Danny Ray Hardman

June 30, 2011
Dan has been doing well and the entire family has a great staycation for a few days. Today was Dan's 4th chemo treatment. It is now complete, but we are at the hospital for the night. Dan was admitted this morning, which had been the plan all along. Dan asked to be admitted this time after the drugs were changed last treatment & it brought him back to the hospital. If all goes well he
will be discharged tomorrow. Thanks for your continued prayers.

June 27, 2011
So many updates, from Danny Ray's condition, to all the events this weekend, etc.

Danny Ray continues to stay at home and has been doing well. During a doctor visit during the last week, it was decided to stay off the continuous chemo pump for one more week until his regularly scheduled chemo treatment this week. A big part of this decision was his lack of nausea, which is a great comfort.

Last Tuesday, June 21st, the Forney City Council read a proclamation and declared June 25th, this past Saturday, as official Danny Ray Hardman Day in Forney. That day was the FHS Class of 1986 Danny Ray fundraiser at FBC Forney. It was a great event, Danny made an appearance and everyone enjoyed catching up with our man and loving on him just a bit. Many thanks to all the volunteers who made this event happen.

Saturday was also a big garage sale for Danny Ray that was a big success. Brandy and Brandon Davis hosted this garage sale at their home and put a ton of effort into it. You guys ROCK for doing this.

We also need to offer special thanks to the following folks who assisted the Davis':
Darla Coltharp, Lesli Bruce, Lisa Clough, The Brimmage Family, Terri Simmons, Kelly Holcomb, Melanie Rogers, Michelle Davis and Friends from Winners Circle, the Stevens Family, Nancy Shaw, Uncle Bully, Dewayne Elroy and Tracy Marr.

Many folks came by and bought, others simply stopped by to donated. Many of you inspired us with your stories of triumph and God's mercy. Words can not express how meaningful it all was.

June 20, 2011
Short but sweet is what they say. Dan is doing much better and is BACK HOME and sleeping his own bed!

June 18, 2011
Dan had a great day yesterday and a very restful night. He is beginning to feel lots better. Haven't seen the doc yet this morning so not sure if we will be going home today or if they will want to see improvement over the next few days. Thanks for your continued prayers!

June 16, 2011
Another day, a little better feeling for DR. Still very nauseated, but we will just do baby steps. He finished a continuous chemo treatment today which he will take a week break from now. His doctor will continue to monitor how he is feeling and well send him home possibly Saturday. If he still feels bad, she will continue to monitor him day by day. Thanks for your continued prayers.

June 15, 2011
Danny Ray has a little better day today. Felt a little better and got a gallium scan. Results should be in tomorrow and hopefully some good news will come out of it.

June 14, 2011
Danny Ray was admitted back into the hospital on Thursday evening. He has felt bas the last couple of days following the chemo treatment & is still experiencing nausea. He has had no fever since they put him on IV anti-biotic here in the hospital. His Doc said yesterday she will continue to watch him for a few days. Today he will have a scan that will hopefully tell us if the port is the source of infection or not.

June 12, 2011
It has been several days, so we have a long update here. Wed, DR had an appointment with the oncologist were they accessed his port for lab work. On Thursday, Darla and Amy took him for his first outpatient chemo treatment. Prior to this treatment he was on 2 different chemo drugs. During this treatment, the doc took out one of those meds from the regimen and added 2 new drugs, one of which is continuous through his port. Later that evening, after being home only an hour, DR began to get chills as a result of a below normal temperature. Within an hour, his temp had spiked. Amy took him very quickly back to the ER where they could try and find the source of what was causing the fever. They had to admit DR at this point and it would be Monday before blood cultures were back to give some clues. Not really sure at this point if the fever is a result of chemo and the new mix of drugs, or is it an infection. DR could use some heavy duty prayer right now for his spirits. He wants to be home right now and was really hoping to try and make it to church on Sunday. That didn't happen and being back in the hospital is a bummer for everyone.

June 9, 2011
Danny Ray could certainly use some prayers right now. He went today for his 3rd chemo treatment. When he got home his temperature dropped to below normal. Sometime after that it spiked to over 100. The doc says this is not good if his body cannot regulate body temperature. So Amy is taking him to Presby right now to meet the doctor. Your prayers are coveted as always.

June 8, 2011
I am going to just type in exactly what Amy sent via text earlier today. I think it is best coming straight from her.
"Good morning, everyone. We did make it home Monday evening and we are all excited to be here. Dan has been able to stay very comfortable, just hasn't been able to sleep much at all. Please pray that he is able to get proper rest. Thanks for your continued prayers. Guess what? We are now Mowing Down Cancer from 524 Southlake!"

