Update

August 9:
Dear friends and Family. And again things change so fast. We finally got our minds around this surgery and this morning at 6:30 am one of the Dr's removed the packing from his abscess and it just gushed more infection. She did it because I told her it was a little more inflamed at the opening than it had been. She wanted to see it. I guess it is a good thing and today Chuck has felt better than he has for months. His pain was much less and he was just doing so much better. Now when the surgeon came in to see him she was pleased with what she saw and has now changed the plan. The surgery is still in the morning but she is going to go in and put a drain in the big abscess that will really work and flush it out as much as she can and check to see if she can put another drain in the abscess at the original drain site and remove it slowley so it can heal from the inside out. She admitted that she needed to have him on Flagil, the antibiotic that works on this one particular bacteria that he has from the start. She thinks that is why this round is working so well. If this surgery works then he should be able to start his chemo in two weeks instead of four. She showed us his liver on the CT scan and he has one lesion that is the same one that is new and one that has grown. If this treatment doesn't work then he will still have to have the more invasive surgery and it will be at least another 4 weeks before he can start the treatment so everyone pray that this surgery is all he will need to get started. His surgery is tomorrow morning at 9:45 and if it goes well we may be able to go home on Thursday or Friday:) That would make us both happy. I will update you tomorrow after the surgery. Thanks so much for your calls and help with all of our needs. We sure love and appreciate you all. Love, Jolene

August 10:
Hi again. The surgery went well. It took less time than they thought. They did the drains and it is pretty sore but no where near the surgery it would have been had she done what they had first proposed. If all goes well he will be able to start his chemo a week from Tuesday. He is doing much better this evening than I thought he would. He has had no temperature the last couple of evenings. She says she saw something on the CT scan in the second abscess in the drain track that looked like a foreign object. She has no idea what it was but believes that it may have been part of a staple or something that got in there either when they pulled the first drain out or when they put it in. She thinks that may be why this is infection has been so stuborn. She has thanked him for her learning experience. I hope she really has learned. We know that many prayers were answered as she changed her mind and discussed the procedure she was going to do. These drains may stay in for quite a while and for those that are not faint of heart I will explain a little of what they did although he really doesn't want me to. If you remember when we used to pierce our ears and put a string through the hole to keep it open until it would heal, the one drain is kind of like that. In the drain site, in the abscess to the colon and out again and tied in a knot on the outside. Jennifer says he now has a purse handle. Adam thinks it is one heck of a piercing. The other drain is from the abscess out only. He will be embarrased I even explained a little. He is beginning to lose all shame but trying to keep some dignity. He really is a very strong man with a lot of faith. I think we need a contest to name these new things. I won't send pictures. We should be home by the weekend. Thanks to all of you for your love and prayers. Love, Jolene