Been to the hospital today to visit dad. First time I've seen him in hospital, so was a bit apprehensive, but he was on good form & you wouldn't have known anything was wrong. (In fact a few people in the hospital have apparently remarked how healthy he looked!!!). He starts chemotherapy tomorrow morning - (hopefully!) - and is understandably a bit anxious about how it will make him feel. I think it's fear of the unknown as much as anything, so I'm hoping that he finds it managable.
We're all managing to keep positive...I think we're starting to get our heads round this a little now. I just hope we can keep like this. I have my 'moments'...as I'm sure we all do!! Moving house tomorrow but my mind will be elsewhere, I think!
Trying to keep a picture in my head of dad as he was today. Got a bit upset yesterday as worried that this might be the last time I see dad as 'healthy' dad for quite a while. Keeping fingers crossed for tomorrow.
FormerMember
Hi Clare just to say I will be thinking of your dad for tomorrow, keep strong for him and good luck for your house move.
Chemo might be rough & your Dad will probably be looking a wee bit rough himself, but try to remember that it's a means to an cure and things will get worse before they get better. Just help him all you can to get through it and hopefully it'll be all good news after that.
hi clare, really sorry to hear about your dad, my dad was diagnosed with aml on 23 dec last year so not a great xmas in our house. He is 60 and very fit his a milkman so out on his round at 5.30 every morning, we noticed he had bruising all up his body. He has a subtype of aml called apl which can cause fatal bleeding so had to start chemo immediately wasnt allowed home to get his things. The first course of chemo was tough as he had the intensive like i think your dad must be having and just hated being in hosp and got soooo depressed about it. he goes out to the hosp gardens alot but has to wear his mask inside as chemo leaves you with no immunity as im sure you know. they would rather he didnt go out though! He has just finished his second lot of chemo. we are waiting for his immune system to pick up and hoping he will be home at weekend. His been told his in remission now but has to have 2-3 more courses of chemo to stop it coming back. Its a really hard time for all involved seeing your dad ill when dads are usually the strong ones.My baby is 9months old and is not allowed on ward so dad really misses him but my 8yr old cheers him up. Stay strong and good luck with everything. shelley. x ps if your anything like me your be spending hours on the internet doing research !
Really nice to hear from someone who knows exactly what I'm going through. It's good news that your dad is now in remission - long may that continue! You're so right when you say that it's hard seeing your 'strong' dad being so vulnerable. Especially as the diagnosis came as such shock because he hadn't even been ill & is probably fitter than me! His first day of chemo has been a positive one as he hasn't suffered any ill effects from the drugs - just keeping my fingers crossed that it doesn't hit him too hard along the line.
I haven't taken my children to visit dad yet...needed to wait until I could cope with it all myself, if that makes sense. Am hoping to take them soon as, like you said, I'm sure they'll really brighten his day! I think he's finding it hard being 'confined' and not being able to go out and about as he loves being out in his garden & unfortunately the weather's not been too great for him to get out in the hospital garden.
Sending you and your family lots of best wishes....and yes, I'm just like you - researching all over the internet!!!
