Robert & Roxie have finally made it home!! They went for a tour of the farm and went to get Rowdy to bring him home. They were both glad to be home! They are suppose to start putting the wind towers up tomorrow so Papa is excited to be home in time to watch that. This will only be a short lived visit because they have to go back to Rochester in a week. Roxie is felling better I am sure being back in the "WINDY" country has helped a lot. Robert thinks that the new pain medicine is working because the food is actually starting to taste a little better. Hopefully he will get his appetite back soon. He will need all the strength he can get for the long road ahead! Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers! Please keep them coming without them we wouldn't have been able to get through this. God sends us angels in so many ways!

Good Morning! It sounds like Robert & Roxie will be heading home this morning. They both went to bed last night at 8:00pm. They were taking their time getting around this morning. Roxie is not 100% yet but she thinks she feels good enough to drive.
Thanks to everyone for all your thoughts and prayers.

Good Morning! Robert & Roxie have finally made it to Augusta! Roxie has gotten the flu so I think that they are going to wait to head on home. As soon as I know something I will let you know. Please keep them in your prayers as they finish their journey home. They will only have a short stay because they have to be back in Rochester the first week in Oct. for a check up.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PAPA!! WE HOPE THAT YOU ARE HAVING A GOOD DAY AND CAN MAKE IT HOME SOON! WE ALL LOVE YOU!! --- Rod, Jill, Shaelee, Chandler, Robbie, Brecken, Laura, Tate, Kyler, Renissa, Darren, Nolan, Camrea, Ryan, Melissa, Tenley, & Talen.

Robbie has arranged for us to get a rental car this morning. We will head out and take it slow and easy. Don't have to have the car returned to Wichita until Sun morn so we have plenty of time.Robert seems to be feeling OK. We both slept pretty good last night, but are ready to be back in our own bed. Hope we make it this time!! So ready to be home.We won't be there very long before we have to head back up here Oct 6th and 7th for checkup appts.He did eat a little breakfast, part of a donut, a fruit cup and a little apple juice. Pray for safe travels and that he continues to not have pain that isn't controllable. Anxious to see everyone at home. "Toto, there is no place like home in Kansas."Love and prayers,Roxie
September 26, 2008 9:25 AM

We are finally at the hotel! yea! Please pray that things go well and that we make it all the way home this time. Kinda scary after the last time....We will take it easy and slow. Not sure when we will start out.We will probably take two days getting to Augusta. That is where our car is. He is in the room resting right now. He is wanting something to eat besides hospital food. One bite and then he is usually finished so I will be eating whatever he orders and leaves on his plate. I sure hope I like his choices..... ha!Please keep RT's Dad in your prayers as he is in the hospital in Hugoton. When it rains, it pours....... He has had a stressful month with me out of the office and then this is added stress along with the markets up and down...... Also keep Brecken and Tate in your prayers. They are going through some testing.Hope to be home and see everyone soon. Jeanie, tell Father I sure hope he has some good dove soup! Ha! What a guy! At least he is not breaking windows at the school playing golf..... Hope Angela is keeping a close eye on her kids.Hope to see you all soon.Love and prayers,Roxie
September 25, 2008 11:05 AM

Robert called me from the hospital at 7:10 to say they will dismiss him today. He thought I should be there "right now!" I've been through this a time or two already and know that it isn't Leoti Kansas of American that when they say you are dismissed, you can walk out!!! It will probably be noon before we get out of there. Not sure when we will start home.I would start "right now" if it were up to me, but better be safe than sorry so we will take it one day at a time. Better get over there before he sends the troops after me. Love, Rox
September 25, 2008 8:08 AM

Talked to Dr's tonight. Robert still has some liquid on his lungs so needs to walk more & use his breather more. They will watch him and maybe dismiss him tomorrow.He is taking all his meds by mouth and has acted and felt better today than any day that we have been here. He walked down to the courtyard three times today. I wheeled him back in the wheelchair but at least he got some fresh air and exercise.. The Dr's said he is making good progress. I sure hope so because I'm ready to go home!!!!! He wanted the grain markets so is starting to want to run the farm again in his bed. He is still mad at us for leaving his billfold at Augusta..... Not sure if he wanted to send me flowers or what he needed it for, but oh well......... I'm sure it is still there! Still not eating much but I guess that will take time for appetite to come back. Grumpy, Grumpy and if he doesn't stop, I'm going to get grumpy too....... ha! Tomorrow will be a week that he has been back in so it is time to get out. We'll let you know as soon as we know something.Rox Gotta go, I'm hungry and tired.
September 24, 2008 7:21 PM

