Better Spirits

Matt's spirits seem better tonight. He got alittle sleep today. They didn't let the cleaning people in or to many others so Matt could sleep. Matt met a new friend. Her name is Diane. She is from Ohio. She came to Dr.Sugarbaker almost 10 years ago in bad shape. Dr. Sugarbaker did his magic and the cancer was gone. She found thru a blood test some had come back so here she is again. She had her surgery last week tuesday so she is 1 week ahead of Matt. She is now 50 years old. She is up walking around and feeling good. She came and talked to Matt tonight! Matt got some cool email cards and a really important power point from Casey that lifted his spirits. His throat feels a little better and his nose also. His nose still hurts but the hurt of them pulling on it this morning is gone. The bleeding on his incision is not as bad and he got some sleep this afternoon. Hopefully he will be able to sleep tonight. Good night to all. Thank you for all your prayers!
God will give Matt and new and better day tomorrow!

Feeling a little better

His NG tube seems to not be working the greatest. So the nurses come every 2 hours to flush it and make sure it is still working. Matt got his bed change and Mary took care of Matt so I could get a nap in. He never argues when we make him do his breathing or make him do his leg excerises. He is a real trooper. Hopefully tomorrow brings us a better day. Hopefully he will be able to sleep. His nose is very sore from them pulling on the NG tube, his throat is sore and always getting a lot of flem that sticks in his throad and then it is hard to swallow. He uses his suction a lot to help with this. All the nurses and doctors and techs, everyone has been great with Matt. He always remembers his "thank yous" and "pleases" they comment on what a great guy he is!!! I always agree with them.

I pray that Matt has a better night sleep so he can feel a little refreshed in the morning. Thank you for your prayers and continue to keep Matt in your thoughts and prayers.

Rough Night

Yesterday and last night were a little rough. We were having problems with his Ng tube. It was not suctioning out like it was suppose to. It would gather in the stomach and then he would throw up to get the vile out. Throughout the night we had several Doctor in looking at it. They did alot of pulling the tube in and out. We had several different nurses trying to figure out what was going on. In the morning Dr. Sugarbaker came and saw that the NG tube was actually in to far. Pulled it out about 8" and things started to flow better. Matt got about hour and half of sleep and he just got sick again. They flushed the tube again and it started flowing better. Lots of green vile coming out. Matt was told by Dr. Sugarbaker to take it easy again today. Has a few spots on his incision were he is bleeding. Dr Sugarbaker was not concerned with those spots. Figured maybe from vomiting, pressure on his chest. Matt has been doing real good keeping up with his breathing and his leg excerises! He puts Mary and I to work helping him with the leg excerises. To much excerise for Mary and I!!!

Please continue to keep Matt in your prayers.

Visit with Dr. Sugarbaker and Team

Dr. Sugarbaker's team did their usual Friday rounds. Dr. Sugarbaker said "he's moving along in a good direction". However, because of some of the output they saw in the tube that's draining his pelvis, the doctor wants Matt to stay in bed today. No problem there! That's what Matt's been voting for all along!

Mid-day they changed the method of drainage from the pelvic tube to a suction method from the method where it collected into a plastic 'grenade". Rob, Dr Sugarbaker's physician's assistant, has been checking throughout the day and has said the drainage is slowing. That's a good thing.

Overall swelling is down. The biggest complaint Matt has so far today is a sore throat. He's been promoted to a sippy cup from ice chips. That's been helping a bit.

Mid-morning Matt had some hives pop up, but they resolved by themselves without having to give him any medication. Not sure what caused that.

Yesterday, Matt noticed the numbness in his right hand hasn't gone away. We had some folks look at it. Today, when we talked to Rob about it, he said that's pretty common. During the 11 hours of surgery, Matt's arm was hyperextended over his head. He said the problem usually resolves itself with time. Matt is noticing that the feeling is slowly coming back.

Thanks for all the prayers and well wishes. We're checking e-mails, reading blog messages and have had the web cam going a couple times today. Matt really enjoys keeping in touch with everyone. Thanks so much.

Catching sleep where he can, but pretty difficult with all the interruptions...what is it with those nurses, anyway!

All out of Bandaids

Matt wanted you to see his incision before they cover it up later. They want the air to get at it for a while to heal better. Thank you for all you thoughts and prayers. Matt is enjoying every one of them.

Rise and Shine

Doctors were in here early this morning. They took the bandage of Matt's incision. They said it looked good. Matt needs to continue doing his breathing excerises, leg excerises and to make sure he gets up and walks around more today. They told us Dr. Sugarbaker would be in with group of Doctors at 9:30 am today. Had a better night sleep. The nurse didn't come in as much. She told us she wouldn't bother us so much at night. Now Matt can have sips of water, not just ice chunks. Little sips of water every hour if he wants.

Good Check Up!

