#312

We got Fred home today, and he is thrilled to be there! The night went well, and his pain has been pretty bearable. As the day wore on, his back and shoulders were really sore from being on the operating table for so long and in such an odd position. He is having a massage this evening to hopefully relieve some of the tension.

Fred has an additional reason for his soreness. Apparently, he kept trying to get up and said he wanted to dance when he first got to the recovery room.  At one point, he even ripped his drain out from his side from all his crazy movements. Anyone that has seen him on the dance floor will believe that:)

Fred's eyes started to clear up mid-morning. The doctor said its rare for that to happen and it's from the position of his head during surgery being bent back. Apparently, when you have surgery they run all kinds of fluids through your body. Since Fred's head was below his body, the fluids went towards his eyes. Eventually, those fluids crystallized, Fred rubbed his eyes, and it caused soreness, swelling, and blurred vision. The Doc said it happens 3-4 times a year. Fortunately, his eye sight continued to improve, and Fred didn't want to stay in the hospital just to see the eye doctor. All his numbers were good and the doctor cleared him to go home!

The kids were waiting at the house to greet Fred when Julie and Richie brought him home this afternoon. Fred was starving so Elaine had eggs and jello waiting for him.  He is on a soft diet for the next few days. Fred and Elaine were cracking up as they were trying to figure out the catheter. Staci was there when the nurse was explaining it, so she was trying to teach them. It was quite entertaining. It will be an interesting week.

It is a good thing that Fred and Elaine are very experienced at laughing through their trials. They wanted to go out for a little walk to get some fresh air this afternoon. They (Fred) was certainly a site to be seen. He is trying to get used to carrying is little white bucket with him. Richie warned him that he will only walk away without it once:)

We got some especially great news this evening! The doctor called Fred to let him know that the biopsy results were back, and the cancer had not spread! The doctor rushed pathology because he was concerned that it had spread. His cancer was very, very aggressive. The doctor was shocked by its aggressiveness. This was one of the primary reasons the surgery took so long. His prostate was very enlarged and the cancer was aggressive and starting to spread outside the walls. He took his time to get as much of the area around it as possible, and that was very beneficial to Fred. It was a matter of a week or two that it would have spread at the rate it was going. There is no doubt that both Fred and Elaine have angels looking down on them. We are so grateful tonight! Thank you for your thoughts, prayers, and love. They have been answered!

Larry is also continuing to improve. He's still in ICU and on a respirator, but improving!