"At the Carwash.....Yeah"

HA! Is that stuck in your head now??? Pop is in dialysis again today - shorter session though. The doc wants to jump start the cleaning so he has an extra session today and a full session tomorrow. We are all thrilled that he is home! I fly out there tomorrow to celebrate with my family and I cannot wait! I know that the celebration is for the adoption, but something tells me that it is even more than that! We can all celebrate being TOGETHER for the first time in a long time. That to me is more exciting than anything else at all.

No real updates on Pop, his liver, or his kidneys, but trust me, that ain't bad! I will take pictures this weekend and maybe even post a few for everyone to see.

Love you!

~Susan

Homeward Bound!

Pop is heading home from Cleveland sometime this afternoon :)

He will have dialysis 3 times a week starting tomorrow, but the really good news is that this treatment will be done close to home!! He seemed pretty darn excited when he IM-ed me with the news: "we are going home today!" I almost jumped out of my chair! I talked to mom shortly after and you could HEAR her smiling!

Family reunion weekend - here we ALL come!!!

Happy Father's Day!

Pop had a really good day today. Read that: Pop had a nice, quiet day today :) And well deserved!! Pop was in a very chipper mood today. He is just trucking along like a brave little soldier. I believe Dr. Carey called him a "Stubborn old coot" today hahaha. Doesn't that just say it all? Mom and Pop both seem to really like Dr. Carey, and from what I hear, I dig the guy too!

Pop is off to dialysis again tomorrow. Internal Car Wash here he comes! He might be bringing his little laptop with him, so send him an email or post in the guestbook and say hi. He also has his IM installed on his laptop, so say hello if you have AIM :)

Ok - gonna get going. Not a whole lot to report today, which is fabulous! I will post some more tomorrow :)

Love and hugs...

~Susan

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!!!!!

Officially Grandma and Grandpa!

**UPDATE
Pop is currently sitting through his first dialysis session. This is very good news :) I sent him an email earlier telling him that this is like a car wash for his internals!! Today's session is only (and only is kind of a stretch here) 2 hours. A typical session is between 4 and 5 hours long. They just want to get him started on it today and allow his body and brain to adjust to the procedure. As far as I know of, he will sit through a longer session tomorrow. I will keep you posted! Happy Adoption Day to our Family!!!

---

That is right! As of about 8:15 am this morning, Mom and Pop are now Grandma and Grandpa! The adoption hearing went through with out a hitch and Jennifer and Billy are OFFICIALLY the parents of Jacob and Kyle!! YAY! Congrats to everyone!!! We are all just so excited. I can't wait to go home next weekend and see everyone!

Pop received his Permacath this morning, so he is a tad loopy from the medications they gave him for that. Luckily he is not attempting any weird magic tricks or what not, just sleeping it off instead. He is supposed to start his Hemodialysis today and possibly receive a blood transfusion (nothing to be concerned about). Things are going well, and Mom sounded good this morning. I mean, who wouldn't feel good on the day she officially gets 2 grandsons??

I will post updates as I get them.

Love,

~Susan

Just Spoke with the Mama-Ship

**UPDATE

I just spoke with Mom. The doctor will perform the Permacath tomorrow instead of this afternoon. No real reason why, it's just what they have decided to do. He will be undergoing the Hemodialysis treatment (read about that here). He is in a fairly good mood, especially since he has his little Laptop to keep him occupied :) Mom was on her way to get herself some lunch from the cafeteria while the staff is getting ready to bring Pop his lunch - he is crossing his fingers for a hamburger! haha. As usual - we will keep you posted.

---

Mom just called. Pop is getting his tap on (they are draining the fluid off of his abdomen). This morning he had an ultrasound of his kidneys and later today they will insert a Permacath into his upper chest. This is used for short term dialysis. Dialysis is used to clean the blood when the kidneys are not doing their job. From what I understand, there are two forms of dialysis, so I am not sure as of yet what flavor of dialysis Pop will be getting. From what Mom has read, during dialysis only 1 cup of blood is removed from the body at a time. Isn't that incredible? The hope is that the dialysis will clean his blood and make it all squeaky clean and as a result the kidneys will start functioning (read: behaving) again.

