We're home and Jon is resting comfortably. He's been able to reduce to one pain pill every four hours so that is a huge improvement. They just couldn't get that IV machine setup fast enough last night. He's taking three different meds for nausea as well.

His sense of humor has returned until I knocked him out with his pain meds at 5. The nurse from this morning actually asked me if he ever speaks?? I told her she was lucky he was keeping to himself :)

Pain and nausea are under control with oral meds so we're heading home.

Well we thought we were a little wiser this time around but to quote Jon, "Just when you think you've seen it all..." He remained in severe pain with vomiting most of the evening. Fortunately the Dilaudid finally kicked in and made the pain manageable. After that they were able to give him meds for sleep and nausea. It's 8am and he's still asleep. They should be here shortly to take him for his CT scan.

Although Jon is in severe pain the surgeons are very pleased with the procedure and the amount of cancer they were able to kill. They treated a portion of both the right and left lobe that had the highest concentration of cancer and are confident that they were successful. They both expect Jon to have this degree of pain because of the intensity of the treatment. Jon shook their hands and thanked them. After all, this is about killing cancer and we all know Jon's favorite saying, "Pain is weakness leaving the body." I think I'll give him that tshirt to wear when we get home.

After the CT scan they will attempt to move him from IV to oral Dialudid. If that will control the pain we will still be able to go home today.

Things took a turn for the worse this afternoon as the two oxycodone had absolutely no effect on Jon's pain level. Next they gave him another oxycodone and a shot of morphine, still no change. Finally Dr. Goswami came in and ordered Dilatted (sp?) in a self-delivery machine. After a few pumps of that Jon is pretty much knocked out. It looks like it may be a rough night after all. The kids have left for the evening and we're hunkered down for the night with lots of drugs.

Jon was out of surgery and back in his room by 1:30. He was in good spirits and ate a large lunch immediately. He asked the anesthesiologist to give him the minimal amount of anesthesia so he was awake and alert when he got here. The only drawback is that he is much more aware of his pain level now. The nurse just gave him two oxycodone so he should be feeling better in about 30 minutes.

The surgeon opted to treat the left lobe of his liver rather then repeat the right one. We will ask for more details when we see him tonight, but we're assuming its to give the right lobe a little more healing time.

Jon and I are back at the UW this morning for the next chemoembolization. We're a little smarter, relaxed and prepared this time around. Jon made sure to eat as much as he possibly could yesterday and topped everything off with a midnight protien shake, just in case it was an all day wait with no food. His weight was 178 last night...just a few more pounds to go to reach his normal weight.

We were here at 6:30 am for all of the preliminaries and they took him into surgery at 11. He should be approximately two hours. I'm napping in his room until the procedure is over and the kids are coming by this afternoon. I promised to have a meal and glass of prune juice waiting for him when he returns :)

Embolization #2

We're back from vacation and preparing for Jon's next chemoembolization. He is feeling strong and looks great (equipped with hair on his head, eyelashes and eyebrows). We are to be at the UW Medical Center on Thursday at 6:30 am for the second chemoembolization. Dr. Goswami will be doing the second portion of the right lobe of Jon's liver. They tell us that the side effects should be about the same but Jon and I have decided that they won't be as bad since there is so much less cancer to kill and we have the prior knowledge of having already had one procedure. All in all it's still much better than systemic chemo.

The kids and I had a wonderful vacation in Connecticut and NYC. It was great to see my sister and her family. When Elizabeth and Kelsey were younger they used to spend a few weeks a summer with their cousins at my mom and dad's in Pennsylvania. When the girls went off to college that ended and this is the first time all the cousins have been together in approximately five years. It is amazing to watch them pick up where they left off, like they just saw each other last week. I won't be surprised if Kelsey decides to go off to college on the east coast to be closer to his cousins and extended family. I guess that means I'll just have to make more trips back there!

Jon and I attended Ed Frawley's memorial service on Saturday. It was a moving tribute to Ed, his life, and the lives of the many people he had touched. Two coworkers came all the way from Japan to honor Ed and his family. Many coworkers, family members and childhood friends paid tribute to Ed through sharing stories about his childhood, friendships, and family. I would say Kristi, Cody and Kyle are doing as well as could be expected under the circumstances. Please keep them all in your prayers during the coming months.