Dave was admitted today at the University of Iowa Hospital Oncology. As I told you all his condition has been deteriorating this past week(or so) but not as bad as it was leading into Thanksgiving. The doctors decided to admit him because his breathing was a bit more labored as Dave was getting concerned himself, this way they can keep him more stable as they did decide to go ahead and give him his chemo treatment tomorrow and on Thursday. If he's stable enough and can use the oxygen concentrator at home without too much breathing problems, he can be released on Friday. The x-rays taken today did show that the tumors progressed again, in my opinion they weren't as bad as late November, but it was worse than the ones taken last week at Mayo. As I mentioned in a previous entry, Dave had a staph infection that delayed his chemo treatment so hopefully this time he can stay ahead of the game.

By the way, I forgot to mention we did celebrate Dave's 33rd birthday on December 26th, he said he enjoyed the holidays and his birthday and got everything he had wanted, time spent with the family and things were quiet. I know the girls hope to have him back home soon, I will take them to see their daddy tomorrow as they were pleased that the doctors and nurses will let them visit him and it's so much closer than Rochestor!!, please continue the prayers. Be safe and thanks again for everyones love and support.

Hope everyone had a very merry Christmas. The Kokjohn family sure did, the girls were excited with everything they received and Dave certainly enjoyed having them around and being able to spend the break with them.

As the good news came from Mayo with the improved x-rays came to this past week with Dave slowly feeling a little bit worse (almost each day), the breathing seems to be more labored and he's feeling more tired easily. We were able to schedule his next round of chemo to the University of Iowa Oncology, he will have a consult on Tuesday afternoon with an Oncologist regarding all the transferred medical documents from Mayo and then tentatively scheduled to have chemo treatment on Thursday and Friday. (Mayo will still lead the treatments but he can at least have the chemo treatments in Iowa City.) Please continue the prayers as this coming week will be another tough week for him.

Our goal for Dave this past couple of weeks was for him to "pack on the pounds" and it is good to report that he has been successful, gaining about 10lbs back, of course we're still continuing with putting the foods in from of him to get a few more pounds in before late next week. Also, we're hoping he's able to get this treatment in before things get as bad as the last time leading into Thanksgiving week. We'll probably update after Tueday's consult to keep everyone in the loop. God Bless you all.

"Good News!" at least better than all the other results from previous consults he had received. Everything had been spiraling down ever since he has found out he was diagnosed with cancer, this is an upturn since after Thanksgiving. It is nice to report that we had heard from the doctors today that things have cleared up a bit since that incident before Thanksgiving. The fact is Dave does still many nodules but less prominant in his lungs but from the last x-rays and today's it was apparent something had cleared up, and the doctors feel that the chemo had seemed to have helped so that will continue to be the next course of action. "Now it is time to relax and enjoy the holidays with friends and family", Dave says. Merry Christmas to all!

Dave will have a check up tomorrow at the Mayo clinic to see where things stand and when the next round of chemo will be scheduled. There will be x-rays along with some blood tests to see how the infection is coming along, the chemo dates will be dependent on the results from the culture. We'll be leaving early in the morning so please keep Dave in your prayers and hope to have some decent news when we get back.

Dave has been feeling pretty good overall, last few days had been a bit exhausting but that also has to do with him staying busy with the girls and all the holiday festivities. We'll keep you posted soon with the outcome of tomorrow's consult with the doctors.

For those of you in Wilton tonight wondering..., yes, that was Dave attending Aly's band concert at the high school, wasn't that great to see him out and about?!?! It was really special to have Dad back supporting the girls! and I know it made him happy to be able to be there to see Aly blow that horn!

For the rest in Wilton who didn't see him tonight, he will be around for a while and also for those in Muscatine, some may even see him at Walgreens because as long as Dave is around you can't keep him away from one of the favoritist things he loved doing, his work as a pharmacist. He's not going back to work per se (yet), but to visit and maybe "help" out a bit.

Keep all those prayers coming, they are a huge welcome and sure make a big difference. This week is full of Christmas events for the children, isn't it nice that Dave will be there to see them happen?, what a treat! It's odd how we use to take all those "little" things for granted but how you learn that all those "little" things add up to all those important things in your life that you and your children will cherish. And of course, this is usually the time of the year to think and remember how important family and friends are, so our Kokjohn message to all is to take a hold of all the important people in your life and let them know what they mean to you, you never know what is around the corner for you.....don't wait. God Bless and thanks for all the love and support. The Kokjohns

The girls and I were able to make it down to Ft. Madison yesterday evening for dinner with Dave and the grandparents. Afterwards they all spent time stringing popcorn for tree decorations, we all had fun, there was popcorn everywhere and it didn't matter! Dave seems to be feeling a lot better, gaining some of his strength back (slowly but yet surely) and also able to get around a little quicker according to Alyson :-). Well it was a late night for the girls but heck, it was nice to be able to enjoy the Christmas spirit with the family.