Mom said Pop is in really good spirits today despite a lack of sleep last night. They both send their love and look forward to checking the blog later for your love and support :)

I will keep you all posted as I get news.

Pax...

~Susan

On the Road Again...

Back to Cleveland they go. Mom and Pop were asked to go back to the Cleveland Clinic yesterday around 5:30pm eastern time. Pop's creatinine levels have gone up again this week (kidney function), so Dr. Carey and his team at the Clinic decided that Pop should come up a night early. He was scheduled to go to Cleveland today for a tapping (fluid reduction on the abdomen) as well as a check-in with the Liver team. I have not spoken with Mom yet other than a brief phone call last night to let me know they reached the Clinic and were registering him at the desk.

As soon as I speak with Mom, I will post an update.

Keep those prayers a'comin! I am finding that they work pretty darn well ;)

Love and Hugs...

~Susan

Excitement is mounting!

Not a whole lot of news on the Padre front (which is actually VERY good news!). He has an appointment tomorrow at Mom's hospital to meet with the Nephrologist (Kidney dude). No news is good news as far as we are all concerned.

Pop seems to love his new Netbook, as do Jen and I! We all have one now! haha. Great little buggers for sure :)

The very exciting news is that this Friday, at 8am, is the court hearing for Jennifer and Billy's adoption of the boys!!! We are so excited for them and cannot wait for it to be 610% official that Mom and Pop are Grandparents (hehehe), I am an Aunt (scary), and Jennifer and Billy are officially parents to two amazing little men!

The family who Netbooks together....

We surprised Pop yesterday with an early Father's Day present - a Dell Mini 10 netbook. We wanted to make sure Pop could keep up with emails and news and blogs (hehe) and IM's while he is back and forth between home and Cleveland. So don't be surprised if you see a message on here that he is away from home for a few days but you still receive his emails :)

I also wanted to say that since he is HOME (yay!!) there won't be too many updates going on, since, well, you can just ask him yourself ;) But please, keep the comments in the guestbook coming and leaving those happy thoughts and prayers.

I know he loves reading your notes so don't stop now :) Thanks for all of the love and support and we promise to keep the updates coming as we get them.

Love to you all!!

~Susan and Jennifer

News News News...

So Pop and Mom have been home since Saturday morning and all seems to be well. Very exciting! Yesterday I Skyped with Mom and Pop so I got to see them both for the first time in over a month! It was great! The next month will be (hopefully) filled with STAYING HOME. haha. No appointments scheduled in Cleveland for now, but don't let that fool you - they are super busy at home! Pop has multiple appointments every week to meet with different people in preparation for being listed for a liver. Lots of work to do to insure that he gets listed.

Not a heck of a lot to update everyone on, which is so nice to say! Keep those happy thoughts (cough cough comments) coming and let Mom and Pop know you are thinking about them!

Love to you all...

~Susan

and we have... RELEASE!

Pop was discharged a little while ago from the hospital :) He and mom are staying at the hotel tonight to get used to a non-hospital environment and relax for a bit and will drive home tomorrow. 

Your prayers and happy thoughts are working!! Keep them coming!!

Love to all!

~The Niedbalski Crew

Nothing Too Exciting... But That Ain't So Bad

Hi Everyone...

I spoke with mom briefly this morning. Pop had been taken to another Stress Test, this time with a different method of testing. Honestly, I really have NO idea what that means haha. It sounds like they might still be released today, but mom assures me that no matter what, it will take hours to get out. haha. Apparently because of all of the doctors involved on each case it takes about 6 hours or so to get released. I don't know about the rest of you, but I am way ok with a 6 hour discharge process if that means mom parents can go home for a few days.

As soon as I hear from Mom again and get some more news, I will post it.

I just also wanted to remind everyone that Mom is trying to call everyone back that has left messages on the house answering machine. Just remember that she and Pop have been gone for over a week now, so please be patient. If you have questions, please send me or Jennifer an email at niedbalskigirls @ gmail.com (take out the spaces for this email address to work properly).

