Saturday, November 30, 2002
Bright lights and music and friends...oh my! Wow, what a reception...it took
our breath away. It was beyond words to see everyone on Tuesday night. So
many embraces, and familiar faces...an emotional high for all of us. My wish
would be for all of you to see yourselves through our eyes. You are an
amazing community of friends.
Sorry to have neglected the updates, but it has been a whirlwind around our
house. My sister, Sandi and her family (Tod and Robin)arrived last Sunday to
spend Thanksgiving with us. She was followed on Wednesday by Emily, home
from Catalina Island for a month (hurray), and my brother, Gary, and his
family (Vicky, Alex and Becky)for the holiday.
So, here goes a quick rundown of our time since we left Albany. First of
all, Jerry from Fisher House gave us a ride to the airport. I don't think we
could have managed alone. We had four bags stuffed to bursting with all
things accumulated over the past seven months. I became teary at the final
good-bye because he has been so very kind to us. I can't imagine how we would
have survived without the Fisher House.
The first flight was on a small plane to Kennedy Airport...and let's just say
it reminded me of Star Tours at Disneyland. (How do you spell too much
turbulence?) We boarded the plane at Kennedy and we were seated in business
class, compliments of Jim's boss, Robb Reed. It is a whole different
experience than flying coach. First of all there is actual leg room and, my
personal favorite...a footrest. The chairs really recline (not just the inch
and a half I'm used to), so sleeping comes easily. The food was great, the
flight was smooth, and being comfortable made it seem much shorter.
All I could think of when the plane touched down was...we made it, we're
really here. I think until that very moment it didn't seem real. There was
a wheelchair waiting for Daniel and once we passed through the doors we
spotted Jim and Betsy waiting for us...tears all around. Jim sent Betsy and
Daniel outside to wait for the car (I figured it was my sister driving the
blue van), while we waited for luggage. When we exited and there was this
long limousine waiting I was totally stunned. Our wonderful friends and
neighbors, the Dunn's, had arranged for the service and it was so
exciting...I've never been in a limo. We laughed and giggled and had such a
good time.
When we turned down San Luis Rey I was amazed at the number of cars lining
the street. Jim and Betsy told Daniel to look towards the house and it took
him a few seconds to begin to comprehend what was happening. I can't imagine
a better, warmer, nicer homecoming. It was absolutely perfect. I knew I had
missed you all, but to see you in person, 200 people lining the streets with
candles in hand, while the Pep Band played Jungle Boogie in the background,
really made it clear what great friends we have. I think Daniel and I would
have stayed outside all night soaking in the embraces, tears and laughter if
we hadn't been urged by those of you with more level heads to get inside and
rest. IN N OUT burgers awaited inside, a treat from Daniel's buddy since
kindergarten, Linda Ryne. Then we all laughed, chatted and awaited the
Channel 5 News (what a surprise!) to relive Daniel's homecoming on TV, and
finally collapsed into bed.
By seven the next morning Daniel and I were wide awake, since it was 10 a.m.
Albany time. It was a relaxing day of pajamas, reading the newspaper (the
article in the Times was so nice), naps and just hanging out. Once Gary's
family and Emily arrived, we started all over detailing the events of the
night before and catching up on everything we had missed in their lives.
Mindy came by, Ms. Novak and Ms. Heintzman from AHS visited after school, and
we managed to help Betsy hang curtains in the back house so she, Emily and
Alex could sleep there without feeling like they were in a fishbowl.
It was another peaceful night until about 1 a.m. when Daniel started throwing
up. I think maybe the excitement, the really good food, and the lack of
enough rest kicked in. However, we have this routine down to a science, so
once we cleaned him up and changed the bed he was able to drift back to sleep
feeling much better. It did strike me that I need to find an internist for
him quickly, because we don't have one for him here in California. That
seems so weird since we had such a long list in Albany.
Thanksgiving was just a great, relaxing, and food-filled day thanks to all of
you who dropped off dinner. Talk about some great recipes...apparently most
of you actually cook on a regular basis because our dinner was to die for.
Afterwards we walked down to the high school (okay, most of the family
walked...Betsy drove me down), so we could walk the track and make room for
dessert. Several laps and a few raindrops later we headed on home. Daniel
and Jim had stayed behind for some quiet time, rest, and to get a head start
on the pumpkin pie. We have also found that pumpkin pie is a great breakfast
food, mid-morning snack, vegetarian lunch, well...you get the picture.
