Update

Dear family and friends: Had another rough weekend. More side effects from radiation and chemo. We now know that Mondays Tuesdays and 1/2 of Wednesday are the better days. When he had his appointment last Tues with the oncologist and his infusion and radiation, the hospital messed him up getting him in for his blood work. We were an hour late getting into the Dr. (not our fault, we were there on time) and she was irritated that we were late. Chuck told her that we were there on time and she said he needed to be more pro-active. She also said that his diet plan was not working and his potassium was too low so he needed pills. We didn't have a diet plan because we didn't know his potassium was low. We haven't heard or talked to her for 3 weeks so how would we know? To make a long story short she is no longer our Dr. and we will be seeing a new one. The old one has not even been making an effort to keep track of him. Anyway all the rest of his blood work looked good. Still no nausea. He was just really weak and has so much trouble going to the bathroom. The radiation causes so much irritation to the colon (and the tumor which is good) and the bladder. More information than you probably wanted to know. He was up every 45 minutes Friday night but slept a little better on Sat. and pretty good last night too. When Adam was here with the kids last week grandpa told the kids to use the bathroom downstairs so if he needed to get there in a hurry they wouldn't be in there. David (3) was in the bathroom upstairs and I went in there and said you're not supposed to use Grandpa's bathroom and he informed me that the bathroom belonged to the family and not just to Grandpa. I guess he knows the pecking order. I just think the kids may need a HAZMAT suit to use it.

He was going to try to go to church yesterday but he was just too weak. He was not sure he could even stand long enough to shower. He did finally take a shower but I didn't leave the bathroom because he was so weak. Therefore no church. The reason I am telling this story is this. I had a training at the temple at 4:00 pm. Required for all ordinance workers. I really debated calling my shift coordinator and telling her I just couldn't make it. I just was not comfortable leaving him. I think he even hated to see me leave. He said I needed to go and we would be blessed. So, I got him settled and left. I had a tough time paying attention and sat close to the door to make a quick exit. It lasted 2 hours so I was away about 3 hours. I called him to make sure that he was okay and he was on the phone talking to a friend and sounded good so I said I would talk to him when I got home. After I left he felt really good and got clothes out of the dryer and cleaned up and started the fireplace and said he felt so much better. Jennifer called and wanted to come out and he said sure he was doing really well. By the time I got home 20 minutes later he was sick and weak again. He said he was amazed at how good he felt and then how quickly he felt bad again. I should have taken my time or sat in the parking lot for a while. Just more tender mercies from our Father. We know He is watching and hears and answers our prayers and the prayers of all of you. Chuck feels pretty good today. Only a couple more weeks. He has 8 treatments left, the rest of this week and then until Thurs. March 11th. We started on Kim's birthday and will end the day after Karalynn's. :)

We have an appointment at Huntsman on April 1 & 2. He will have his PET scan on the 1st and then we will meet with the Surgeon and Oncologist on Friday and I believe they will decide then when he will have the surgery. They will also decide if he can have the liver surgery and the colon surgery at the same time. We love you all and appreciate your love and concern and express our gratitude for you daily to our Father. Love, Mom Jolene.