Gary Bonjour 1951 – 2008

Yesterday I said Gary could have visitors. I feel that it is necessary to give warning. You will not encounter the Gary that you knew before Jan 16. The trauma of the allergic reaction from the chemo, the length of time in the hospital, and the very large amount of drugs has pretty much changed him. Expect him to fall asleep during your visit. When he is awake, expect him to remain silent. A simple conversation is a lot of work for Gary. Expect him to use the urinal in front of you without any notice. He desperately needs to get home as soon as possible. Pray that he stays healthy enough to leave the hospital in a day or two. Pray that all arrangements for his move home can be made quickly and that all of his needs will be met. Pray for him to get his physical strength back. Most importantly, pray that Gary will gain strength of spirit. At this time he does not seem to have any reserves from which to draw.

As Gary and I struggle through this difficult time in our lives, I am thankful that we both have our faith in Jesus Christ, the Son of God. This is what we believe in a nutshell, “Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures (Bible), He was buried, He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.” ICorinthians 15:3, 4. I am at peace knowing that this physical life is not the end. Gary and I look forward to more living on this earth and an eternity of time in heaven.

I’m sorry that I forgot to write a post yesterday.  I’ve been going to the hospital everyday, making sure Gary does his exercises and trying to keep him from sinking any lower in depression.  Gary is looking better every day, but has an extremely hard road ahead to gain strength.  At this time he can stand with help and take a few steps with help.  He is able to have visitors, a very short visit is best at this time.  We are still planning on Gary coming home sometime this coming week.  He does not have any medical problems, bugs and such, that require a doctor at this time.  His blood counts are slowly stabilizing.  We are still waiting for his white cells and plateletes to have a three day upward trend.  Seems like we get two days going up and one day with a slight drop.  He has not needed any blood products or neupregen for almost 2 weeks, a very good thing.  Gary’s PICC line was removed on Thursday.  He has no tubing connecting him to a machine.  Gary is making progress.  I am looking forward to the day when I can write, “Gary is home.”

We have started the discussions for bringing Gary home sometime next week, if all goes well.  Gary’s depression is holding back his healing.  The doctors would like to move Gary to a different hospital, similar to skilled care.  I do not feel that the move will help him at all.  The doctor feels that the home atmosphere will be much better for Gary, but will take a lot of care.  We have to make a lot of arrangements here and at the house.   Pray that Gary stays healthy and continues to exercise. 

Yesterday an interesting thing happened. As you all know, Gary is struggling with depression. A young hospital chaplain stopped by to chat. He asked if he could pray for Gary before he left. Chaplain Rob held Gary’s hand and prayed a most heartfelt prayer and promised to stop by again the next time he was making rounds. (I found out today he is an intern learning the art of hospital visits.) It was fascinating to see Gary more alert. His eyes did not seem to be in a daze. Today Gary was still in better spirits. He even tried to smile.

Doctors did not give orders for blood tests today. So I do not know the white cell count. He was taken off all IV lines, no tubes tying him to the bed. He can get out of bed with less assistance, but not really walking. If he can keep his lungs clear, he should be able to make some head way in the strength department.

Gary should be moving out of the pulmonary unit any day.  His lungs are clearing up, the low grade fevers have stopped.  I am hoping that he will be moved back to rehab on the 4th floor, but the nurses are making slight rumblings of another facility a few blocks down the road.  Their concern is that Gary is not strong enough to handle three hours of therapy a day.  I really would like him to stay here.  Gary seams to be stronger today than he has been since this whole ordeal started.  He even ate a piece of diced pear!  His first morsel of food in almost three weeks.  He had a few sips of water, too.  This is real progress.  We also had some good news on the blood counts.  Today was the first day the notoriuos white cells actual held  their own with out the help of neupregen.   Could tomorrow be the day we can declare the white cells finally producing on their own?