Dick Nelson Dick Nelson42

Welcome to Dick's CaringBridge website.  You all know how much he loves to talk and text and since he has been pretty wiped out lately, we are using it to keep family and friends centrally updated. We appreciate your texts, calls, support and words of hope and encouragement. 
Dad and mom went to South Carolina and spent most of October with Jeff's family.  The boys played a lot of golf - Tom was there as well- but towards the end of their trip he started having leg and back pain.  When they got home, a MRI was arranged and from it we got some unexpected and shocking news on Nov. 15. They found metastatic cancerous tumors on four vertebrae; one of which was pretty large on his L5/S1. From there, through the help of God and some dear friends and family, we were able to get him connected at Mayo with a hematologist/oncologist. Dr. Hayman called dad on Thurs. 11/18 and ordered bloodwork and a consultation appointment for Friday 11/19.  His diagnosis is Multiple Myeloma. If he can battle through these current setbacks we are hopeful that treatments will make this cancer manageable even though it's not curable.
After his consultation, he went home with some tests scheduled for the following week but landed back down at Mayo on Saturday 11/20 with intense pain.   He spent 4 nights in the hospital and had a covid positive test upon admittance (mom was home with covid).  The hospital staff had to deal with that, and dad was not allowed to have visitors.  You all know how social he is so this was very tough. He was home for Thanksgiving which was nice for him and mom. His pain and overall situation deteriorated a bit each day and he ended up being admitted at Mayo again on Monday 11/29. The mass on his lower spine was pressing on the nerve that controls the bladder, bowels and legs and was/is causing many of his issues. He stayed 9 more nights and underwent 5 radiation treatments targeting his L5 tumor. He was able to have 2 visitors for this stay- until the last 3 days when he was put in isolation again. He was having fevers and delirium and they didn't want any new germs entering his room. He also contracted pneumonia during this period, but got through that as well as covid. The treatments and pain meds made him extremely weak. He has needed daily pain medication which makes him very tired and out of it.  On Wednesday, December 8th, dad came home weak and pretty immobile.  His pain is still present, he is sleepy and very foggy.  We are taking things one day at a time. We are grateful for the team at Mayo and that he's being treated by some of the greatest doctors in the world.
Our hopes and prayers are that the tumors have shrunk, and he regains enough strength so he can start his much needed chemotherapy.
I (Jeff) recently saw dad's daily prayer book; currently there are 77 people he was praying for on a daily basis.  If you are reading this, odds are you have been in his prayer book at one time or maybe even today if you're lucky ;).  We are asking you all to pray for him now and also for strength for Viv. 
Thank you so much and we will update you all here when we have something to share. 
God bless. Feel free to leave him any well wishes. He will love it. We are grateful for each of you and the love  and care you have for our dad.
~ Jeff, Ann, Amy and Tom