Welcome to our CaringBridge website. We are using it to keep family and friends updated in one place.
We appreciate your support and words of hope and encouragement. Thank you for visiting.
After fighting what was assumed to be pneumonia for about 1 month, we convinced dad to look deeper and
request further testing. A CT scan was ordered and on 4/9/2019 a lung scan showed a large mass (Cancer).
Additional tests revealed that the Cancer had moved to the brain, liver, and lymph nodes. Not good.
Dad was diagnosed with Stage 4 Small Cell Lung Cancer.
His future was 2 to 3 weeks without treatment and possibly 12 months with.
He opted to try 4 Chemo treatments with Immunotherapy.
4/24/2019 First Treatment
As treatments were administered his appetite slowly went away and his diet became almost
100% Ensure protein drinks. He has been a warrior and very independent other than needing
many rides to and from appointments. Cousin (Nephew) Jeff Taplin took on the almost daily task of getting
dad to and from appointments. We are forever grateful to Jeff for stepping in and taking such
great care of dad. Not sure what Tom and I would have done without Jeff.
We have watched a stoic, strong man of 225 lbs slowly become depleted and now sitting
at about 170lbs.
His signature gray mane is gone and he actually looks a lot more like me (Nate) than
most ever realized. (I've been very hair deficient since the mid 90's).
He has tried very hard to stay at home and not be too much of a burden to anyone but, a fall
and recent bad news that the cancer in the brain is not cooperating, has forced us into
24 hour care.
He is at the Atrium Care Center in Ellsworth, WI room D3 if anyone would like to visit or reach out in any way.
The family has been blessed by so many offering encouragement and well wishes. Thank you for that.
Now we take things day by day and try to give him as much external activity as he can handle but
he runs out of gas pretty quick.
Take Care all and we will try to get his iPAD working so he can read any posts that are made
by those of you who choose to leave one.
You can do that by selecting “Well Wishes”
on the home screen.
Love, Peace, Blessings..... The Place family