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.

Well this first week home has had its ups and downs. Charlie was really tired when he first came home from the hospital. Kim was worried that she wouldn't be able to manage getting Charlie around the house and in and out of the car. But as the week went on he did start to gain some of his strength back.

Yesterday Charlie's dad was with him giving Kim the opportunity to go into work for a few hours. Then his family was over for the latter part of the afternoon into mid evening. Kim said it was a long day for Charlie and that she is sure he's pooped out, but it his spirits are up and it was a good day with his family none the less.

Also...Charlie's blood work for the week was really good...so on that note I am finishing this entry. Please keep the prayers and well wished coming for Charlie. This is a tough battle...and he is fighting back with everthings he's got!!!

Charlie is Home from the Hospital!!!!!!!!

The phone just rang and it was Charlie himself saying he got home within the last hour. He said it feels really good to be out of the hospital and back in his own home. He loves the bed he now has in the family room which lies adjacent to the kitchen. He is more in the "flow" of everyday activity and that is a nice feeling.

Thank you so much for the many prayers...Charlie is home and hopefully will be on the mend. He is tolerating the new chemo drug well however he still has some pain from the surgery!

Thank you again!!!!!

CANCER...when first heard, this word typically evokes horror and fear in every part of our being. For many of us it signifies an “end” to our earthly lives. I’ve thought long and hard about this disease in which we as humans, are continually plagued and burdened with. I’ve had my own battle with Master “C” and, although I was very young, it did make a major impact of my life. As a teen I had to endure operations leaving me with ugly scars, chemotherapy and hours of real sickness…not being able to eat and enjoy food the way I like…countless trips to the bathroom due to nausea and vomiting, missing school and my friends, hair loss, mouth sores…loss of continence along with dates, socials, football games and I can go on…I was 14 years old…but still to me, it was more of a disruption to my life than a death threat. At that age it made me feel like an oddball, I wasn't like everyone else because of it...and I hated it because of what it stole from me.


In retrospect, I believe that my being so young and thus lacking the ability to realize my own mortality, provided me a different perspective on this disease...because as I grew up I realized what it did give me. Something many people never have until they are almost done here on earth...and still there are countless others who will never understand at all.

It gave me the ability to really “Live”…enjoy every nuance life has…it heightened my awareness and taught me how to really treasure all the things, both large and small, in my life. And as I grew older, I also grew a more keen understanding and acceptance of my own mortality. No we are not meant to live forever…so time is of the essences while we are here...make the days count for something.

These are some of the things I learned because of my battles with Cancer…

Do what needs to be done no matter how weary you are…

Listen to the smallest of voices because they teach the loudest of lessons…

Share, without restraint, of your talents...these are some of God's greatest blessings...embrace them and then give them to others...

To give without any expectance of reciprocation…truly is giving of self…

Follow your instincts, your inner voice…for that is God’s voice speaking to you…

Never harbor a grudge or ill feelings about someone…for that is energy lost…never to be recouped.

And when you love…love with all that you are and all that you feel, with the deepest part of your being…because love is the only thing which you are able to take from this life to the next… it is the only thing in our human existence which truly matters.

Love belongs to God…He created it and in His infinite wisdom, has parleyed the demon “cancer” into a way of making us realize just how important our love is in our time here...to treasure it always...and to to give love freely to one another as He has so freely given His love to us.