I spoke to my Mom and she told me that things are going well. They're on top of the medication and they've been able to keep him pain free. He sleeps well at night and takes a nap in the morning. He's awake in the afternoon and gets out on his walker to get some exercise. He's very happy to be back home! His friends and the community are really happy to have him back as well and have been giving all of their support and love.

Their phone number for those who don't have it is (506) 249-1231

Jere's arrival in Costa Rica

Email from David:

Just wanted to let you know that Dad arrived with out any issues in Costa Rica. I was able to find a rented hospital bed and between Gianni, Dick, Brenda and I prepared all arrangements for his room downstairs. We showered him with flowers and all kinds of fruits and veggies and fresh food. Stocked up the house. I have placed Ela's baby monitors in his room for any emergencies. Mom will have one at the house and I will have one at all times next to me in my office. He was pretty relieved to be back home and called it "heaven" as he sipped some fresh juice that mom made for him.Ê

Anyway he is sound asleep right now. Thunder and rain has made its way for perfect time and will probably sleep like a baby through it all.

Love you all.
Will keep you posted.

David.

The latest news is that my Dad is still doing well. Once the medication was figured out, he's been pain-free. Jaleh is flying up tomorrow and will stay with them until they travel back to Costa Rica next Wednesday! They have the tickets so hopefully everything will go smoothly. Colin will be with them until Sunday.
The pictures are of Barry (James' biological father) and Kathy who took a three hour drive up to see them. Thank you so much for visiting!!

Dad's out of the Hospital

They took my Dad out of the hospital yesterday. He's back at Ali's house and they're going to keep him there a few days to see how he holds up. If everything continues as it is, they'll fly back to Costa Rica.
I'm waiting to get a more detailed update from my Mom or Colin and I'll post that as soon as I have it!
Thank you all for your prayers!

Colin with Dad

Email sent from Colin:

It has been really nice seeing Jere. He was chipper, responsive, got up and cleaned up, combed his hair, took a pretty long walk with his new walker, had a nice couple of conversations with him. He drank a whole thing of Boost today along with some ice tea and a few spoon fuls of pudding, jello,.... We talked about what we thought it would take to get him on a plane and get him home. It all depends on the blood count. The blood tests that were ordered this morning were just started (they just took blood for them this evening). We definitely need to find out if we can get an IV at home to keep him hydrated because he seems to do a lot better with less nausea when he is hydrated... He is sleeping peacefully right now... talking a little in his sleep... and a machine exercising his calf muscles making his leg twitch...


Hugs, C

Hi everyone,

They got dad/Jere up early today to take him down to rehab to begin walking a bit, but he was pretty weak and dizzy. He had thrown up his breakfast just before they came to get him. The doctor came later and said his blood count was down and he needed two more blood transfusions and more IV fluids. That's what they're doing now. Actually they're re positioning the needles because he jerks a lot in his sleep and pulls the existing ones out. I think with all of the drugs, he's beginning to hallucinate a lot and imagine things happening in front of him. He also talks a lot in his sleep.

We managed with much effort to bath him this morning (he really can't stand or walk on his own yet and needs lots of support). We thought that maybe we could leave the hospital this weekend, but I'm not so sure now.

Flinn is here and is so helpful. There's always something to do. We keep running out to buy things at the Whole Foods market that we think he'll eat, but we're now back to cream of wheat! All the water tastes bad to him, and we keep looking for just the right combination of things in the water so that he'll consume more. He's just not taking in enough liquid and thus the reason for yet another IV.

Sorry this is such a down letter. Some days are better than others.

Love you all

Mom/Julie

Latest email from Julie:

Dad had a pretty good day. They got him up to walk a few steps - very tough. They're giving him some blood that was lost in the operation which should give him more energy and tomorrow they will take him down to rehabilitation for more exercises. Waiting to hear from the radiologist about the strontium shot. Apparently he's giving dad some recuperation time before talking to us about this, but it's still on the table. Hopefully what this shot will do is lessen the pain and therefore lessen the need to consume so much morphine, hopefully reducing the lazy bowels syndrome. We're back to the idea of not doing chemotherapy when we get home.
I'm guessing, but I think we'll be here another week to 10 days

Hi everyone,

Dad's test results came back yesterday and the small growth they spotted in the spinal fluid is NOT malignant! We are so relieved. He has still been scheduled for the operation to put the pin in his hip on Monday morning. This is as far as we have been able to go with medical decisions. The doctor said that he should be able to leave the hospital by next Saturday providing he is stable with the pain meds and bowel problems. He is always so much better when on the IV. We just have to figure out a way to get him to drink lots of water when they take the IV off. The problem is the nausea, which he doesn't have when on the IV.

Any ideas?

Love you all

Mom

New Update

Hi everyone,

There was such a flurry of activity in here this morning. At 7:30 am the neurologist was here to take some spinal fluid from dad. (They suspect a tumor in the spine fluid of the 2nd lumbar area.) We will have the results, hopefully, late this afternoon.

Just after this doctor left, the bone doctor showed up and informed us that the right pelvis is in danger of breaking unless they insert a pin. The operation is scheduled for MOnday!

On his heels came the urologist who explained that because of the aggravated lymph nodes near his uretha, they are pushing against it and created a small blockage in that area. They want to insert a tube that it open it up and allow for a better flow.

