Ellis Health Update 180220

[Written by his wife Rosemary and daughter Julia, then radically edited by his other daughter Diana.]

Ellis' pain had subsided during the fall after the summer surgery in Houston, but it began to return at the end of the year. The kids came for Christmas, so that took his mind off the pain considerably.

Diana, Julia and Rick (Julia's husband and Ellis' Marine hero) were all here, and Julia and Rick surprised Ellis with a new television for his office, which made him very happy. Diana got to accompany Ellis on one of his regular neighborhood walks. She borrowed his extra cowboy hat and walking stick so they would look alike.

On 9 January 2018, Ellis returned to Houston for a checkup with Dr. David Sugarbaker. A CT scan of the chest and a PT scan were performed. The tests revealed a tumor “the size of a billiard ball”. Ellis felt discouraged after we got the results. When we returned to Cottonwood, we anxiously awaited a visit with the oncologist, Dr. Deborah Lindquist, to try a new treatment: Opdivo (nivolumab).

The Opdivo treatment had many side effects including a high white blood cell count, low electrolytes, and a persistent high fever. On Sunday, 4 February 2018, paramedics took him by ambulance to Verde Valley Medical Center. On Monday, he aspirated fluid into his lungs and was rushed to ICU where he was put on oxygen, antibiotics and steroids. Then he had several episodes of A-fib, so heart medications were added. On Saturday night, 10 February 2018, he received two units of blood.

Diana came to Arizona on Monday, 5 February 2018 and Julia arrived the following Sunday. Once both of his kids were here, Ellis declared that he was ready to go. We shared favorite memories. The doctor didn't agree that it was time for him to go and talked him out of it. So we spent another week of testing, poking and prodding.

(Note from Diana: During Dad's illness, we learned that Julie should have been a geriatric nurse. She anticipated his needs and seemed to do everything at one time. He was so relieved when she arrived. I did my best but mostly just told him he was cute then pressed the call button or said “Julie!”. Julie also seemed to know what all the machines and numbers and beeps were about.)

It was finally determined that the infection was in his port that was placed for chemo. The nurses could no longer get access to his veins, so Ellis decided it was time to give up and go home so he could get some rest. He's spending time with the kids and is being cared for by Rosemary and Maggie's Hospice.