Understandably tired.

Dad spent the day up at Jen and Rich's doing some sort of fantasy sports league draft. I just talked to him and he sounded tired but I'll chalk much of that up to the exhaustion we'd all probably feel after 8+ hours of baseball statistics...

Mom sounded equally tired after a day of grandkid wrangling :)

Tara

The slow recovery

Bit of a setback this week. Since Tuesday, Ron has had a bladder infection related to the post-surgery catheter. He's on antibiotics and hopefully they'll kick in soon. For the moment, he's taking lots of naps between intermittent bursts of activity.

Probably not the best days to visit at the moment, so give a call first.

Oh yeah, and he's sick of the rain.

thanks- Tara

Best possible news

Ron met with his surgeon today. The pathology report came back with no signs that the cancer had spread into the lymph nodes. This confirms the diagnosis as a type 1a cancer. Beyond regular scans, he will need no further treatment.

Physically, he is doing really well. I went for a walk around the block with him the other day, and its amazing how seeing him in normal clothes makes him look like a person, not a patient. He is off all pain medication and slowly recuperating from the after effects of major surgery.

Emotionally, we have all had a terribly tough week. We lost a dear friend suddenly and are doing our best to cope.

It only makes me more grateful to have the love and support of all of you -my extended friends and family.

Love, Tara

Ron is home

Thanks everyone for their love and support. Ron made it home tonight (despite bad traffic) and spent the evening with friends and family, followed by bed... :)

Please call for updates. I'll post if anything changes.

Love you all and thanks for your thoughts and prayers-
Tara

Freedom!

Ron is scheduled to be discharged this afternoon. I'm sure he's looking forward to getting home.

Not sure when he'll be up for visitors, so give a call first.

Tara

TGIF

Today, Jen visited with JP and he was fascinated by the demolition of the hospital next door.

Bodhi, Frank and I came up on the train to say hello. So far, Bodhi has eaten most of Pa's available snacks... Oatmeal bar, pears, OJ, and lemon drops. Apparently he likes hospital food

Bodhi offered up 1/3 of his bean and cheese burrito, so I guess it's a fair trade.

Ron's chest tube and IV are out and he's taking a shower right now. It looks likely that he'll come home tomorrow-

tara

Visiting Update

Looks like Ron will be in the hospital at least through Saturday. His chest tube is still in and they aren't sure whether they'll be able to take it out tomorrow.

I know many of you are interested in visiting. Give Tere a call on her cell to see if he's up for visitors. Her number is 562-234-6867

Tara

Thursday's news

Just talked to Dad. His voice sounds strong but he's tired. He had a tough night last night, throwing up. Probably from the medication, though apparently the food "sucks" too.

Jen is visiting on her lunch break and brought a much-appreciated smoothie, my mom is there, and Richie is expected to visit this evening.

Ron's room has changed to 6797 and his new view would delight JP - lots of heavy construction equipment.

Probably no the best day to visit - sounds like he'll be trying to get some rest this afternoon.

Tara

Wed 3/9

...so i visited the ron-man today. well, for someone who just had a third of his lung removed less than 24 hrs. ago, he looked and seemed damn good. voice a little hoarse but strong. sleep-deprived from, what i would guess, a great deal of poking and prodding, he was lucid. and though there's been a bit of a learning curve on his pain management (after all, as ron himself would put it: "pain is just another way of feeling"), his sense of humor remained fully intact...

...inquired around the ICU if they had a 'soft stinky cheese' IV at the ready for him, but to no avail...

...also, and of particular note: post-op, in ICU, drugged, only 66% lunged, unrested, being constantly pressured/reminded to find the light of Scientology, ron-man is still beating everybody else in his nba fantasy league (i'm sure this doesn't rankle jake at all, ahem)...

...feel better, ron-dog...

-frankie

Wednesday update

Hi all-

I was not up in LA today, but here's the latest. Frank went up to keep Tere company, and Jenny visited during her lunch hour. Tere will be joining Valerie for dinner later.

Ron is doing fine. Since being told by the doctor to push his pain pump button more often, his pain is now under control. The morphine is making him a bit "loopy" and throwing off his sense of time though.

He's still in ICU (with a huge window and an amazing view of the LA skyline and the Scientology building) and is expected to be moved out as soon as a room is available. Brief visits are welcome, but he is still tiring easily, so keep that in mind. His current room is 6111 which is likely to change either tonight or tomorrow morning.

Right now he is doing regular breathing treatments to increase his lung volume and Tere is on her way to Baskin Robbins to deliver the patient chocolate chip ice cream...

Tara

Doing Well

So Mom, Jen and I got a chance to see Ron in ICU. He was remarkably chipper. Sitting up in bed, talking, not in much pain. He's expected to remain in ICU tomorrow and then get transferred to a regular room.

Thanks everyone for your love and thoughts. I feel so relieved, and have appreciated all the support.

Love, Tara

Surgery update

We were just updated. Ron did well in surgery. The pathology did come back as cancer, so the right lower lobe was removed. He's now in recovery and will be transferred to ICU where we expect to be able to see him around 7pm.

Later pathology tests will let them know whether he needs further treatment.

Ron will be in the hospital til Friday or Saturday.

Lunch break

Ron just headed into surgery - accompanied by a team of nurses, anesthesiologists and residents and surgeons. He's in good spirits. Tere, Tara, Jen and surprise visitor Dennis Carroll have just ordered lunch at Umami. Thanks for all the calls, emails and messages!

Messages for Ron and Tere

The easiest way to reach Ron or Tere is by sending them an email to ronsievers@yahoo.com or teresievers@yahoo.com.

You can also post to the blog itself, but that's a bit trickier :)