… dad update

Thank you to all of you who commented & emailed me your prayers & best wishes for my Dad (& me). They were felt & so appreciated.


It has been two long days - but Dad is home & will be great pals with his recliner for a couple of days. I'm being 'nurse', as for the first 3 days, there is icing & dressing & ointment every hour - on the hour on his left eye & cheek. . I went into Dad's bedroom this morning to find that the left side if his face had dried blood tricking all over it.  In the middle of the night, he tried to lay in his bed for a bit - but his head was not raised up enough & it gave the blood the opportunity to eek out.) It scared me at first - but wasn't so bad - so now he's back in his chair (& happy to be there!) . . . & will need to make it home for the next few days.


As he was in prep for his eye surgery - I did get to see how much cancerous skin/tissue had to be removed by the dermatologist the day before. . . & I must say I was a bit surprised. His cancer was only the basal cell kind (the least scary) - & yet because it was in an area right next to his eye & cancer is such a stinker - they had to remove a lot more than they thought. At first they thought that it would be the size of the tip of a pinkie-finger & maybe a few layers of skin. . . but they ended up needing to take an area about the size of a large thumb & also down more layers into some cheek tissue. They also had to take the outer corners of his eyelid - as the cancer went right up to his eye. (Sigh.) There is nothing they can really do to tell if the cancer has affected his eye yet - that will be a matter of time. Yesterday, the plastic surgeon did a great job making a flap to cover the opening. . . (yea for Dad being 82 & having sagging skin under his eyes!) & she had to stitch the outside of his eyelid closed a bit - so he will have one smaller eye for at least the next six months. But - our bodies are amazing & hopefully the surgeon will be able to undo the stitching on his eyelids after the six months. 


So,. . . I went into all that to also say - please use sunscreen when you are outside. Cancer is real bugger, & even if you are diagnosed with what is supposed to be a mild formation. . . it doesn't necessarily stay that way. You can ignore it, & if you don't take precautions. . . it will be the nasty thing that it is & go for it.


Okay. . . sermon over. Thanks again for all your prayers & please keep praying for Dad. . . he's always been such a 'dapper' guy & snappy dresser. . . & this change in his appearance won't be the easiest thing for him to adjust to. Hopefully he will soon feel good enough so that he can get out into the yard (with sunscreen & his hat!) & baby all the beautiful plants that he has nurtured all around the yard. (Like the Texas Ranger along the side of the driveway that has been blooming like crazy with the rains we have had this summer - photo above.)


For me. . . Getting ready for all this helped give me the push to get another new quilt top done this week & for the next few days it will be pattern writing time. . . & website updating time.


Hope you have a wonderful weekend! Thanks aging for visiting & for all your prayer & wishes. . . they do mean so much!

♥ Bren