Brothers head home, Marilyn arrives, Dana runs the bus

Dear Friends and Family,
Its about 9:30 now and Nan is resting in bed, watching a Law and Order episode and snoozing, trying to find a comfortable place to reduce pain. She has been able to sleep most of the day down in her chair after the trauma of seeing the guys off this morning.
Dana took Joe and David to the airport leaving about 10:15 this morning, then she and John went to the movies seeing Harry Potter again, then lunch and then they waited for Marilyn to arrive. Marilyn was flying on a pink pass so had to wait for standby on each flight, no problem out of Rhode Island but in Vegas there was no room on the Sacramento flight. So she went to Ontario and managed to catch a seat on a delayed flight to Sac. Of course it did not get there until about 8:30. So Dana and Marilyn are both very tired and we will be very glad to see them home safely. Dana and Marilyn are good friends due to time spent while we were in Boston. It will be great to have both of them here. Nan can't wait!

We will sure be relieved when we know both guys are at Joes for the night. Once they landed they had to drive 4 hours to reach Joes place. Joes health is not all that good and we pray that God will watch over him as he drives home.

It was a very nice time to be with all siblings for this special time. Nan continues to have low grade fever, between 99 and 100 all of the time. The tumor seems to be ballooning day by day but thats probably just me. nan has become very good at using pillows and different positions to alieviate the pains she experiences. She takes Dilautid only when she really needs help and then only 2 mg when she is allowed up to 6. She continues to be a very gutsy lady and her blood work taken monday evening was normal per the lab.

I am trying to get some work done these days but its very hard to concentrate when so many interesting things are going on in the house. Dana has done a very good job of keeping everyone fed, beds made, clothes washed and even got some fishing in. She is an amazing person and reminds me of how Nan functioned when she was well and on her feet, these Nelsons know how to get things done for sure.

I've been reflecting on what it really means to be a care giver. I find the greatest challenge to make the decision to care for myself and not feel selfish in the process about taking time away from Nan's care. Care giving has great rewards and equally causes stress and worry. In our case I have some really people with willingness to give verbal support and be there to listen. Without them I would lose perspective sometimes. Caring people touch our lives everyday and what a difference they make. You help us with every call, every card, every prayer. We do not know the future but we do know we don't travel this difficult road alone.

So this evening I'm tired, Nan is tired and sleeping but soon we wake her for pills, new TPN connection, pump the gastric tube and then hope she can sleep some more during the night. We are often asked how soon AMN might show signs of helping and we really don't have a cluel what to expect. We know what we want, reduction, stability, less intensity but only time will tell.

Good night my friend,
Please keep Nan's tumors and her health in your prayers and we thank you in advice.

So we send our love,

tim and nan and dana and john and marilyn