Saturday, April 24, 2010 – Yesterday afternoon Kerry came over a bit to hang out until band practice. Sons & Heirs had an outdoor show scheduled for Saturday afternoon in Ames and the band was getting together to prepare for the show. Kellee had just gotten up from nap when Kerry came over and he asked Kellee how he was doing. Kellee said he had been napping and he really would rather keep napping than get up for practice. Additionally, Kerry was going to go out to eat with his G-pa T. Friday night and he asked if Kellee wanted to go along. Kellee said no as he would need to rest after practice, he did not feel like going out. Those two things are a definite sign the treatments do take a toll on Kellee. Normally he would be excited about band practice and a show the next day and he would otherwise typically accept such a dinner invitation.
After the boys left for practice, I called Hope Lodge to inquire about the Extended Stay and getting the referral from Hope Lodge so we could get the reduced rate. All they needed was to know what days next week we for sure wanted a room and they would take care of it. So the room situation is covered for another week.
I made one more phone call, this one to the Radiation Therapy department in Iowa City. About 2-3 months back Kellee had planned a trip to Cancun with his friend Jasen and possibly some other guys. He had already purchased his plane ticket. Then this issue with George (formerly Dwight) the tumor came up and threw his trip plans out the window. The planned trip time is right in the midst of his treatments so he will obviously not be going. Kellee contacted American Airlines, the carrier from which he purchased the ticket, to see what his options might be for ticket changes, credit or refund. His success rate with the phone calls to the airline’s customer service department was not good. He said he could have used an interpreter to talk to the people on the other end of the line. He was not sure in what country their call center was located, but he thought he may have been talking with Apu from The Simpsons. Kellee then went on-line and sent a message asking if American has any type of policy for when a customer has an extreme medical situation. He did get an email response asking for proof of the medical issue from the attending physician and then they would “consider” a refund. Which brings me back to the phone call. I spoke with Dr. S’s nurse, Kelly, and she took the information and the fax number to where to send the proof of medical issue. She told me she did this for another patient previously and would take care of it. The staff at the U of I Radiation Therapy Department continue to demonstrate how they are top-notch people and more than willing to help in what ever way they can if it is in their power to do so!
A little while later Heidi came home and I went into work. When I got home at 5:45, Kellee was on the couch and not feeling real well. He didn’t feel like doing much of anything. He had planned to work on some music loops for the show, but he didn’t feel like doing that. He texted his contact for the show and told him, they might be cancelling out of the show. Kellee ate some toast and oatmeal. A bit later he started to have back spasms and was quite uncomfortable. We got the heating pad out and he laid on the floor for nearly two hours.
This morning the band did cancel out of the show. Which was ok with Kerry because he has quite a bit of homework to do. Kellee had practice this morning for The Bridge on Sunday. When he got home he had some cheese and crackers. In reading the information on radiation therapy and nutrition during treatment we received from the hospital, it is recommended patients keep food in their stomach. Eating smaller more frequent meals helps a lot of people. We have a feeling a lot of this will be learn as we go, trial and error. Kellee plans to just rest and take it easy today, he wants to feel well and have energy for The Bridge tomorrow.
We had some special visitors Saturday afternoon, Ella and Ezra Welch stopped by along with their mom and dad – Kim & Chris. In a previous post I mentioned they had made some cards for Kellee and today they dropped them off special delivery right at our house. Kellee was asleep so he didn’t get to see the twins, but Heidi and I did! Heidi mentioned it was so much fun to see kids not afraid of our little dogs. El & Ez are used to bigger dogs at home so they had no problem giving them kisses, etc. It was very nice of them to stop by. We now have their cards hanging on our refrigerator!
Prayer Requests: Pray Kellee will get the rest he needs and will be able to lead worship at The Bridge on Sunday. Pray the nausea will be minimal and bearable. Pray Kellee will be able to eat and food will sound good to him. Next week is Heidi’s turn to be with Kellee in Iowa City, pray for her while she watches over him and for rest for her as well.
