SR-24

This is the first time I've seen this thread. I read all of it and it sounds like Doug has tremendous courage and is a fighter. My thoughts and prayers are with him, Leanne, and their families. GOD Bless!

Lady X

Our thoughts and prayers are with Doug, Leanne and their family.

Let's all keep the prayers going, they are stronger than we all know. as someone with parents who are cancer survivors it's a "for life" illness, that makes you thank God for each and every day you have.

God bless you Doug on a speedy remission.

SHARKEY-IMAGES

SR-24,

I will be adding an update tonight to my website.
Here is a link to a page I built for Doug's progress: http://pages.zdnet.com/sharkeymarine/id42.html

He has come a long way...

Unfortunately right now he is back to having hard times....

SR-24

Sharkey, I'll keep checking in and keep the prayers coming.

SHARKEY-IMAGES

Thanks SR-24!

The site has been updated.

Here is the most recent information I received from Doug's wife Leeanne this morning....


Doug continues to hold on and fight. No athlete I know of could endure what he is going through and remain as steadfast and focused on his goal. I stayed with him until 6AM and then went home to change and go back. He's in renal failure but the doc believes given time and with Doug's sheer willpower can possibly bring them back. He'll be having another round of dialysis today then more plasmaphersis. They infused 2 more compacted units of red cells and 2 more bags of plasma. He was still bleeding freely from the groin area where they put the catheter in that dialyzes him. He was having difficulty breathing even with oxygen so I requested that a doc come up and see him. Doug is understandably very anxious and said so (the reason for the out-of-breath feeling). The doc said there was no significant fluid in his lungs or around his heart. They took some x-rays to confirmed that. He asked for some Jell-O around 2:30 AM which we stole from another floor.

I'm sorry I can't call each and every one of you, especially you Lisa, Kelley and Dan. Please know that I care and that I'm trying the best I can to be there for your Dad. With a little bit of luck, lots of love and a whole lot of prayers - we can get him to Seattle yet. No one is giving up - especially your father.

Thank you everyone for your role in our lives.

Leeanne

SHARKEY-IMAGES

I just received this:

July 8th, 2004


Hi Everyone:

Today was an extremely ugly day that could have been a lot worse. Most of you know that Doug went into respiratory failure while having dialysis early this AM - only a few hours after I left him at 6 AM. They put a ventilator tube down his throat immediately and rushed him into surgery. The doctors performed a new procedure using a very slim gizmo to find the source of where his liver was bleeding AFTER injecting dye into him. They found the source, which coincidentally was the site of his liver biopsy and plugged it with a special foam. Afterwards they installed a drainage tube in his upper abdomen to relieve the area of the accumulated blood that they had been transfusing into him. By doing this it allowed his lungs to return to their proper position and he could breathe. Doug is currently in ICU in a chemically induced coma on a ventilator (to give his lungs a break from the trauma they've been going through since last Saturday). This happened almost without warning and we are fortunate that they were able to figure out the problem instantly.

The doctors are pleased with their handy work and are optimistic about his recovery. He is stabile and looks wonderful (compared to the past several days). His skin is normal now in color and is warm instead of cold and clammy. I was told even though he couldn't respond to me that he could hear everything I or anyone else was saying so I told him he was doing great and that everyone loves and wants him to get better soon. A tear rolled down his cheek. He will not remember any of this when they bring him out of it.

Please don't come visit yet he's far from out of the woods. As I said he is in ICU and visiting hours are strict and limited. There is no point since he is not in any condition to talk. The plan is to continue dialysis and plasmaphersis throughout the night and after 24 hours bring him out of his fugue to assess his mental state. If he is coherent enough they will remove the ventilator and let him breathe on his own. Everyone is cautious and with good reason. In a few days they will begin a new regiment of chemo. Hopefully this one will work better than the last two.

Thank you all again for your prayers, emails and phone calls. I'll try to keep everyone updated as I learn more.

Leeanne

Steve 1

Man!!! God Bless I Pray for the Best.

My Regards

SHARKEY-IMAGES

Thanks Steve1.

Another update from Leeanne:

Hi everyone:

Another long day in ICU. Doug is still on a ventilator. The doc said less is more right now for him. He remains stabile and looks great (all things considered). Today they did dialysis and plasmaphersis again and gave him another 4 bags of platelets. His IGa numbers are coming down and his kidneys are beginning to produce. Another surgeon insisted they remove this silly little tube they installed to take blood samples with. It has been a major problem since they put it in - it leaked like a sieve and a lot of the transfusions went in his arm came out there. So they put a 10 lbs. sand bag on Doug's groin to stem the bleeding. Finally a doc got smart and deleted both the problem (bleeding) AND the sandbag!

They installed a feeding tube today and will give him something to eat tonight. Doug hasn't had any food in 2.5 weeks due to tests that required an empty stomach then he got that awful thrush that closed his throat down - then of course there was everything that happened this week.

They lowered his oxygen level on the ventilator as in beginning to wean him off of it. It will be a few days yet but he is doing incredibly well.
The nurses said he responded a bit last night (in their words he was extremely agitated) during repositioning him and he wasn't liking it - A GOOD THING!

I'll keep you posted. Thanks again to you all for your support during this stressful time.

Leeanne

Steve 1

Sharkey I just read that last post and Wow..I am speechless thanks for keeping us informed I pray for the Best..
My Regards

SHARKEY-IMAGES

He wouldn't be Doug if he wasn't b-i-t-c-h-i-n-g about something!

So to me, that is a "Good Sign"...

Let's keep them prayers coming...