I am scheduled to start easing back into work next week. I continue to progress and feel stronger each day. Some days I start out really strong then run out of steam around 1pm to 3pm. But this will get better as time goes on.
I have an appointment with an Oncologist on April 8th to find out what my cancer treatment will be. The surgeon said to expect that they will start treatments as soon as a week after the initial appointment. I’m not looking forward to it — but I am ready to get on with it and get it behind me. I’m hoping there will be some flexibility in the treatment frequency as I would like to take advantage of the spring and take a couple of trips (as well go to Alumni).
I have started getting out and around lately, taking Paige to school and peeking in at the office from time to time. It feels good to get back into some type of rhythm and sense of “what was.”
The girls are doing great, Paige is back in school from spring break and Emily is ready to break down the doors to spend all day every day outside (regardless of weather conditions). Allyson is just ready for me start changing dirty diapers again 
Once again, thanks for the wonderful comments, thoughts and prayers.
Some new pics of the fam:
Check the rest out on my flickr page: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mattspringfield/
Below is my attempt to try to reconstruct the “lost month.” Some of it I remember too well, some of it I don’t remember hardly at all. I went back to try to piece together all that went on. Not sure if it makes for good reading or not — but it was good for me to put things in order.
I am progressing slower than I thought I would, probably due to the fact that I started this recovery in such a weak state. I am getting stronger though and this weekend I was able to go see “Horton Hears a Who” with Allyson and Paige. I’m just so use to being able to jump in and do anything that I want/need that it’s hard not being able to be the one to fix things, or help etc.
Nancy (my mother-in-law) took the above picture before she left on Sunday. She has been such a huge help. Thanks so much — we couldn’t have done it without you!
Recap of Events:
2/5 — After a long day at work, I notice that I am very short of breath, pale and just not feeling well. After I came home I told Allyson how I was feeling and that something didn’t feel quite “right.” At about 6:30pm I started passing very large amounts of blood. I went on to the emergency room and Allyson had to finish feeding the kids before they could come up. Come to find out — there was no hurry. After sitting in the emergency room for 4 hours (while continuing to pass very large amounts of blood) I was finally taken back. They drew blood and we waited. At about 1am, I sent Allyson home as she was still battling with an awake baby and Paige was really tired. Sometime in the middle of the night they told me that I had lost an “impressive” amount of blood and that I needed blood immediately. They gave me an ng tube to get everything off of my stomach. They started 2 units of blood on me at the same time (eventually gave me 3), moved me to ICU and scheduled an upper and lower scope for Feb 6th to determine what the cause of the bleeding was.
I had my first follow-up appointment yesterday with my surgeon and he was pleased with my progress. I am getting a little stronger and my diet is getting a little more full with each day. I still feel pretty run down in the evenings from being weak, but hopefully that will change soon. I am supposed to visit with the oncologist closer to the end of the month to find out what my cancer treatment is going to look like. I’m nervous about what all that will bring about, but I’ve just got to get through it.
It’s still great being here with the family and Paige will be on spring break next week. Unfortunately we will be hanging out here at the house
Thanks again for all of the prayers and well-wishes.
I wanted to give a brief update and let everyone know that the weekend has gone well so far and things continue to progress with no major issues. It has been so nice just to be around the family again even if we didn’t do much this weekend. My pain level is low and my diet slowly progresses. My weight is down to about 169lbs (what a diet plan eh?) It is still a challenge to not be concerned about things going right — but I’ve just got to keep the faith I’m working on going back through and documenting a day-by-day recap of events. This is really just for me to try to piece back the past month which is just a blur to me more than anything. But I am thinking about posting it when I am done.Once again, thanks for the thoughts and prayers…..lets keep up the momentum!
