Saturday, August 25, 2007

* IMPORTANT * - Rules of Chemo

It's 4:30am. Andy's been up and down all night. I've been up with him for the last hour or so. He's running a fever of 103.6. He's throwing up. It's possible he's getting sick, or maybe his port site is infected. It's probably the latter.

This is a good time to go ahead and throw out a few reminders. I've been lax on this lately because people are starting to see me as being too strict about things in general with him. But he's my son, so it's time to be strict again, and if you don't like it.. tough!

Remember, an infection can potentially be fatal. Let me reiterate. An infection can end Andy's life. Yes. You heard me, an infection can kill him. In his weakened state, if he just gets a simple cold, it could give the antibiotic-resistant bugs in his system a chance to attack. What does this mean? It means stay away if you're sick, think you might be sick, have been around someone who is sick, etc.

Let me re-iterate. If any of the following apply to you, STAY AWAY:

  • Coughing
  • Sneezing
  • Runny nose / stuffy nose
  • Sore throat
  • Fever
  • Any other cold / flu symptom


If you have been around anyone with the above symptoms, STAY AWAY!

This means YOU!

You may be saying, "But I'm his (fill in your relationship to him)." I don't care. STAY AWAY!

You may be saying, "But it's just a little (fill in your symptom)." I don't care. STAY AWAY!

You may be saying, "But it's probably just allergies." I know mold is up right now, but until you have 100% proof that it's allergies, STAY AWAY!

THIS MEANS YOU!

All that aside, I don't want to accuse anyone because chances are very good that he has an infection somewhere in his body, it was not introduced to him by a visitor. He's shown no symptoms. All of his visitors who have been "bending" the rules lately (except one) have been sick with the same cold that Andy and I already had, which is part of why I've been allowing you to bend the rules.

I guess we're not coming home today.

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