Backing up...

Background...

On April 23, 2010 at 4:10 pm I learned that my Daddy had a brain tumor. He had been having some trouble with the right side of his body and that had led him to the doctor. Many tests later they discovered the tumor. At that time we were very optimistic that it could be removed surgically and was benign. The next week on Wednesday, April 28, 2010 he went into surgery. And our whole world changed.

After his brain surgery there were words thrown around like oncologist, chemo and radiation. Phase III-IV Glioblastoma. Ugly words. He was in the ICU for a few days but after he weaned off the vent from surgery he was ready to "Get 'R Done."

And get 'r done he did. He moved from the ICU, to the Neuro Acute floor to the rehab floor. He was told by his physical and occupational therapists that he was the hardest worker they had ever seen. Medically, he shouldn't have gained his ability to walk and use his right arm again after his surgery. We were told with a glioblastoma tumor that the longest he had was 5 years.

Everyone grabbed on to the *5 years* part. 5 years? That's plenty of time to get bucket list things done. Plenty of time to play with the grandkids, time to finish up projects and plenty of time to say goodbye.

Little did we know how fast things would go.

He fought hard to get out of the hosptial and even after he was out was fighting hard. My parents went fishing and camping and he even traveled a bit for work. His last radiation treatment was June 23, 2010.

That Friday he called the doctor due to some unusual swelling in his head and leg. The doctors mostly concentrated on the leg and put him on blood thinning shots because a clot that had developed during his hospitalization had gotten longer. They thought the swelling in his head was due to his radiation - it was right where the last blast of radiation went.

With his doctors blessing - my parents went to an airshow on June 26. There they got to see the Blue Angels do a spectacular show and my Daddy got a bit of freedom as they had rented a motorized scooter for him to get around. It was a hot day but in his words it was "an awesome show."

The Call...
The morning of June 27, 2010 (my Mama's birthday) I received a call that my Daddy was in the emergency room with an awful headache. Two doses of Fentanyl and a dose of Dilaudid did NOTHING for his pain so they were admitting him with a morphine pump to try and get it under control.