Her story inst 14.pdf

"Father does know best" Jim, Dad, Father, Brother, Husband, Son! He is so much more than all of these things! A hero on many levels and his undying love for his children, including the one that I bought into our relationship when we met is unmatched by any man I have ever seen! Although, Brad Pitt in now running a close second! You must all watch the news and know what I mean. And if you have met Jim, you clearly will see a resemblance. NOT! This is about his role in Emily's cancer story until November of 1995. I am sure there will be more, but his diligence paid off and aided his first born daughter on at least three occasions that I am aware of. During those first months of chemotherapy, everything was foreign to us. The terminology, the drugs, cure rates.the list could go on forever. It was Jim who wanted to devour all that was available for us to read. Remember, this is 1994, no computer, not much in the way of information. So I went to libraries to get drug protocols, statistics, whatever we could find and wherever we could find it. Not enough for Jim, so he purchased a PDR, or Physician's Desk Reference! It went where he went. Once, as we were at the hospital for a chemotherapy treatment, Jim had been reading his new "Bible" and jumped up and requested her treating physician. In came Dr. Rawwas. Jim asked him why she was being given the drugs in the order and timing that they were. After the doctor's explanation, Jim pointed to the PDR where is clearly stated that if two of these therapies were given too closely, one drug canceled out the effectiveness of the other drug by half. "Huh" was all the doctor could say! The doctors did their research themselves and came to the same conclusion. This father without the benefit of a high school diploma changed the protocol for every patient who received these drugs from that point on. P.S. Emily hated that PDR! When Emily's bladder bled without ceasing there seemed to be a consensus among the urologist team that flushing would help. But, they would require huge amounts of saline and alum. Jim was with Emily on one of his 24 hour shifts and devised a way to hang huge bags with gravity that would provide a continuous flow to the bladder without changing the bags quickly and often. His mind was always working. His despair regarding her situation, the transplant, the way she often seemed to be the last thing on anybodies mind at the hospital but ours was his new fashion statement. His shoulders lowered, he still needed to work and the stress was lining his young face with every shift he took there. Copyright 2006 cancerisstupid.com . All rights reserved. Do not reprint without author’s permission. After Emily finally returned home that October day in 1994, she was, as you can imagine on mass amounts of drugs. She wore diapers and her bladder still bled every day but she was determined to regain strength in the muscles that would control her urination. This she did in record time. She was on a schedule of I.V. fluids and medication. We kept long logs so we would not forget a dose. She was hospitalized once more for a clinic treatment for her lungs that turned into a nightmare. She just started crashing. Up to ICU where it was determined that she was allergic to the drug. No surprise there as she had developed many drug allergies, mostly due to toxicity. Then, the cough, the decreased lung function. She would cough for hours on end. Visits to the pulmonary doctor would yield no results. On and on, she was getting worse and worse. The doctors would do lung function tests, go over her medications, look into her lungs with a scope but all to no avail. We felt we were going insane. Emily was becoming deeply depressed; so many other memories and fears arose from the constant attention of her bladder. Out came the PDR! "Eureka"! Jim had taken her drug list and re-read each medication individually. The drug prescribed for her bladder, to prevent infections, "MACRODANTIN" was the culprit. The PDR clearly said that prolonged use of this medication, meaning six months or more (she was on this for over a year, could cause severe and possibly irreversible lung damage. Within weeks of the lung doctor removing Emily from the drug, she was improving. So many heroes to protect her. This was her most treasured moment regarding her father. If you ever get a chance to look at that book, you will understand that many an educated physician would have trouble understanding the chemistry's, and intricacies, but Jim loved her so much, he was there caring for her in the only way he knew how.

Source: http://cancerisstupid.com/pdfs/Her%20Story%20inst%2014.pdf