Dr. Luigi Zappa works with Dr. Sugarbaker for the last 4 years. He assisted in Matt's surgery. He came to check up on Matt. He said Matt is doing good. Even his tempature is down to 98.6. He wants Matt to use his breathing machine 10 times a day and blow into it 10 times each. Matt wasn't to thrilled but he will do it. Dr. Zappa was happy to hear he got up and walked!! Each time he was told it gets easier!
Thank you for all your prayers. It is helping him through this difficult time!

Speed Racer!

Matt got a sponge bath and decided to do his walk. Nurse Jenny got all his tubes hooked up to his gown and he was ready to go. Nurse Jenny and Nurses Tech Deidra helped Matt get up for a walk. He walked down the hall and then he got weighed in. He weighed 161.7. Matt was ready to go back to his room. Time for a rest he said!!

Time to Get Up!

Hard to get any sleep. The nurses were in every two hours to check on Matt. At 5:00 am they came in and hooked Matt up to another bag. This time it looks like a large bag of Milk. It is his supplement food through his IV. Matt's mouth is really dry. He wishes he could get rid of some of the tubes in him. He knows how important they are for now. 7:00 am 3 Doctors that do the rounds told him today it is time to get UP! Matt wants to get up but can't imagine how with all the tubes coming out of him. One lung isn't fully open. That is why they are giving him his favorite breathing machine! Casey knows how much he likes breathing into that machine! This will get that lung full of air! He is going to try and get a little sleep before they come. Matt is doing well! Having a little bit of stomach pain. To be expected.

Thank you for all your well wishes. Matt really enjoys them. He likes getting mail! Continue to keep Matt in your thoughts and prays!

Wednesday, moved to new room

At 6:00 tonight they came in and said they were moving Matt out of ICU. Now Matt has his own private room on 2NW. room 18. It took them 1 hour and 45 minutes to disconnnect him, change all his bandages and move him down one floor and reconnect all his tubes. Matt has 3 tubes in his right side of his chest and one tube in the middle of his chest and one tube coming out of the left side of his chest. All of the tubes will be in for 5 to 7 days. They said this is normal. They also said they are not going to give him as much pain meds, they are making him to sleepy. He got to talk on the web cam to casey and Jenny today and hopefully to Aunt Shelly and family tonight. He hopes everything is going well for everyone in Wisconsin!! He said he hopes to see everyone soon. Dr. Sugarbaker said he has a clip on his colon and it needs to heal for 8 weeks so he doesn't get the "poop bag" he so calls it.
For sure two weeks and Dr Sugarbaker is saying probably 3 weeks. Then 5 more weeks when he gets home!

Thank you for all your prayers! I read him all the comments! He really likes them.
Good night

Wednesday morning after surgery

So far today they took the breathing tube out and he is up eating ice chips. He is talking with his mom and dad but still really groggy from the medication. They are hoping to move him from the surgical ICU to the normal ICU this afternoon.

Doing well day after surgery

Matt had a comfortable night. They called me about 2:30am and told me they took his breathing tube out. The first thing he asked was, "do I have a poop bag?" He was happy to find out he doesn't. Out of 7 feet of colon Matt only has 3 feet left. Any more out and he will have to have a "poop bag".

He is still puffy in his face, arms and legs. Hard to bend his fingers. He is tired alot but that is okay. Sometime this afternoon they are going to move him to
2N. As soon as he gets a room I will let you know his address. He wants me to put in a picture of him. He says "Hi" to everyone and thanks everyone for all their prayers. He made it out of surgery and doing well!

Surgery was successful

Dr. Sugarbaker came and talked to Brian and I after surgery. He told us he got all the cancer nodules out. He did the heated chemo to kill the small cells he could not see. He did 15 different procedures on Matt.

Much good news to report such as: he still has his belly button, he won't require any more chemo on this trip, he doesn't have a colostomy bag, and the majority of his left side is not affected.

We were able to spend a half hour with Matt in the surgical ICU. He was coming out of his sedation some. He nodded he could hear our voice and feel our touch. Sometime during the night they hope to take the tube out of his mouth that he uses for breathing. The nurse, Melody commented that over the past 6 years he was the youngest patient she worked with of the patients from Dr. Sugarbaker. She said there was a 20 year old from Hawaii last year.

When we had to leave and we said goodbye to Matt he raised his hand and waved bye to us! Even through such a difficult day he left us with smiles on our faces, thats Matt!

Thanks for your prayers and love! Please continue to keep Matt in your thoughts and prayers!

Surgery Update 7:16 pm

Surgery started at 9:15 am. About 3 hours later Dr. Sugarbaker came out and spoke with us. He stated that he had made 2/3 of the surgical incision. It was apparent to him that the chemo he had done for 7 cycles had not worked. He was filled up with hundreds of mucous sacs of cancer. In other words the cancer kept regrowing despite the chemo. He also found the spot from the CT scan down by the pelvis region. It was a tumor the size of a tennis ball.

