Update

I had really hoped to avoid posting something like this. As you all know, my dad has been fighting kidney cancer for 3 months now. We knew he had spots on his lungs and that his oncologist had said his cancer is not "curable" but is very "treatable". He had started on chemo pills, was feeling better than he had in a while, and was debating whether or not to have another scan this month/next. The scans are very hard on the kidneys and since he now only has 1, he's a little protective of it.

A little over a week ago he quit eating as much. He hadn't been eating like normal for quite some time but he went from "most of his meals" to "just occasional snacks." A week ago he fell three times in the same day. Those of you who know me in the real world, would call that a regular Tuesday for me but I did not inherit my clumsy gene from my dad.

Monday he ended up in the hospital where it was determined he now had tumors in his brain. An MRI confirmed this, along with more spots in his lungs. He decided that the risks of surgery and more chemo outweighed the possible benefit and on Tuesday he chose to go home on hospice.

Those of you who have been down this road with a loved one know they never speak of a time frame past the standard "6 months or less." But at this point it's no longer about quantity of his life (although I know we'd all want an extra 50 years with him!) but about the quality.

As of right now he's stable. I hesitate to use the word "good" because that seems a poor choice but considering the circumstances he kinda is! He's extremely lethargic, sleeps about as much as A does (14-ish hours a day), has lost a lot of weight, and is starting to have trouble walking. On the flip side, he can have a conversation, he's got a good appetite back (when E and I went and saw him Saturday he ate 2 pieces of cake, dinner, and an extra piece of cornbread), and has absolutely no pain.

We are doing fine. E has been amazingly supportive, when I called him on Tuesday he said, "just go be with your dad, I'll handle everything from here." S has also really stepped up on helping out around the house, and A is providing us with opportunities to laugh, which is greatly needed sometimes.

We'll be going up to visit a lot more often. I was there Wednesday-Sunday and we all will be going back Saturday and staying through at least Wednesday. I'm not sure how often after that, it all depends on where he is and what's going on.

So if I'm not around as much or if that July 4th post comes at you in September, just know we're having a rough summer here at One's On the Way.