Family and Friends, a special fast

Just wanted to let you all know, our family is having a special fast for John's Dad tomorrow, he has had a miserable week and is very weak and in a lot of pain. Please keep him in you prayers as you fast this Sunday. Thank you again for all your love and support.

Update

Last week Dad was fitted with a port cath in his chest and has been feeling pretty well, just very tired. He has calculated that a bag of platelets last him about 2 1/2 days, before he needs more. His platelets stay around 10,000-20,000 normal being about 150,000. But he is in good spirits, going crazy sitting still and his normal self for the most part.

Another Update

Well Dad has finished his first round of Vidaza and is now just receiving platelets, his platelets are not holding up as well, as we have seen them before but Dad is in good spirits although very tired, a common occurrence with leukemia. We continue to pray and hope and appreciate all of you who have done so much!

The Results

On Wednesday the family met with Dr. Ford and Ladee from LDS Hospital. Dad was given 4 options. None of them were good options but these are what we have been given. Dad has chosen to go with a medication called Vidaza, it is a shot that is given seven days in a row every 4 weeks, with the hope that he will be able to be at home and these shots are given on an out patient basis, he may also be able to recieve the shots at McKay Dee, so not as far to travel. The hope and prayer with the medication is that it will either slow down or stablize the leukemia, giving Dad more time.
It was a very sad day for the family, but there were as always many sweet moments. It was very touching to see many nurses, orderelys, and doctors pass by and see Dad and just have to make sure that they stopped to see him and tell them how much they love him. He was a "model" patient for them, because he was never sick with the chemo, so they always wanted to be assigned to his room. Besides the fact that he is always very interested in their lives and what they are doing. We stood and waited about twenty minutes for his groupies to finish with them so we could go. It was very touching to see how much these wonderful people love Dad.
Dad joking as always was teasing about getting a refund since the cancer returned. Those of you who know Dad, know that is very typical of him. We all laughed through our tears.
We are entering a new time with Dad, it is very bitter sweet we are now realizing how extremely lucky we have been to have this time, so many wonderful things have happened. We are very much looking forward to the family reunion in July and hope Dad will be in good health to attend which he has promised he will be.
We would once again ask you to be very careful when visiting Dad, please make sure you are not sick, as his immunity to disease will be greatly decreased, I know that the masks, gloves and sanitizer will be at the house, the gloves are extremely important because as you know Dad will always shake your hand, we are just trying to hold on to him as long as we can. We are so grateful for the love and prayers that have been offered in Dad's and the families behalf, please remember to include Mom in those prayers, as her health is not very good either and this as you can imagine has been very difficult for her also. We thank everyone so much. All our love,
The Bankheads

Some Hard News

On Friday, Dad received the news that his AML has returned. Right now he is getting platelets and we will know more on Wednesday of this week, when the family has a meeting with the Doctors. Keep those prayers coming I know Dad really appreciates them we would also like to ask for prayers for Michelle Dad's Niece (Dee's Daughter) who is battling her own health issues right now and we want her to know, our thoughts and prayers are with her and her family. I will update more when we know more. Thanks again

A Cruise, a trip to lakeview, and a Happy Birthday

Well Mom and Dad enjoyed a fabulous cruise to the Mexican Riviera a couple of weeks ago. However, on Sunday Dad had a pain in his leg and after some internet searching by Karen and some coaxing and threatening, Dad was taken to Lakeview Hospital and it was determined he has a blood clot in his leg that runs the length of his leg, Right now he is on Heperin (sp?) and Cumadin. He will be in the hospital for a least a couple of days. I will update more when we hear! Thanks Karen for being so stubborn!! Oh and Happy Birthday to Dad who turns 76 today!! Shame its happening in a hospital! Love you Dad!!

Update on Dad

Well I know there hasn't been much to see on this blog lately but like I said no news is good news at this point. I have wonderful news. The Dr. told Dad he is in remission!! That's right his levels have stayed up long enough and he is fighting back so well. He told Dad to live his life the way he wants. So him and Mom are going on a cruise shortly to the Mexican Rivera. They are both really excited. So yeah!! I will keep this blog open for news and updates, but the posts might be few and far between. If you have google reader I would put this blog on there that way you can be updated if there is a post. Hope you all have a wonderful new year.