Thanks to everyone out there for all their prayers and support, it truly has been an inspiration for Dave and has helped all of us through. A big thanks for all of our friends in Wilton who has helped with the girls (Bartells, Broders, Einfeldts, Gavins, Petersons, and Speeds) while I have been back and forth to help Dave at the hospital on a number of occasions, it is great to have all of you around and we appreciate you sharing our girls in your lives along with your own families. Wilton is such a lovely place with many, many caring people, we really couldn't have gone through this so far without such a warm community full of great people.

The girls screamed(shrilled?) when they saw Daddy and Grandpa pull into the driveway this evening, it was a long-waited, wonderful surprise for the girls to see daddy again. Grins could be seen ears to ears :-)

Dave and Rich(Grandpa) had a dinner with us, then sat around and visited and took some pictures. Check out Dave's new DO in the Picture Gallery. (Gotta like the Kojak look, for us older people.....you'll know who I'm talking about). The trip was short but Dave had to get going back to his parents house where there will be healthcare available to help out with Dave's meds for a while and his parents to help him out. We'll be visiting him again this week at the grandparents because the 2 1/2 hours just wasn't long enough.

Dave is being released now as I type! We will update more later this evening/tonight. He is so anxious to get out of there!

He got out t! It has been 13 days cooped up in the hospital and Dave had it in his mind he was getting out today with or without me, so we treked out into the brisk Minnesota cold. We had hit the Apache Mall where he had wanted to make sure we got the girls some Christamas gifts ("No Alyson, we're not going to spill over the internet what we got you girls for Christmas so you'll just have to wait Dad says").

Of course 80% of the time out was sitting, resting and watching all the christmas looney's shopping like mad and I'll tell you, everyone and their dogs were out there too. He did tell me it felt really good to finally get out of that "damn" hospital, he was starting to go stir crazy, I said you weren't just starting you were already crazy but nonetheless he really enjoyed the time out. We even got him a couple of things, I told him he deserves to get some things for him for once. Well, it's dinner time here, honestly the hospital food here isn't that bad, you can't go wrong with salads, can you?

P.S. forgot to mention, the outing was really good, so good that "there's no more voices!" you'll have to ask one of us about that one.

As last nights posting was my first I neglected to thank all the wonderful individuals that has helped me in the last 3 months. As it would be impossible to name everyone by name, I would like to just say thank you for for all your loving prayers and concerns during my illness, especially prayers for my children and my family. They are my number one concern and will need the most help. I would like to thank everyone who has sent cards and gifts while I have been up here in Rochester as well gifts and donations in the Muscatine area while I have been gone. As I had said, my major consideration during this illness has been for my children and my family.

Sometime today, Kim and I will be going to Christmas shopping for the girls to find them something extra special for this year (thank you all for the contributions from the raffle and bake sale that has made this possible!). The remaining amount will be put away for a possible future family vacation. During this time it may seem frivolous to go on a vacation but I feel that it is important that the children and their entire family go on vacation together (while I still have the strength), it will be something the girls will always remember. Thanks again for all your love and support during this time, I hope to be back working soon, please call or write I would love to hear from you, don't be afraid talking to me because I love answering questions.
God bless you all and see you later!

I had planned on being on the road Friday night going home, but as with all good plans, Murphy had to get his say in. The infection that has begun as a superficial infection went systemic, and because of the possible severity of the infection, the antibiotic thererapy had to be continued. This necessitated the placement of a PIC (peripheral inserted cathether) for home IV use. The PIC is used because of easy maintenance during long-term out-paitient use. As I said, Murphy's Law rules, and due to drug selection, antiboitic resistance, and coordination of care between Mayo Clinic and the visiting nurses unit that would be administering the drug, instead of being home of Friday evening, I now get to have a fun 3-day weekend in the hospital, complete with free running water, and a shopping pass to get all that last minute shopping done, along with room service and 3 hots and a cot. Overall, things could be better, but best not to complain. At least now I can breath and walk to the bathroom and bath myself, as well a enjoy my food again. Maybe I will be able to gain some of the weight that I have lost in the last months.

This is Aly, I wanted to let everyone know that Dad is doing better! The fever has gone away and his throat feels a lot better. He tells me that he feels like eating more now and the food tastes like food again. Thank you for all of the guest book entries, our family really appreciates it. If he continues to progress he might be able to return home this weekend. I hope he does because he doesn't like it that much in the hospital and we miss him here. Again thank you for all the support and prayers.

Neutropenic fever, that is the name given to a fever caused by the chemo treatment. The fever can be attributed to the effects of chemo, Dave's CBC results showed he had low white and red blood cells count. Dave also learned today that he has developed thrush, which is another thing that can crop up as a result of chemo, immuno suppressant. (OBVIOUSLY, I am getting all of this information from Dave himself, he's always been so on top of what is going on with his treatments and of course knows all these medical lingo words and has to explain it to us "lay people".)

As we mentioned, these are just a few more of the many hurdles Dave WILL overcome, he is still in great spirits as most of you can imagine knowing how amazing he has been through all of this so far. I passed along all the messages he has received so far thru this website and he is just overwhelmed with joy on the responses and tickled that Aly is helping out.

David just called and said he will not be able to go home today as had expected. He is running a slight fever, appearing to be fighting some type of infection. This is not unusual, because often chemo patients immune system is low and therefore more susceptible to infections.