June 6, 2011
The last two days have been good days, DR has gotten up and walked around alot, the amount of his feeding via tube is consistent and at the magical 85cc level. Amy is giving meds and such and they are COMING HOME! Praise you, Father. Thank you for this very good news.

June 3, 2011
Dan had a great night. The oncologist expressed this morning she is as ready for DR to go home as we are. She is working on coordinating a few more things with home health care. So we are hopeful things continue to go well and the big movee can happen next week. Amy has now begun giving shots and meds, in preparation.
June 2, 2011
They started tube feedings again yesterday. 60 cc was the starting point. Danny Ray seemed to tolerate it very well and had very little nausea. Praise you, Father, for this news. The night was restful for our man. We are praying the tube feedings would continue to increase and no nausea would accompany it.
LATER UPDATE: The day has gone very well and DR is up to that magic 85cc on the tube feedings. PRAISE GOD!
June 1, 2011
Yesterday afternoon the Doc's had to stop the tube feeding because Dan was getting sick and having constant nausea. By the time night arrived, things were better and he had a good night. The tube feedings will start back up this afternoon and we pray all goes well. They are thinking the aggressive tube feeding was started to close to chemo and that was part of the problem. He has had a good start to his day, so we are hopeful.
May 31st, 2011
Yesterday was a good day for Dan overall. That continued into the night and our hero got a good night of solid rest. In fact, Amy was encouraged enough to spend the entire day with kids, which I am sure was much needed on all sides. Today has been a little rough, battling nausea for some of the day. That is the big prayer request for today.
May 30th, 2011
Danny Ray has had a good two days since the last surgery. He has started to get up and walk around some more, which is very helpful for him. The feeding is already up to 80cc, which gets us to the point where we are looking at DR possibly coming home later this week. Last night was a good night for rest. Thank you all for the prayers and support.
May 28th, 2011
Dan's surgery went well. The surgery was to actually not only replace the J tube where it needed to be, but this time it was attached to his intestine so it wouldn't move in the future. Other than a really sore abdomen, he is doing well and no complications from the surgery. His feeding via the tube should start later today.
May 27th, 2011
Danny Ray has not been able to come home yet. On Thursday the Oncologist ordered an X-Ray of the stomach area to take a good look at the G/J tube feeding Danny Ray. It showed the J tube wasn't in his small intestine as intended, but rather curled up in the stomach. This was a problem that needed to be fixed. At this point, the J tube was removed and the G tube was left in for draining of the stomach. A CT scan was then scheduled for later afternoon/early evening. After this, a surgery will be scheduled in order to place the J tube directly into the intestine. The CT scan will show the doctors the best place to put the J tube, but it also may show some early results of the chemo. Please pray for DR's surgery, the J tube to be effective and stable and for more nutrition to get into DR so he can fight the fight.
May 23rd, 2011
This update could be entitled "Up and Down" or "Oh So Close". At the end of the day, the update is that Danny Ray didn't get to come home today. I am going to roll several days worth of updates into this one, since I was out of town all weekend and not able to do updates. Saturday found DR extremely tired as a result of this latest round of chemo. He was switched to taking all meds orally and the anti-nausea meds weren't as effective as when they were delivered via IV. Amy and the Kids got to attend the BBQ Fundraiser, which I have heard was a great success. Many thanks to Summer Nelson and the Ritchie's and everyone else for making this such a great event.

Sunday was another day of DR adjusting better to oral meds and getting rest from the chemo. He had a better night, in terms of restful sleep, so things continued to look good for discharge. DR did develop a small fever, which was of some concern. After several tests and labs, everything came back normal and it was decided this fever was just a slight reaction to the chemo.

Monday dawned with the plan to watch DR one more day and send him home Tuesday. This was just to be extra cautious after the slight fever of the weekend. Turns out, that extra step of cautiousness was a good thing. Monday afternoon brought some nausea and vomiting by Danny Ray which, unfortunately, caused his feeding tube inserted in his stomach to become dislodged. He had to visit the surgical table again to get this fixed. So, a setback that isn't going to let him come home on Tuesday as hoped. The tube is back in place and DR is back on clear liquids. The focus now is on getting this nausea under control so we don't have problems with the feeding tube again. Please be in prayer for DR thru this, hopefully, small setback.

May 20th, 2011
Very quick update for now, I will post details later. Danny Ray is possibly COMING HOME today. This would be a huge step, so be in prayer that the Doc's would find everything favorable and that some pain the area of the feeding tube is resolved and he can be released to go home today!

