Our Week in Retrospect

Mr D, after he was feeling better!

Never did Mr D and I think our week would be spent with he in the hospital and I putting everything on hold and spending each day there with him! When Doctors throw words around like 'bone marrow tests' and 'his platelets are low,' right away our minds went to the dreaded 'C' word - unspoken, at first, but there.

Mr D started feeling unwell the week before, mostly with no energy at all. We blamed some of that on the heat but when he started with extreme sweats, then shaking like a leaf with chills, we knew it was more than that and decided we'd go to our family Dr. first thing Monday morning. After a typical exam, we were sent to do some blood work and from there to the emergency room, where they did a lot more blood work, after which he was admitted to the hospital.

By now, we knew his platelets and white cell count were dangerously low and the medical were very puzzled why his blood looked like it did. Mr D did tell them of an occasional pain on his left side (about which I knew nothing of !) that he'd been feeling for several months. He had mentioned it to his doctor when he had a recent colonoscopy earlier but he passed it off as 'probable adhesions.'

Tuesday the doctors did a bone marrow test, and after a C-scan, took a sample out of  the 'pain in his side' and placed a tube in to drain it. The 'pain in his side' was the culprit of all of his not feeling well...the infection had depleted the white cell count and platelets to a dangerous level. He was put on intravenous antibiotic meds and Tuesday he had a platelet transfusion. By Thursday, with the infection under control, his platelet and white cell count went up quickly and he was feeling much better.

On the following Monday, they did another C-scan and the good news was there were no cancer cells in any of the tests, including the fluids that were being drained. The bad news was there is a golf-sized tumor that needs further attention. The doctor said the best way he could explain it was 'the inside of the tumor ran out of oxygen and it 'liquified' - hence the infection.

Mr D came home on Monday evening and is feeling well. There are no restrictions but he is learning to 'listen' to his body. We are thankful for our grandsons, who help to pick up the slack for him on the job! We jokingly called his eight-day stay at the hospital an 'expensive motel' but are very, very grateful for the wonderful  caring care he was given! The doctors explained things clearly so we could 'get it' and made the necessary contacts for us to start the second phase of this journey.

His room was on the eighth floor with a large window overlooking Lancaster City. I was scared to drive in the city but I learned a lot about city driving and where buildings and routes are located. I even drove into the hospital from church - a huge step for me! This was our view over the city for eight days.

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The first Monday was a long day for me. After I started hearing medical terms like 'bone marrow tests, depleted platelets, we're puzzled,' I started shutting down emotionally. I felt frozen a good part of the week. As the news started sounding better, I could feel myself beginning to thaw. Though I didn't want to, Mr D strongly encouraged me to go to church on Sunday. Lancaster City Children's choir was giving a program after Sunday School, so I snuck in the back and was planning on sneaking out again before the service was completed.

But something happened.

As I sat there, surrounded by strangers (there were a lot of guests there), I realized there was a piece of my heart still frozen. The messages of the songs began ministering to me and melting that hardness. I wept all the way through that hour of singing. No longer did I want to crawl in my little cave and close the door behind me. No longer did I want to hold my friends at arm's length. No longer did I have that small, hard core inside me. No longer did I need to be 'strong' or hold back the ever-threatening tears. I was FEELING again and it was FREEDOM!

My thanks to -

 our children who offered to come in & sit with me at anytime!

our 'out-of-state' children who faithfully called their father

 our local children who helped to pass the long hours of convalescence

for faithful friends and family who called, visited and cared!

to Elizabeth, who lives in the city and offered her home as a place of respite

to Delmar and Lauren, who showed Elizabeth and I around First Friday in the city

and last but definitely not the least...

your encouraging comment and prayers lifted up on our behalf!