things started looking up when the nurse practitioner "bounced" into the room this morning at about 7:30. she was the first (of many) to stop by and report that my mother's white blood cell count had....wait for it......DOUBLED! almost as she was saying it, my mother perked up. you have to understand that all day she stares at a whiteboard with her "counts" posted on it. for the last two and a half weeks her white blood count has hovered around .2 (000s). today it was .5! and, as expected with the count increase, her mouth is beginning to clear up. far from clear, but "better". still a lot of progress to be made but, oh, do we love positive steps.she is still fighting a recurrent fever but, in the words of her doctor today, "people don't die here from fevers". another classic, straight to the heart of the matter comment from the doc. priceless. hopefully the counts will continue to improve. this was day 22 and the average hospital stay is 28 days. her original goal was to be home (and healthier) by Easter. that would be day 39. doesn't she encourage us to set aggressive goals? i suppose i'll cut her some slack. let's root for blowing the goal away....
the head was officially shaved today. unfortunately, i wasn't there to visually document the shaving. i will, however, capture a nice image of it tomorrow. i may have a rare "midday" post. i'm taking my black & decker hand buffer with me to the hospital.....can you say spit-polish?
my dad actually chewed his leash and went to choir tonight. it's great that he's getting out more. if you have my dad's cell phone number (and some of you do), call him and invite him to lunch. as my mother's condition improves, he is more likely to leave her side for a meal or two.
today i got a fair amount of messages from the (old) teachers at forest park high school. my mother's circle of impact is vast. keep the comments, cards, and emails coming. i have a great many to share with mrs. clean tomorrow.
i'm going to bed (or maybe watch the duke game) so i can get to the hospital early. my daughter is enjoying the early hospital visits because that means she gets a ride to school.....spoiled. (maybe someday i'll need her to take care of me in the hospital).
many blessings,
tim
Charlotte,
ReplyDeleteGreat minds do think alike. I told Jim today was going to be a good day for you and he shared that you had said the same thing. Now if we could just pick the right lottery numbers. Although, Eric was proud of the fact we had won $10.00. That's our Eric. Our spring break is almost over so we will be back to work on Monday. Michelle is filling in for you on Monday, Tuesdays, and Thursdays. Kristy is covering Wednesdays. So we are getting by. We all miss you, but are so glad your numbers are climbing. Take care, Robbie
There were two nuns..
ReplyDeleteOne of them was known as Sister Mathematical(SM),
and the other one was known as Sister Logical (SL).
It is getting dark and they are still far away from the convent.
SM: Have you noticed that a man has been following us for the past
thirty-eight and a half minutes? I wonder what he wants.
SL: It's logical. He wants to rape us.
SM: Oh, no! At this rate he will reach us in 15 minutes at the most!
What
can we do?
SL: The only logical thing to do of course is to walk faster.
SM: It's not working.
SL: Of course it's not working. The man did the only logical thing. He
started to walk faster, too.
SM: So, what shall we do? At this rate he will reach us in one minute.
SL: The only logical thing we can do is split. You go that way and
I'll go
this way. He cannot follow us both.
So the man decided to follow Sister Logical.
Sister Mathematical arrives at the convent and is worried about what
has
happened to Sister Logical.
Then SL arrives.
SM: Sister Logical! Thank God you are here!
Tell me what happened!
SL: The only logical thing happened. The man couldn't follow us both, so he followed me
SM: Yes, yes! But what happened then?
SL: The only logical thing happened. I started to run
as fast as I could and he started to run as fast as he could.
SM: And?
SL : The only logical thing happened. He reached me.
SM : Oh, dear! What did you do?
SL : The only logical thing to do. I lifted my dress up.
SM : Oh, Sister! What did the man do?
SL: The only logical thing to do. He pulled down his pants.
SM: Oh, no! What happened then?
SL: Isn't it logical, Sister? A nun with her dress up can run faster than a man with his pants down.
And for those of you who thought it would be dirty,
Say two Hail Mary's!