and what “here” looks like today
On March 8, Cindy took David to his doctor; he was immediately hospitalized at St. Anthony. He had been struggling with flu, then pneumonia for a couple weeks.
A CT scan revealed he had a large pleural effusion, which is a buildup of fluid between the lung and its lining. It also revealed that this fluid buildup was probably caused by tumors on the pleura.
When they removed the fluid, they could tell from the cell testing that the tumors had spread from a malignancy in David’s lung. The diagnosis is metastatic adenocarcinoma of the lung with malignant pleural effusion. (pdf) It sounds nasty because it is.
At 90, David is not a good candidate for chemotherapy. It would only make him more uncomfortable. So he is at home now at Cindy’s house, resting most of the day. He is currently receiving hospice care and is relatively comfortable, but quite tired.
Debbie has come from Australia, and Angi lives in Edmond with her family, so all three girls are with him most days.
The good that is coming from this:
David is eating a lot of chocolate. He and Jo were always the best patients any doctor could ask for. So when the doctor told him “no chocolate,” he took it as gospel. He hasn’t had chocolate in years. But every day since his diagnosis, he has been enjoying a little chocolate. Today for supper he had a bowl of chocolate ice cream.
He’s spending a lot of time with his daughters and other family. Debbie is staying at Cindy’s house, so they are seeing him every day. Elijah and Charlie, his girlfriend, came over this evening and spent a couple hours. And most of the family has been together for supper for the last three days.
David is not currently checking email, but if you would like to leave a comment here, we will be glad to read it to him.
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