Sunday posting, November 3rd, 2002 Good morning! We were too
tired last night to do an update and had to get up early to take Emily to the
airport. Since Emily is safely at the airport, I have time for a quick
update.
The big news from Saturday is that it looks like Toni and Daniel will be home
for Thanksgiving. Dr. Perez Tamayo likes to have a one month exam for his
heart patients, but Daniel is doing well enough (plus he knows we want to get
home) that he is going to release him earlier. We are excited to finally be
coming home after six months. Toni has bitter sweet feelings about leaving
because she will have to leave many new and wonderful friends behind. There
are so many things we have to accomplish over the next few weeks that our "to
do" list is already a page long.
Having Emily here was good for Daniel and Toni. She brings a level of energy
and enthusiam that I can only dream of. She spent most of her last night
with Daniel helping him and saying goodbye. We loved having her. Emily and
Betsy have been outstanding throughout this entire nightmare. By the way,
Betsy is in the process moving back with us while she finishes classes for
her teaching certificate.
Daniel is off morphine and his personality is trending back to normal (for
Daniel). He was still a little "out there" but stayed kind and appreciative
of all of the medical staff. His pain levels are back up considerably. I
know the doctors want to keep him as pain free as possible to aid in the
recovery so we will have to see what can be done today. Daniel is supposed
to be up and walking, but the pain in his chest limited him to about one half
of the amount he was supposed to do yesterday.
It snowed and froze last night. The amount of snow might be described as "a
dusting" but with the freeze the roads were slick this morning. We passed
several wrecks on the roads. It must be like the first big rain in LA. We
were very cautious and hope to be home before we get to the real winter. I
will be back to Arcadia on Wednesday and hope to see everyone. Love, Jim
Monday, November 4th, 2002 Daniel is back at Fisher House. We
checked out today about noon and headed straight for Burger King (also to
renew the car rental at Enterprise). His stamina is extremely limited, it
hurts a LOT to cough, he still throws up about one meal a day, BUT he is very
glad to be out of the hospital.
Once we arrived Daniel and I both took about a three hour nap. Daniel's
comment as we were coming up the walk to Fisher House was, "To put it in
perspective, I've had brain surgery and heart surgery in the past couple of
weeks...I think that's enough." Amen. His blood pressure medication has
been reduced and all the others stay about the same. I figure the next
couple of weeks are going to consist of sleeping, eating, and more sleeping.
Luckily, I have just the right natural energy level to be very good company
for him.
While we were sleeping Jim was busy making plane reservations for us. We fly
home on November 26th, just in time for Thanksgiving. It is all too amazing
to take in tonight. Yesterday was our six month anniversary in Albany. Who
would have guessed what life would hold in store for all of us when I locked
my office door and waved good-bye to my coworkers on Friday, May 3rd? This
has been a life changing and life affirming journey...in ways we have already
experienced and, I'm certain, in ways we have yet to discover. So much of
what has been life affirming is the support of all of you who have made this
journey with us. We could never have imagined the outpouring of love with
which we have been blessed.
Daniel will be returning to outpatient OT and PT at Sunnyview while he
recovers. We will wait to hear from them about when his first day will be,
but it will give him a chance to increase his stamina under supervision. I
personally look forward to stepping back on the treadmill so I can make
everyone else look good. The other folks come armed with high protein snacks
and Health magazine, I come armed with Whoopie Pies and People magazine.
It is now about 8:00 p.m. We have finished dinner (scrambled eggs, spinach
souffle and English muffins). We polished off three delicious pieces of
homemade pumpkin pie compliments of Marilyn from Fisher House for dessert and
the Simpson's Halloween extravaganza awaits. Love to everyone...Jim, Daniel
and Toni
Tuesday, November 5th, 2002 Today was a very lazy, slow day.
Daniel gets tired just walking to the bathroom and so he spent most of the
day in bed. We did find time to play Scrabble and Word Whomp (a computer
game). Toni and I were beaten handily by Ace, but that isn't exactly news.
We aren't going to push Daniel for a couple of days until his pain levels go
down. Besides, physical therapy will begin again soon and they can push the
boy to get back to work. All in all, it was a good day for the Foxes.
I return to Arcadia early tomorrow morning and I am sad to be leaving. It
was so good to be with Daniel and Toni for the past two weeks. We have been
through some incredible highs and lows, but nothing to compare to the first
weeks. I am lucky to have such a wonderful family. I am also lucky to have
such wonderful friends. Thank you, Jim
Wednesday, November 6th, 2002 It's Daniel again. I haven't
written since my heart surgery for two reasons: 1) I feel in a lot of pain
much of the time and 2) I don't really know what to write about. But tonight
I thought I'd get back into the habit of recording my days.
This morning my dad woke up SUPER TURBO early to get showered and dressed for
the cab ride to the airport to catch his flight home. Luckily my mom and I
woke up early enough to say goodbye. My mom even accompanied him to the curb
to see him off.
Then we both slept in for a considerably longer time before having peanut
butter and jelly english muffin breakfast, with apple cider (which I usually
dislike but enjoyed this morning). Other events of the day: my mom cleaned
up the Fisher House rooms and took a trip to the store to pick up some milk
and nursing cream for my scars. Also, we set up that I will be returning to
Sunnyview for both Physical AND Occupational Therapy this Monday. When my
mom got back from the store, she brought McDonald's which I barely kept
down.
