At home

Steve is catching up on sleep this morning after a long ordeal in the ER. We arrived home about 11:45 p.m. and fell asleep about 12:30 a.m. (Betty and Sarah took care of Katie and Cooper last night while we were away.) Steve was happy to eat breakfast with Katie and Cooper this morning before going back to bed.

The official diagnosis is atelectasis lung bases with mild hypoxia. That means that some of the little pockets of air in his lungs have collapsed. He has been directed to practice deep breathing throughout the day and blow up balloons to open the lungs more. We are to pay close attention for shortness of breath as well as pain or hot spots in his calves (which could indicate pulmonary embolism).

I spoke with his oncologist's nurse this morning. She suspects that the atelectasis is caused by the tumor. The tumor is sitting in a crucial area of the brain. It's damaging nerves that communicate with essential systems, including respiratory.

We continue to pray that the radiation therapy and chemotherapy are killing the tumor cells and that his body starts to repair damages in the brain stem.