Because it counts�

2004-03-29

Dad's white cell count has started to rise. Yay and hooray. He went from unmeasureable to 1,300. If it keeps going up that way, he'll be able to go home by the end of the week. The doc said that he would be going home this week. So far Dad's treatment has gone exactly as expected.

I was sitting in Dad's room. I picked up his menu to look at it and it triggered violent nausea in Dad. At first I didn't know what set him off and then he told us that the sight of menu had made him sick. I'd seen him eat maybe three tablespoons of food over the weekend. He can't afford to lose any of it.

Youngest sister and family came to the hospital on Sunday. The kids tromped in as quietly as they were able, wearing masks and gloves. Sister had taken some home earlier in the week so she could show them what to expect and also explain the reason for them. They were really well behaved, for the bunch of hooligans that they are.

After they said hello to Dad, I took them out on an adventure. I've discovered that all you have to do to make something an adventure is to call it that. The grounds there are really nice. We saw several lizards, a couple of squirrels. The twins had a contest between themselves to see who could find the most bugs.

There's a statue of the Virgin of Guadalupe there and they all had questions about it, ranging from 'Who's that lady?' to 'Do you believe in God?' I said that God was a very controversial subject (then asking to make sure my questioner knew what controversial meant) and that he should ask his father about it. I'm sure their parent wouldn't thank me for subverting their children.

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