Ok, longer update here. Short version is that DR is currently scheduled to come home Monday. Amy was all packed up and ready to go and then one last visit with the two doctors closest to DR's treatment happened. They all decided, with Amy and Dan's agreement, that it would be best to wait till Monday. Dan will move to taking some medicine orally instead of the port installed in his chest. It was decided the docs would rather be able to observe Dan's tolerance to these new meds over the weekend. It also gives a couple more days to make sure everything is setup at home and all supplies have arrived to continue to give DR the care he needs. Amy has met with the rep from the feed pump company and has had a second training on the operation of said pump. Lots of details, as you can imagine, to get covered so everyone applied a little pressure to the brake pedal in the interest of all involved. Sure, it is disappointing as we all hoped DR would come home today. But, we can still be joyful and rejoice that we are at this point today. Progress is good, even if it isn't at our own pace.

Amy's slogan on her texts has been Mowing Down Cancer straight from Room 230. Hopefully that becomes Mowing Down Cancer straight from Hardman Central!

May 18th, 2011
Danny Ray has a good night. Lots of praises here in this update. Liver function is almost back to normal level, which has enticed the Oncologist to increase the strength of the next chemo treatment. That sounds good to me. Stronger and more aggressive treatment means DR's body is improving and can only be interpreted as an opportunity to start beating this thing. Not only will it be stronger, but they are moving it up several days. That HAS to be a good sign. I received the best JPG since DR's initial diagnosis on my phone yesterday. It was a pic of his feeding machine that showed he was at the magic 85cc feeding rate! It's been a good run of three days in a row now and it looks like there is light at the end of the tunnel for the next momentous event. DR has a chance to get home in the next several days. Still a few things to get worked out, but the docs are talking as if it is imminent. This is GREAT NEWS for DR, Amy and the Kiddos. Thank you, Lord, for this great update and for the consecutive days of good news and small steps in this fight. We are grateful and humbled that things are turning around. We have a long road ahead, but we rejoice and celebrate in the good news of the day.
May 17th, 2011
Short update here, but it is a good one. While DR had trouble falling asleep, who doesn't from time to time, and didn't get to sleep till 1:30 AM. But, he was still asleep at 8:15 in the morning so he was still getting some good rest. The best part of this update is that through the night they continued to increase his feedings and he was at 75cc! That is only 10cc away from the goal the doc has set for him. Let's pray he continues to tolerate those increases and hits that magic number of 85cc.
May 16th, 2011
Two days, two very good updates. Praise GOD!
Once again our man was able to get up and move around alot yesterday and got a good night's sleep. All this movement seems to be helping and the tube feedings continue to increase. This evening the GI Doc gave orders to bump the tube feeding up 10cc every four hours. That is what we have been praying for and is movement in the right direction. As of 10 PM he was up to 55cc on the tube feeding. Kids got to come visit again, which we all know is good for everyone. The increase in tube feedings is a very good thing, so please continue to pray that he would tolerate these increases and would continue on his way to reach that goal of 85cc. Thank you all for the continued support and prayers.
May 15th, 2011
Today was a good day. DR was able to get lots of sleep, which is never a bad thing. He was able to get up and walk around some more (he has been doing good on the walking since the last update on the 10th) and even ventured outside to enjoy the sunshine. He spent his patio time with the kids, Amy's parents and his cousin Drew and family. It is great to see so many visitors coming to encourage and love on Danny Ray. As of today, the tube feeding is still going well and he is up to 35 cc and holding his own right there. He has also been allowed to start slowly with some additional liquids. Sweet tea and water seems to be his drink of his choice right now. Please continue to pray for the tube feeding to go well and increase.
May 10th, 2011
After yesterday's victory, the GI Doc gave us some much needed good news and said everything in the intestines looks pretty good. The Doc has ordered DR to get out of bed at least 4 times a day and do some walking and being upright. This is designed to actually aid the digestive process and get things moving even quicker through his body and to increase his muscle use. They have re-started the TPN feeding through the chemo port in his chest. The GI Doc started DR on 10cc through the feeding tube as well and she feels she can get him up to 85cc by the end of the week. Now that the Doc has given us that goal, we know specifically how to pray for DR this week. Pray that he reaches that goal of 85cc and pray for those intestines and stomach to keep working and to get DR the nutrition he needs.
May 9th, 2011
Today they tried to find the kink in the j tube they suspected was causing problems. Good news is there is/was no kink. They then tried to find a possible blockage by shooting dye into the j tube and following the path of the dye. Again, good news. No blockage. In the end, these tests and some others showed that DR's stomach is working and that bile is leaving the liver as it is supposed to. The victory today is that we now know everything is moving South as it should. Praise God!
May 8th, 2011
The epic battle with the GI tract continues. DR was started back on tube feedings with just 10cc's. This time the feeding included a new medication to help move the food through his system. It was hoped this would reduce the residual left in his system after feedings. They bumped the feedings to 20cc and then checked the residual later that evening hoping to find it at or below 60cc. The amount was 160cc, which was not the news we were hoping for.

