Feb 9 - Grandparent Update

First (as I've gotten questions), I didn't contact WMR today to check on Pressie - I'll give them a call tomorrow to see if she was adopted and if not, to let them know we won't be able to pick her up for fostering for a while.

Now for the grandparents....

Grandpa was sent to Covenant Hospital in Lubbock, TX this morning for more testing on the mass they found in his neck & chest cavity. The doctors were hoping to do an biopsy of the mass, which is pushing his esophagus & trachea off to one side and pushing down on his lungs & heart; however, due to his age (he'll be 92 in August) they are hesitant to do the biopsy. One of the radiologists that read his CAT scan thought it was a goiter, while the another thought it was something worse (as in cancer). His heart is also beating WAY to fast (it was 125 bpm when he headed to Lubbock) and they cannot get it to slow down, he also has a low white blood count. So things aren't looking great. We'll know more tomorrow as they have a few tests they can run on the mass instead of the biopsy. He will also be looked over by a cardiologist since the Portales, NM docs think he suffers from congestive heart failure (CHF) and/or something called A-Fib (I guess is how you'd spell it), where his upper heart beats really irregular and doesn't allow the blood to flow properly.

Grandma (she's 87) isn't faring much better - she suffers from diabetes and has for years, her legs have been swelling and last weekend one actually split and leaked fluid for about 18 hours (of course you couldn't get her to the emergency room at all). A few years ago she had to have a pacemaker which has helped a lot but recently she has been short of breath; today she went to her heart doctor today and he said that she too suffers from CHF & A-Fib and that is a large contribution to her fluid retention. This doc put her on oxygen full-time and wants to see her back in 5 weeks unless her leg bursts again... then she has to go to the emergency room immediately. She went on to Lubbock to be with Grandpa, the doctor that put in her pacemaker is also Grandpa's cardiologist now so he will check them both out while they are there.

We should know more in the next couple of days, I guess. My parents were going to pull their 5th wheel to Lubbock for Grandpa's hospital stay but the doc there said not to just yet, as there may not be anything they can do and will just send him home in a day or so. We are hoping the mass is just a goiter that can be treated in Clovis with radiation. But my family, being my family... we worry that it's going to be the worse option.

Please keep them both in your thoughts and prayers, they certainly need it.