Ted is happy to be home

PRAISE THE LORD - CANCER FREE

Friday Aug. 20th
Ted went to the urologist today for an appointment. All the testing done during surgery came back cancer free! God is an awesome God!!!
He cleared Ted to drive, he said Ted was doing wonderful.
Larry drove to Roanoke Thursday evening. Darlene and Larry are leaving going back to S.C. on Saturday. You have to know Ted is doing well or his sister would not leave him.
Ted was 5 and I was 7 and Janet was 11 when our parents divorced. Darlene was 15. When our mother had to go to work, Darlene stepped up and care for us. She has never stopped!!!
Love
Penny

Recuperating at home

Wed. Ted is recuperating at home. The home health nurse came today and said he was doing better than she expected. He did take a short walk today with Darlene, trying to get his strength back.

9:30 They just got home. It was a long hard trip. Alot of traffic in Baltimore.
God please cover them with you peace and love.

He is coming home!!!!!

Roanoke; get ready to take care of them the Keiths are coming home. Praise the Lord.

Not much happens in the hospital on Sunday.

A day of healing and resting. Not just Ted but the whole family that is there are tired. It is exhausting on Tammy. She just keeps going. The family is trying to get her to rest, but not always happening. The hospital has said that after Ted is released they would like for them to stay in Baltimore one more day just so he is close. Of course the family wants to get out of dodge as soon as possible.

Dancing is a good thing!!!

He looks so much better

Friday 13th

Friday 13th is not always bad. Today Ted is eating real food, has been disconnected from all the wires and tubes. He has gone for 3 long walks. He has a balcony outside of his hospital room, pretty cool. God is a gracious and loving God. His presence is always with us. He has wrapped this family with love.

Ted's address

Ted Keith
Room 222
The Johns Hopkins Hospital
600 North Wolfe Street
Baltimore, Maryland 21287

Moved to his own room!!!

Thurs. 6:30pm Finally Ted is moved out of ICU into his own room It is Room 222.
In ICU you can not visit between 6:30 and 8:30, so after waiting all day at 6:10pm they said they were moving him. His nurse ran with Ted in a wheelchair to the new floor and room. He had to get back to give his report. Darlene and Tammy are carrying all the stuff and they couldn't keep up with the nurse. A little bit of humor is always good!!!

Hospital is slow

Thursday afternoon: As good as Johns Hopkins Hospital is, one thing is that they are slow. If they say they are going to do an echo cardiogram in the next hour it is usually 3-4 hours. Ted is to be moved out of ICU and into a room this morning, it is 4:00pm and they are still waiting. Patience is needed.

Wed. evening
Just heard from Tammy and Darlene. Ted has been resting. He will stay in ICU tonight and maybe he will get out to go to his own room tomorrow.

Wed.

Ted has been up and walked 2 laps around ICU. He is off the medication that was helping to keep his heart rate up. His heart rate is higher on his own, but is still fluctuating a little so he will stay in ICU one more night. Without the medication he is able to sleep and has been doing that most of today.
Barry and Gloria started driving back to West Virginia around noon. I(Penny) flew back to Cincy this morning, Larry (Darlene's husband) is currently waiting at the airport because now all the flights are delayed due to the storms, not in Baltimore but somewhere. Jonathan (Ted's nephew) and his girlfriend Ashley came to Baltimore on Tuesday evening to see Ted. They took Larry to the airport and then started their drive back to Gettysburg.
Now it is all on Darlene and Tammy. Janet (Ted's sister) and her husband Ron will be there on Thursday evening to stay for several days.
Thank the Lord for families that are supportive.

7:45pm Ted is still in ICU. Hopefully he will sleep tonight because he hasn't all day. The ICU staff is wonderful. They are so attentive and caring. Ted keeps the nurses laughing, telling them stories and jokes.

11:30am Ted is resting, if people are in ICU with him he wants to entertain them. Tammy, Darlene, Gloria and Barry are at the hospital taking turns 2 at a time sitting with him. He is still getting ice chips and water. Medication has kept blood pressure up.

9:30am Ted will remain in ICU today and tonight. Blood pressure is staying up with the medication. PIC line is bothering him. He is still joking, saying he is in charge. Right!!
Nurses and residents are right by his side, very attentive. He is allowed sips of water now.

ICU

7:30am Ted is still in ICU. He is alert and joking with the nurse, Praise the Lord.
They can not keep his heart rate up. They have been trying to do this with the IV fluids all night. Now they are putting in a PIC line in his neck and they are giving him medication that will keep the heart rate up. God is giving Tammy strength, she has slept 2 hours only. At 3:00am she called the ICU and he was doing great. At 5:00 they called her back and said that they had gotten him up and put him in a chair, his blood pressure dropped again and they had to put him back to bed. That is when his pressure starting spiking again. So they started the medication.
Fear Not, for I am with you. Today we are standing on this promise.

Surgery is over

3:30pm Ted is in recovery. Surgery is over. Everything went good. Dr. Schoemberg said Ted's margins looked good. Lymph nodes, urethra, good. Pathology report will be back in a week.
Ted had no complications - so no ICU Praise God
He came through surgery great.!
He could not have the neobladder because he has short small blood vessels in his intestines. Not due to anything except the way he was born.
He has a conduit which is a bag on the outside. This was not Ted and Tammy's first choice. This was very hard for Tammy to hear. But the doctor said you must remember this is cancer surgery and my job is to make him cancer free and to survive.
It will be an adjustment but he can live a full life.
WE have all been impressed with the doctor. He is humble, honest, frank and caring.
Tammy will be able to see him in 1 hour. Then he will go to his room this evening.
This has been a long day of waiting.
Thanks to all of you that has surrounded Ted and Tammy in your prayers.
I will add more this evening.

surgery started

We left for the hospital at 5:00am
Before surgery they let all of us go back to see Ted.
Nick prayed over Ted with all of us joining hands and looking for God's direction. There were 9 of us there. The nurse representative called us the big family.
8:40am the patient representative came and said Ted was asleep and surgery had started.

We are here!

Sunday 8-8-10 We arrived at the hotel. We are staying at the Residence Inn downtown Baltimore. It is only 3 miles from Johns Hopkins. We will be going to the hospital at 5am. Surgery is scheduled for 7:30am. Today Ted was on a liquid diet and he wanted the Italian dressing, he said it was clear and liquid, but Tammy said no.
Sunday evening Eddie Strickland and Nick Shaffer arrived at the hotel. It was a blessing for them to be here.

Prayer is requested

Ted and Tammy are in Baltimore. Surgery starts at 7:30am Monday August 9th. Please start praying for healing and God's direction.

Comfort and strength comes from the Lord

7-29-10 As Ted was waiting for Tammy to get dressed to go for his last test he picked up a Gideon Bible. "I was thumbing through and I stopped at Psalms 23. The verses I had learned as a child has a new meaning. The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me besides still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
I find great comfort and peace in these words. I remember my mother saying, "His words will give you a peace that passes all understanding". She was always right.