A Request from the family regarding visitations.

I spoke with Margarita this afternoon and she gave me an update on dad and it seems he is still pretty much the same. The radiation and chemo is making him extremely tired. He is so tired he has to be woken up to eat. But other than that, he is doing okay.

Concerning the visitations, we are requesting that anyone visiting dad and the family to please call ahead at their home number during the evening hours, after 7pm or so to set up a time during the weekend (Friday, Sat and Sun early evenings ). If you are a caregiver and are wanting to come by to give the family a break for an hour or two, then you can visit during the week. Please keep in mind that you must be a caregiver in order to sit with dad for any length of time. Dad leaves every afternoon during the week by ambulance for his radiation treatments. When he returns, he is extremely tired and weak and has a hard time eating dinner.

Please email me or call me if you have any questions regarding visiting my dad. I am so glad he has so many people that love and care about him.

Kedra
livinonprayer247@yahoo.com
(850)995-4370

Happy Memorial Day!

I hope everyone is having a good holiday.

I spoke with Margarita just a bit ago and she was in the process of feeding my dad. He has been having a good day but was in some pain earlier. He is still very tired and very weak, she says.

He has an appointment tomorrow for his radiation and that will leave him even more tired and weaker. She also mentioned that the ramp looks very nice and makes transporting dad much easier.

Many thanks to everyone who worked on the ramp and getting built so fast. Thanks to everyone for their many prayers and support.

Kedra

Visitation

It has come my attention that they are several people who would like to visit with my dad.
I have spoken with Margarita to see which was the best way we could set up some kind of visitation schedule.


If you would like to visit or bring lunch or dinner, we request that you call their house phone number in the evening time (around 8 or so) to set up a day and time to visit.

Today has been a rough day. I know that he has had some visitors that brought lunch and things were nice. But afterwards, he had a seizure. There is a motto that I have learned over the years going thru many challenges in my life and it applies to this situation as well... Take it one day at a time.

If you have any further questions, please email me.
Thanx
Kedra
livinonprayer247@yahoo.com

Here is a link that may be helpful

For those who are curious, here is a link to an article that explains the kind of cancer my father has.

http://www.emedicine.com/NEURO/topic147.html

I had done hours upon hours of researching on the internet and only began to touch the surface. It is amazing one what we DON'T know. And this is just the treatments and diagnosis. I havent even began to touch on the articles on where this came from or might have come from, whether or not it could have been prevented. As a mother of five, I am worried about my health as well as my children's future. I am learning on how important it is to have a living will, good health insurance that is very specific in the care you need in the event something like this happens.
Don't think this can't happened to you or your family. This happened so fast, it might as well have been a car accident that left my father with brain injuries. One day he was fine, planning a Florida vacation. Four days later, his whole world changed....forever.
I encourage anyone who reads this, make sure you have your affairs in order. What YOU want, and how you want to be cared for. Most important...tell your love ones you love them and give them hugs. If your family lives across the country, give them a call.

Kedra

His treatment and care

I spoke with Margarita several times yesterday b/c she ( and the rest of the family as well) was concerned b/c my dad was not getting the chemo medication b/c he has been unable to swallow the rather large pills. So, I did some research on the internet (isnt GOOGLE a wonderful thing!!) and was able to locate the name and phone number of the manufactor of the drug TEMODAR and was able to get some new information so that my dad will be able to take his chemo. Margarita (as was I) was thrilled to learn that she can open the capsule and mix the contents with some pudding and applesauce. She has to use extreme care when handling the medication but this should be alot easier on both my dad and her. Also, she did mentioned that he has been in some pain in the last few days so now he is on morphine when its needed. This is will also make him weaker, but more comfortable. He is still extremely tired and very weak.

I was hoping to return home and tie up a few loose ends and return to help care for my dad. Unfortunately that will not be the case. As the bread winner in my family, I must be able to maintain my household as well and taking an undertmined amount of time off from work did not go over very well with my new boss. I am however in the process of changing my work schedule to three 12hr nights and this will give me four days off. Once that is done and I get a vehicle that will travel the distance ( I live 393 miles from my dad), then I will be able to visit regularly. Should be two/three weeks tops. In the meantime, Margarita has hired a few aides that have helped her out alot.

I want to thank everyone once again for all their help and support. The ramp is almost finished, the food that has been brought.
Please keep praying!!
Kedra

I talked to my mother this evening and got some information about Martin's day.