We all agreed to follow a curative plan of action. This would require removing all of the cancer bit by bit. It would require another 10 hours of surgery. He would also be removing any organs deemed not vital, removing more of his colon, removing the tumor, and putting in a colostomy bag.

At approximatley 3:10 the nurse called that they had stripped both sides of his diaphram, took out his spleen, and removed the fatty tissue that covers his colon.

At approximatley 7:00 pm we were told his vitals signs were good and they were finishing up chemo and then they were going to put his bowels back together. They said it would take another one to two hours and then the Doctor would be out to talk to us. Will make another posting as soon as the surgery is over and we have talked to Dr. Sugarbaker. Please continue to keep Matt in your prayers!

Preparation for surgery

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

After spending the night cleaning out his colon Matt is in great spirits. Matt had to be down in the admission office at 7:00 am this morning. They spent an hour preparing him for surgery. Brian and I got to sit with him until he was ready. Brian and I said our goodbyes and Matt went into surgery about 9:15 D.C. time. We will hear in a couple hours an update on what they find. They are suppose to come talk to us every couple hours and let us know how he is doing. Please keep Matt in your prayers! May God be gracious to us and bless us; may God's face shine upon us. Psalm 67:2. I will keep everyone posted. Thank you and God Bless.

Surgery Time

Just to let you know: Everything went great today with Matt and his pre-admission stuff. On his CT scan, the doctor said it was cloudy by his anus butt he would know more when he gets in there. They also marked where a colonostomy bag would go possibly temporarily/permanently but Matt is hoping they won't have to do that at all. He is still in great spirits just exhausted from a long car ride. His surgery is scheduled for tomorrow morning at 9 am Washington DC time, but 8 am Wisconsin time and they have to be there 2 hours prior to surgery.
Please pray for Matt. It's in God's hands now.

Made it safely!

Thanks to everyone who helped and came to the benefit! It was a huge success! Everything ran smoothly and it seemed that everyone had a great time. Matt was really excited to see everyone before he had to leave for surgery.
Sunday, our family went to church together and then had breakfast with family and friends in Watertown. Matt said his goodbyes and headed off to Washington DC yesterday afternoon. His parents and Matt had to drive through the night to make it to the hospital on time for his surgery preparation. They said they ran in to a couple of snow storms and were only able to go about 30 mph on the turn pike because of bad weather. They made it safely to the hospital at about 6:30 am our time, 7:30 am their time in Washington DC. Matt has to start drinking this fluid for him to have a cat scan today. They are all pretty tired from the drive but are glad they made it safely. They also should find out what time Matt's surgery will be for tomorrow. Will keep you updated...Please Keep Matt in your prayers.

Matt's Benefit!

It has come up very quickly but finally Matt's benefit is this weekend! Please come and join us in a night filled with fun and excitement! Prizes range from raced used door from Jimmy Johnson #48 car, event tickets to the Milwaukee Brewers, Nascar Spring Cup Coca Cola, Milwaukee Wave, Madison Mallards, Milwaukee Admirals, Beloit Snappers, etc., water passes, autographed memoribilia such as Matt Kenseth, Mark Martin, Reggie White, Brett Favre, Paul Hormung, Prince Fielder, Robin Yount, Rickie Weeks, Corey Hart, Willie Wood, Brian Vickers, Casey Mears, Greg Jennings, Kyle Busch, Ryan Grant, Gilbert Brown, Fuzzy Thurston, Donny Anderson, Lynn Dickey, and more! Thank you to all of the people that donated and participated in this big event. It will be a exciting night to wish Matt off to surgery. He and his family are leaving the next day to head toward Washington DC! Hope to see you all there! Please continue to keep Matt in your prayers.

Having Fun

Matt had a very busy weekend with Casey. On Saturday, Casey had the mini's (3rd-5th grade dance team Casey coaches) over at her house for a end of the year party. Then on Sunday they had their end of the year banquet at Comfort Suites. After the banquet, everybody went swimming at the hotel and had a blast!
Matt is still working everyday and enjoying his break from chemo. It will be a busy week getting ready for the benefit on Saturday. There are a lot of great raffle and auction items! Thanks to everyone that has donated. He is very excited to see everyone there before he leaves for his surgery on the 22nd.
Please continue to keep Matt in your prayers! Hopefully see you soon!

Feeling great!

Matt had hopefully his last chemo treatment this last Monday before his next surgery on February 24. He did not get sick at all this week and is feeling great. He did not sleep as much as usual and his appetite was good. He went and watched his little brother play basketball this week and has a lot more energy compared to his other weeks of chemo. He also went to work today and plans on going tomorrow! We have just been busy at home getting ready for the benefit. Thank you to everyone for the donations coming in. We are hoping for wonderful event! Also thank you for all of your supportive comments on the blog. Matt really enjoys reading what everyone has to say! :)
Please continue to keep Matt in yours prayers.