It’s so good to be home! We left the hospital yesterday at about 2:15pm and so far, so good. Matt’s system seems to be running at a steady idle. We won’t step on that gas pedal for a month or so. HUGE thanks to all our family and friends who have been helping us in so many different ways. We couldn’t have come this far without you. Thanks also for all the emotional support we’ve received. It has kept me/us strong and focused. Before all this started, I kinda felt like a hamster on a wheel and our day-to-day seemed so tedious. Now, I feel like God had been saving me for something – a task that would require me to be stronger than I ever knew I could be. It was crucial for me to stay strong and positive and never miss a beat: for Matt, so he could be confident and know he could fight through it, and so I could be his strength for him during those toughest parts; and for Paige and Emily so they wouldn’t sense any feelings of doubt. Not coming from their Mommy anyway! So here’s a little something I jotted down about all this – a little soapbox time – take it for whatever it’s worth.When life is tedious or you feel like a hamster on a wheel remember this – God is saving you for something. Don’t lose sight of your inner strength and know you are capable of MUCH. Life tries to wear you down in so many ways. Try to realize that those are actually the little things that give you strength and as you get through these little things day by day, you gain strength. When a huge hardship sneaks up on you, don’t let it knock you down. This is your chance to use all that strength your soul has been preserving. Pray you hear God’s whispers. He WILL get your attention even if that means he’ll have to shout. And, take just a minute every day to be grateful for everything you have. If you can walk but can’t run be grateful you can walk. If you can run, do it; and be very grateful. Love your children but especially give them plenty of reasons to love and respect you. Someday you’ll need them more than you could ever have imagined and you’ll one day reap the benefits of the qualities that you took the time and effort to instill in them.Thanks again for all your comments these past weeks!Love,Allyson
Wow, what a month. Yesterday I had the absolute pleasure of coming home to my family from my most recent visit of 12 nights in the hospital. It is so great to be back home — we are working very hard to make sure that I get to stay home this time
I cannot even begin to explain what this type of experience does to a person. How going from a perceived healthy individual to spending the past month in the hospital, not being able to be with your kids, your wife/best friend and not to mention you feel bad and you are scared. I hope and pray that my healing continues so I don’t have to go back in for a very long time.
Your individual comments, thoughts, prayers, gifts and help have each touched myself and my family in a massive way. I pray that each of you realize the impact of this reaching out has had on us during this time.
I look forward to a sense of normalcy and the ability to spend time with each and every one of you in the future.
I will work on posting progress updates frequently.
God Bless - Matt
Well the ng tube is finally gone along with Matt’s fantasies of turning into a unicorn…or elephant. And he is completely IV free! They’re starting him on solid food very slowly. Really, just to give his innards something to process. Believe me, we’re keeping all our fingers and toes crossed.
Matt is down to one line…meaning the only thing going in him is a bag of liquid nutrition and no tubes or hoses sucking stuff out of him! And, the doctor can unhook his line so he can put regular clothes on and snake the line through his sleeve. So anyone who has been waiting to visit can know the “gore factor” is just about gone. He’s at Washington Regional Hospital in Fayetteville in room 5101.
Comments now enabled…
Late last night Matt was moved out of ICU and to a regular room! Also, all day yesterday his ng tube was clamped for 8 hours at at time and he never threw up. You might think his stomach is empty but the body is constantly producing “gastric excretions”, the stomach is constantly producing bile and stomach acids, and the linings of stuff like the esophagus, trachea, etc. are always producing mucous to keep themselves moist – all this goes on even though no food has gone into the body ( even for this duration of time ) – an ICU nurse explained all this to me. So all this stuff will collect in the stomach and eventually pass through the small and large intestines. So, provided that all is good, this is what Matt produces in the toilet for us to get so excited about. Hopefully today the ng tube will be removed but I’m sure that will depend on how his night went. As far as I know, he still hasn’t thrown up. Even with that tube clamped for 8 hours at a time. This is such good news because it means all that “stuff” is going through him (not finding a “dead end”). Thank you all so much for your comments – especially you sick minded jokesters out there…we are always in need of a good laugh to lighten the situation (yes, this includes Matt too). Sorry your comments haven’t been posted yet – I’m still working on figuring out how to do all this. Apparently I have to approve the comments first (it can get spammed). I should get it all worked out today though.