Scott's Update

Hi Everyone,

I just got a call from Dr. Sielaff's nurse Marie, due to another patient being in the hospital, they would like to move my operation up to Thursday July 7th, and I agreed to this move. Roxie and I have to be there at 5:45 am and the surgery will be at 7:30 am. I know this seems to be fast and furious, but I am very confident that this is the way it is supposed to be. Keep those good wishes coming at me.

Scott

Happy 4th of July weekend all!!

Scott & I (& Scruffy)will be doing a lot of traveling and visiting this weekend.

We are heading up to Lake Holcombe today to visit with Claire & Kyle and the Roder family. We will do some relaxing in the sun, boating, and have a cookout, Scott's bringing along his fishing pole too!! Saturday evening we will head back to CF and spend the night with Jim. Sunday we plan to have a get together for lunch with family in town. Later that afternoon off to Chetek to visit and have some supper with my parents. Back to RF that evening, but Monday...to Jordan we will head to visit with Ben & Jen, Toby & Lily. We should have a great weekend, we hope yours will be the same!!

I plan to work on Tuesday, but then will start some time off. Jim & Sandy Sullivan will be caring for Scruffy during Scott's hospital visit while I am away from home, Scruf should have a great time with their dog Jesse.

So things are all of a sudden moving along at a fast pace. I will certainly keep the blog updated with Scott progress, I am sure that a computer is available at the hospital for patient & family use, let's hope it is working ;-)

As we think of all our family and friends that have helped us along this far we can only think of how lucky we are to know such wonderful people....keep all those positive thoughts and prayers heading this way!!!

All our love,

Scott & Roxane

Hi everyone - surgery day is close now!!

Tomorrow we plan to get things taken care of around the house, pack our bags deliver Scruffy and head to Abbott late Wednesday afternoon. We have a reservation at the Wasey Center on campus @ the hospital, we are not assured a room, it is first come first serve, but at least they did sound hopeful that one would be available.

Scott went today for his pre-op with his primary care doctor, Dr. McCann in Hudson. Scott's in great shape, Dr. McCann said. He was please with the timely reports that Drs. Greeno and Sielaff have sent his way.

We are to be at the hospital at 5:45 a.m. on Thursday and surgery is scheduled for 7:30 a.m. - Dr. Sielaff expects a 4 hr procedure. We will get info posted asap, please hold Scott and the medical team in your thoughts and prayers...

Thanks so much for your love and support, and thanks also to all the doctors, nurses, staff, caregivers, and radiologists, that have seen us though this far, we are hoping for great things!!

Roxane & Scott

Hi all - Surgery is still in progress. We have not heard anything yet, but no news is good news.

Scott went into surgery @ 7:30 right on time, he is in good spirts and in good hands.

I will update again as we learn more.

Roxane

Ben, Jen, Claire, my mother, and sister Julie are all here with me today.

Still waiting for info. Surgery was going along fine at the 10:30 update, Dr. Sielaff was still exploring at that time, first time projection is 12:15, could be later. We will see, more as we know it.

Roxane

Things are going along well in surgery, expecting it to be another hour to hour 1/2 before they are done. Could be a couple more hours after that til we see Scott.

More as we know it.

Roxane

Hi everyone - Surgery was completed shortly after 2 p.m. this afternoon. We spoke with Dr. Sielaff and he was very positive. The surgery was longer than expected but he saw no signs of the tumor spreading, and did the best he could to remove all of the cancer. Biopsy results will follow.

Spleen was removed, 60% of the pancreas, "chunk" of stomach (really that's how he said it).

We took a short break outside and will expect to see Scott soon, he is currently in recovery.

We expected great things and I think we got what we wanted!!

Roxane

Hi - Scott went for a walk around station 40, at about 8:00 p.m. He did real well, without too much pain, but he's a tough guy!

Dr. Sielaff stopped in for a short visit, he has 3 patients in this unit, in fact remember #2 guy from treatment at the U, well he's Scott's roomate!!! His name is Tom and he had his surgery yesterday.

Some info regarding Scott....he is @ Abbott Northwestern Hospital - Station 40 (4th floor) room 4058-2 His direct dial line is 612-863-2426. I don't think I am suppose to have my cell phone on up here in the treatment area, so if you call me I may need to call you back.

I am heading over to my room for the evening, it's been a long day, but a good one too.

He needs some rest for sure, and is on pain meds, Tom tells us tomorrow might not be much better, and don't cough!!

More tomorrow...Roxane

Scott had a good night he said, he got some sleep between machine noises and usual hospital activity. He has some pain, but he is controlling it well with the meds. He was just returning from another walk when I arrived this a.m., he is sitting up in a chair now.

Dr. Sielaff was in already this a.m., and told Scott he could get the results of the biopsies as early as today, but more than likely will see them on Monday.