Things are looking up! Robert acts and sounds better today. White blood count is at 15 so is coming down. The stool test came back OK so we don't have to deal with that! Dr's said if he continues to improve, maybe we will be dismissed tomorrow......Kinda scary to leave but anxious to be out of the hospital. Will stick around Rochester for awhile before heading to Augusta to pick up our car. We will rent a one-way rental to get us there.Had a nice surprise this morning arrive at Robert's room. A beautiful Orchid plant with a note from our friend Charlie Munger.This is what the note said: "Best wishes, As an Omaha boy I always like the following saying, which I believe appley in some way to me:"They got the boy out of the farm, but they never got the farm out of the boy." Charlie Munger. What a great guy. They were getting to go home today after 6 weeks with his wife in the hospital. She and their daughter were coming out of the beauty shop yesterday morning as I was going in. Very down to earth people. Hoping to tell you tomorrow that we are at the hotel.Robert is calling me on his cell phone wanting to go outside so you can tell he is feeling better. Yea!Love, Roxie
September 24, 2008 11:48 AM

We just took a long walk down at the courtyard and then over to the park accross the street. The wind is blowing, not quite like Kansas, but the temps are nice. They are going to give him lacics,(sp)? to get rid of some of the water weight. They are doing stool cultures to see if the antibiactics have killed the good bacterias. He is kinda crabby so maybe that means he is starting to feel a little better or just tired of the whole game........ His white blood count is 18 today so down some from yesterday.
See ya, Love and prayer, Rox
September 23, 2008 3:14 PM

Papa is up taking a shower and says the Dr's say he is getting better everyday. Still on pain meds, oxygen and IV's but is making progress. Still says everything smells and tastes like burn chicken feathers...... Takes one bite and can't eat the rest. I'm praying we can get some nutrition down him soon. That should make him stronger and feeling better. Have a great day!Love you both lots! Hope Smoke won his Football game last night.Tate called and talked to Grandpa. That put a smile on his face. Nolan called but he was asleep. He walked in to see the RES blog site and the new pics of Tenley and Talen on the blog. Take care and thanks for all the well wishes and prayers. Rox
September 23, 2008 8:54 AM

As everyone knows it is Grammie Roxie's birthday! Not a good way to spend your birthday. Robert's white blood count is still 21 and his red blood count is low at 8.8. His lung xray's and urine test turned out ok. Papa is still not eating much, he says the food just doesn't taste right to him. Hopefully that will change soon so that he can come home. Thanks to everyone for all your thoughts and prayers.

Another day, another dollar......I went to Mass @ 4:30. Robert walked 4 times which was very good.They will do breathing treatments on him until about 10 and then let him get a good night's rest. He had a rough one last night. I'm headed to the hotel to rest. I did take an hour nap this afternoon. I needed it. I'm still tired. Roxie
September 20, 2008 8:04 PM

Talked to Dr Kendrick's assistant Dr Andrade this morn. Things are looking good. Meds are doing what they are suppose to be doing. White blood count is down. Normal fluids around the plevic area as expected after surgery of this kind. Pancreas is inflammed which is probably causing the severe pain. No drain tube is needed at this point. They gave him a pneumonia shot and are doing breathing treatments to help with the lungs. Coughing hurts but will help get stuff out that needs to come out. They will take the cath out today so that will make it easier to walk and try to get him off of the oxygen. They will keep him a few days and monitor his progress. Will let everyone know when we will head home. I'm sure we won't rush it. Might even stay a fews days here after being realeased just to make sure he is able to tolerate traveling. Thanks for all your love and prayers. Tell all my family hello at the wedding today. Will miss seeing everyone and will miss leading the Grand March at the dance. Dance one for both of us. Love, Rox
September 20, 2008 10:12 AM

No feaver, no bowel obstruction,no kinks in bowel, no abcess showing on the CT scann. They say the fluid is normal after this kind of surgery. Has Adema which they say is normal and the fluid is pushing on his lungs so they want him to get up and walk and use his breather to take deeper breaths. They have finally given him clear liquids after 4 days of not eating so that made him happy. Well, some what???? They will keep him on antibiatics and are calling in a breathing specialist to do some testing on his lungs. Pieces of his lungs are not expanding, so they will watch so he doesn't get pnemonia. Didn't really see anything abnormal on the scan. I haven't talked to any Dr's today, just what the nurses told me. Don't know if the test on lung will be Sat or Mon. I'm heading to the motel to try and relax. It has been a long day. Relda, if you read this you might send me Kaleigh's address so I can try and get a BD card to her. How old this year? 22???Pam, I want you to know my angels are really keeping me awake!!! ha! Love and prayers to all.Rox
September 19, 2008 8:25 PM

