Robert "Sandy" Sanderson Robert

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Our family has started this page to keep family and friends informed about my Dad's current health condition.  To say it has been a roller coaster the last several weeks would be an understatement.   Sorry this is so long...just trying to be thorough.  Hopefully most journal updates will be quick and clear.


Many of you know my Dad has been living with skin cancer for over 20 years and CML (Chronic Myeloid Leukemia) for roughly 8 years.  The GREAT news is the skin cancer has been and is under control AND the CML is in full remission!!  He has COPD and is on oxygen 100% of the time and also has Cardiovascular Disease.  We tend to call him the Dad Cat with 9 Lives but he HATES cats so we just call him TOUGH!! 


Unfortunately back in October of 2019 he began having several dizzy spells with falls and also began retaining fluid--NO NOT BUDWEISER :)  He was admitted to Mercy hospital for about 6 nights in October to drain the fluid.  GREAT NEWS!!  He was home feeling great.....but took a turn for the worse and was taken via Ambulance back to Mercy in early November.  Turns out they drained the fluid too quickly causing numerous problems.   Several tests and some changing of medications took place and he was released after only a couple of nights.  Things went well for a couple weeks and we all thought everything was going in the right direction.  Well you guessed it...dizzy spells got worse and there were several falls so he was admitted to Buffalo hospital for a couple of nights and released once again with no real answers as to what could be causing these dizzy spells.  His vitals were all GREAT!   He was excited to have us all together for Christmas so that became our main focus.  Well on December 23 as my Mom was preparing him for bed (this is about a 45 minute process which involves moving only roughly 25 feet from couch to bed) she stepped away for about 10 seconds while he sat on the edge of the bed with strict orders not to move!!   For the first time in over 50 years he decided to HANG UP HIS SHIRT which was on the ground!!  If you thought I said he was going to LISTEN for the 1st time in over 50 years you must not know him well!!!  Within seconds he ended up hitting his head, twice, on the corner of the night stand and was laying in a bloody mess.  My Mom was steps away but stayed calm as she has through ALL of this and called 911 and he was rushed to the hospital.  Keep in mind this was not just the night before Christmas Eve BUT also the night the MN Vikings embarrassed themselves on national TV against the Packers and apparently my Dad was pretty mad and turned on re-runs of Johnny Carson :)  Long story short....after several hours in the ER getting cleaned up and checked out they were home by 6:00 am Christmas Eve morning.  My Mom was a  ROCK STAR and had everything ready and you would never know she had also been an around the clock nurse for the last several weeks.  The house was beautiful, the food was amazing and the cookies addicting.  Christmas was amazing with LOTS and LOTS of laughs!  We LOVE our family.


As a pilot would say we were in a holding plan for the last few weeks with my Mom getting him to some doctor's appointments and he had home PT visits.  That brings us to today, Tuesday, January 21, 2020 (3 days before Dads 85th Birthday)!  My Dad had a scheduled appointment with the heart doctor in Buffalo so Greg and I went out to help my Mom get him to and from the appointments, ask questions and try to get to the bottom of what is causing all the "dizzy" spells.  During EVERY hospital visit he never experienced these which became frustrating for all of us.  Well today was different.....he had one at the heart doctor's office and after visiting with the doc it was decided to admit him to Buffalo Hospital to figure out what on earth is going on!  Luckily the hospital is attached so we got him to his room and his caregivers told us we could wait in the family lounge while they got him settled.  Perfect!  It took a bit but they came to get us and said he was settled....BUT.....they explained he experienced some "issues" while getting him settled.  FINALLY!! My Mom, Greg and myself were all thrilled that medical professionals saw this "episode" happen first hand.   We learned these episodes are called "Syncope" (SIN-ko-pea).   Tonight he will be undergoing CT Scans of the head, neck and chest.  The doctor is concerned that his carotid artery is blocked...but if that is the case this could be fixed.  So that is where everything is for now.  We all went to our separate homes as we left Dad so he could get these tests done and some much needed rest.  From this point on I will update his condition with journal entries!  Praying for great news and answers for my Dad.   We are all so thankful for the well wishes, visits, prayers, meals, ect! 


BTW....I did get scolded for bringing him a butterscotch shake from Culvers tonight!  Oh well...it was after it was gone and he did request it so can't say no to DAD :)