Trying to put all this together with the doctor in charge, we've decided to wait on the tube in the uretha until he's comfortable with the pin. Comfort is such a relative term these days for Jere. We're still dealing with bowels and nausea caused by the mophine although they have gotten on top of the pain (relatively) and he's being given pain meds every 12 hours.

We're still trying to decide now whether to start chemo here or wait until Costa Rica. This hasn't been discussed yet with the oncologist, because we haven't heard from the nuclear medical doctor to see if he still qualities for the strontium shot. If the tumor in his spinal fluids is malignant it can be radiated, but first the doctors are trying to find out if this is possible, since the area was radiated in New Mexico in 2004. Since radiation and chemo do not go together well, this decision has been suspended until we hear about the tumor!

Meanwhile, since he has not been eating that well and has a hard time drinking enough water, the doctor has decided to put him back on an IV.

So much information - we are feeling a bit overwhelmed!

Much love
Mom

My Mom just sent this email:

Dad is having some trouble with motion sickness. He gets nauseated when he moves or the light changes. So they're going to do a head scan today to see if anything is happening there. They're also concerned about a new tumor in his spine that is dangerously close to the nerves. It seems like we make progress in some areas and then go backwards in others. We had hoped to return home by next week, but are still not sure. Colin will fly down when we're ready to go so that I won't have to make the trip by myself with Jere should an emergency arise.
...
We have to talk to the radiologists today and find out if he still qualifies for the strontium shot and how much time in between does he need in order to begin chemotherapy.
Meanwhile, I'm comfortable here at the guest house next to the hospital and am able to get an afternoon nap and go to bed early.

Another update

I just got off the phone with my Dad. He sounded great. He told me about the MRI he had just gotten. Apparently it's very easy to get claustrophobic in the long, narrow, magnetic tube one has to lay in for over one hour! He had gotten good advice from his mother who said to take deep breaths, close your eyes, and be in sort of a meditative state. He followed this advice and did great. He said there were all sorts of vibrations all around him, magnetic rumbles and odd sounds, so he felt like he was on a spaceship and imagined he was on an adventure heading off to Mars! (He still has his sense of humor!) He was also medicated so it was easy to sleep on and off.
He told me that he's finally taking some medication orally which means they're one step further to going back to Costa Rica. He's still off of the IV and trying to get liquids in as often as possible. He's still taking nausea medication and has been able to eat. He said he's really enjoying the hospital food!
They won't get the results of the MRI until later (don't know when), which will tell them whether the cancer has affected the spine neurologically.

I told him about all the comments and emails and my Mom reads them to him when she gets a chance, and it makes him really happy! Thank you all so much!

If anyone would like to contact him there are three options:
The first (and best one) is the cell phone my mom has on hand. The number is (772) 332-1032
The second is Ali's cell phone: (954) 347-5590
And the third is my dad's bedside phone. The only problem with calling this one is that he may be sleeping so it's hard to know when to call. I think it's safe to call around lunch time (noonish). He's staying at the VA Medical Center in West Palm Beach. The number is (561) 422-8262. They've moved him to several different rooms already so the extension number I have doesn't work. When they answer, just ask to be connected to Jere McKinney's room.

Pics

I want to keep this blog free for updates on my Dad. So in the meantime some pictures have been accumulating which I've decided to post somewhere else. I've created a new blog (called Sasha, Aria & James!). There's a link to it on the right.

I have returned to Boston, so I wait for my mom to send me updates so that I can post them.
Here's the latest:

I've moved into the guest facility that they have for the family of patients at the VA hospital. It's right next door and I'm able to spend more time with Dad and at the same time come over in the afternoon to rest.

Jere is off of the IV and will begin taking morfine by mouth instead of through his veins. I have to stay with him constantly to wake him up and give him liquids and getting him to eat is often difficult as well. He just doesn't have an appetite and feels like he will throw up if he eats. This in turn affects his bowels which are not functioning too well anyway becasue of the morfine.

If all goes well and he tolerates oral medication, we will be able to bring him home.

He will have an MRI scan on Tuesday or Wednesday to see if the cancer in his spine is threatening any nerves there which would ultimate prevent him from walking. The tumors are also in his lymphatic systems where they are pressing against the kidney and causing most of the pain. The doctors are looking into another very powerful strontium 89 pain shot as well as other bone strengthening meds. We are also looking into chemotherapy in Costa Rica to extend his life a few months.

He remains chipper and full of good humour when he's awake and sends his love and gratitude to everyone for their support and prayers.

I will try to keep you updated as often as I am able.

They've taken my Dad off of the IV and they're hoping to be able to start giving him his medication orally soon. His appetite seems to be improving. He ate a lot more today than usual and said that it tasted good. (Previously he had a strange after-taste).
My Mom discovered that there is a house on the premise where the patients family can stay for free! This is a really good option because we've been commuting back and forth from Ali's house which is about one hour away. Starting tonight she'll be able to stay there and not have to think about getting rides home or taking naps on chairs while my Dad sleeps.

I would post more pictures of him but we found out that we aren't allowed to take pictures inside the hospital. So for now, here are a couple of when we went out for dinner after visiting hours at the hospital, and when we went to the beach again for prayers.