He seemed to be weaker today, unable to stand at all when he was transferred from the bed to the gurney for the ambulance ride to Erlanger for his radiation treatment. He was able to sit in the wheel chair for the trip down the hall.

Mom sits with Martin and sings hymns and reads the Bible and prays with him. He responds briefly to some of the points in the Sabbath School lesson and says "Amen" after she prays.

Work continues on the ramp and boardwalk and we appreciate the hours of labor from all who are working on that.

Ken

Brother

Martin's specific diagnosis is glioblastoma multiforme, which an article posted on the University of Alabama site (http://www.health.uab.edu/default.aspx?pid=90069) calls "arguably one of the most deadly human cancers."  The treament described in that article is not yet available, even in clinical trials.

 

Debbie and I spent most of a week with Martin and Margarita helping out with some of the details of his care and treatment.  He needs to have someone with him constantly now.  It takes a lot of time to prepare his meals, administer his medications, and--as Kedra put it in a recent post--take care of his most basic needs.  The people from the Adventa hospice organization provided the names of some folks who are skilled in sitting with people who need such care and arrangements have been made for those services to supplement the efforts of Margarita and other family members.

 

Martin's mother (and mine) is still in Chattanooga with her husband, Charlie.  She has been sitting with Martin, fixing meals, babysitting with our 3-year-old, Emily, when we were there, cleaning and I don't know what all.  They are staying with Andrew Shavers, who lived with my mother and father when he was young. 

 

Andy brought over a TV for Martin's room, when Martin indicated that he'd like to have one.  After we got it set up, I was channel surfing for something that would catch his attention and found a college baseball game between Georgia and South Carolina.  Martin and I have always loved baseball.  We're more partial to the Major Leagues and particularly the Braves, but, hey, baseball is baseball.  I needed to do some other things, but Debbie sat and watched some of the game with him and he was much more alert and communicative than he had been before.  This would have been on Tuesday, I think, or maybe Wednesday. 

 

Martin has gone to Erlanger hospital three times this week, so far.  On Monday, he was taken in for a scan and other work in preparation for radiation treatments and then on Wednesday and Thursday for the actual treatments.  He has another treatment scheduled for Friday.

 

Because he is not able to walk or to travel by automobile, he must be taken to his appointments in an ambulance.  The lot that their home is on has a fairly steep grade and it is not a simple matter to get him to the ambulance.  The best way is to bring him out the back door onto the deck, down 5 steps and around the home on sometimes treacherously sloping ground to the driveway.

 

In order to make the trip safer and more comfortable for Martin, Harlan Piatt, my brother-in-fact for many, many years, designed a ramp and boardwalk.  I'm not particularly handy with carpentry tools, but we started to work on the ramp this week.  Mostly, I dug holes for the 4x4 posts that support the ramp; Harlan did the skilled work of laying out the hole locations and actual construction.

 

April's (my daughter and Martin's niece) father-in-law, Jerry Johnson, has spent many hours helping on the project.  Jerry's son, Ben, and John Thompson(sp?) have also graciously donated their time and skills.  The Ooltewah Seventh-day Adventist Church donated some of the materials needed for the construction.  Thanks to all.

 

The project is not completed yet, but the ramp was used for the first time when Martin went for his radiation treatment on Thursday; the crew from Lifeguard Ambulance greatly appreciated it.

 

Many friends and neighbors have contributed their time sitting with Martin, bringing prepared food, and cutting the grass.  The family is very grateful for your care and concern.  If your name has been overlooked, please accept my apology.  There are so many and I don't even know some of the names.

 

Among the many visitors not yet mentioned: Pastor Mike Fulbright, who came Tuesday evening(?) and spent some time with Martin and Margarita.  Troy and Barbie McDougal, who are really extended family, brought pizza and love one evening for supper (Monday?).  Linda Piatt--again, extended family--has been over many times.  She and Harlan took Debbie and me out for Chinese on Sunday evening.  Emily (surname?), a nursing student, I think, has been over, sitting with Martin, helping with medications, and cleaning.

 

I haven't mentioned Kedra's visit because she posted her own contribution to the blog, but it was very good to see my niece after I don't know how many years.

 

I'm sure I have omitted some major events that have happened this week and I have certainly left out a lot of minor details, but I trust that this will help many of you catch up a bit on what has been happening in Martin's life.  Thank you for your love and prayers.

