Sunday again....

This last week has gone like a whirlwind.....

Late last Saturday Phil was admitted to Warragul Hospital after having a major bleed on his brain, which caused a stroke.

The doctors didn't expect him to survive Saturday night, let alone Sunday, but he is still with us, and has improved vastly since then. He is awake and whenever he has morphine he is chatty and happy to see people.

We don't really know what is happening next.....he needs to be off his IV drip and eating before he is allowed to come home. So needs to be eating and drinking lots more.

Even after that we don't know how long we have. Yay for the waiting game?!.......

Kris x

yay :)

Phil asked for some macaroni cheese this evening, so Jen made some and he managed to eat a bit! :)
He has been awake almost all day, so hopefully will sleep really well tonight.
Mel xx

sorry for the information shortage....

Phil was very tired this morning. He complained of a headache and was given morphine, after that, he didn't stop talking. Very chirpy and having a bit of a laugh about stuff in general. We all got a chance to hang out with him which was nice.

Ben and Lovy have gone back to their place for a couple of days, as Ben is building a bridge (literally!). Kris and Renay have headed home for the day to do a friends wedding flowers.
The rest of us are still at home.

Although Phil has been 'improving' we aren't really sure what that means at this stage. The doctors don't seem to be sure what direction we will be taking next in regards to Phil's care, but we are taking things one day at a time, and that's all we can do.

Phil has been a bit nauseous since sunday, and hasn't eaten anything since he's been in. However this morning he felt like wedges (he asked this in a way that reminded Vanessa of a pregnant woman). By the time they got there, he didn't want them, but it was still good to see him thinking about food.

Nothing else for now, things are just settling into a rhythm, which is quite nice.
Thanks all,
Melinda xx

a nice day....

As said earlier by Melinda we had a nice day. Phil woke up and chatted to everyone. Nice memories for all involved. Lots of hugs...Phil even told someone a recipe that he had cooked recently. His vision was good, made obvious by the fact he could tell that I have had my dreads fixed at the hairdressers, and his sense of humour still definately intact.

When asked he said he was very comfortable. I went up this afternoon and he was sleeping deeply, snoring quietly. He looked peaceful.

Meanwhile back at the Guilford household (2 minutes around the corner...we are in Warragul for friends who are wondering).... I received a text message to say that a chicken had escaped....Mel asked to tell the story...here she is....

So we were at home when we got a phone call from the next door neighbor telling us that there was a chicken loose in their back yard. We have had a few issues lately with escaped chickens, so nine (the exact number required for chicken catching) of us headed over, the task was made more difficult by Johnson, trying to be helpful made random realistic chicken noises...which Ben and I were listening to intently, only to find there was so chicken there. With much chasing, bush squashing and with some expert work from myself (mel), ben and sam clements, and cheering from many others, the chicken was soon in my arms. Just a little drama to add to our day :)

About to eat a lamb roast cooked by Johnson....signing off Kris xx

P.s. an explanation worthy moment...

The other day Phil woke up and asked for herbs....he wasn't quite making sense, so a put my hand on his shoulder and asked him again...and he said "I want some marijuana..."...then a few minutes later when the nurse came in with some panadol he said "I don't want panadol, I want marijuana, something that will actually work"......

where did this come from...well (im looking up Phil's facebook right now...i wrote him a post about it)....I had a dream a couple of months ago that Phil was given medicinal cannabis from his oncologist and we smoked it together... hehehe...and he remembered. :) In my dream it was all his idea, and you wouldn't deny a sick child his wish now...would you......

Hey Guys,

We were up at the hospital this morning, and Phil was really good. He was awake, cracking jokes (Including the first fat joke he has made in a while) and he was really cheerful, wanted to see us all and gave us all hugs.

He got tired pretty fast but it was good to see him, personality and all :)

Mum rang me a little while ago and said that even though he is extremely tired he was asking if people are coming up, so it's nice to know that he does want us there, and is able to put up with a bit of our noise.

He's had a bit of chest pain and a headache, they are trying to keep on top of these with lots of drugs and stuff.
Thanks again all :)
mel and sherryn

Phil isn't really all that comfortable today. He has been a bit more active but is really tired cause he didn't get much sleep last night. He has had a bit of chest pain which they gave him some meds for.

I'm not sure if we said this earlier but he hasn't had anyfeeling down the left side of his body...but last night he was able to squeeze mum's hand and was asking me to crack his thumbs....

Mel came back just now and he was more settled that when I was there earlier.

Please pray that he will get some good rest.

Thankyou all for your support, we are feeling the love. Especially the people who are organsing things who we can't even see....

can't think right now.....

Kris xx

phil's a little bit more alert this morning and was asking if he had any messages on his phone. He cannot use the phone himself, but asked Kris to read out any messages if he had any. so if any of his close school friends who already have his number would lik to message him, you're not likely to get a message back, but he will probably hear what you say.

the toothbrush saga......

So this morning i commented on the blog that Melinda had used my toothbrush...now this is not the first time this has happened...i think it might actually be the third or forth....made obvious by the faded permanent marker that says "This is KRIS' toothbrush not MELS"....anyway... our hero of the day is Kathy Brewer who turned up with some bread and new toothbrushes this morning!!!

