March 11, 2000 -- Day 2
Good morning,
Last night about 6:30 Dave developed a fever. He felt chilled, then got what's called the rigors -- uncontrollable shaking. The nurse gave him Demerol to ease the shaking, then took a blood culture and sent it to the lab -- they'll be looking for any signs of infection. She said they don't know what's causing the fever, as there are no obvious signs of infection, although some sort of infection is usually the cause. Around 8:30 it happened again, so he was given more Demerol. His fever reached about 103, so they gave him some Tylenol, which, once he was finally able to take it, brought his temp back down.
I left about 11:30, and he seemed to be through the worst of it. We got him into dry clothes and changed the bed, and he was feeling better.
About 6:30 or so this morning, and again at about 8:30, he got the rigors again, so they gave him Demerol. For the most part, he just feel really out of it. He sleeps some -- sometimes I think my being here makes him feel like he should stay awake. I keep telling him not to worry about talking to me, that I'm just here to get him drinks and put cold washcloths on his forehead.
He's sleeping now (it's about 10:15 am). Lois is coming into town today. I was debating going to the airport to meet her -- if Dave wasn't feeling well, I wouldn't go -- but I think he'll sleep better if I leave. He also needs to take a shower and have his room cleaned, so they'd kick me out anyway. Donnie and I are going to hop the T and try to find our way to the airport. A little adventure for us country bumpkins!
I'll try to write again later. It will probably be late afternoon at the earliest. I hope I haven't made you all worry by sending this. I'd rather you knew what was going on than not hear from me at all (as I found out yesterday, when I didn't write and had some of you pretty worried. Sorry about that!).
Try not to worry (easy for me to say, I'm here and can see him). The nurses are wonderful, and are taking VERY good care of Dave. They tell me that everything he's going through is completely normal and expected, so they're not too concerned. They recognize what's happening and they treat it accordingly.
The next couple of weeks will be the hardest -- this is when he's recovering and anything that he's likely to get, he will. The doctors and nurses would be more worried if he didn't develop fevers and run through the usual course of maladies. Small comfort, but the truth.
Keep those positive thoughts and prayers coming.
p.s. I'm still holding up. I slept pretty well last night (through the night, a rarity for me even when we're home). Still a little tired -- two 11:30 nights in a row will do that to me, but I'll be okay. I'm taking my vitamins and making sure I eat (like THAT'S really a problem!!!).
Later
Just wanted to let you know Dave is feeling a little better. His temperature seems to be under control, and he's sitting up watching TV. He was a little sick before lunch, but he did get to eat some breakfast.
Donnie and I had quite an adventure getting to the airport. We had wanted to leave by 11:00, but I was trying to get Dave to eat, so it was about 11:30 before we finally got on the T. All was going fine until we got underground, between two stops, when the train stopped. It had made a few short stops, but this one was stretching. Finally the engineer came on and told us the delays were due to scheduled construction, and that everyone had to get off the train at the stop before ours. Then we would have to cross to the other tracks and take a shuttle to our stop. Oh great! The country bumpkins trying to figure out the subway!
After about 15 minutes we got going again, then had to get off, along with everyone else. Being our first time on the train, it wasn't so obvious to us where we needed to go. Fortunately, there was an information booth and the guy pointed us in right direction. After getting to our stop, and getting on another subway to the airport, we finally got to the bus shuttle that would take us to the terminal to meet Lois. Half way through the bus ride, my phone rang. It was Lois, wondering where we were. Then we tried to figure out where to meet, since she didn't know where she was and I didn't know where we were going. We finally made it to the airport and found her. What a trip! We took a taxi back to my place.
Jon came in and spent some time with Dave while we were out and about. They're both sort of out of it because of their medications, so they just watched TV and chatted a little. Jon is doing pretty good. He felt pretty sweaty during the night, and wasn't feeling so swell this morning, but when he came in to see Dave the nurses checked him out, and the doctor took a look at him, and said he was fine, just make sure he doesn't get a fever. He and Donnie went back to the hotel to hang out for a while.
Dave and I went for a walk around the unit. It was a pretty good walk, a few laps back and forth. And he ate some chocolate ice cream.
So that's the latest. It's a lovely rainy, cold, gray day here in Boston. Guess spring really isn't here yet. Maybe next week.
Allison