My post-surgery pain is pretty considerable, especially since I am constantly
congested in my throat. It hurts especially to cough, so this is a lose-lose
situation. I'm getting better at coughing though so that it takes less tries
to clear up my airways.
Jerry, the manager of the Fisher House brought his daughter and two
grandchildren by so we could meet each other. Adam is four and at first was
very shy, but by the end of the visit he was showing how he could throw his
stuffed animal in the air ten times. Jesse is only five months old so mostly
he just smiled. It was nice to see them. Adam is also a Harry Potter
fan.
Two things I am excited for: 1) the new Harry Potter movie and 2) COMING HOME
IN A COUPLE WEEKS! Granted, my stamina is very low since my heart surgery,
but just being able to loaf in Arcadia will cause a dramatic elevation in my
satisfaction level.
Well, goodnight. ~Daniel
Thursday, Nov. 7, 2002 The month and date today is Mindy's
birthday backwards. And I'm really tuckered out from a big trip to Target
and Starbucks today so I'm going to relinquish the update-typing duties to my
mother. Take it away madrecita!
Today was a windy and cold day with the high temperature reaching a blazing
thirty-seven degrees but sunny. Tomorrow morning they are predicting
eighteen degrees...we think we'll stay curled up in comforters in front of
the fireplace and watch Shall We Dance (compliments of Laurie McQuaid). Gee,
on days like this I sure do miss working...
We began the morning with TV while we waited for Daniel's nausea medicine to
kick in so he could tolerate food. We watched "The Arts" channel instead of
bad daytime TV for a change of pace. It was a lovely hour although we did
wonder about the more personal side of the orchestra members (whose teenage
daughter dresses like a slut, whose husband is having an affair with their
best friend, whose mother married their father's sister's aunt's
husband...the things we're used to finding out that are so meaningful).
With Daniel having a touch less pain and a bit more energy we ventured out
briefly today. Our first stop was Eddie Bauer Outlet so we could purchase
flannel pajama pants. Then on to Target for a few items (they have wheel
chairs they will trade for his walker which makes a huge difference). On the
way home we stopped at Starbucks for chai tea and cookies. By then Daniel
was pooped so he stayed in the car while I ran in. We traveled with a pink
water pitcher (compliments of Albany Med) and a box of Kleenex. Daniel has a
lot of congestion and "stuff" that he is coughing up from his lungs post
surgery (this is a good thing), and sometimes he still throws up. The water
pitcher has become our traveling receptacle of choice for anything that comes
up.
Back at Fisher House Daniel and I changed into our new pajama pants and he
went down for a nap while I contacted doctors to make follow up appointments
before we return home. When he wandered out we phoned home to chat with
friends but found out most of you are working in the middle of the
day...novel concept. We caught Chessie Sauber in her classroom (the kids
were gone) and Daniel and I had a good conversation. I found out there is a
district wide in-service tomorrow at the high school for all the employees in
the district that I will be missing...(it's just one sacrifice after
another).
Today has been a much more hopeful day...when Daniel's pain and stamina
improve the world just looks brighter. Dinner has been reheated and devoured
and we have Friends, Survivor, and Will and Grace to keep us busy tonight.
May you all have an easy Friday and a wonderful weekend...we send our love,
Daniel and Toni
Friday, November 8th, 2002
We got a late start today because we slept twelve hours last night. It was
Daniel's first full night's sleep since coming home from the hospital and he
woke up in good spirits. We played our favorite phone game of "Who Can We
Wake Up on the West Coast?" and called Kelly Meyer. She is at Lewis and
Clark in Oregon and was a good sport about our 7 a.m. wake up call...she was
even coherent (and saved from a lengthy call since Daniel is quite hoarse
from the surgery and can't talk for long).
Mail call brought letters from Sunnyview (new schedule), and KC in Budapest,
which brightened Daniel's day. We had a leisurely brunch (translation, Taco
Bell drive thru) and then Daniel decided to rest while I ran errands.
(Chazan Pharmacy now greets me by name...I think we're one of their best
customers.)
This afternoon Courtney, a wonderful young woman we met at Sunnyview, came by
to visit and do a healing treatment for Daniel. He'll have to explain how it
works but she has been a positive part of his recovery. Afterwards, Daniel
took to the computer and I caught up on some very important and challenging
reading (People magazine...it's a Friday staple). A phone call from Emilie
Richardson made Daniel's day complete.
The doorbell rang this evening and to my delight and surprise Jason Law, a
former AHS student, was at the door with a friend. I chaperoned his
Destination Imagination group in Tennessee two years ago and followed his
adventures his senior year. He is going to college at Williams, had driven a
friend to Albany and decided to drop by. It was so great to see him and hear
a little about his college life. Really made me homesick for the kids at
Arcadia High. Jason brought a Calvin and Hobbes book and Daniel and I
appreciate the offbeat humor.
Dinner looked remarkably like last night's meal but Daniel is a good sport
and made only positive comments. Clean up, pajamas, medicine and it was time
for bed. Unfortunately dinner and the medicine didn't stay down long, but
after a tough bout of coughing etc. Daniel was able to relax and drift off.
Many of the families at Fisher House go home for the weekend, so it should be
a pretty quiet couple of days, which is just our style. Take care, we think
about you often and hope you are enjoying some peaceful times with family and
friends. Love, Daniel and Toni