Today we began with a Starbucks run (I was having withdrawal), followed by
naps, walks, and movie selections. Dividing into two groups we went to Harry
Potter and Real Women Have Curves...great reviews for both. It seems to be
doing Daniel a world of good to be at home and have so many people with whom
to visit. I know he loves me but I think I may fall into the somewhat boring
category (although he would never say so). He has nineteen year old energy
and, well, I have fifty-four year old energy...need I say more?
The rest of the weekend will be more of the same. Following Gary's departure
Sunday morning we will be back to the five Foxes under the same roof. We are
blessed. Love to you all, Jim, Toni, Emily, Betsy and Daniel Fox
Sunday night, December 1, 2002
Today the last of my family left and we are now down to five. Jim was
wondering how it would feel to have five of us in his space...but after
having twelve of us for the past few days, we seem really quiet.
Yesterday, while my brother Gary painted the doors in the back house with the
help of Jim and Tod, the rest of us settled in for an Anne of Green Gables
marathon. We found out we are all fans, so we watched all of Anne of Green
Gables and Anne of Avonlea. We did take breaks for water, food, medicine and
to play musical couches and trade the comforters. It was great. Linda and
Lisa Hou and their Mom stopped by with a basket of goodies and a visit.
Michael Hawkins will be pleased to know that Linda sent Daniel a USC t-shirt
at Sunnyview. She was off to the game so we briefly checked in on the
progress and watched most of the third quarter. It really was embarrassing
for Notre Dame...and I don't know that much about football.
Today Mindy went with us to the Mall to buy Daniel some shoes that actually
fit without causing him pain. We ended up at Nordstrom's and I left the two
of them in the capable hands of one of the salesmen while Emily and I
wandered off to check on the women's shoes. It took Daniel twelve tries
before they found a pair that he could wear with his leg brace...the man
assisting Daniel was terrific. We finally departed with five pair of shoes
(one for Daniel, one for Emily, and THREE for me). I finally retired the
pair I've been wearing for two years...I'd become quite attached to
them.
One of the most interesting things in the Mall was seeing people we know. In
Albany we didn't really know anyone so whenever we shopped, went to the
movies etc. we didn't really look around at people much. I was caught off
guard today to see people I recognized...pleased, but surprised.
This afternoon the Ryne family stopped by with latkes's and Danel brought by
some empanada's. This morning we had a care package left on the doorstep by
the Knudsen family. We are probably the best fed family in Arcadia...do you
all know how nice you are? We certainly do!
Daniel is now sleeping after having said his good-byes to family and friends
as they return to college and home. I'm getting ready to clear some closets
and dressers so we can actually unpack. It feels like we've never been away
and like we've been away forever...so good to be home. I hope you all had a
Thanksgiving as memorable and filled with love and warmth as ours. Love,
Toni, Jim, Emily, Betsy and Daniel
Wednesday, December 4, 2002
Well, this is my first update since being home. This is Daniel, by the way.
First of all, there's not much else to be said about the plane trip home. I
loved the food and that was the best part about not flying coach. But being
greeted by my sister (who took a grade penalty at Point Loma to see me) and
my father was amazing. Even if it was at LAX. Then I was astonished by the
black limousine that picked us up curbside, with subtly changing colored
lights inside. A little traffic on the way home, and my mom kept getting
short with my dad and whispering to him because (although I didn't know it at
the time) she thought he was giving away the surprise that awaited me on San
Luis Rey Road.
Upon turning down our street, I noticed lots and lots of cars, but no people
and no candles until Betsy told me to roll down my window and look down the
street. I obediently did both, but the window only went halfway down and my
family kept yelling at me to open it more. This was frustrating.
My first emotion was embarassment. As I stood out of the car, I noticed the
KTLA newsvan and all the cameras pointed at me. And all of the people. Wow,
all the people. I was afraid that I would have to play the "favorites" game
when choosing who to hug and greet first, but luckily that was taken care of
for me since my family rushed in to hug me first and then all sorts of people
made their way toward me, especially the mothers. Of course, I hadn't
figured out yet how to hug with my arms underneath the other person's arms so
that my chest scar wouldn't hurt, but after that wonderful reception I
learned.