Robert & Roxie have made it safely to Rochester, Robert is in a room right across the hall from where he was when he got dismissed. Dr. Kendrick's came in and said that this is a minor set back. Tomorrow they will do a CT Scan to see where the leaking is coming from and then insert a drain to relieve the fluid. It sounds like it is an easy procedure that does not require surgery. Dr. Kendrick's said that Robert will feel a lot better when the pressure is off. He will have to stay in the hospital for another 7-10 days. Roxie is staying at the hotel across from the hospital. Roxie said that Robert is feeling better and that he is resting right now. They do not know what time the CT Scan will be tomorrow, as soon as I know something I will pass it on. Thanks to everyone for all your thoughts and prayers!

Robert's doctors from Rochester called back to Andover and they want to have him back in Rochester to observe him. They will fly him and Roxie on med vac to Rochester. As soon as I know something more I will let you know. Please keep them in your prayers! This was posted at 3:02 pm for some reason the time has not changed.

They are getting ready to take Robert down for a CT Scan right now, as soon as we know something I will let you know. They had to re-due his IV this morning so that is putting things behind. His temperature is down but he is still in pain.

Good Morning ! Robert is doing better this morning, his pain is about 1/3 of what it was and the leaking is minimal now. He sat up from 4-6 this morning and is sitting up now. Roxie is doing better she got to sleep last night. Thanks to everyone for all of your thoughts and prayers. I know that the family could not get through this time if it wasnt for all the family and friends support.

Robert's doctor from Rochester said this is not a big deal and that they need to just watch him and give him antibiotics for a few days. He thinks that it will heal itself. He does not think that they need to operate right now. Keep the prayers coming for them! Thanks!

I wanted everyone to know that Robert got put into the hospital at Andover, KS last night. One of his connections that they did is leaking. He will have to go back into surgery and have them fix it. They can do that at Andover but Robert wants to go back to Rochester. Right now they are waiting on a call from Robert's doctor in Rochester to see what he wants to do. If he goes back to Rochester they will fly him up there. Please keep Robert and Roxie in your prayers as they head through another trial.

Hi to everyone! Robert decided he was well enough to come home yesterday so they headed out. They made it to Ottawa last night and plan to get to Wichita today. I think that they will spend a litttle time in Augusta before heading the rest of the way home. Everything seems to be going good. Please keep them in your prayers as they travel the rest of the way home. Thanks!

They dismissed Robert from the hospital! Him and Roxie are staying at the hotel across the street from the hospital. The doctors say that Robert is progressing really good. He was not able to rest in the hospital this morning so he was going to lay down for a nap when they got to the hotel. Robert still has to take insulin but it is about 1/2 of what he was taking. They will head home on Monday. It sounds like it will be a long trip home, the doctors recommended that Robert stop every two hours and walk around a little. Ryan should be getting home about right now. In about 4weeks they will need to go back to Rochester for a check up and plan out the Chemo & Radiation schedule. He will be able to take Chemo at home but for the Radiation he will have to go back to Rochester. Thanks again to everyone for all your thoughts and prayers!

We finally made it home last night about 10pm. Ryan said that Robert is doing good, they are going to stop giving Robert his nightly insulin and see how that goes. Right now it seems that his pancreas is working like it should as far as the insulin part goes. The docotor said last night that they thought they would dismiss him Friday or Monday depending on if everything was going well. As soon as I hear something I will let you all know.

Good Morning to everyone! Robert is doing good this morning. He has already gotten up and walked twice this morning by himself. He is in good spirits as well. Today they will let him have a liquid diet, soups, jellos things like that. Robert is actually excited to just get to have some broth. Rod, Robbie, Renissa, Chandler and I will be leaving this morning at 9am to head home, we should be home around 10pm. Ryan will be staying back with Roxie for a few days. Thanks to everyone for your thoughts and prayers they are greatly appreciated. It means alot to the family to have such wonderful friends and family.

Papa got up and walked 5 times today which is really good. We were also able to take him outside for some fresh air. He still can not eat which makes him fussy- who wouldn't get fussy not eating. Tomorrow we think that they will be giving him a liquid diet. The doctors and nurses think he is progressing very rapidly. Roxie was able to take a nap with the kids being here. Rod, Robbie, Renissa, Chandler and I will be heading home tomorrow morning around 9am. Darren is going to meet us in Salina and pick up Renissa. We will be making the drive in one day. Ryan will be staying for a few more days with Roxie.

