February 28th

For some reason this post is out of order and can't be fixed, so sorry about about the mix up. 
Dad is doing really good with chemo, no pain but is having shortness of breath even while on 6 liters of oxygen. He took out his oxygen to blow his nose and forgot to put it back on and the oxygen in his blood dropped to 70%. This is part of why he is so fatigued and has a long time talking for long periods of time.

The Infection

Dad was moved to ICU Monday February 28th because he got an infection. He had been fevering the previous 2 days but this is common with cancer patients so they weren't too worried. The fact that Dad's fevers kept going up to 101 and 102 caused them to perform blood tests. The doctor saw an infection and a small amount of fluid in his lungs and as precautionary wanted to move Dad to ICU because they can hook him up to all the monitors for his heart, oxygen, etc. They monitored him through the night and he slept well so they decided they could move him back to his room but keep him on oxygen.

Visitors

Dad loves having visitors but for short periods of time because he is very fatigued and sleeps a lot due to lack of blood. Please call Mom before you visit 801.787.4003.

February 25th 1st day of Chemo

Dad started chemo this afternoon. It will be a strong treatment for 1 week. He receives it through an infusion. Elder Baxter came and gave him a blessing of health that afternoon. Dad was told that he would recover and his health would be better than before the cancer. This blessing affirmed why we have all felt peace from the beginning.

Mom

Mom plans on being there everyday with him. Mike, as a pharmaceutical rep and his region being north salt lake to Ogden, will pick her up every morning on his way to work and bring her home on his way home. From the beginning Mom and Dad have both felt at peace with Dad's situation. The Dr. also gave a good Prognosis because they caught the cancer at an early state and that Dad was previously in very good health.

February 24th

Thursday February 24th he couldn't start chemo because they had to do a chemical induced stress tests on his heart. Also because his catheter in his carotid artery had bled out so they had to go in and replace it. He will start chemo in the morning.

February 12th

Dad & Mom went down to St. George to visit with their friends the Jensen's and attend the wedding of one of their returned missionaries. Sunday Dad woke up with a lump under his chin. They went to the doctor and he gave him a strong antibiotic saying it could be a blocked gland duct caused by a possible stone. Then the next weekend on February 20th he woke up with a lump on the other side of his neck under his chin. The doctor had told them that if it had moved to the other side he would need to see him immediately. So both felt he needed to go get it checked but it was Sunday so they had to wait until Monday to take him in. Monday February 21st he had a CT scan to check out the lump and the doctor tried to catch them to get more scans but they'd already left. They scheduled to do more scans and tests at 7 am the next morning Tuesday February 22nd, which was a big indication of the priority and severity of his results. They received a call early Wednesday morning that due to his test results he was to be admitted to the LDS hospital straight away because they had determined it was cancer. They were still unsure of the specific type and were going to perform more tests when he came in. They thought it was either Acute Lymphatic Leukemia or Lymphoma. After spinal taps and blood tests they ruled those out and he was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia which needed to be treated aggressively so was told he needed to do in-patient treatment for 1 month there at LDS Hospital.