 

Many thanks to my church members in Elizabethtown and Whiteville, North Carolina who have graciously assured me that they can carry on the work of the churches when I need to attend to family matters and to my supervisors at the Carolina Conference of Seventh-day Adventists who are allowing me to take the time to do that.  Thank you, also, to the as yet anonymous soul or souls who cut our grass while we were away, to those who contributed to the funds to help defray the cost of driving 500 miles one way to Chattanooga and back (two trips, so far, and more certain to come), and to Janet, who has volunteered to fulfill my assigned duties at camp meeting next week, if I am called back to Chattanooga.  And thank you all for your continued love and prayers.

Ken
Please see the comment headed "Customer service incident at Best Buy."

Uncle

Hi, I'm April. I'm Martin's brother's daughter, AKA niece. I was very happy to visit with my family this weekend.

I became acquainted with three of Kedra's kids, Gracie (6 months), Ben (almost 2) and Novalie (almost 3). With Kedra living in FL and myself living in Nashville, I hadn't had a chance to meet any of them previously.

I was happy to visit with the family and see my uncle Martin. I am praying every day for peace and recovery.

God is good,
April

I visited with my dad over the weekend

We had a family meeting this weekend to dicuss what would be the best for my dad. He is doing okay, having good days and having bad days. He looked very well this weekend. However, he is now totally dependant on someone to care for him for even the most basic needs. He has fallen several times already. The goal for this weekend was to determined whether a skilled nursing facilty or home health would be helpful.

The family has decided that home health care would be the best for Dad at this point. However, this is very expensive and insurance doesnt cover the 24hr care he needs. So, I will be returning very soon to care for him. I need to work some things out with my current employer as well as tie up some other loose ends before I can pack up the children and myself. I am a Certified Nursing Assistant in FL, so I now just what and how to care for my dad. I will not be able to do this 24/7 and take care of my children so Margarita will also be needing to hire other aides to help out.

Dad is also starting Radiation this morning. He started the chemo this weekend and so far has been doing okay.

Please keep praying for him and Margarita. That seems to be the best thing anyone can do.

Kedra

Starting treatment today

The last few days have been very rough for my dad. He has been very ill and is unstable. Therefore, they are starting the chemo today. They will start the radiation next week. They will not be going to UAB because is so sick and unstable. He has fallen a few times and is getting hard to care for.
We are looking for volunteers who can help care for him. Nursing or medical background would be helpful but not necessary. But volunteers need to be strong enough to help move him, pick him up if he falls and assist him to the bathroom. If you would like to volunteer, please email Kedra at
livinonprayer247@yahoo.com or you call me at (850)995-4370.

Maybe someone can offer to go the store or cook a few meals, run errands ect. I am going to try to come up in the next few weeks.
Thank you so much for all the prayers and support
Kedra

GOING HOME!!!!

Good Morning Everyone!!!

I just spoke to Margarita a few moments ago and my dad is doing very well. They are sending him home today. This was so unexpected that she has to run home and get him some clothes to wear home. Dad said he would just wear his birthday suit...so you know he is feeling better!!!

My dad and Margarita are planning to travel to University of Alabama on Thursday for a second opinion and to see what other alternitive treatments are available there. Regardless, my dad will be starting treatment very soon, by the end of the month.
Please keep praying as we all know that prayer is the best medicine!
I will keep posting updates as soon as I get them.
Thanks for all the prayers and support.

Introduction

This blog was established to provide a way to keep friends and family of Martin Lee informed of his status and progress. You may also post your expressions of caring, good wishes and prayers.

Briefly, his situation is this (feel free to post details, additions and corrections): Several weeks ago, while Martin and Margarita were in Florida on vacation, Margarita became concerned about certain things that she observed. She took Martin to a hospital where they diagnosed a brain tumor.

On May 1, Martin had surgery at Baroness Erlanger Hospital in Chattanooga to biopsy the tumor. It is malignant; radiation and chemotherapy treatments are planned but have not started as of this date. Martin spent a couple of days in intensive care after the sugery and then a couple more in a room before he was released.

On May 12, he began experiencing seizures and returned to Erlanger early morning on the 13th. He was stabilized and admitted.

Prayers are appreciated. Please bookmark this site for updates on Martin's condition.