I recieved this eamil from Kim on friday...


Test results are back!



There is no progression of the disease in Charlie's Brain!!!!


Charlie is still sleeping a lot...he had a busy weekend with visitors. He should be starting his radiation therapy today and will continue with it over the course of the next 4 days. Then he will be starting his chemo treatments!

I know you all have them in your prayers...thank you and keep them coming!!!

I spoke with Kim briefly late this afternoon...she relayed the CAT scan results. There is no significant change in the lungs as far as disease progression, however there is some progression in both the liver and bone. Charlie is going to have a MRI of the brain to rule out any extension of the disease there.

Charlie is also going to have more radiation to his hip area and they do plan to resume chemotherapy in a week.

I'm still not sure if the pneumonia diagnosis has been confirmed.

At the time I called Kim she had hospital staff in the room and she said she would call me later on to fill me in a little more.

I will continue to post as I receive information!

I was waiting to hear from Kim regarding the CAT scan results before I made an entry...but I haven't yet so I am going to update on what she told me this afternoon.

Charlie was up late on Tuesday... (unusual for him) and then up early today. He had a bowl of cereal,(yeah)...and asked Kim to run down to the gift shop to retrieve a candy bar he wanted. His energy level seems to have improved...he was out of bed today to walk.

Also his pain meds have been decreased so that may be why he has an appetite ( although small) and has gotten out of bed! Dr. Potz in ordering physical therapy and occupational therapy to come, evaluate, and work with Charlie to better improve the ability to move and perform daily tasks!

Hopefully tomorrow I will know more...sometimes Potz doesn't get the chance to see his patients until later in the evening!

Barb

Charlie was admitted to the hospital yesterday and was scheduled for a CAT scan last evening. They are working him up for pneumonia...he had an abnormal chest x-ray and it appears that he has in infiltrate in the lower lobe of his right lung.

As I left yesterday, he was getting plenty of IV fluids, an antibiotic, and pain meds. Charlie was also suffering from dehydration upon his admission to the ER, probably due to Charlie's lethargy and loss of appetite.

Evidenty what happened yesterday is that the visiting nurse came to see Charlie and didn't like the way he looked and his vital signs were not good...heart rate was up to 150bpm (norm is 60-100bpm) and his pressure was supposedly low. She called Potz and it was recommended he be taken to the hospital.

I will continue to update today as I hear from Kim.

Thank you for the prayers...God Bless

Our God is a compassionate God…He will never leave your side…He is there to lean on and to give comfort. Bad things happen everyday to good people…so why Charlie? No one will ever really know…but that is what faith is about…to trust in something unseen, intangible and immeasurable.

Faith…is what we have along the side of love!

I told my sister to “Hold strong to her belief in God, don’t question or become mad with regards to the outcome...have faith and trust.”

"He loves you and will never let you fall."

The last 3 days have not shown a whole lot of improvemnet...not as much as Kim was hoping for.

This week Charlie is scheduled to see Dr. Potz...the appointment is Thursday afternoon. Kim is going to secure an ambulance service to transport him to the appointment and I told her I will come down to go with them. Reportedly, Dr. Potz wants to see how Charlie is doing...as long as Charlie feels up to it he will go.

My sister is doing everything humanly possible to keep Charlie comfortable...his pain has lessen over the past few days so that is good. She is with him all day everyday...only steps out when she has the coverage for Charlie because he really cannot be alone for any amount of time at this point.

His appetite is still not up to par...which greatly affects his energy level. Kim pushes him to eat but she consistanly meets with refusal.

I know the prayers are going up...and I know they are heard!
Thank you for those prayers.

Kim said the nurse called Dr. Potz when she was there on Wednesday...Kim was wondering if the confusion was due to medication and wanted to know if it can be reduced some. Dr. Potz said not to change the dosage because then Charlie will be in pain.

Charlie is still having confusion and is hallucinating from time to time...like seeing people who are not there. However, Kim called this morning and she said that last night after she hung up with me...about midnight...she went to check on Charlie and he was 100% lucid! He told Kim that he feels like he is being over medicated. They are going to call the doctor again today.

I'll keep updating as I get more information!

Kim called last night to give me an update and I am sure also for support.

She said that Charlie is really weak and having a hard time differentiating between was is real and what is not. She said he's merging the two together and it seems to be happening on a more frequent basis. She plans to call Dr. Potz today.

I know this is a call she fears to make...she's afraid of what Dr. Potz will say to her.

Please pray for Kim to have the strength to handle these upcoming days...they are getting increasingly more difficult.

Saw Charlie today...got to spend the afternoon with him as Kim and Aunt Ann and Grace headed out to the mall to get Grace's ears pierced!

Charlie is pretty much in his bed with a trip or two per day to the bathroom. It's so hard for him to get around...and when he does it is with either a wheelchair or walker.

Today I took the kids along with a whole batch of stuffed cabbage, one of Charlie's favorites! Charlie ate a little, his appetite in not stellar...but it was funny because he was trying to talk Michael into eating his dinner.

Charlie did try to make it into the dining room for supper...but he was'nt able to make it so he had his dinner at bedside.

Charlie is not liking the hospital bed much, so he is in the bed Chris and I brought down.

I told Kim about our priest's homily last evening...all about healing and faith. He said that when he was a seminarian at the age of 23, he was diagnosed with cancer. His parents took him to a shrine and a relic was placed on him...next set of tests he went thru showed that he was healed. (He must be 70 if not close to now)

Kim has a relic that our cousin Tom had brought to Charlie from St. John Neumann...a piece of his bone. I told Kim that she must put it on Charlie where it hurts...she did so after I left!

Please pray to St Neumann...we are asking for something special to happen...

Spoke with Kim last night and she said that Charlie has been really weak. He is not really up and walking too much and his appetite has slipped back a bit.

The kids and I are heading down tomorrow to spend the afternoon with them. I asked Kim to take Grace out to get her ears pierced...it's one of Grace's birthday presents. That will get Kim out of the house and her mind on something else for a little while...Michael and I will spend the time with Charlie.

Please continue with your prayers...they are very much needed and aprreciated.

Thank you...

Just got off the phone with Kim and Charlie is feeling much better today. The visiting nurse said all his vital signs are back to normal and Charlie's appetite has picked up some. Kim reported that he ate two small plates of food at both lunch and dinner today and even had a dessert after his evening meal!

He also has been less groggy although he is still on the morphine.

So today is a good day!!!

It has been really tough for both Kim and Charlie since Charlie got home from the hospital. Yesterday he was running a slight fever which is always cause for concern when you are immunosuppressed. The fever didn't get much over 100.2 before it broke. Today he is resting and his sister and parents are visiting with him thru the weekend.

Charlie is very weak and has had no real appetite since coming home. He is also dealing with dehyration because of the less then optimal food and water intake. His pain is still causing much discomfort and breakthrough pain meds are needed often.

Physical therapy and a nurse come a couple times per week and a hospital bed is going to be placed downstairs for Charlie instead of the regular bed he is using now.

Please say prayers for both Kim and Charlie...this road is very difficult and they are trying their best to stay on it.