Well, it took us all day, but I finally got dad out of the hospital and home. A medical student helped remove his last drainage tubes in the afternoon, and we left around 5pm. I drove him to Georgetown and mom met him at the door at 5:30. It was a happy moment for us […]

10:00am
The answer to my question of how hard it is to sleep in a chair in a hospital room is - VERY hard. I got to sleep around 1:00 AM, and was awakened when they came in to take blood at 3:00 in the morning. I ask you, did they really need another blood sample so desperately […]

It’s Sunday evening, and I’m sitting here in Hollie’s hospital room. I came up this afternoon so that mom could go home and get some rest.
First, the news: Dad looks great. All of his IV tubes are out, and he is only taking pain medications by mouth. Today he walked around the nurses’ station 11 […]

Dad continues to get stronger. He’s in a private room now, and the doctors say that his recovery is going well. The very difficult effects of the medications are getting better as well, but he’s still not completely lucid.
I’ll be going to Temple tomorrow and will spend Sunday night with him. I’ll give you a […]

I spoke with Janan today, and she told me that dad had left the ICU and was in a semi-private room. I think he will have a private room as soon as one opens up. The doctors have checked in and are pleased with his recovery.
Janan says that he is still not completely over the […]

8:00pm
Dad is still in ICU because they are waiting for a room to open up. He remains heavily medicated, so it is unclear how much he understands. He opens his eyes and talks a bit, but he doesn’t seem to understand much of what is going on.
Janan called me and said that the doctor told […]

12:30am - It’s Over
The surgery is over, and it was a complete success. They found no evidence of the cancer having spread to other organs, and they were able to remove all the cancerous lymph nodes, both in dad’s neck and in his chest. Further, they did not damage the nerves that control the vocal cords, so Hollie […]

I apologize for not updating the site more quickly. Here’s where things stand:
Dad has had a number of tests, most of them were seeking to determine if the cancer has spread to other organs – liver, kidneys, etc. So far, those tests have all been negative. We’re thankful for that, of course. I should tell […]

Dad had a pet scan today. They injected him with a radioactive glucose solution and then watched to see if the glucose was attracted to any cancerous places. This is a way to determine if the thyroid cancer has spread.
Unfortunately, we did not get the results of the test. We thought we might, but we […]

In September of 2006, Hollie went to his physician because he had been experiencing hoarseness for several months. The doctor took an x-ray and noticed that his esophagus was pushed out of place. Suspecting some sort of growth or malignancy, he referred Hollie to a specialist.
A cat scan revealed thyroid cancer. There are several kinds […]