We were so blessed to have a joyful and loving Christmas day with each other. Sam and Angel had moved in back in August, so we got to wake up on Christmas morning all together. We opened presents late into the evening and enjoyed a meal of roast beef with mashed potatoes, and our traditional Honey Baked Ham gifted from my mother, Karen. Before Christmas, Rod was able to meet with his infectious disease doctor and they prescribed him IV antibiotics that we could give him around the clock to allow him to remain at home and not be confined to the ER for days. He had been unable to keep down the pill antibiotics the hospital had sent him home with.

Back in November, while taking care of Rod one day, I looked out in the backyard and noticed a beautiful hawk sitting on our fence. I pointed it out to the kids and they said they had seen it too on the day they returned from Houston. I remembered seeing one on our pool security camera while with Rod in the ICU at MD Anderson. The hawk continued to grace our backyard frequently- sitting in the huge oak in our backyard and looking into our family room window where Rod sat everyday. It was a beautiful sight and he saw it too. One day it flew onto the fence only 10 feet from me while talking to my sister on the phone. It never spooked as I continued to talk and take photos of it. Another day it walked around our yard to hunt.

We looked it up and discovered it was a Cooper’s Hawk. We then researched to see what meaning it could have. Some answers we found were very descriptive of Rod and his journey. In Native American culture, they meant courage and strength. They signify the coming of a hard journey, but with a rewarding end. In Christianity, hawks mean both life and death, victory and freedom, and wisdom and vision- helping people to view things they hadn’t seen before. In the bible, Job references a hawk to mean that all things must happen for a reason. These answers lead us to believe that this hawk was a sign of God’s providence in Rod’s life- sent to us with a purpose.

On the Monday after Christmas, we received the results of Rod’s CT scan from the Friday before. The doctor informed us that his cancer had grown significantly after leaving MD Anderson in Houston. His tumor was now reaching from his liver to his colon, growing into two organs. The doctor sent us home with antibiotics to keep him out of the hospital and allow us to get Hospice fully on board.

New Year’s Eve came and went. We had a small celebration as a family. Alex and Dylan and the kids went to a wedding that weekend for Alex’s best friend that she was the Matron of Honor for. Ethan was the adorable ring bearer and was quite the flirt with the flower girl. The two kids decided to get married as well after the wedding couple said their own “I Do’s.”

Throughout New Year’s Rod was alert and talking, but by New Year’s day we began to notice he was sleeping a lot more and sometimes confused with what day it was, which are conditions of end-stage liver failure. On New Year’s Day he was able to partake of a small amount of pork & sauerkraut, our annual family tradition, to bring blessings for the new year. We are so thankful Rod was able to bring in the new year with us, even though we are saddened by the news that he will not finish it with us. Happy New Year 2023!

Thank you Lord for your everloving grace and comfort as we go through this time together.

I just want to say I'm sorry I didn't realize my Caringbridge updates weren’t posting. Hopefully this new format will be more reliable.

We hope you had a Merry Christmas and have a Blessed New Year!

Christmas is Rod's favorite holiday. Not for the gifts, but for the celebration of the Christ child and all that goes with it. As Catholics we began the Christmas season on Advent, 4 weeks before December 25th and it continues after the 25th ending on Epiphany, Jan 6th. When we left MD Andersen November 21st, we were told he had a few days to a week. As we all know Rod is very stubborn and determined and when he wants something he does whatever it takes to get it. He wanted to spend Christmas with his family, even though he knew his time was limited.

After getting back from Houston, our family found itself shopping for 3 cars at the same time; myself, Tedd & Alex. If you’re interested in the backstory- My SUV's transmission went out while Tedd was driving my car to work. His Jeep had become unsafe to drive the long distance to the factory and I had Rod’s truck as he was no longer driving. That’s two cars down- So Him and Dylan then started using Alex’s car to drive to work, since he was also working at Tesla with Tedd. The morning we were leaving to go to MDA in Houston for Rod’s Drain reinsertion, they were hit by another car and Alex's Equinox was totaled. Luckily no one was hurt, but we were out of cars.

This is all important to know, because at one of the dealerships looking at an SUV for me, we met “J," a car salesmen with a history of liver failure. He was once very ill like Rod, but had found this place in Austin where they gave him a treatment plan that eventually took him off the transplant list and into remission. He took us aside and said you aren't here to buy a car you were sent to meet me. At that time we were also looking at home nurses, travel nurses, home care and even a mobile IV service as Rod desperately needed IV fluids from being severely dehydrated and Hospice couldn’t provide that. This sounded just like what we needed for Rod to give him a little more time and a lot more comfort and pain relief.

The down side was it isn’t covered by insurance and is not cheap. Hopeful for an actual treatment and not just a band-aid, we started it right away with a Myers cocktail. Day by day he got more energy and more mobility and his demeanor brightened. It wasn't a cure by all means but it was what he needed at that time. After seeing Rod before and after I’d do or pay anything even if only a few weeks.

Despite all the odds against him, these treatments helped us make it to Christmas. Christmas Mass was beautiful and we both cried at the songs, I cried when our Priest, Fr. B, searched him out after Mass for a special healing blessing. Deacon M was there too, a fellow Knight, neighbor and really good friend. Christmas day was even more wonderful if done a little less traditional. Rod was here with his kids and grandchildren. We were blessed. It was the best Christmas!