I was actually quite happy to keep using my toothbrush...but just went down the street and whilst out received the following text from Melinda...."I realised it was your toothbrush when I stuck it in my mouth and looked in the mirror....", that is too many times.....goodbye old friend. There is a brand spanking new toothbrush awaiting me on our kitchen bench. Thankyou Kathy.

On another note Phil has been more active....he actually asked for marijuana this afternoon...on two occassions..I'm sleeping now but will explain this tomorrow... Just when I left Mum and Dad both individually said goodnight to him and he responded to both of them saying "I love you too."

Sleeping time here. Thankyou for all your support.

Love Kris

Dinner Roster

Hey all, Johnson here, I have been working today but have been thinking only of things that myself and others can do!!!! Most/some of you know that I am a chef..... well I think its going to be a good idea to start up a cooking roster for nights only!! Have spoken to all of the clan and they reckon its a good idea, they said that breakfast and lunch they can handle but dinner may be a different thing!! So how do we get this out!! Well that's my Job! So if you want to help out call me up and let me know what night you can help out with!! My number is 0417314872. So please call and lets get this roster happening!!

Phil has been a little more responsive today...woke up before and wanted to roll over and when asked which way he said towards vanessa, and then waved at her :) He was also telling a couple of lawyer jokes to ben apparently. Just trying to get some good sleep, he's really tired. The rest of us are just a bit exhausted, but doing ok. More soon.
Mel

We are thankful for: A good nights sleep.

Melinda, Sherryn, Kris and Mum all slept well. (Sherryn didn't actually move all night)...
Everyone else is still sleeping. (Even Dad who did the night shift got a few hours).

We are thankful for: Our friends....

Johnson, you are a star enough said.
Ness and Anns, you also.

My lovely ones (Tamz, Willie, Bindi) who organised things in Melbourne for me and then the ones came down and did all sorts of useful things, thankyou. (We came home from hospital to a clean kitchen and other important things done)...thankyou Laurin too.

Thankyou for your faithful prayers...who are on a few different continents...we feel very supported at this time.

Oh, by the way, almost forgot.... not much change with Phil.

Plus everyone else who we know is praying, the mood here is peaceful.

I've nearly completely lost my voice, Melinda is on the way...(doesn't help that she used my toothbrush last night...apparently it is the same as her old one!....)

Please pray for health for us all.

God is good.

Kris

mel hates titles...so we aren't making one.

hey, just got back from a few hours at the hospital. no news really. Phil's heart is strong which means its keeping his body going even though he's not getting better.

he squeezed my hand before...it was kinda like a pregnant lady when the baby kicks... anyway none of our heads are working...and its allfuzzy...if you could see me typing and how many mistkaes i am making you would tell me to stop using the computer...so i will,. in advance take your advice.

love Kris

the latest

not much new at this stage, phil is still reasonably stable and the doctors don't really know what sort of time frame we are working with.
heading back up in a minute.
mel

Just got back after about 3 hours at the hospital , am home for a nap.

Phil has had a large bleed on the brain, which they think has caused a stroke to the leftside of his body.

The whole family were called up to the hospital where we have been with phil. He has been unconscious but can hear us so we have been talking and saying our goodbyes...it just Really really hurts.... (im crying in front of the computer)....

three of us came home cause he seems to have stabilised somewhat and is actually sleeping now.

we will go back first thing in the morning.

kris

maybe a change of plans?.....

Phil has just (within the last 15 minutes) been taken up to the hospital (11:00PM Saturday night).....we will keep you posted when we know more, but it looks like the baptism is off.

Please pray for him and the doctors.

Kris xx

Hot off the press....

Just got off the phone to Dad who is at the specialist with Mum and Phil.
Good news! (I don't feel like I get to say that often so that makes me smile)...anyway...the good news is that things haven't changed much. Meaning that the tumors haven't really grown....which is good.

That's all I have to say really. Phil is getting baptised in Warragul on Sunday morning. That should be great, really looking forward to it.

Hope you are enjoying the sunshine today!
Kris xx

Phil's Baptism

Hey all.
Phil has had his first full week of radiotherapy this week. It's going fine, he's just getting really tired from it. He's also quite bored with not much to do (and no sisters to tease)!
As you may have guessed from the title, Phil is getting baptised! Praise God! It's very exciting to see Phil taking this awesome step.
I know that although Phil doesn't know all of you, some of you probably feel as though you know him, so I thought that I would post the details of his baptism. Feel free to come if you would like to.
It's happening on Sunday the 21st of June at 9 o'clock at the Warragul Community Church, which is on the corner of King St and Wills St in Warragul.
In other news, Phil has been wanting to take a family trip up north. Dad rang Challenge (the Children's Cancer Support Group), and they have organised two weeks away for Mum, Dad, Phil Jen and I. We'll spend one week at the Gold Coast and one up at Port Douglas, leaving on the 6th of July. We are all really looking forward to this time.
Thanks for your prayers guys, especially for energy for everyone at this time, and for those of us doing exams. We are all doing ok at the moment.
Blessings all, Mel xx