Love to you all!!

~Susan, Jennifer, Karen, and of course... Ray :)

More Great News!

It seems that each day I talk to Mom now, I smile bigger and bigger. One thing that we all must always remember is that no matter how good the news is, there is still a very long road ahead of Pop. But here is the latest and GREATEST.

Yesterday Pop's creatinine levels were down to a 4.6 (or close to that). This morning his levels are down to a 4.1! That is right! All of the fluids and medicines are helping his kidneys. This news is fabulous for a few reasons:

1. His kidneys are healing a bit
2. He is closer to getting the heart catheterization that he needs
3. The chances of needing a kidney transplant are getting smaller

Yesterday he met with the physical therapist to start walking a bit. The PT wanted to evaluate his strength to make sure he could get around on his own, or with a bit of assistance. He was cleared to walk with mom! So today they are going on 5 walks! haha. I asked mom if that was PT Mandated or Karen mandated and she said, "A little bit of both." PT said 4-5 walks today so mom said, "5 then." 

I spoke to pop on the phone yesterday and he really sounds good :) He told me that he is eating the hospital food, but he ready to deport the guy who delivers it since it really doesn't taste too good. He said, "It's no fault of the guy, but I am ready to deport him since it tastes pretty bad." I guess he is really starting to miss his "gourmet" cooking at home. haha.

The Gastro doctor and Radiologist told Mom and Pop yesterday that there really isn't any fluid that needs to be drained off of his abdomen right now and the "automatic" drainage that had been flowing (an understatement) from the original drain point has slowed down dramatically. That is, again, very good news.

We are very hopeful that he is on the road to recovery and I cannot wait to give you more updates. It has been a long week at Cleveland Clinic for Pop and Mom, but hopefully they will be able to go home tomorrow and finally just relax. Mom keeps saying, "I really just want a hair cut" so hopefully that will happen for her in the next few days.

We love you all very, very much!!

~Susan, Jennifer, Karen, and Ray

Happy Hump Day!

Hi Everyone :)

What a way to start off a Wednesday! Good news from Cleveland :)

Pop had a much better night last night and got some good rest. He also has an appetite again! Now, for any of you who know my dad (hehe most of you), you know that appetite has never really been an issue with the man. This morning he slammed down some French Toast and really seemed to enjoy it!! Mom says he is in a good mood and I could hear him chatting it up in the background while I was on the phone with her this morning.

The kidney doctor came in this morning and reported a DECREASE in his creatinine levels (kidney function) which is super good news. They are still high, but any creatinine decrease is very much welcome in this journey. 

Mom has become quite the toughy in the past few months. She is now not only wife, mom, and nurse, but also physical therapist! haha. She has told Pop that he will now eat all meals while sitting upright in a chair as opposed to being in bed. She is also planning on taking him for a walk today. Way to go Mama!! Pop was feeling so good this morning that he even called Grandma and Grandpa! 

Right now the doctors are saying that Mom and Pop should be able to go home before the weekend, so we are all shooting for Friday at this point. Of course, that can change at any time, but here's hoping!

Thanks for the support and love and prayers and all that goodness! We love you all very very much.

Remember that story...?

Good Morning Family and Friends :)

Mom told me that Pop had his stress test yesterday. Well, he failed the stress test and will need a catheterization to see where the blocks are in the heart. My father has told me a lot of stories over the years. One story really sticks out to me right now with the news of this "failed" test.

In High School, my father was required to take 4 years of Physical Education classes. This is nothing out of the ordinary, even by today's standards. Now, let it be known that our father (the Padre, Pop, Uncle Ray, Bro, etc...) has never been one to "follow the rules." He has always enjoyed pushing people's buttons and rebelling against everyone - especially as a teen. Well one day in High School, the school decided that it was required of all young men to wear white tube socks to gym. If the youngster failed to wear said white tube socks, he would fail gym. Period. This did not fly well with Pop. He refused to wear the white tube socks. Instead, he told his gym teacher... "If you fail me for not wearing white tube socks, I will come back and be in your class again." Nuff said! Pop passed gym class without the white tube socks.