So the tube feedings have been stopped again for right now.
After meetings with the medical staff on Sunday, it was decided there may be a kink in the j tube which they will try and fix on Monday. This procedure will include dye injections that will hopefully locate the kink and allow them to fix it.

Until this can get fixed, DR will be receiving TPN. TPN is food through his chemo port that is up higher on his chest. This is a temporary measure just to get DR some nutrition. It is hoped the kink can be fixed in as little as 24 hours, but the lengthiest estimate could be as much as 3 days. While getting the TPN, DR can eat as much normal food as he wants. On Sunday he did eat some tater soup and some chocolate ice cream.

We are asking specifically for the stabilization of DR's GI tract, which includes the tube feedings and the reduction of residual.

May 7th, 2011
Today was a good day. Progress has been made in the battle to get DR the nutrition he needs. This is such a critical thing right now, and that is why it is dominating these updates. Without nutrition, DR's body can't fight from within.
The feeding's via the j tube seemed to be working much better today. An evening check of the residual left in DR's intestine after a feeding earlier in the evening revealed no residual. When you consider that yesterday's residual was 500 cc's, this is a huge improvement. It is this kind of progress DR needs to show before he can come home.
A big Praise to our Lord for this news.

A couple pics of some great caregivers at Dallas Presby.

May 5th, 2011
The j tube seems to be helping things somewhat, but not as much as we hoped. Seems for every small step we take forward, another small roadblock comes up. But that's ok, DR has never been one to let roadblocks stop him, so we will keep moving forward. The goal is to get DR's body taking 85CC an hour of feeding through the tube. If he can get to that level, he will be released from the hospital and can go home and get some good rest. He started at 20 after the j tube insertion and got all the way up to 35. At that point, the feedings had to be stopped due to the intestine not absorbing enough.

Despite all this, DR ate a snack size snicker's bar and also cream of wheat for breakfast and some potato soup for lunch. Those are pretty big steps, but we still need that j tube to do it's job so his body can get the nutrients it needs.

The Hardman kids came to the hospital on Thursday to visit dad and mom. Amy and the Doctor visited with the kids and gave them a full picture of the diagnosis. Everyone would be so proud of the way the kids handled this news and how mature they were. As you can see, the two big kids then came on this site and left a message for DR. Nothing sweeter in this world than those messages left for our man.

Please continue to be in prayer for DR. We will have some updates to some fundraisers later this weekend.
May 3rd, 2011
Long update here folks. Lots of specific info for you all, so you can know how to pray. I am trying my best to put medical updates into plain English that we can all follow and understand. Apologies if the update is a little disjointed or hard to follow.

Let's start with the beginnings of all this. The Doctors believe the cancer started in DR's esophagus and spread to his lymph nodes and abdomen and finally to the pancreas. It is also likely been effecting his liver for some time.

The Doctors now believe the tumor/cancer has paralyzed the nerves in DR's stomach, thus preventing it from moving food to the small intestine. This would explain the reason DR has had so much trouble eating and the subsequent weight loss. This situation is compounded by a clogged bile duct, again related to the tumor/cancer.

It was hoped the feeding tube that was inserted directly into the stomach over the weekend would help DR's body get some much needed nutrients it has been missing because of these stomach related complications. The blocked bile duct is causing DR to have too much residual in his stomach during these tube feedings, so the Doctors had to make changes today.

The Doctors decided to insert another tube (a j tube) into the existing tube (a g tube). This j tube is smaller and goes through the stomach straight into the small intestine, where the majority of absorption into the blood stream happens. Hopefully, this will help Danny Ray's body start to absorb those all important nutrients that will help him in his fight.

DR has come through today's procedure just fine, but could obviously use our continued prayers. The family asks that you pray specifically for these organs/areas mentioned above.
May 2nd, 2011
Not much of an update today other than to tell you that Danny Ray ate some cream of wheat earlier, which is really a big deal. The sooner he gets to eating regularly, the sooner our hero can get home and see his kids and a bunch of you guys. So, we rejoice in the small victories.

Also, here is a picture of one of DR's new nurses. This is the lovely Bryana. They say James Brown is the hardest working man in show business, DR says Bryana is the James Brown of nursing. Bryana's dad will be glad to know she actually works and takes great care of her patients.

Danny Ray Hardman
aka Handy Dan

Previous Postings on Danny Ray...

Danny Ray Hardman aka Handy Dan

Previous Postings on Danny Ray...

Danny Ray Hardman
aka Handy Dan