Exhausted! 11:30pm Friday

Good evening everyone. Ill give you a quick run down on Dad today... The docs said that he had a very high heart rate this morning and they needed to work on getting it down. They decided to "shock it down" which was very successful. That was quite a scare for us today... after that was taken care of by the very dedicated team of doctors, they decided to move forward with putting in the larger stents to help drain the bile which is causing the infection. That was also successful. Per doctors order... we are back in the hotel resting and looking forward to the results of the procedure and whether they can remove the tumor. Dad is resting in the ICU tonight in good hands. Thank you everyone for all your thoughts and prayers... please understand if we have not returned some of your phone calls. Our cell phones are our main connection to the doctors and we need them as open as possible. Keep the prayer train going... Deb, Brad, and Matt

Latest Update 1:30pm

Ok everyone... Dad went into surgery about 30 mins ago. They are giving him larger stents in order to drain the bile more effectively. We will have an update this evening when we know more. Afterwards they would like to put him into ICU if they have room to keep an eye on his heart rate which is side effect of all thats going on. So thanks to everyone who has sent flowers to his room! Please hold off until furthur notice as we are homeless for the next few hours and they do not allow anything in ICU. Thanks for your prayers... We need as many as possible.

From Brad and Deb

Well, Dad (Jim) went to bed along time ago, and we're soon to follow. He's on antibiotics today to help fight the unknown infection, which is quite common after Tuesdays procedure. Tomorrow is the same procedure that was done on Tuesday. The "radiation intervention" team will be withdrawing the stints slightly (which were put in place to drain the bile). They will then reevaluate the situation to see if they can safely remove the tumor. It's a big day, so please crank up the prayers another level!

Mom and I are going to stop in the hotel sports bar and see how the Brownies are doing. Oddly enough, it's nice to hear dad snoring, so let's hope he gets a good night sleep.

Thanks to all of you that have forwarded to us the information you've found regarding this type of cancer and it's treatments. Plans are already in motion for "Plan B".

from Debbie

What a nightmare. But knowing this enormous web of friends is praying for us and keeping us in your hearts makes me feel stronger. Sometimes I feel it is a bad dream and I will wake up and find that none of this is even real. My boys are my rock. It makes me so proud to see them take control and "do what Jim would do for us"...we will continue to search every avenue no matter where it takes us. We love you all. We are constantly updating Jim whenever anyone contacts us and you have no idea how it warms his heart. He seems better tonight. He is actually talking with the boys about how bad the Browns suck. His procedure on Friday will tell us what our next step will be. Know that the Ruttenberg twins are not giving up! They are awesome. Good night all. Deb

Walking Around

Hey everyone... Dad is up and walking around the hospital. You know how much of a busy body he is? Our next step to pray that he is able to get his surgery on Friday. Yep, surgery is a good thing here... We are fortunate to have one of the best docs for this in the world and he is very aggressive and wont take no for an answer! We will give you an update tomorrow. Sweet dreams pops!

Still sleeping.....

1st Update

Hey everyone, first we just wanted to say thanks to everyone for your thoughts and prayers during our difficult time. We will be updating this blog whenever we have an update for you.
Jim is in Tampa General Hospital with bile duct cancer. As you can imagine it has been a big shock for us given his healthy manner. At this point they have done surgery to put in stents in his upper bile ducts in order to help drain the bile. That has relieved some of the pressure of the bile building up in his liver and his system. At this point they are waiting on some of the inflammation of the ducts to go down in order to go in and remove the tumor... they will attempt this either on Friday or Monday. Jim is on pain medication at this point and sleeping ALOT! Tomorrow (Thursday) he should be a little more awake and able to talk more. Thanks again for all the thoughts and prayers... keep 'em coming!