend but this day, Friday, the said it wouldn't happen.  Grandpa still had one drain in and was draining a pretty decent amount still.  That is not a huge concern but they don't want to remove it with it draining that much.  The doctor said he could go in and stop it, but its more trouble than it's worth and they like for it to stop on it's own.
We were hoping he'd be home for Father's Day but unfortunately that can't happen.  It stinks but we'd rather him be in the best shape possible when he does go home so we're okay with this.
I did get to talk to Grandpa this day though!!!  It wasn't but a 2 minute conversation but that's better than nothing!  It's a little difficult to understand him but I was able to get all of it with only asking him to repeat himself twice.  It just warms my heart to hear him say "I love you" to me and to hear he's feeling great and ready to fight this!

Over this past weekend, things progressed slowly but well.  He still has his feeding tube in and one drain.  Other than that, no major progress.  He's walking the halls like a boss and just waiting to begin trying to eat food and get this drain out.  Those are really our only hangups at this point.
Today Nick and I were able to FaceTime with him for Father's Day.  He looks so good!!!  His swelling has decreased so much since I saw him and you can tell his jaw is different but it doesn't look as bad as I thought it would for having no jaw on that side.  Apparently, when Dr. Boyd took chest tissue to rebuild his palette, he took a little more to add some extra "padding", if you will, to his cheek to fill it out a little more to make it less noticeable.  (Simply a cosmetic move.)  But he looked great and sounded great!  He's learning to enunciate better so we had absolutely no issues understanding every word he said.   He's still raspy but if he holds his hand/fingers over the bandage covering his trach hole wound, it helps.


If you read my previous posts, you know being back here in Florida was so difficult for me.  I was a depressed mess.  I didn't want to be here and I cried all day long. But after Tuesday, my spirits were lifted.  I was optimistic.  Hearing him talk, knowing he's progressing and recovering so well just gives me that optimistic attitude I need.  He's proven how incredibly strong he is and I know he'll beat this.  He's even changed the doctors view point!  Everyone knows Grandpa is going to come out of this a survivor!!!!  And now you all know where I got my incredible strength and optimistic attitude in life from...my amazing Grandpa!!!


I ask that you will keep him in your thoughts and prayers.  Unfortunately, surgery recovery is the easiest of this all.  Up next is radiation and it's really going to take a huge toll on his body.  I know he can handle it, but I'd still appreciate prayers to keep him strong, positive, and that his treatment will in fact kill the cancer and he can beat the odds!  THANK YOU for the thoughts, prayers, texts, emails, etc throughout the past two week to check on me, my family, and most importantly, Grandpa.  I cannot tell you how much it means to me and my family.

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UPDATE 2013-Jun-17:  Dr. Boyd pulled Grandpa's last drain out this morning!!!!!  His feeding tube was supposed to come out today but they held this up for a day to make sure he has no problems (build up of fluid) from the drain coming out.  The doctor doesn't want anything in Grandpa's stomach in case he would have to go in and relieve the potential fluid build up.  If all goes well with this drain removed, a speech therapist will begin working with Grandpa to move forward towards eating.
At this rate, it's not looking like he'll be home until Friday :(  But this last drain was really what was holding up any progress so let's hope all goes well with it being out and we can continue to move forward!  It is unfortunate he'll be there even longer, but I'd rather them be cautious and watch this drain to make sure it doesn't pose any issues before they send him home.
I was also concerned that this is all pushing radiation and then chemo back further and in my mind, we need to start asap to get the best chance to fight this cancer, but Dr. Boyd said not to worry; that he isn't concerned with delaying it a little bit.  If he's not concerned, then I'm not concerned.