Mark is spending progressively more time in bed or on the couch sleeping. I would say he sleeps 18-20+ hours a day. He has received 2 infusions of a drug that is supposed to inhibit tumor growth by blocking blood supply to the tumor. His first infusion went well; his second infusion seemed to go well until the following morning when he woke up early with nausea, vomitting and severe headache. I could not get his symptoms under control and ended up taking him to the ER. The Dr. debated about whether or not to keep him overnight and left it up to me. I wanted to make sure he was comfortable and didn't want to have to come back if things went south, so we stayed overnight to get him re-hydrated and get his pain & nausea under control. He came home the next morning, Mother's day.
Since then, he has not fully recovered as far as his energy level. His headache pain seems to be slightly better. We saw his oncologist last Friday. He's ordered an MRI for sometime in the coming weeks to see how his brain looks, checking for tumor growth or change.
He doesn't go out much as he just doesn't have the energy. I would like to believe that he's just having a temporary set-back, but my training and intuition tell me otherwise. These setbacks have been rough. This is especially hard on the family; the boys see their Dad everyday and see the subtle changes and the big changes too. We still tentatively hope for a miracle, however sometimes always hoping that tomorrow will be better is exhausting and disappointing. This is just hard, and we are weary.
Thanks to the many folks whose efforts to see that the
Silver Crest sign was completed. Mark had all of his extended family members go
up to see it about a week ago. That meant a lot to Mark to be able to
show them that. He is a humble man, but I know he was so proud to be
able to show his family the legacy he has left in the Silver Crest and
also the Pratum communities. The sign dedication ceremony at Silver Crest was also very much appreciated. It was so nice for Mark to see his vision had finally come to fruition. It was so great to have the students, parents and staff there to celebrate with us.
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| Mark at the Silver Crest Sign Dedication May 2014 |
We have hired a caregiver that will be here for Mark's care on days when I
work. As Mark's condition changes, we wanted to have someone in place
who knew him and knew our family and I did not want to have to scramble
for help when we really needed it. Even though the boys would never say it, I believe the
responsibility of caring for their dad while dealing with the grief and
anticipating the loss, was too much to put on them. This will allow them
time to just "be" with him. This was a hard step for us to make, but
feel it will be best for all of us.
We are by no means giving up. We continue to see his oncologist & neuro-surgeon and pursue treatment. The MRI will give us a clearer picture of what is going on and what our next steps will be.
It is possible
that Mark will have an upswing and be able to spend more time awake and
engaged. If you would like to come for a visit, please let me know. I
try to pace his activity and visitors so that he doesn't get too
overwhelmed and exhausted. I will do my best to accomodate. Please email me if you'd like to set something up. Also, if you would like to respond to this blog, it is best to send an email rather than write comments here as we check our email daily and don't check the blog regularly.
Other news: Noah will graduate from Canby High School in June. We are very proud of him and look forward to celebrating this milestone! His is working in a program through Clackamas County called Green Corps Fresh. He works every Saturday at the Oregon City Farmer's Market selling espresso, smoothies and will eventually sell organic, locally grown produce. It is a great program and he is learning a lot. As one of the group's leaders, Noah is well-respected for his work ethic and commitment to making the program a success. We are so happy to see him learning and excelling. Way to go Noah!
Thank you all for your love, prayers and support. Continue to keep us in your thoughts and prayers.  |
| Noah Thomas Recker |
