A FEVER HITS

It was 1975, and a Saturday morning in July, I drove over to a local park to play with my two small kids. #1 Son and my daughter Ellen sat on the swings as I gently pushed them. The late morning was pleasant, overcast but unusually dry for July.

As I stood behind the kid’s swings, a sudden feeling like something hitting me in the back of the head occurred. I suddenly felt feverish and achy. I took the kids home and called my doctor’s office. They had an opening that afternoon although my regular doctor was away.

Meeting the doctor after he checked me out, said I had a modular infection. Something was wrong in the chest cavity. He suggested I go for blood test, and wait for the results.

When the results came back, they indicated I had what could be leukemia, and into the hospital, I went. I remember the process of meeting the doctors that would attend my case and they asking me if I was on drugs of any kind. It seemed blood test after blood test revealed odd happenings and the fever was getting worse as was the headaches. I was feeling bad and wished I would die. The week ended and it was Easter Sunday. All my relatives came to the hospital to visit. TLW (The Little Woman) would come every day that she could, but with two little toddlers, it was hard. On the days she couldn’t come, she called. I felt bad that I didn’t even want to answer the phone. If I knew it wasn’t TLW, I didn’t answer the phone.

One of the things that TLW warned me about was getting an enema. I had been in the hospital a few days, and felt confident it wouldn’t happen. My confidence was premature. One day, two middle-aged nurses came in with the enema bag on a trolley of some kind.

“Now when we are done here, you all go into dat dere toilet dere, and have yo’self a blast.”

Up I jump and into the toilet, I go. And I mean ‘go’! As I am sitting there doing serious business, I start to break out in hysterics, laughing so hard, I had to hold onto the wall and keep from slipping off! Her words had finally resonated with me.

Not everything was so funny. One sunny morning TLW called and said she was coming with the kids, but would have to stand under my second floor window for me to see them.
#1 Son was a blonde and a chatterbox in those days. His older sister stood quietly by as TLW got them to look up. I called down and #1 Son started to tell me something, which I can’t recall for some reason, but I remember my daughter getting excited to hear me. Thinking I was dieing, (because why else would TLW bring the kids?) I went into the toilet, closed the door and cried my eyes out, thinking I might not ever see them again!

Tomorrow: STRANGE COINCIDENCE.

Please remember my pal Joan in your prayers.

There’s another little gal, Her name is Diandra... but everyone calls her "DD" about 18 years of age who I know who is fighting the tough fight too. She needs all our prayers and hopes for a recovery. Her Mom is a lovely loving and generous person, who is a dear friend of the family. I happened to see them on the elevator one day in a medical building for Oncology Medicine.