Thank you

Thank you all for coming to celebrate Ron this weekend.  He truly was an inspiration to us all.  The world is not as complete without him here and life will always be lacking a little extra fun from now on.  As you all know, he added so much to any event, any life and any day. Thank you all who were able to attend and thank you all for your continued prayers and thoughts.  He was such a special man, friend, son, brother, but most of all, a special husband and dad.  Forever, he will be missed.

Memorial Service

Our family will be holding a memorial service for Ron Carey on Saturday, March 16th at 3 PM.  It will be held at Trinity Covenant Church (5020 Liberty Rd S, Salem, OR 97306).  Immediately following the service we will have some refreshments and cookies.  

In lieu of flowers, please provide donations to Willamette Valley Hospice or the Phil Knight Cancer Institute.  

Important Note:
Running was always one of our dad's favorite activities.  Therefore, we thought there couldn't be a better way to honor him than to wear our running shoes to the service.  Please join us in honoring our dad by lacing up your own running shoes.

After the events at the church, we will be having an informal Open House at our parent's house to enjoy some more reminiscing of what an amazing man our dad was and to celebrate the life he lived.  Beverages and food will be provided, but feel free to bring something stronger if you would like.  If you need their address, please email us at tlbrogan@gmail.com or torycarey11@yahoo.com.

New update, but still....Please Email Only

Please continue to respect our wishes of maintaining communication via email.

We wanted to let everyone know that this morning our father passed away.  The last day had been very peaceful and he went with the love of his life by his side.  Thank you for the prayers and thoughts you have given our family over the last 5.5 years.  Please continue to have us in your thoughts as we remember the amazing husband, father, son, brother and friend that he was.  He will continue to live on in our stories and memories. :)

Memorial Service is pending.  We will post it up here the second we know and it will also appear in the obituaries. 

Email only please

Hi everyone.  Right now they are working really hard to get my dad's pain under control.  At this time we would all appreciate holding off on phone calls and visits.  Family is even limiting their time right now while they try to figure out how to help dad's pain.  Please respect this and refrain from contacting them.  Email is amazing because it lets them know you care, but doesn't cause any stress.  Jeff, we so appreciated your comment and shared it with dad.  Thank you.

February 26th

Hello Everyone.  I first want to start by thanking you all for the support and love you have sent my parents and family.  We could not have made it through all of the tough times without everyone.  With that being said, I was hoping that if you had the need or urge to contact my parents, that you do it via email.  Email allows them to answer people at a convenient time and does not interrupt moments where they are occupied.  Right now I think it would be best if they could spend their time enjoying one another and talking with everyone when the time is right through email. We really appreciate those of you who have contacted them to check in, but we do hope that you understand that right now email is much more convenient for them.  At the moment my dad is not up to having visitors, but I do know that they enjoy the emails they have been getting.  If you do have questions, feel free to contact any of us kids.  Thank you so much for your understanding and constant love that you give the two of them.  If you didn't notice after reading this....email is preferred :)

 Love, the Carey Kids

I saw my doctor last week.  My brother, Brad, son, Michael, and Kath were all there to lend support. I shared with him the changes that have been occurring.  In the last few weeks, I have experienced an increase in pain and less ability to move my left leg.  I am still able to use my walker and get around my house.  I am unable to get out much due to my inability to use my walker with ease outside the home.  This has put a cramp in my social life.  I no longer get to spend two or three days a week down a Great Harvest visiting.  I am still going to try, though.

My doctor suggested (again) that I use a pump to help control the pain.  I finally agreed because I know that Kath may be able to get some sleep at night.  The process has been less than easy.  The past three days we have worked at figuring out how to use a pain med pump to control the pain spikes.  Monday, I had my PICC line put in.  Our nurse coordinator and doctor arranged to have it done here in Salem so I did not have to make the trip up to Portland again.  I am very thankful that we have such wonderful and caring medical providers.  I now have the ability to be in total control of my pain management.  I am able to push a button to get close to immediate relief.  There have been a couple of glitches in this whole process....the first night Kath was able to get some sleep, but the morning was HORRIFIC (not enough medicine was being released) and adjustments had to be made.  The next night the pump would not work without ear-piercing noise indicating that something was wrong..  I missed a visit with Harold (a close friend) because we had the nurse here trying to get my PICC line cleared.  

I am going to try to get out to Great Harvest again with my good friend, Barry, this Friday and hopefully I will be successful.  It is a little more difficult carrying around a pack that contains my pump and medication which is connected to my PICC line.  Hopefully by being in less pain I will be able to get out more and feel like visiting.  I appreciate all the visits from my family and close friends.  I also appreciate the visits from people that are silly and are just having fun.  That is important to my positive attitude.  I certainly am not into sitting down and getting into deep  discussions.  For example, I loved the email from "brother OJ" detailing all the silly things we have done over the years.  It is good for me just to laugh!  I also want to thank Blackie for my Friday morning special greeting that gives me a good chuckle.  I do plan on keeping this blog up to date at least once a month.  Love you all!

     At this time, we are willing to try any means that might attack my tumor.  With this in mind, we were referred to  a doctor that  works with experimental medicines/trials.  Last Monday I met with a doctor that specializes in experimental medicines.  This doctor concentrates on drugs that are just being introduced for human trials.  The doctor decided to test tissue from my biopsy to determine what gene was present in my tumor.  There is a study being done right now that is aimed at a particular gene and if my tumor has that gene, I can be put in the test group immediately.  At this time, though, it does not look like  there are any specific drugs that are being tested that would attack the gene present in my tumor.  I am on a waiting list for any testing available.  It may take between two to four months before I am able to be in a testing group because they begin new groups every six weeks and the number of subjects is limited.
     Wednesday we met with my pain management doctor.  We discussed changes that have occurred in the last month.  The only change that has occurred is a weakening in my left leg.  I still have good upper body strength which impressed him, but it has become more difficult to move around wtht the weakening in my legs.  He is impressed with all the ways we have been able to adapt and go on with everyday living.  With this in mind, he made no changes in my medications.
     This week, we had Kath's brother, Robin, and wife, Penny, come over for lunch at our house.  I appreciate the fact that people realize that I can't move around outside the house too well anymore, so they are willing to come to our house.  As always, my great friend, Barry, continues to stop by and pick me up at least once (and sometimes more) a week to spend time at Great Harvest Bread Company.  I look forward to these times because it really helps break up the week.  A special treat happened today with fraternity brothers, Doug, Jay, and John stopping by for a couple of hours to visit.  It's wonderful because my "brothers" as well as other visitors realize that visits have to be held down to a couple of hours because of issues that I have to deal with.  But it is wonderful to be able to laugh, tell stories, and generally shoot the breeze without getting too serious.  Laughter is the best medicine.