Chapter Five: Beginnings of Recovery

Friday, January16

Mom and I breakfasted at Evans Fine Foods, the nearby little home-cooking restaurant where we'd met Gary, Sherry, her sister Pam, Trey, Ann, and Jack the night before. We had packed up Dad's glasses--prior to his urgent message sent via Emory staff!



Winsome, the personable tech from Jamaica (so many employees we met were from there!) got Dad up in a chair while she changed his bed. But since his blood pressure standing was only 79/50, he wasn't yet ready for a walkathon or sitting up for extended periods. We love her smile and lyrical speech.



Leith, Dr. Galloway's Physician's Assistant, told us she had only been convinced to leave New York State and turn down other offers, when she realized what a tight ship John ran and how respected his programs were. He has 500 patients from all over the world and treats people with Krohn's Disease, fistulas, and in need of reconstruction of the abdominal walls.

At this point Dad's biggest aggravation was the NG [naso-gastric] tube, which scraped the back of his throat and made it difficult to speak. He was trying to rest, so we lowered the windowshades. Dr. Sarmiento came by on his rounds. He was delighted with the surgery. Dad, as always, fired questions at him, from details about the pathology and length of hospital stay, to quizzes on the frequency and duration of chemotherapy.

The doctor looked at him, smiled, and said, "Dr. Hixson, I think you don't need to get ahead of yourself. We don't know yet that you will even need chemotherapy. Let's see what the pathologist finds and talk with the oncologist. Then we'll know more." He said the narcotics in the epidural pain relief could be reduced without affecting the pain, as Dad would still receive the benefits of anesthetics. After Dr. Sarmiento left, Dad disagreed with Mom's and my affirmation that he shouldn't worry yet about the timing of chemo. He was concerned about lining up people to work. We reminded him that God had worked out everything so far--why not work and chemo as well?

After Mom and Dad dozed, she and I took a lunch break in the cateteria and stopped by the gift shop, where she picked up a stuffed dancing dalmation. Back in the room, Elaine the tech bobbed her head in time to the tune resounding from the dog, "Do You Love Me, Now That I Can Dance?" My dad seemed to enjoy entertaining everyone who came into the room by making the dog perform.

Around 4:30 Gary stopped to visit for awhile. Yvonne, Dad's nurse, told him she was taking the long weekend off. When Dad expressed his disappointment that she wouldn't be taking care of him, she promised to tell him goodbye if he left before she could settle in to his case again. She introduced him to Juanda, his night nurse, who was already kidding with him when we left with Gary.

Mom and I were becoming regulars at Evans'. I ordered food to go for Steve, who later blew in from the cold and a long day of CVS challenges, a funeral, and the drive from Nashville to Decatur to join us at Emory Inn.