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Got back into town tonight so I went LLUMC to see how Dad was doing. Upon my arrival to the ninth floor I found Dad in the Day Room surrounded by my brother Eric, his wife, Chanel and their three children and Dads wife Natalie. Eric and his family had been there for a while so they left and charged me with the responsibility of returning Dad to his room. We visited and fairly quickly Dad wanted to go back to the room. I got him and his IV pole pointed in the right direction and we were off and out of the room. It takes a little practice to push the wheel chair and IV pole and keep them in sync.
He was glad to get on his way to the room because nature was calling. Upon returning to the room, he went to the bathroom and then with a little help he changed into a clean gown. Just after Dad got back into bed, Mike Grant and his wife Chris came by for a visit. Dad did not say much, Natalie, his wife, did most all the talking. Perhaps he was not up to a lot of talking. He seemed tired from all the activity. I let Dad know that I would be back in the morning to see him.
On the way out I checked with the nurse regarding Dads white blood count. It only went down a small amount. If I remember right he is receiving three different antibiotics for the infection. It will be good news if the count keeps going down.
 Democrat Headquarters We had a nice trip from Oakdale to home. We did a little geocaching along the way. One of my favorites was Democrat Headquarters. Just down from their headquarters we picked up fresh cherries, apricots and blueberries. Then it was off to Walmart for ice and an ice chest. Geocaching and fresh fruit, what more could a person want?
I talked to Dad today on the phone this afternoon. He was doing alright. However, he seemed to be a little down. Dad stated, “I am just laying here dying.” I called back later to talked to his nurse who had also noticed that Dad was a little off today. He also let me know that Dads white blood cell count had not dropped much and that he was scheduled for surgery tomorrow. The surgery is to put in a feeding tube into the intestine so that he can get nourishment.
The nurse also let me know that one of my brothers, not Eric, and bigger than me, had picked up dad in a wheel chair and taken him with his IV pole down to the day room for a visit. I knew it was Wayne. I called him and he let me know that he had Shonda, his wife and his children where there to see Dad. The children brought him drawings and visited with Dad.
Wayne called me later this evening to let me know that the PET scan, the part that was completed, did confirm that the lesion on Dads femur was cancer. Overall, the information on the amount of cancer and locations does not bode well for Dad in respect to his time here on earth. I get the feeling it is only a couple of months. I even wonder if he will make it out of the hospital. It just seems like this stuff is voracious. I just hope and pray that he can be comfortable in his his remaining days on earth.
 Gentlemen's Shave There is something about soft water that does wonders for the shave. In Oakdale, the water is much softer that at home. Mix that soft water with some Mr. Taylors, A Gentleman’s Luxury Save Cream and you have the opportunity for great pleasure as you shave. The herbal aromatics in this shave cream are great. They blend with the morning to create a facial awakening without being overbearing. It is easy to create that rich lather with the lack of dissolved solids and calcium in the water.
The blade was slick as it slid across my skin with the wonderful sound of whiskers being wacked into submission. After the up pass and the down pass I am left with baby smooth skin. To finish that smooth skin off I used Mr. Taylors, A Gentleman’s Aftershave Lotion. Today was a great shave.
 In Oakland with the bay behind us Today we found ourselves in Oakland for a wedding. We also had time to walk across the parking lot for a virtual geocache. After the wedding and before the reception I bagged some geocaches around Oakdale while Janet took a nap.
Up north and not able to visit Dad. Dad tends to not answer his phone. For an update I talked to his nurse. I found out that Dad was up today and walked around the nurse’s station with Eric, my brother. His pain is has been better and his white blood count has dropped. Things are looking better for him to go home.
On our trip to Oakdale, we did a little geocaching along the way. We made a quick stop at Kraamer Junction to grab one hidden at Kramer Junction. I figured that there would be one hiding there. When we passed the county line into Kern County, I wanted to get another one. I saw LA to Vegas/Vegas to LA Swap Vault down the road a mile. It was off a frontage road, which turned into a dirt road which turned into open desert. Janet was not real happy that I was driving her car on a dirt road in the desert. She did get a picture of me in the area near the cache.
