Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Some setbacks

Today my dad isn't feeling well, so I (Kim) am writing for him.

This morning he spiked his first fever, which is a sign of infection. This was fully expected since the chemo wipes out his immune system, and the doctors had warned us several times that it wasn't a matter of "if", but "when" he got an infection. Still, I know Dad was discouraged by the fever and by how much sicker he felt today. They started him on antibiotics for the infection.

Later today he actually passed out at one point. You can just imagine how panicked my mom was when suddenly he wasn't responding to her anymore. The doctors said it's just a side effect of all the medicine he's on and the stress his body is under fighting everything, so while it's scary, it's normal. But as a precaution, they put my dad on bedrest so he doesn't get hurt if he passes out again. That was another discouraging thing, since my dad is such a huge advocate of walking in the hospital and had been making sure to take several walks a day. But honestly, I don't think he'd be up to walking with the fever anyway, so it's probably good that he doesn't even have the temptation to feel like he should.

He had several visitors today, which definitely cheered him up. Elaine Robinson from our church came by, as well as Dr. Trace and Dr. Dolz from Passavant. Even though he wasn't feeling good, I could see that he really appreciated people coming to visit. He's already run out of room on the bulletin board for his cards. That's really nice, especially since he's not allowed to have flowers in his room. He enjoys looking at all of them.

Dad was watching the World Series tonight. He'd never be too sick to watch the baseball game! He just misses having his Tivo to skip all the commercials!

4 comments:

Donna said...

Kim, you should encourage your dad to turn this into a book. This is such an amazing and well-written story. I am sending many prayers to your family and hope that Thursday is a better day for him.

Anonymous said...

Dr. Fox just wanted to tell you that my prayers are with you and your family. You are just too good a Doctor for the Lord to take you now. I am eternally grateful for all you have done for my family in the past, and expect you to be here to take care of us in the future. Get Well Soon! There are just not enough Cub fans in this area. Can't lose one!!

Anonymous said...

Doc,
I've heard a lot of good things about you from my wife, Marsha - the 'other office nurse'. You are in our prayers. She sends you the 91st psalm, it has comforted her many times.

I stopped by the office yesterday, (wed) and was fortunate to meet your daughter, Kim, and Ian. We talked for a few minutes about a place we've both visited - Cheng Mai, Thailand. I was there several years ago (1970). It was nice to meet them both!

I can assure you that your office is strictly 'business as usual'. Everyone was very busy and behaving in a professional and efficient manner.

Marsha and I are praying for a speedy recovery for you.

Anonymous said...

Doc,
Don't worry about what Fred said. We are all behaving much better than we do when you are here :)
The office will be standing when you get back and your staff will be ready to get back to the "normal" routine.
We miss you!
Sarah, Patti, Marsha, Renee