Dave had his appointment today at UNMC. His CT scan revealed that he has 2 golf ball sized pseudo cysts on his pancreas. Dr. Stothert said hopefully they will not become a problem. Occasionally pseudo cysts are not a problem; however, if they do become a problem Dave will need a surgery to attach the cysts to his stomach or intestine so they can drain. The pseudo cysts are filled with pancreatic fluid. Dr. Stothert gave Dave the go ahead for a normal "bland" diet. Yeah!!!! Dave was excited to hear this news. And no more TPN! Dave will have another appointment on May 5th. Thank you for your continued prayers! Happy Easter! We are so thankful we celebrate a risen Savior!

Dave got a phone call from the doctors at UNMC, he gets to be on a full liquid diet, and he is really excited!!! That means cream of wheat, tomato soup, milk, yogurt, and lots of other yummy foods! So far so good. He is still receiving IV nutrition at night. The CT scan is still scheduled for Friday. Thank you for your continued prayers. We serve a mighty God!

Dave had an appointment in Omaha today. His labs have continued to improve. With the physical exam Dr. Stothert felt a rather large hard area that could be a pseudo cyst. Dave will have a CT scan next Friday, April 22nd, to take a good look at the pancreas again. They have allowed Dave to start on clear liquids! He had a Sprite in hand before we were out of Omaha! His pancreas has tolerated the liquids just fine, PTL! He still is on IV nutrition at night and has lost 15 lbs. We will let you know the results of his appointment and CT scan.

Dave is home! His home health care nurse has been here for 6 hours and just walked out the door(its 11:30pm). Within the PICC line, there are two lines. One of those is clogged, probably from Dave's last dose of lipids. She has been trying to get it unclogged. It isn't a problem at this point, just more of a inconvenience as Diane will have to stop the TPN and give him the antibiotic and then start the TPN back up again. If both lines were working, the antibiotic and TPN could be done simultaneously. Hopefully tomorrow at 7:30am when she comes back, the line will be cleared. Dave has a check up appointment scheduled next Thursday at UNMC. He will be monitored by the doctors at UNMC on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday by labs taken by the home healthcare nurse. It will be decided at a later date what the permanent solution will be. Thank you so much for your prayers.

Dave gets to go home tomorrow, PTL!!!!! He will continue with the IV nutrition; therefore, arrangements need to be made for home healthcare. His WBC is at 19,000 - headed in the right direction! Pancreas enzymes are high, but stable. He will have blood draws done by home health and will follow up with an appointment at UNMC a week after discharge. Praise the Lord for such great news! Thank you for your prayers!

It was mentioned today that if Dave remains stable, he could possibly go home! He would still have the TPN (liquid nutrition through PICC line) and a home health care nurse would come out every day. Dave will likely have the TPN for a few more weeks to allow the pancreas more time for healing. Dave went outside for 30 minutes today. Although it was windy, it was still very enjoyable.

Please continue to pray for the healing of Dave's pancreas.

Praise Dave is making great progress and is still hiccup free.

Monday, April 4th

Dave felt good today! He does not have the hiccups and has not had any breathing episodes since Saturday night. Yea! Not having hiccups/breathing episodes is also greatly appreciated by the nurses since every time he had one, his heart rate dropped to 50, which set off his heart monitor alarm and always made the nurses scurry around. Dave has lost the 25 pounds of extra fluid. His white blood count is 26,000. His pancreas numbers are still high, but have not increased. The doctors have decided that Dave no longer needs the heart monitor and blood draws are now being done every other day! All good news!

Dave's white blood count is down slightly to 31,000, all other labs remain unchanged. The last two days, Dave has been nauseous and dry heaves a couple of times a day. Throughout the day, Dave's temp was 99, but it slipped back up to 101 this evening. The doctors allowed Dave to unhook from his heart monitor for 30 minutes so he was able to go outside and enjoy the beautiful weather. Dave really enjoyed it and is planning on going outside again tomorrow.

Please continue to pray for healing of Dave's pancreas.

Praise that Dave did not have the hiccups as often today.

Dave wanted us to post a note from him....

Thank you for all your responses to my blog. They are a tremendous source of encouragement to me, to know that my Christian friends and relatives and people I do not even know are praying daily for me. God is giving me a positive attitude to get through this as I know that pancreatitis will take time to heal. God bless each of you.

Dave

Thank you for your prayers, we truly appreciate them and believe in the power of prayer!! Please pray for Dave's mom, she was admitted to the hospital last night in Lincoln. Please pray for Inie's healing, she is pretty weak and found out she must be on dialysis.

After this morning's x-rays the doctors said Dave needs to be on TPN for a minimum of 2 weeks. That means no more food by mouth (only water) and they had to put the PICC line back in. This news was pretty discouraging for Dave. The doctors feel food taken orally only disturbs the pancreas more and it just needs a break in order to heal. They are doing this so they hopefully don't have to do surgery on the pancreas. Dave's WBC is down today to 33,000. The doctors said the TPN can be administered at home IF Dave's WBC, pancreas enzymes, and other important "numbers" become more stable at a normal level.

Praise!

• Dave was able to get some uninterrupted/rarely interrupted sleep this afternoon!
• Dave didn't have as many breathing episodes today!

Prayer Requests:

• Dave's mom will regain her strength.
• Dave's pancreatitis will settle down.
• Dave will only be on his 'TPN diet' for 2 weeks.