Good Morning! Robert was up at 5am this morning. He sat in a chair for 30 minutes and went for a walk. He is doing really good. The doctors are very proud of his progress. He needs to get up and walk 4 or 5 more times today. He has said that he is sore all over but he is still going strong and his spirits are still good. The surgeons up here are really good and explain everything extremely well. Thanks again for all your thoughts and prayers, keep them coming. Roxie did get 8 hours of sleep last night, the most she has gotten in at least a month. Please keep everyone in your prayers! Pat- by the way it is too late all the family secrets are out, Robert told anyone that would listen everything yesterday, they could not get him to quit talking. Ha! Ha! The family thanks everyone from the bottom of their hearts for all the thoughts and prayers!

We finally got to go in and see Papa. He is doing really good. He is back to the old Papa that we love so much. He is joking around with everyone. He said that he is not in pain and is not using the button for the pain medicine. The nurse said he about talked her leg off. Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers! Keep the comments coming the family loves to read them. It is there way to communicate with everyone.

Robert is out of surgery and is in recovery. It will be about 2 hours before we get to see him yet.
The mass on Robert was cancerous and he will have to take Chemo and Radiation. For right now they will keep him here until they feel he is healthy enough to leave. It should be between 5-14 days. They will then come home for recovery. In about 6 weeks they will come back to Rochester. At that point they will discuss what we need to do for Chemo and Radiation. The doctor did tell us this is as good as it gets as far as pancreatic cancer goes. Thanks again for all your thoughts and prayers. There is nothing like the power of prayer. Please keep them coming!

They just came in and informed us that they are sewing him up. As soon as the doctor is done he will come in to visit with the family! Thanks again for all your thoughts and prayers!

If you would like to know about the procedure they are doing go back to older posts and go to the Wipple Procedure on 8/22/08, that tells in detail what they are doing with the re-routing. It also has a couple of pictures.

They have taken the mass out and they are beginning to put him back together! They have to re- plumb the pancreas then they can sew him up. They were able to do it all by laproscopy which means that his recovery will be faster. After they are done with the surgery it will be 2hours in recovery before we are able to see him. As soon as we hear more we will let you know!

The nurse just came in and gave us an update. Everything is going well and as planned. They were able to do it through laproscopy which is good. Every two hours she will come in and give us another update. Keep all the prayers coming!

The address for Robert is:

Mayo Clinic
Saint Marys Hospital
Patient Care Unit- Francis 1C
% Robert Berning Room 121
1216 Second Street SW
Rochester, Minnesota 55902

Good morning. They took Robert to pre-op at 7:10 am. The surgery is scheduled for at 8:15am. It should take around 6 hours for the surgery. As soon as we know something we will let you know. No news is good news. Papa was in really good spirits this morning. Keep all the prayers coming! Love- Roxie, Rod, Robbie, Renissa & Ryan

Everyone has made it safely to Rochester! Renissa and Ryan made it in about an hour after we did. Robert has to be at the hospital at 5:45 am and his surgery is scheduled for 8:15 am. Keep us in your prayers! We will keep you updated as soon as we know something.

Thanks from all the family for all the thoughts and prayers!

Good Evening to everyone. We left Kansas this morning at around 9 am. Thanks to Robbie's garman or gar-woman (haha we all know it has to be a woman because a man would never stop and ask for directions!) we made it to Omaha, NE at around 6pm, the trip was pleasant. Everything seems to be greener the further you get from Kansas. Ryan and Renissa will be leaving Augusta in the morning to meet up with us. We will leave in the morning and head on into Rochester, it should be about 380 miles. Tomorrow night Roxie will call the hospital and get the instructions for Robert and we will check him in Monday morning. Thanks to everyone for all your thoughts and prayers they are greatly appreciated, keep them coming we all need them at this time. The family loves to read all the comments so keep them coming too.

Happy Labor to everyone. I hope that everyone is enjoying a much needed day off. Just thought I would let everyone know that things are going good. Robert was running a fever on Friday and had to be put in to the hospital over night to get re-hydrated. They also put him on antibiotics. He got to go back home on Saturday. He seems to be doing better. Ryan, Melissa, Tenley, Talen, Renissa, Darren, Nolan and Camrea got to come home for the weekend! It was a nice weekend with all of the family home. We all spent Saturday at Robert and Roxie's then on Sunday Robbie barbecued on his traegger grill and brought chicken, ribs and brisket out to Grammie's for lunch it was really good, then Sunday night we came out to our house for supper, the plan was to go fishing but unfortunately the wind did not corporate. A big thanks to Grammie's boss (RT) for having Webb's B-Bque cater food for us. With all the kids and grand kids there are a lot of mouths to feed! Grammie is still trying to take care of everyone but we at least tried to get her to rest a while. Thanks to everyone for all your thoughts, prayers and comments!