Things look good here, keep the thoughts and prayers heading this way, we appreciate them :-)

Roxane

I'm back home tonight with Scruffy and Claire....thanks to the Sullivans for babysitting our "fur kid".

Scott is doing well this evening, I left him watching the TNT mini series "Into the West", it is a very good program if you haven't seen it yet, they replay this episode Saturday and Sunday also, we figure if Scott watches it all three nights he will have seen it all, he dozes off quite a bit.

We thought Scott would be moved to a private room this evening, but none were available, perhaps tomorrow. His phone number will change then I will post the new number when that happens.

Have a good weekend everyone, we got a lot of rain here tonight in RF...the RF Days parade was rained out I am guessing.

Roxane/Claire/Scruf

Hi all - Dr. Sielaff met with Scott early this a.m. - the biopsy report is in - all negative - all margins are negative!!! That means Dr. Sielaff has removed the active tumor!!!! I am waiting for the print out of the report to read more about it, but that is the BEST NEWS we could have hoped for!!

Scott is very tired today, he's not really getting enough rest, or "restful" rest anyway. He has been for several walks, but still has tubes in about everywhere, as his digestion systems awakes tubes and drains will be removed, he's not complaining though.

Keep the good vibes heading our way!!!

Roxane

Scott had a good day today. Dr. Sielaff had the nurses remove two of his drainage tubes, only one remains now, it is in the incision area.

He is feeling well and a lot stronger he has went on approx. 12 "laps" today around Station 40, his RN Michelle said she wishes all her patients would be so mobile. He was running a temp. tonight, but I just spoke with Scott again and it is already going down, he is tired and needs some sleep, I left the hospital today @ 5 just so he could get a nap in, he didn't call me until 7, so he had a good rest that time. So he's hoping to get to sleep for the night soon, but is waiting for the nurse to "refuel" his IV before he's off to dreamland.

So things are moving along well for Scott, I plan to head up to see him after the "high" traffic time tomorrow.

Roxane

Dr. Sielaff was in to see Scott about 8a.m. and told him the goal today is to get "things" moving and to have something to eat. If all that goes well, it is not out of the question that he could leave the hospital tomorrow or Wednesday. He would just be sent home with the drain still attached. That really made Scott happy, I think he's wanting to see his little doggy and have some rest at home. He did sleep well last night though. His temp is back to normal and he was just going to head out to do a few laps before I arrive to see him.

Things are looking good!! :-)

Roxane

Good news everyone...Dr. Sielaff told Scott to go home!!

Everything is "moving" and Scott gets to have some dinner tonight. One of his favorite meals, baked chicken and mashed potatoes.

All the remaining tubes and drains will be removed tomorrow, and the only pain med is tylenol. Scott is doing great and anxious to see his meal tonight, sleep in his own bed, and see Scruf tomorrow!!

Roxane

I am heading up to Abbott about noon to get Scott. Dr. Sielaff gave him the "go". He has to take it easy for several weeks, we visit Dr. Sielaff in two weeks to remove staples, and check his progress, and of coarse we can call with any issues that come up. He's one happy guy!!!

Roxane

Hi everyone - we got home about 3 p.m.

Scott is so happy to be home, our neighbor boy Josh and his Mom Linda made some "Welcome Home" signs, of coarse with Green & Gold streamers!!

Scruffy was happy to see him, and at the moment Scruf is sitting on Scott's lap in the recliner and they are both about to take a nap.

So all is well here.

Thanks for all the cards, and calls, e-mail and well wishes!!

Roxane & Scott

Scott is doing well today, he said he is going to sit more today though...too much moving around yesterday he thought, the "cut" is hurting, he just has to get ahead of that pain. He slept so-so he said, he is resting now though so that's good. My parents stopped by for a short visit, and are back on the road for CF again.

Another very HOT day here again in WI...89.3 on my temp. gauge.

All is going well.

Roxane

Scott had a good day today, he slept well last night. We had a short outing today, lunch @ the park and just a drive around town to see the sights.

Scott is having some issues with his stomach though, we will call the Dr. in the a.m., we are wondering if it has to do with milk products (darn ice cream cone). He did have a good rest when we got home though, about 2 hours.

So all is going well, healing is happening!!

Roxane

Scott is feeling stronger each day, still likes to nap a couple hours in the afternoon, but feel free to call or visit if it works for you.

I took Scott on an outing to the bank today to show him off, and a short trip to Shopko to get him a couple new shirts, he thought it would be a good idea to walk a around a little in a air conditioned place. Another hot one in RF today, looks like it will be that way for a while longer.

Have a good weekend everyone!!

Roxane

Good Morning - hope all are enjoying this HOT weather, it is already 82 degress here!!! I'm guessing it will be a mostly "inside" day for us, if Scott is up to a outing today I think we will go to a movie, he is still resting right now.

