Memorial

Dad's memorial service will be held Saturday, December 10, 2011 at 2:00pm at the Wynne Chapel at Highland Park Presbyterian Church in Dallas.

It was Dad's preference that in lieu of flowers donations be made to the Texas Aggie Corps of Cadets Association.  A fund has been set up in his name, and donations can be sent to:

Corps of Cadets Association

1134 Finfeather Road

Bryan, TX  77803

Please reference "Jimmy Johnson" in the memo line of the check.

Forever Loved

This morning at 2:00 am Dad took his last breath comfortably and peacefully in his home.  He showed no signs of suffering or struggle, and for that we are all grateful.

Memorial service arrangements have not yet been made, but I will try to post the information here as soon as something is settled for anyone interested.

He will never be far away, always in our hearts.

Homecoming

We have entered a new chapter in our saga.  Today, after almost 3 months in the hospital, Dad came home from the ICU.  We are transitioning to an in-home hospice care situation.  Dad is very weak and tired, and while he isn't really able to speak he can hear and respond to our yes/no questions.  We are incredibly happy to have him comfortably home, and I think he is also happy to be here.  So far we have had excellent and responsive care from the Community Hospice of Texas staff.  We are also unbelievably grateful to Dr. Jerry Moore ('63 and Lucky 13 original member).  He has been with us since early this morning helping the transition go as smoothly as possible.

Here is a photo of Dad in his bedroom right after arriving home this morning.

Here he is resting comfortably a few hours later.

We continue to be so thankful to all our friends and family for your phone calls, texts, thoughts and prayers.

Thanks for checking in.

B.T.H.O. Cancer and Iowa State

Here is a photo from this weekend.  Dad and I watched the Aggies beat the hell outta Iowa State.  We all keep doing what we can to help Dad beat the hell outta cancer.

The good news so far is that Dr. Chang reports he is NOT seeing evidence of CSF (cerebrospinal fluid) leakage from the scalp.  The lumbar drain seems to be doing its job and keeping that fluid away from the brain and maximizing the healing environment.  If all goes well it could be removed this week.

As anyone would expect, Dad has been exhausted.  Six brain surgeries in a year can really take a toll on a person.  His body is working overtime to heal, and that doesn't leave a lot of energy for much else (besides cheering on the Aggies).  Even talking is exhausting for him, and I don't have to tell you that talking has never been an area of weakness for Dad.  Although he isn't able to contact everyone and check in personally, he is so appreciative for the many voice mail messages and cards and words of strength and encouragement that keep flooding in.

Thank you.  From all of us.

Well, You Got Any Grapes?

Dr. Chang has bad news and good news.  The bad news is that we have to go ahead with surgery number 4 to attempt to repair the dural leaking.  The good news is Dr. Chang feels confident about the outcome of surgery number 4.   This surgery, scheduled for Monday at 1:00, will include the work of a plastic surgeon.  Instead of synthetic material the doctors will use a bit of vascularized tissue from Dad's right rhomboid muscle to create a flap and close the opening where the prior tumor resection surgeries have occurred.  Dad says it's Aggie plastic surgery because only an Aggie would have a plastic surgeon work inside his head where no one will be able to see it.

Dad continues to get excellent care here at Medical City Dallas (by the paid staff in addition to Yolanda).  In spite of their excellent care, Dad says he's seen better looking nurses in the Medical Service Corps--most of whom were "broke down army sargents".  One nurse in particular is referred to as a "two-faced water buffalo".  I don't know about all that, but I'm so happy to see that in addition to his appetite, dad has not lost his sense of humor.  In that spirit I will leave you today with one of dad's favorite Willie Nelson jokes.

Did you hear about the duck that went into the bar and said, “You got any grapes?"  And the bartender says, “No.”  

So the duck leaves, and then comes back the next day and says, “You got any grapes?” The bartender said, “No.”  

So the duck left, then came back the next day and said, “You got any grapes?”  The bartender said, “No.  I don’t have any grapes.  I didn’t have any yesterday, and I didn’t have any the day before.  And I won’t have none tomorrow.  If you ask me again, I’m going to nail your feet to the bar.”  

The duck comes back the next day, and says, “You got any nails?”  The bartender says, “No.”  And the duck says, “Well, you got any grapes?”

"One Tough Dude"

"I'm one tough dude," my dad told me this weekend.

He is still in the ICU working on properly healing his dura.  He is able to sit up in bed and he even got out of bed and rode around in the wheelchair last night.

I promise he was way more excited about it than he appears to be in this photo.  Dr. Chang has a lumbar drain installed in his back to divert fluid that may otherwise go into his head and inhibit healing at his incision points.  This is the drain:

So far it seems to be working.  There was evidence of a small amount of fluid leaking from his scalp on Friday, but I think Saturday it was dry.  No update yet today.  Dr. Chang says if it's leaking early this week he will consult with a plastic surgeon and see if a fourth surgery is necessary to stop the leaking.  Right now we are taking things slowly and hoping that another surgery can be avoided.

As usual, Mike and Eleanor are always here for support, food and fun.  From 6:00 pm-8:30 pm the ICU kicks all visitors out and makes them go home and take showers or something.  We had a nice cocktail and dinner.