 Geocaching in the desert Further up the road in Tehachapi we saw a sign about the Apple Shed on the side of the freeway. I energized Geocache Navigator on the BlackBerry and poof, sure enough I saw Apple Blossom Special. Could there be a connection? Found the cache on the underside of a wheelbarrow. I went inside and Janet and I had some lunch. Janet loved the place.
As we stopped to take another break and stretch the legs I checked to see if there was a cache close by. A cache called La Palma within 100 feet. Janet had gone into the store and I scratched my head because the cache description was in Spanish. I had Janet do a little translation and it became clear what I was looking for. I found the cache on a palm tree and we were on our way.
We saw a sign for ice cream and figured that there could be a geocache close by. The place also made cheese. Looking on the BlackBerry I saw there was a Cheesy geocache at the location of the Ice Cream. We grabbed the cache, which was hiding in a light fixture, and went for the ice cream and cheese curds. Thanks for the hide.
The car needed fuel, so we stopped for gas. As I pumped the fuel I checked the BlackBerry and sure enough I saw an end in across the street in the direction of the closest cache. Finished fueling and crossed the street to grab the cache. Time was running out so we made a beeline for Oakdale. We were to meet family for dinner at a local Mexican restaurant. Food was good and the day was finished.
Janet and I stopped by to see my Dad this morning. He was in relatively good spirits. I did my usual morning opening of the curtains. We had a good chat and talked about several things. We talked about the addition of more art on the door. He is getting a rather large collection. He had said that he did not have a good night because he did not have his pain button for the pain medication. Dad also mentioned that he was a little upset that he had body odor. His face grimaced as he mentioned it and said that he smelled so bad that he could smell himself. He wanted a good scrub.
The nurse came in to check his sugar levels and asked Dad about pain. He said it was a six on a scale of one to ten. He was given a dose of pain medication. He was being prepared for his PET Scan and was going to be taken downstairs relatively soon.
Janet mentioned that she heard that he had ice cream. He responded with a facial expression that said can I have some now. He could not because he was going downstairs in a couple of minutes to drink some radioactive glucose for the PET Scan. We told Dad that we loved him and would be back soon to see him and he told us to enjoy our weekend.
During our travels we received word that the PET scan was not completed. Dad was in too much pain to stay still. We will have to find out if it is going to be rescheduled. We were also happy that we saw him before the PET Scan because we were able to give him a kiss. After he drank the radioactive glucose, he could not be touched. Additionally, he could not be bathed, nothing like glowing and stinking at the same time.
One other factor is the infection that he has. His white blood count was back up. We have to hope that the infection that he has gets under control.
 Arlington Today is an Arlington day. I will be going on a road trip and needed a soothing fragrance and Dr. Harris Co. Ltd does a great job with Arlington fragrance. I have also noticed the fragrances I have from England have tended to be a little more on the floral than those of Spain or Italy.
I stropped my razor the night before and carefully packed it. I could then move right into the process of the shave itself. As for the shave, the shave stick worked great and lathered well. I like the fragrance of this stick better than the Arko stick. As for how the lather worked with shaving, it did a great job. There is nothing better than a smooth face and a pleasing fragrance.
As for the talc powder, I put some on for the trip in the car. It will probably take another trip to use it or any powder as I am not a fan of powder. It is there to add to the overall calming of the fragrance. Overall the shave was great and I am going to have to repeat this combination again.
This morning Dad looked good. He said he slept well. He had no problems with the ice cream or jell-o. That is great news for someone who loves ice cream. I asked about pain and he said he was doing good as he held up the button. I am glad that he is able to rest and manage his pain. I told him about my shave with Commando from Turkey. Knowing full well he does not want to shave I still offered. Not shaving brings him glee.
The medical students were doing their rounds and he was asked a few questions. They were going to come back when I was not there to visit. He was told that his white blood cell count was down and that is great news. That means that the infection that he has may go away. Time will tell.