The point of this well told story? Pop beats the odds no matter what. And I have a strong feeling that this little "Stress" test is just another white tube sock. How is that for a metaphor???

Other minor updates for you all:

The confusion he was experiencing over the weekend was due to the high levels of ammonia in his body. The medicine he is taking for that is working and the doctors are very satisfied with his "facilities" (as mom, the always nurse, calls them). I said, "Mom, in English please?" Facilities are his attitude, disposition, confusion levels, stuff like that. So with the "Facilities" in order, he is going to Radiology today for some more abdominal look-age and drainage. Mom and Pop (and Jennifer and I) are all hoping that he and Mom will be headed back home tomorrow or Thursday.  His spirits (also part of the "facilities") are better today although he is pretty wiped out. All of that poking and prodding and laying in bed makes a Man pretty tired you know.

I will update as I hear more. I have heard that this blog has reached more people than I expected and I am so glad to have you all reading this. Jennifer and I try to keep everyone posted as much as possible as quickly as possible. I know it seems that I am writing all the posts - but you have to remember - she has 2 (yup, 2) sons now and they are on summer vacation! haha. So while I am typing away in Colorado she is chasing "J" and "K" around the backyard :)

You can read Jennifer's blog about the boys if you want to: Our Two Little Men.

Hugs and Love to everyone!!! And remember - Pop would LOVE to see any comments, thoughts, love, prayers, whatever in the "Guestbook" on this site. He was pretty excited when we told him about this blog, so send him some goodness :)

Love to you all!!

~Susan, Jennifer, Karen, and Ray

Good Morning from Rainy Colorado....

Hi All - 

It is raining here, again. Lots of rain recently - very strange indeed. But, it is nice to have green grass and trees in this desert for a change, so I will take it!

So updates on Pop - it was a tough weekend with some strong high points though. Let's start with the good stuff. Denise and David (mom's sister and brother) made the long drive from NJ to OH to visit with Mom and Pop for a few days. They were very welcome faces for my parents and they had a really great visit. I can't thank Denise and David enough for making that trip to spend time with Mom and Pop. Mom told me that they had a great visit and that having some familiar faces around really makes a big difference for her and my father. So THANK YOU!!

He was admitted again to Cleveland Clinic last week - Wednesday - when they decided that he should not go home with the blockage in his intestine. Luckily (and this is the WEIRDEST thing we have EVER been thankful for) Pop started FARTING! Yup, that is correct! Mom gave him a high five when he finally passed some gas. Now, coming from experience, I can tell you that my father's flatulence is nothing to be celebrated, but this is a HUGE exception! Passing gas means that the blockage was and is clearing and his intestines are moving - ON THEIR OWN! YAY!

Pop's been a tad uncomfortable the past few days. The draining of his abdomen was very helpful last week, however, the wound created to do the draining has been leaking quite a bit on its own. The doctor stitched it up, but the draining continues. The doctors have scheduled another manual drain for today. Pop was in quite the mood on Saturday... his ammonia levels are high which causes confusion which leads to some frustration and irritability. The doctors prescribed some medicine that starts with an "L" (I have NO idea what it is called) that is lowering the ammonia levels and Mom reported that yesterday Pop was heading back to his normal attitude and was much "perkier." This is awesome news! For one, it means that the doctors knew what was causing the mood swings and that his body allowed the medicine to work. YAY!

His kidney levels are still very high, but this is to be expected. No real news or updates on the liver or the kidney at this point. On the schedule for today is, hopefully, an abdominal fluid draining, but also a stress test for his heart. Since he is very weak, and we all know about his ankle (wink), the stress test will not be the typical, "Do laps on a treadmill, sir!" Instead, it will be a drug-induced test. Now, I am not sure what that really means, but I can imagine that it means the doctors will medicinally speed up his heart and other organs and test how they handle the stress. Like I said, this is just my guess as to what will happen. 

Pray for more farts and less drainage!! (wait, does that sound weird??)

Love to you all!!

~Susan