This morning, either before or after the "one tough dude" comment, Dad put the hurt on some doughnuts and Starbucks.

That's what I call tough.

Thanks for checking in.

Horizontal to Vertical Progression

Photo courtesy of Uncle Mike

Dad has gradually gone from propping up in bed to full scale sitting up in the ICU recliner to watch the Aggie game yesterday.  I guess the Ags needed him to stand up E. King Gill style, because they lost to the OSU Cowboys by one point.  Nevertheless, he told me Saturday was the first day in a while that he cared what day it was, and that he drank his coffee from the cup because "you don't drink coffee from a straw".

Today he told me he's going to ask my aunt Eleanor to bring him a # 4 (or was it #11?) from Mi Cocina.  Good thing brain surgery hasn't affected his appetite.

Thanks for checking in.

Farmers Fight...cancer.

In my dad's attempt to beat Lance Armstrong at...well, anything...he had his fifth brain surgery this past Friday, September 16, 2011.  You may recall that in May he had surgery to remove a cancerous tumor that had regrown after an initial resection the previous September.  Since the second surgery this May, dad's dura (the lining of the brain) has had some trouble healing properly.  The surgeon attributes this to weakened tissue, an unfortunate but not uncommon effect of radiation.  Because the dura can't heal properly, Dad has suffered some leakage at his incision points.  Dr. Chang has now gone in three times to try to effectively suture Dad's dura.  (Disclaimer:  this is all as I understand things.  As I am a third grade teacher and not a brain surgeon, I may have some of these details wrong.)

This go around Dr. Chang has ordered Dad to lie supine for a total of 5 days to minimize any pressure in his brain.  As you can imagine, this is not a fun way to spend 5 days, especially 5 days post brain surgery.  Naturally, Dad is a trooper and willing to go to every length necessary to beat the hell out of cancer (ay).  His horizontal confinement should end Wednesday (9/22/11).  After that Dr. Chang will monitor the healing of Dad's incisions carefully and slowly before he gives any orders to release Dad from the ICU and/or the hospital.  My dad will have to learn a whole new way of existing--at least for a little while:  go slow.  This really is a foreign concept to Dad, so forgive him if he seems cranky.

He will probably be a little out of phone and email commission for a while, so maybe I can try to post updates here a little more regularly so all of his fans can keep track of his progress.

Thank you in advance to everyone who checks in on him and sends love, prayers and support.  He appreciates it greatly, and so do we.

Here is a photo of Dad on Friday, pre-brain surgery number 5.  All smiles. 

Farmers Fight.

What do we do when we're at the beach?

Here are some samples of our daily escapades.

Garen shows Jacob and David some fishing tips and tricks.

Hannah helps Gema bake Rachel's birthday cake.

Rachel & Jacob skype with family back in Austria.

We rinse off a lot of sand.

And wear sun protection (while looking glamorous).

We drive to Apalachicola to have lunch at the Owl Cafe.

We draw on their tables, but they still let us come back every year.

We are like heat seeking missiles for ice cream.

We make sure to point out places of local history and culture.

Most of all we just enjoy being together.

Smiling Bob's

Here at the Cape we are staying at Smiling Bob's house.

I'm not sure who Smiling Bob is, but he has a very nice house.  It has bedrooms:

This is the room Hannah and I are sharing.

This is Rachel & Andy's room.

This is the boys' room.  I did not end up with photos of the VIP suite where Eleanor & Mike are staying, but I will rectify that shortly.

Here is the living area.  It is very large and comfortable.

Hannah soon will find out that conversations with Garen make much more sense when you are enjoying a Red Stripe.

Here is our porch:

And our boardwalk straight to the Gulf of Mexico:

Like a Band of Gypsies

Friday morning (ish) our party of 7 set off from Dallas on a road trip to culminate in Cape San Blas, Florida.  Our goal was to make it Daphne, Alabama the first day, and the rest of the way to the Cape on the second.

Rachel, Hannah, David and I rode together in Rachel's rented luxury vehicle.  It was supposed to be a Cadillac, but it was actually an Infinity.  We weren't complaining. 

Mike, Eleanor, Jacob, two bikes and lots of luggage rode in Mike's truck.

There was much singing and seat belt guitar playing.  At the end of both travel days we all pretty much felt like this:

We made it safely and are all very excited to be here.  I'd write more, but the sun has just come out and I believe it's time to put on my sunscreen and hit the beach!

Remiss

I have failed to adequately document the Burgers' visit here on my little blog.  Tomorrow we leave for Florida, and I'm sad to say that due to unforseen circumstances, Jimmy and Yolanda won't be joining us.  I will try to be diligent in updating about our adventures to make them feel like they are right by our side the whole way.

Meanwhile, here's a brief update of what we've been doing the past three weeks:  Eating.

As a representative example of our epicurious adventures, here are some scenes from Rachel's birthday lunch at Smoke restaurant in Dallas.

According to one review I read, "...if you're looking for a hipster's interpretation of barbeque, this is it."  Be that as it may, I say it was good eatin.