I opened the curtain so that he could see outside. It looked like it could rain today. W talked about the thunderstorms and lightning from yesterday. I let him know that I was going up north to a weeding this weekend. He wondered who was getting married and I explained that it was one of Janet’s, my wives nieces.
It is good that he is now getting more rest and that he can eat ice cream. Dad asked when he could go home. He was told when the infection is gone. That was good news to him that the infection was getting better and that he could go home. That will be a great day.
 Akro Commando The Commando shave – Arko has a new shave cream and the accompanying after shave cream. For application of the shaving cream I used a new Omega setola (boar hair) brush that I had just shampooed a couple of times. It still had the fragrance of, well a new brush or a wet animal. I put a small amount of the commando shave cream in the palm of my hand and worked it into the brush. It came out in a light green color, which was a surprise to me. The shaving cream whipped into a rich lather quickly. The fragrance reminded me of some of the fragrances available today that are marketed to younger men. The ones like my teenage sons use. The fragrance did take command of any new brush smell.
With the rich later on my face, I put my razor to work. I was enjoying the youthful fragrance and not paying attention enough so I got my first nick in some time. I do not know why, but I thought of that movie where Sylvester Stallone claims someone else drew first blood. After the shave I applied the Commando after shave cream. I am not much a fan of creams. It was refreshing and feels like it would be helpful with dry skin. The fragrance is as advertised on the tube, “energizing dynamic and long lasting.” I might add that the fragrance is much more pleasant than the “extreme” type of fragrances that have wafted in from the part of the house where teen age boys have over applied their favorite fragrance. Overall, I look forward to another Commando shave in the future.
Tonight we met with Dr. Reeves, the cancer surgeon. Dad was there along with his wife.My brothers Wayne and Eric were there and Alan, my brother that is in Utah called in and was talking to Dads wife. As we waited dad was in a little pain. The doctor was running late. More time passed and dad was not comfortable and his IV was beeping. He wanted some pain medicine so we showed him where his little button was to press for pain. Dad pressed the button, and one person in the room responded, “No, no, no, don’t do that. You want to be alert when doctor talks to us.” Dad is in pain and should be comfortable. I do not listen well when I am in pain and do not know anyone else that does.
Dr. Reeves came in and we all listened. Dad had good eye contact with the doctor and appeared to be listening intently. Dad’s cancer is not localized. It is involved with his gall bladder, stomach, liver and potentially some fatty tissue in the abdominal cavity. There are two options and neither one is a good one. I took notes and could detail the pluses and minuses of each option. On involves surgery and the other does not. However, with both options, a cure is not possible. The outlook using statistics and averages is relatively the same for each option, about 6 months to live. Could be more, could be less. So in a nutshell, I do not need to detail five paragraphs of the complications and benefits of either choice. I personally would not want to be operated on.
So, what do you do with 6 months to live? Live it to the fullest that you can. How do you live it to the fullest? Dad cannot eat anything because of the complications. He has not had anything for several days. There is a slim possibly that he can tolerate food. Tonight he took the test – he ate ice cream. Only some time will tell if he gets sick from it. If he can tolerate it, he can live life to your fullest on vanilla ice cream. I sure hope the test goes well because vanilla ice cream is one of Dads favorite things.
Stopped by this morning to see how Dad was doing. It took over an hour to get there because of an accident on the 91 at Barton Road. When I arrived at his room, I noticed that he looked a little better than yesterday and the day before. He was not in that pained look, as if he was being agitated form the pain he has been in so many times before. He was not as alert due to the pain medication. However, he was much more relaxed. He even looked rested. I would rather talk to my Dad as he dozes in and out that to sit there watching him writhe in a lot of pain. It should be about him feeling comfortable, not any ones desire to carry on a continuous conversation for an extended period of time.
We talked a bit about how nice it was to see the art in his room from Haley, Ruby and Lucy. He smiled and was please that it was there. Perhaps I am going to break out the crayons and put something together as well. I just hope I can do as well as they did.