I quickly got over the embarassment and felt overwhelmed by all the
compassion and good will I was surrounded by. I never knew how much of a
community I was a part of, and this really put into perspective the positive
power that people have when united for a common purpose. Thank you all who
came by, helped decorate (and most of the decoratinos are still up), or
dropped off notes and goodies.
Thanksgiving was great. The food was fabulous (especially the dressing) and
it was nice to not have to worry about even picking it up in styrafoam
containers from a local store. Since my voice is so hoarse, sometimes it was
hard to be a part of the conversations with my family, so I would instead
retreat to my room with a couple people to have smaller, more intimate chats.
That suited me much better and allowed me to rest.
The new shoes that I have are harder to get on (probably because they haven't
been broken in yet) but once on, are much more comfortable. The toe box is
much bigger so my over-sensitive toes are not in nearly as much pain as
before.
Monday night I was feeling oddly more tired than usual and my mom decided to
take my temperature. I was running around 101.5 degrees, so I took a couple
Tylenol and went to bed. On Tuesday I threw up and was having breathing
trouble along with dry, hacking coughs. My mom had received a referal to a
pulmonary doctor on Huntington, so she scheduled an appointment for me that
afternoon. The office is (for a healthy person) easy walking distance from
our house, although I had to ask to lay down in the office because I was so
tired from simply walking from the curb to the office. When Dr. Browne came
in, we started briefing him about my medical history, especially the past 7
months. He looked just a tiny bit overwhelmed, especially when my mom asked
him to be our primary care physician, but he obliged and went on to check me
up. He wasn't sure what was causing my sickness and breathing problems, but
put me on a very strong antibiotic that attacks a broad range of organisms.
I had a CBC blood test and a chest Xray downstairs and then was free to go
home, but only after a trip to a gas station to replace a headlight and a
trip to Starbucks for treats.
Today I threw up for the second day in a row, probably because I ate too much
cereal. But at lunch I chowed down a whole CPK pizza plus two of my mother's
slices. Luck or circumstance, I'm not sure which. Now it's time to go to
bed. Good night! ~Daniel
Thursday, December 5, 2002
Yesterday Daniel talked about the decline in his health since Monday.
Unfortunately, the decline has landed him in Arcadia Methodist today. His
fever peaked at 102.5 last night, he gave back dinner last night and lunch
today and he was short of breath again. These things combined with the high
white blood cell count from his doctor visit made the hospital an easy call
for Dr. Browne. Of course, the doctors don't know what is causing the
infection so we are starting the testing routine again. Hopefully, the
source will be identified and defeated once and for all. The infectious
disease doctor is Dr. Streng. Toni knows his wife, Charlotte, and is
confident we are in good hands.
We really didn't want to go back to the hospital this soon and Daniel is
pretty down about it. He told me that his new goal was to be healthy for two
weeks straight. He wants to start small and work up to longer term goals.
Anyway, the hospital is nice and the doctors seem very good. I'm sure the
staff is excellent, but we hope he is out of there before we become fixtures.
I am tired of this and I can't even imagine what Toni and Daniel are thinking
right now. Toni is planning to stay with Daniel until he falls asleep and
then she is going to come home to bed. I'll be surprised if she does. With
any luck Toni and Daniel will be making the reports soon. Love to all, Jim
Friday night, December 6, 2002
It was no surprise that Toni spent last night at Methodist Hospital with
Daniel. When I stopped in this morning with chai tea from Starbucks, they
were both up and ready to watch The Sound of Music. There is nothing like
The Sound of Music at 7:30 to start your day on a positive note. They both
say that only uplifting movies will see the inside of their VCR. On a
positive note for me, both Toni and Daniel were upbeat and feeling better
than yesterday.
Daniel had a lot of blood work done early in the morning. The largest draw
was for nuclear medicine. That blood had radioactive matter added to it and
then then it was put back into Daniel later in the day. Around 5 o'clock
this evening, Daniel had a full body scan so they can determine where the
radioactive material ended up in his body. It seems that the material is
attracted to white blood cells making it possible to determine the source of
his infection. We should know the results of the scan tomorrow.
Other than that it was a pretty calm day. His temperature stayed under
control and he receive breathing treatments for the shortness of breath.
Toni had to go to her own doctor today and so Chessie Sauber stopped by to be
the substitute mother for the afternoon. Daniel reported that they had a
great time. (Chessie's son, Patrick, has a major roll in a movie that is
supposed to released in April so please mark your calendars. Patrick is the
first movie star from the AHS class of 2001.) ...Jim