[TheForge] Tom Clark

[terry l. ridder]

hello;

i can attest to the part about pain wearing a person
down. living on morphine is not fun either. still on
morphine for all the broken bones and nerve damage.

i most certainly will continue to pray for tom and his
family.

On Fri, 18 Apr 2008, Allen Ortery wrote:

> Got this today thought I would pass it on.
> Tom has been in and out of Jefferson Memorial Hospital several times
> since we last talked at the Batson Bladesmithing Symposium (4/6). His
> main problem has been with the pain he is suffering. The external
> eristaltic pump to deliver the pain control medication gave him
> problems when at his Potosi home and his home care nurse could not
> solve the problem. Hence, Tom's doctors elected to surgically implant
> a small internal pump and this did not work either and it seems the
> implant surgery have added additional complications. Tom's blood tests
> at the hospital indicated he was not ready for his scheduled Monday,
> April 14, chemotherapy procedure so it was delayed. He was sent home
> yesterday without the chemotherapy treatment. His Oncologist has
> decided to give him this week to rest and recuperate then resume the
> chemo treatments with his third treatment next monday (4/21) with
> forth the following monday, 4/28, and his fifth and final chemo
> treatment on 5/5. He is then to rest for six (6) weeks then under go
> radiation treatments. As you would expect Tom is very depressed and
> worried about his prognosis. He is upset he did not receive this weeks
> chemo treatment and is worried his cancer is spreading.
>
> My feeling is, a large part of recovery therapy is the patients
> attitude and willingness to fight the "good fight." I am worried Tom's
> bout with the severe pain and his medical treatment problems have worn
> down some of his spirit. He really needs to know he has his family of
> blacksmiths pulling for him in the way of Prayer and support for his
> recovery. BAM's Phil Cox was so concerned that he traveled to Tom's
> hospital arriving Saturday afternoon (4/12) and he stayed full-time in
> Tom's hospital room to serve as Tom's medical care advocate until
> Tom's Wednesdays (4/16) hospital release. This was to give Thelma a
> much needed rest period. Phil was a real inspiration to Tom both
> physically and Spiritually! I talked with Phil in two occasions and I
> can tell you he was as diligent in his watch-care as one can possibly
> serve in this capacity!
> I know this e-mail is not as positive as I would have liked to
> report. I do believe Tom's Oncologist feels Tom's medical situation is
> so bad as to cease medical treatments. If Tom can retain a can-do
> attitude he will have a fighting chance to overcome his recent
> set-backs. Paula and I are keeping Tom and Thelma in our thoughts and
> Prayers,
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-- 
terry l. ridder ><>