It's Complicated

Let's start with some random thoughts for the night..........
Pizza Port in San Clemente has GREAT pizza. The bar b que chicken is awesome and their sausage is good, too.
Gloria makes amazing ribs! YUM YUM!!
This beach house is beyond words.
We love our family and friends!!

Now, let's talk about our very complicated situation.
I am going to break things down as simply as possible by using bullet points so that it might make more sense to all of you. Here goes nothing..........
1. Gary remains in the hospital and the earliest he will go home is Sunday or Monday. :(
2. Gary has a bowel obstruction. This does not mean that there is something literally stuck inside his small intestine. His intestine is "kinked" and scar tissue seems to be the culprit.
3. Gary is taking Avastin and Coumadin. Both of these drugs cause bleeding and delay healing.
4. The doctors do not want to touch Gary and are avoiding surgery for now because of the drug complications. Gary is a HUGE risk for surgery right now.
5. As of tonight, the "kink" remains. The Xray shows no change.
6. Gary's white blood cell count is down from 21,000 to a normal range. He was given antibiotics and this seems to have helped.
7. The NG tube remains - up his nose and down into his stomach. This is in place to bypass the intestines so that they don't have to work. The theory is that the intestines rest, the inflammation around the "kink" or obstruction subsides, and this gives the intestines a chance to move and free themselves from this "kink".
8. No more fevers and his pain is much better. Resting his intestines seems to be working on the pain management front.
9. Dr. Barth wants to remove the lesion on Gary's liver. The lesion has not shrunk BUT it shows evidence of necrosis - death to the cancerous lesion. YEAH!! Take it out!! They will remove it by ablating it (lancing it if you will).
10. The surgeon will be in tomorrow to talk to us about the possibility of doing this.
11. Here is a hurdle we now face. This will seem like really bad news but I know everything will work and I have peace about this. The chemo and the Avastin are working BUT we will have to find another form of treatment for Gary. This treatment compromises Gary's body too much and his body can't withstand it any longer. Dr. Barth is working on a new plan.
12. Gary can't eat or drink anything. He is not too happy as his mouth is dry and his throat is killing him from the NG t ube.


I told you it was complicated! Denise Richards does not know the meaning of complicated!

PRAYER IS NEEDED (and wanted):

1. Pray that the small intestine unobstructs without surgery.
2. Pray for Dr. Barth. Pray that his mind is clear and the brilliance God gifted him with can take us in the right direction. Carolyn asked me tonight "Where does the genius go to get guidance? "Pray that Dr. Barth can help to find us another treatment plan that will work for Gary.
3. Pray that the kids will remain happy and healthy through this hospital stay. I know being at the beach house has taken their mind off of things and has been a tremendous blessing.
4. Pray for me. Pray that I can support Gary and just be there for him. Pray that I can help to make his hospital stay just a little bit more tolerable.

Guess what? The Gilbert's have my most favorite movie - Sabrina. I LOVE THIS MOVIE. So, I gotta go and watch it!!! I am forcing Nick, Zach and Jake to watch it with me as well! Poor guys. A chick flick is good for these teenage boys (Zach, too).

Love,
L