Rod is still stable and doing better than the doctors expected but still not well enough to get around without our help and with a wheelchair. I can't believe its been 2 weeks since the last update. Instead of apologizing for not updating as frequently, I promise to try to update at least a sentence a day and a paragraph a week. One of the difficulties is that the phone is very hard to type on and the page constantly scrolls as you're typing and whole paragraphs being deleted as you type. I'm attempting to just type in a word document and save that. In the past 2 weeks we have had a lot of wonderful family time and have really enjoyed having Nick home from the Navy. The bad news is went back to his command today. Rod was stable enough for him to go back for a little while and he could come back at Christmas.

Sorry I haven't updated in awhile. We have spent the last few days trying to get settled in and catch up on the sleep we lost. I'm still not caught up but Rod's definitely more settled in. All the kids are here and staying in our home, including Nick, who is home on emergency leave from the Navy. They have been a huge help. We are blessed with wonderful kids. So far nothing major has changed with his health other than his BP and other vitals are back to normal, and infection is under control with strong antibiotics he’s taking. Gratefully the Lasix is working and he's lost a huge amount of the water weight he gained (20lbs in 3 days) from the IV fluids they had to give him in the ICU. This has been the biggest adjustment for him as it effects his walking and comfort.

Thanksgiving was wonderful. The kids insisted on doing everything, so I reluctantly gave up control of my favorite holiday and let the kids do everything, well almost everything... Alex had already decorated the house for Fall right before we came home from the hospital. The turkey turned out great and Rod stayed up for most of it. He talked to a lot of friends family that day.

I want to acknowledge and thank everyone for the prayers and well wishes. They are truly working in ways unexpected and miracles abound everywhere!

Flashback: The Beginning

Rod was diagnosed on June 18th 2018. He then graduated with his Masters Degree in Business On June 18th. His first surgery was July 9th 2018 to remove the tumor from his colon. When he was in recovery for that surgery the Dr. said, “Good news is it went well and it doesn't look like it spread anywhere else. The bad news is your neck biopsy results are in - you have Thyroid cancer”. to be continued…

NOTE: I appologize...Somehow the original entry was deleted along with all the comments. Luckily I composed this in a Word Doc first and saved it.

It's late Sunday night November 21 and I don't know where to begin... Last Thursday the 17th, Rod was released from the ICU to a standard care room on the 21st floor with a beautiful view of the sunrise over the city of Houston. Our journey to Houston was supposed to start in this room. What was supposed to be just 1or 2 weeks of recovery from a Biliary drain repositioning and replacement, became a 2 1/2 day stay in ICU fighting for his life. Rod was dying of Septic Shock from the infection within that very drain.

I knew the seriousness of Sepsis... every emergency room visit in the last 5 years began with a Blood infection work-up to rule out Sepsis. The mortality rate for sepsis is 40% and puts you at a much higher risk for future infections.

When we got the diagnosis, I asked the doctor in charge, "Our son is in the Navy and will be coming home Saturday for Thanksgiving week, should he come home early?" Her response was strong, "Get him here now. Get all your children here, now." Rod likely wouldn't make it to Friday. I called the kids, and told them to start packing. I called Rod's dad. I called his brothers and sisters- "If you can, get to Houston now. Rod's extremely sick they don't know if he'll make it."

Our faith has always been important to us, throughout this entire journey, but now more than ever. I called our church and his fellow Knights of Columbus. I called other family members and my family. They were already praying for the procedure, but now they were praying for his life. His Knights planned a rosary for him at their meeting Thursday night. They spread the word to the Church and the Parish prayer group, "Please Pray for Rod and his family. He's now fighting for his life."

He fought hard that first night. His blood pressure dropped so low, down to under 70, that he had 3 oppressors over the course of the night. One of the side effects is your heart rate drops dramatically- his got down to the 40's. His ICU nurse, L, was an angel. She watched him closely and adjusted the blood pressure meds up and down using combinations to keep his heart rate up. The monitors beeped alarms all night long as his heart rate and blood pressure fluctuated. I didn't sleep despite being awake for over 20 hours. Rod slept, but I didn't know if he would wake up the next day.

The next morning, he did wake up. His BP leveled out. His heart rate settled down- not back to normal but safely stable- but the damage was already done. His cancer was no longer treatable, the next infection would likely be his last, and due to the medications used to keep him alive- Rod had gained 20 lbs of water weight in 48 hours.

On Thursday, the doctors were successful at changing his drain but they had to add another one. The infection and spread into a new area and created a protective pocket that was full of infection from the first drain insertion site. He's still on extremely strong IV antibiotics to get ride of the infection that almost killed him.

Tomorrow he is being released to go home; back to Austin into the care of Hospice and his family.

We have been at this battle for the last 5 years. It is now impossible to keep everyone updated with the texts, phone calls, and emails for my husband and family. We are so blessed to have so many people care for us. If I don't say it, know that we feel your love & prayers. I see the reality ahead of us, but I will always believe in miracles.

We will keep you updated as much as we can. Pray for Rod, his kids and his family.