I let Dad know that as I put my work bag in the trunk today I noticed the golf clubs. I let him know that I would be carrying them around until we could play golf. I also let him know that I have a bag of aluminum cans that were collected for the Boy Scouts. He let me know that he received 47 dollars for the ones he turned in a couple of weeks ago. He was sure proud of that.
He looked peaceful and I asked him if he wanted to rest. I knew he was tired and he said yes. I let him know that I loved him and left him to rest.
I am writing this with an understanding of the peculiarities of Palmers as opposed to any medical background which I do not have. I will defer to Dr. Eric for that. If I want an expert in Palmer peculiarities, I will defer to my son Eric, who seems so have several.
Yesterday when I went to see dad I helped him get up into a wheelchair to go to the bathroom. As I was helping him up on the edge of the bed, he stated, “I am dying.” I have said the same thing the day after a day of yard work when I was in so much pain that I did not sleep well and it hurt to move. I am not sure if that statement was based on the medical facts and prognosis over the next year or the simple fact that Dad was in pain. He did not have a good night sleep and was tired. I am concerned that he is not sleeping or getting rested.
As of this morning when I visited I was in a line with 11 white coats in front of the room. They went in the room and the group was introduced to Dad. He was asked a couple of question. “How long have you been sick?” Dad’s response, “I do not know, ask my wife, she know my history.” I then stated, “The cancer was discovered about three weeks ago and he has not looked well for the past few months.” He was then asked, “Have you lost any weight?” Dad’s response was, “About 20 pounds.” He was told they were looking as a group how they could help him. Dad’s response, “Good, get me out of here,”
As they left, I pulled up a chair to talk to Dad. He was tired and had a rough night. He said that he has not slept well since he has been in the hospital. He was in pain. Paul, the nurse on duty was checking with dad. He brought him a meter that measures the volume of air that dad inhales. Dad is supposed to use it several times an hour to help him keep moisture from building up in his lungs. I let Paul know that Dad was in pain. Paul asked Dad if it was OK to talk to me about his condition. Dad said yes, that I was his oldest son. Paul asked dad if he needed anything for pain. Dad nodded no. I think this is a typical Palmer trait. Paul asked what his pain level was, one to ten, ten being run over by a truck, one being a walk in the park and five, the worst headache you have ever had. Dad responded seven.
How much pain does a person need to be in and say that they are alright and need nothing for pain? Paul gave Dad something for the pain. He began to feel better and looked less tense. He closed his eyes. I asked him if he was going to get some sleep. He nodded yes. I let him know that I loved him and that I would see him later tonight or tomorrow morning.
Dad is in pain. Pain is part of the disease process that he is in. Dad’s wife told a church compassionate service person (RS Pres. for those that know the terminology) yesterday that everything was going to be fine. That dad was going to Loma Linda, going to have an operation and that he would be home.
As it looks to me, the untrained eye that has not seen the CT scan results, Dad has a mass in him large enough to cause him a lot pain. A mass that, after looking at my anatomy book illustration of the liver and gall bladder, I cannot imagine has not caused some real havoc on the circulation system in the lower center of the liver. Who knows what this havoc has caused on a long term prognoses. I know that we will know more in the future.
The typical Tuesday shave is a little different. You tell the boy to get up and you turn the shower on for him. Then you strop the razor on the linen and then horsehide side. hen you check on the boy and tell him to get up – again. Back to shaving, you wet the face and the brush and rub the Arko shave stick on the face. Start working the Arko into a lather while walking back to the boys room to get him up. A good yell at the boy is safe before you get back to the bathroom ad place the razor against your face.
Once back in the bathroom, you check out the lather and work it into a rich creamy texture. The Arko stick is a wonderful product for this type of application, getting the boy up and putting a good lather on the face. As you pick up the razor you hear that the boy is up so you relax and let the razor slip across your skin laying your whiskers to waste on the way. Once finished with the with the grain pass, you begin to later up for the against the grain pass. The razor then slicks off what is left. You prepare your face for the finish. However, you need to go back to the other end of the house and rattle the bathroom door letting the boy know it is time to get out. Upon return to the bathroom, you apply a liberal amount of one of my favorites from Spain, Varon Dandy to you face.
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