Donnie had his port removed 8 days ago.  All his cultures came back negative, but the site still looks pretty rough.  The redness has diminished a lot, but the skin at the site is still very wet looking, and is still oozing blood.  A stitch let go on day 2, so part of the site is open.  The site hurts him quite a bit, and keeps him from walking, or visiting very much, as he cannot afford for someone to even touch that spot on his shoulder, or move any skin that might move that area.  Just having his skin move on his right shoulder hurts him.  It hurts the area to move his right arm to dress, open a door, turn his head, take a shower, walk (it jars the site), etc.  He’s pretty much “over it.”

His PICC (peripherally inserted central catheter, inserted in his arm and goes to his heart) is in place in his upper left arm.  He has had nerve pain in his upper left arm from the insertion procedure for about a week, but that is improving.  He finishes his IV antibiotics this morning, which is good.

He has been off chemo for 3 weeks, and his hair seems to be growing back again. We laugh about that a lot.  His appetite is GREAT, and food tastes DELICIOUS again.  That is such a huge praise.  He wants to get out and walk, but his old port site is a pretty big problem for him.  He tries walk and move about, but it only lasts for about 15 minutes, then back home where he can relax and rest.  His shoulder keeps him tense, as it hurts quite a bit.

Donnie is in pretty good spirits the majority of the time.  This port site problem has worn him down a bit.  He has been fighting every minute of every day for more than a year now.  Please pray for his right chest port site to heal, for the nerve pain in his left arm to resolve, and for continued strength to fight.  He continues to improve in small, but very important ways.

Psalm 28:7  The Lord is my strength and my shield;  my heart trusts in Him, and He helps me.  My heart leaps for joy, and with my song I praise Him.

We thank the Lord for your prayers for Donnie!  When our inner being can become weary, we are grateful for the words of encouragement from the Word and from family and friends.  We continue to praise God and be grateful for this time we have had with Donnie, and if God willing, we will have more time with him to enjoy the most important part of his life here on earth . . . the love of his family and friends.  He’s always had that priority straight in his life!!

1 Corinthians 13:13  An now these three remain:  faith, hope and love;  but the greatest of these is love.

Love,  Donnie & Tina