Scott is healing fine, just slower than he wants too. He looks forward to the 25th when the (19) staples will be removed (ouch)!

Roxane

Hi Everyone - Yesterday we had to call Dr. Sielaff because there was some drainage from Scott's incision site in one spot, the Dr. prescribed an antibiotic and we were told to come in to see him today. So off we go in heavy traffic @ 6:50 a.m. to make it in to Abbott by 8 (no way)...we did make it by 8:15 though. Marie, RN thought the incision looked good, quite a improvement from yesterday, and perhaps, depending on what Dr. Sielaff says, staples could come out early (just 10 days). Well...out they came!!! Scott was just taped back up and sent home with a bandage and other maintenance goodies for care of the site, Dr. Sielaff, and his assistant Dr. Greg wished us well and expects not to see us again, his job is done!! :-)

We thanked him again for his work, he said it was a pleasure and thanked us. Dr. Sielaff signed Scott's work release for "back to work" on August 16th....just one catch...we see Dr. Greeno August 15th...we are thinking one more round of chemo first...but look out RR guys....he might be coming back quicker than originally we thought!!!

So it has been another GREAT DAY!!!

Roxane

With the good news earlier today, it only seems right we can now share some more good news.....

Scott is coming along, he is getting a little tired of feeling kind of lousy. Food issues are getting better, but he does still tire very easily, some days are better than others.

I'm heading back to the office tomorrow, Scruffy will be in charge of Scott for a couple days.

Thanks for the cards, email and encouragement, we are always surprised by how many people tell us they read the blog!!

Take Care all.

Roxane

Scott did not have the best day today. Since I went back to work he thought he would take Scruff to get the newspaper and a short walk around the park. When he got to the park he realized he better head for home. He also noticed that he felt "winded" after very little activity, he told me this at lunch.

He called into his RN, Marie, she suggested a visit to Dr. McCann (she must have called Dr. Sielaff also). In the mean time Scott called the clinic in Hudson to see if we could see Dr. McCann, we got a appointment for 6:50 p.m. Then - Dr. Sielaff called Scott, asked some questions, was glad to hear that we had a appointment, and said he would call Dr. McCann. We are directed by Dr. McCann's RN to go to Emergency in Hudson, and they would run the test we needed done there, so about 6 p.m. that's where we were. Scott was cared for by a excellent staff, tests were ran, and what they found out (by x-ray) there is fluid in one of his lungs, normally this will just go away, the Dr. said he had the EKG of a 20 year old!! They decided they were not going to do a CT for blood clots since there were no other indicators to warrant the test. We were sent home with orders to see Dr. Sielaff (he was called with test results while we were still at the ER) next week. When we got home (8:00) Marie called again to confirm with Scott that we would see Dr. Sielaff on Monday.

We are constantly amazed by the quality of care and caring people we have dealt with though this whole ordeal. We know that we are receiving the best care from the best people, and are so thankful for it.

It's been a busy day! - Roxane

A pretty quiet Saturday for us...we had a storm blow through RF about 11, and our power went off, no lights again until 4p.m. Thanks goodness it was only1/2 the town without power, we were able to get some lunch @ McDonalds :-) Mostly just some tree limbs down, no major damage. Claire "hung out" with us most of the day, and then headed to EC...as she was leaving town the power went back on...when she got to EC Kyle's power was out, still is I think.

Tomorrow Ben & Jen and Toby & Lily are heading this way for a visit.

Scott is coming along, he feels a little better each day but still has a way to go yet. We see Dr. Sielaff on Monday @ 1 p.m.

Take care all.

Roxane

Scott had an appointment with Dr. Sielaff and Marie, RN today. They both think he is looking good (just skinny) and any problems that Scott is having are expected side effects of surgery, no complications from the surgery, it just all takes time to get back to 100% .

We will go see Scott's primary care physician on Wednesday for follow up on some tests that were given at the ER last week.

So all looks good, and according to plan, just more rest and recovery time is needed.

Roxane

Scott & I met with Dr. McCann today in Hudson. Some additional blood tests will be run just to check things out. Dr. McCann is very encouraged with the results of the surgery and Scott's progress so far. Additional time to heal is all Scott needs for right now.

Roxane

Hi all - Scott continues to show improvement, but it is slow going for him, but I see improvements each day.

We went over to see the Kansas City Chiefs practice yesterday, they sure have a fan following, they all think it is great weather here with temps in the high 80's, one fan said it was 100+ there for the last two weeks. Scott is also getting "in gear" for his fantasy football league, as usual it takes hours of planning and thought, he REALLY enjoys it.

My parents, Julie & Linda came over today to have lunch, it's my Mother's 70th birthday! Many, many more Mom!!

Have a great week everyone!!

Roxane