Byron's Corner

  Byron had a restful night without too much pain and the hiccups were less intense and less frequent.   He had a good appetite yesterday and had tacos for lunch and wanted bacon for dinner.   He sat up for about a half an hour to watch TV in the evening.    He is looking forward to his family members from California, Texas and Arkansas coming to visit him next week!    Prayer requests: Much the same as yesterday…continued success with the med regimen which is providing a balance of pain relief, reduction of the hiccups and an improved appetite! If you are new to the Blog and would like to read the whole story, start here: https://byronscorner.blogspot.com/2021/04/starting-at-beginning-this-is-sory-of.html  

  I woke up to one of those glorious, Oregon spring mornings.   It is hard not to feel optimistic and hopeful on a morning as bright and beautiful as this morning!    Byron had a pretty restful night.   I am crossing my fingers that the current med combination will continue to provide the correct balance of pain control, appetite stimulant and relief from the hiccups.    Even though none of those things is at 100%, all of them are better than they were a few days ago.    I want you all to know, Byron feels your love and prayers!    Each message brings a smile or a nod of acknowledgment.    I know that he feels surrounded by love and buoyed by the care and concern of all of you! Prayer requests: Continued success with the med regimen which is providing a balance of pain relief, reduction of the hiccups and an improved appetite! If you are new to the Blog and would like to read the whole story, start here: https://by...

We are trying a new medicine regimen for the pain and hiccups.   And, although Byron was really groggy during the night, he did not need pain meds in the middle of the night and had a fairly good day today.  He slept most of the morning but by noon, he was markedly more alert with less pain and fewer hiccups.  By dinner time, he was up and requesting a taco for dinner, sherbet for dessert and a pop to wash it all down with.  Tonight he watched some of his favorite shows on TV.   I am hoping this means we have hit upon the winning combo for the meds.  Byron has really enjoyed hearing all of your greetings via the blog, email, voice mail and texts and even received a bouquet o f tulips from dear friends in the Netherlands.  All these things cheer him up and make him smile!     Prayer request: Continued pain relief with fewer hiccups and a hearty appetite! If you are new to the Blog and would like to read the whole story...

  I don’t know where the day has gone.   I meant to update the blog this morning…  Byron’s appetite has improved but he is still not eating much.    He still has sustained hiccups and he is very fatigued.   We have signed up for hospice care while he is trying to build his strength.     Hospice offers a lot of services that are useful to us.  We do not have to go out of the house for anything - all appointments, lab draws and doctor's visits happen at home.  All meds are delivered to the house which saves us a lot of time standing in line at the pharmacy.   Also, we were able to get an adjustable bed through hospice which should help Byron if he wants to sit up for a sustained period.  Even though he is on hospice care for now, if he regains his strength, we can go off hospice and he can start treatment.  We are working to get all his meds balanced to stimulate his appetite, reduce his hiccups and for him to get better r...

  Byron had a rough night.  He now has sustained hiccups for long periods of time.  Of course, if he is hiccupping all night he is not getting good sleep.   We are working to control the hiccups with meds, but the trick is when and how much of the meds to administer.  Hopefully, today and tonight will go smoother.  On the brighter side, he was up at 7:30 this morning and had a good sized bowl of yogurt with fruit and granola and is tucked in for a morning nap.   He is looking forward to a Zoom call with all his family in California later this afternoon.  Prayer request: Continued success with him eating nutritious food, drinking lots of fluids and getting good rest. Pray the hiccups stop! If you are new to the Blog and would like to read the whole story, start here: https://byronscorner.blogspot.com/2021/04/starting-at-beginning-this-is-sory-of.html  

Byron had a fairly peaceful night! He woke up and ate some breakfast, seems in decent spirits and generally seems a little stronger this morning!   For this we are extremely thankful! Speaking of thankful, I want to take the time to list some other things we are thankful for, even in these really trying circumstances... We are thankful we are retired - at first we said to each other, "Really?  Now? We just retired !" But when we thought about it, we are so glad we retired when we did.  We have time together, we have time to make each appointment, lab draw and procedure.  Our finances are steady and we have great insurance.   I really wonder how anyone could deal with this disease while still working? We are very thankful that Byron stubbornly refused to take our cross-country trip we had planned this spring in our RV.  Once we both were fully vaccinated, I was ready to pack up and go!!   But Byron was hesitant about interstate travel th...

