Update from the man himself!

Well, cancer hasn't "Barry'd" me yet, but it has had a major impact on every aspect of my life.  I had surgery (esophagectomy) on the 4th.  As I waited on a bed in the hallway outside the operating room, a resident approached and removed the mask covering his beard.  To my surprise, it was an old friend who I had gotten to know when he was a student in a BYU ward that I served in about 12 years ago.  It was a great relief to find out that he would be assisting in my surgery and subsequently performed the first half of the surgery.  The surgeons removed 2/3rd's of my esophagus and then fed my stomach back behind my heart, reconnecting it behind my collar bone.  My former stomach is now a tube, replacing the esophagus.  This will make eating a new challenge, but I'm grateful that I can still eat and live a fairly normal life.  The Dr's also discovered another blood clot in my right arm in addition to the PE in my right lung.  Hopefully the blood thinners will quickly resolve these clots. The hospital stay was challenging as the tests, medications, and hospital care, made it difficult to sleep.  In those rare moments of quiet, I couldn't stay awake to be able to visit or even check email etc.  I sincerely appreciate all of the thoughts, cards, emails, etc, etc, etc, through this entire process.  

I was released from the hospital on Thursday afternoon and have been at home getting some much needed rest.  Lisa is a great nurse and I am extremely grateful for her love and support through this challenge.  My daughters and their husbands have also been a great and I am very appreciative of their love and support.  During the surgery, they did remove and test some lymph nodes.  They did find the cancer in one of the lymph nodes which may require additional chemo treatments down the road.  We meet with the oncologist in a few weeks to determine the best course of treatment.  

We have witnessed many of "The Lords tender mercies" over the past few months and have much to be grateful for.  I am so grateful for the many friends who have offered their support, friendship, example, and love over the years.  I have been so fortunate to have so many wonderful people in my life.  I can't thank each of you enough for being the great people you are.  Thanks for the impact you have had on my life. Hopefully we are at the end of "blog updates" and can move forward in getting stronger and back to normal.

Hospitals are no fun!

Hey all! Just a short update on how dad is doing. He has been moved from the ICU, but he's not up for visitors at this time. He's pretty sore today....that will happen when you have your insides rearranged! He hasn't gotten much sleep since his Christmas tree aka IV pole makes lots of noise and the nurses have to take his blood pressure and things all night. He tries to sleep when he can but if you've ever been in a hospital you know it's next to impossible! He was up and walking a couple laps today which was great. They do have him on a little bit more of his liquid diet which basically looks like baby food in a bag. He is really looking forward to eating some real food. It is still going to be a long and difficult recovery but he's getting better day by day. He is really just trying to focus on recovering which is why he won't be answering calls or anything for a while. We appreciate all the love, sweet messages and prayers on his behalf! We love you all!

The road to recovery

Dad is doing very well today! His ribs are sore from surgery but they have had him up and walking today which is great! Lots of pain but its manageable. He is a little sleepy due to the pain killers but at least he remembers more today than he did last night! We found out today that dad doesn't remember his beauty shot....bummer it's a keeper! Haha All in all he's doing very well and even surprised the doctors by how well he's doing. They still won't allow visitors until Sunday and if you do plan on visiting please contact my mom first so we can make sure he's up to it and let you onto the floor. Thank you all for your prayers and well wishes!

Post surgery

Thank you for all the prayers and well wishes. Things went very well. It took about 8 hours or so but it seemed like way longer to us. He is awake but drowsy and already back to his joking self. He's a little dry mouthed and hates his oxygen mask but he's doing well. We even got in his close up beauty shot as you can see. :) The doctor said that he didn't have a lot of scar tissue build up so it was a lot easier than his previous patient. He took about 2/3 of the esophagus and part of the stomach so now it's reattached towards his collarbone. He said everything else looked good as far as no more cancer but we will hear for sure from the pathologist on Monday or so. He's got a couple chest tubes and a feeding tube so he won't be able to eat or drink for about five days. They will keep him in the ICU where he won't be allowed any visitors so please don't plan on visiting until at least Sunday or when he's home. If you would like to visit you must call my mom first so they can let you in because he is in a lock down facility. They plan to get him up and walking tomorrow but he will spend at least a week in the hospital as he recovers.  We feel extremely blessed by all the love and prayers we have felt today. I know heavenly Father was watching over our family today and we all felt that as we waited those very long 8 hours. If you would like to get a hold of either of my parents we ask that you do it by email or Facebook while they focus on his recovery. Thank you again for all the love, support and prayers!

Pre-surgery craziness

Hey there family and friends! I know I said I probably wouldn't post again until after surgery but we've felt so much love and concern about dad. He is doing well, just very  extremely busy. He will be admitted into the hospital tomorrow morning so he is just trying to get everything situated with his company before his absence. If you would like to contact him please do so by email or Facebook and he will respond as soon as he can. We feel so overwhelmed with all the love and support and can't thank you enough. You are more than welcome to check with my mom or I if you have any questions or concerns or are wondering how to help and I promise to post if we need anything. I cannot express how grateful we are for all of you and your prayers on behalf of our family

Surgery Date

Friends and family we finally have a surgery date! Dad will be having an Esophagectomy on Thursday February 4th. He will go into the hospital the night before and then have the surgery at 8:15 on Thursday morning. He will be in surgery for at least 8 hours and will spend two nights in the ICU. He will not be allowed visitors while in the ICU. He will then be in the hospital for at least a week. He should be able to have visitors by Sunday February 7th. Please call or text Lisa if you'd like to visit as dad will not have his phone available. He will not be able to eat while in the hospital so please don't bring him any food. Thank you all for all the love, support and prayers. We feel overwhelmingly blessed! I will update once the surgery is over and will let you all know how it goes!

Surgery

I apologize for not having updated sooner but things have been a little busy. We found out recently that dad has a pulmonary embolism in his lung which has caused a lot of coughing. After a pet scan revealed no clots, the doctor put him on some medicine to help dissolve the embolism and pushed the surgery date back four weeks. The plus side was that the pet scan showed that the Chemo and Radiation had done it's job. Dad was wanting to look for a new surgeon with more experience in this particular type of surgery. After looking through the options he has found a very experienced doctor that has decided to move the surgery to February. After some testing we will know the exact date. We appreciate the continued love and prayers on his behalf. I will update as soon as I know the date of surgery.