    Byron was really weak and tired this morning, to the point that he was significantly confused and irritable which is uncharacteristic for him.   I spoke with his doctors and they ran more blood work and did a head CT.   The results showed that his head CT was normal.   Yay!  But, his blood work indicated his kidney function was not great and equated to him being dehydrated.   This makes sense since he has not been eating or drinking very much.   We have some good news!  Byron ate both breakfast and lunch! It seems the appetite stimulants are working as his appetite is improving, The doctors suspect the medicine they are giving him to increase his appetite (steroids) are the cause of his ill temper and that the dehydration was causing his confusion.   I told the doctor we could live with him being irritable, as long as it results in him eating and drinking and gaining back his strength.   For now, the chemo treatment scheduled fo...

Yesterday was a tough day.  We had a quick appointment in the morning and when we got home Byron was exhausted.   He slept most of the day, on and off and I could not get him to eat hardly anything.  After talking with his Oncologist in the afternoon I understand that if Byron continues to be so weak, we will not be able to start his treatments next week.   At her suggestion, I purchased some high calorie Ensure and began encouraging him to drink it.  We managed to get two bottles down between 4 pm and 8 pm and I called that success!   He also started on some prescription appetite simulators which I hope kick in today.  A good thing is that yesterday, he was not in much pain and did not need a pain pill until the middle of the night.   Prayer requests:   That Byron's appetite would increase so that he wants to eat, that the pain would stay at bay and that I am able to continue to get him to drink the Ensure on a regul...

Byron had a fairly decent night and seems in good spirits this morning, although still very tired.  We have a pretty laid-back day ahead with only one appointment on the schedule.  Here's hoping he gets some good rest today! Prayer Requests:  For Byron's appetite to improve and for him to get some sound, pain free rest. If you are new to the Blog and would like to read the whole story, start here: https://byronscorner.blogspot.com/2021/04/starting-at-beginning-this-is-sory-of.html

  We just got back from the oncologist.    We both liked her very much.   We were hopeful for better news.   We found out Byron is borderline on whether to treat with chemo or instead just go for quality of life and comfort measures.    The tumor is pretty aggressive and there is cancer in the liver, so it is Stage 4 as we imagined.   Byron has decided to try chemo.   Dr. has given us medicine to stimulate his appetite so we can work on building his strength up – he has not been eating much.    The chemo treatment course will start next week.    Sorry the news to share isn’t better.   It has really been a long, tough morning.  Byron is resting now.   Prayer Requests: Pray for what we learned today, for the blood thinners to work on the clots in his liver and spleen, for appetite, for strength and for control of his pain.   Please Note: If you are commenting, consider adding your name or initials to t...

  After having resolved the ongoing bowel issues yesterday, Byron felt better last night.  At about 8 pm, he started having pain, this time on the right side of his abdomen.   The pain increased in intensity as the night went on.   This morning found us back in the ER where he had more bloodwork done and another CT.  The results of the CT showed that Byron has splenic infarcts in his spleen.  These are often found with pancreatic cancer and are as a result of the pressure of the tumor on his spleen.  This condition is remedied by blood thinners, which Byron is now on.    We are back home and Byron will be resting once he finishes his breakfast. Update :  Byron rested well for the rest of the day and with pain meds felt much better.  By evening, he was up for dinner, even feeling well enough to request tacos!   Please Note: If you are commenting, consider adding your name or initials to the comment, otherwise, unle...

  Byron's weekend was not exactly a walk in the park in spite of the glorious, spring weather we are having. We are working on resolving the bowel pain issues.   Because the pain meds are causing the issues, he is not using the pain meds which makes his discomfort worse.  The discomfort makes him less likely to want to eat, which makes his diabetes harder to manage and makes him even more tired and fatigued.  Vicious cycle. Prayer Requests: Relief from the bowel pain, an improved appetite and good undisturbed rest!  If you are new to the Blog and would like to read the whole story, start here: https://byronscorner.blogspot.com/2021/04/starting-at-beginning-this-is-sory-of.html

  After this first initial post, we will update the blog with any updates, news, or prayer requests as we have them to share with you.   Thank you for your prayers and love.   Our faith and the love and prayers from our family and friends is what is getting us through.   Starting at the beginning ... For Christmas, in anticipation of retirement, I bought Byron a Nordic Track exercycle similar to a Peloton.   He had previously mentioned a desire to stay active and in shape and maybe even to lose some weight during retirement but since we could not go to the gym due to COVID, he decided to set up a home gym.   He started working out on his bike multiple times a day and also started watching what he ate, mostly by portion control.   All of a sudden the weight was flying off.   He felt good and was adjusting to retirement really well.   Sometime near the end of March, we had a yard project that involved us loading, wheel barrowing and ...

    We Are All In Byron's Corner With Him!!   Byron is in the fight of his life and we are all in his corner rooting for the win.  Recently, he was diagnosed with Pancreatic Cancer.  Here, within this blog, you will be able to follow along on his journey.