Local Sportscaster Richard Dow Shares His Journey Of Recovery from Illness
By Angie Kay Dilmore
For nearly two months, near the end of 2013, Richard Dow laid in a Shreveport hospital bed, not knowing if he would live or die.
Dana and Richard Dow
Richard’s life-changing ordeal began on Oct. 1, 2013. He awoke with severe abdominal pain. Dana hurried her husband to Christus St. Patrick Hospital. After several tests, the doctors diagnosed him with severe pancreatitis, and admitted him. Two days later, he developed pneumonia, and spent five days in the intensive care unit.
A week later, the doctors discharged him. He spent only two days at home and returned to St. Patrick. The pancreatitis had worsened, and had started affecting his other internal organs, especially the liver and gallbladder.
Eventually the physicians at St. Patrick told Richard there was nothing more they could do for him, and transferred him to a pancreatic specialist at University Health System in Shreveport, La. Upon his arrival on Oct. 28, hospital personnel there told him he was lucky to be alive.
The doctors could not determine exactly what caused Richard’s pancreatitis, but he feels it likely had been brewing for a long time before becoming symptomatic.
At the Shreveport hospital, Richard received excellent care, and he slowly improved. But it was a lonely time for him, being so far away from family. “That was the harder struggle,” he says.
Richard saw roommate after roommate come in, recover and go home, while he was still sick. “I began to wonder if I’d ever get better,” he says.
Davis, Allison and Raegan Dow
Richard’s family came to visit him for Thanksgiving. “I broke down in tears the first time I saw my kids after being there a month,” he says. According to Dana, Richard maintained a positive attitude throughout the ordeal. Despite the dire circumstances, he constantly reassured his wife, “I’m coming home; everything’s going to be alright.” In times when his hope wavered, Dana would comfort him with the same reassurance.
Dana visited Richard once a week. Her parents helped care for their three children: Allison, age 19; Davis, age 12; and Raegan, age 10. “Richard tried to stay upbeat,” she says. “He was an inspiration to me.”
In reality, Richard struggled at times with despair. “There were days I thought, ‘If this is it, let it be today.’ I was tired of being in the hospital bed. I was very depressed.” But Richard never gave up hope. He relied on his faith in God, and his sense of humor, to pull him through.
The Road To Recovery
Richard was finally released from the Shreveport hospital on Dec. 13, 2013, but there were many subsequent doctor’s appointments, and a few shorter hospital stays. While definitely on the mend, his road to recovery was only beginning. He had been in a hospital bed for nearly three months. He had lost 90 pounds. His main goal was to gain back strength, and a sense of routine and normalcy.
It was a challenging time for both Richard and Dana. “I’m an independent person, and to come home and need to have my wife tie my shoes, and help with bathing . . . that was a struggle,” he says. “I was always the leader. I had to learn to allow my wife to take care of me.”
Dana assumed the role of sole caretaker, which presented its own challenges. After being on IV nutrition for months, Richard struggled to eat regular food. Drains and tubes protruded from his pancreas, liver and gall bladder. It was hard for him to move around the house. He required help with almost everything. But the struggles brought Richard and Dana closer together. “We learned to rely on each other,” he says.
The Community Shows Up
While Richard and Dana relied on each other, the Lake Charles/Moss Bluff community supported the family in countless ways. During his hospitalization, their church family, First United Methodist Church, Lake Charles, supported them with cards, get well greetings and prayers. The Dows’ Mardi Gras friends, Krewe de L’Amitie, ensured that the Dow children had a wonderful Christmas that year. Dana’s employer, Christine Bailey with State Farm Insurance, generously accommodated Dana’s need to travel to visit Richard, and take him to doctor’s appointments.
Richard and Dana are so grateful to the community for all their love and support. “There were so many people who stepped in to help,” says Dana. “So many times, there were people who helped, and I wasn’t even aware of it. That was an overwhelming feeling, to know that many people care.”
Richard adds, “The community took care of my family while I was hospitalized and unable to care for them.”
A New Normal
Richard spent an entire year healing from his battle with pancreatitis. Unfortunately, that hard-earned recovery was not the end of his medical issues. In late December, 2014, after barely two months of resuming fulltime work, Richard traveled to Mississippi with the McNeese basketball team. While there, he had a series of seizures, was admitted to a hospital, and diagnosed with insulin-dependent diabetes, a common result of severe pancreatitis.
The Dows are currently adjusting to life with Richard’s new diagnosis. His daily routine is different. His diet is completely altered, in a healthy way, and as a result, Richard says he feels better than he did prior to 2013. He dislikes being on long-term medications, but he accepts the fact that he needs them, and, given the circumstances, he realizes the situation could be much worse.
“I’m not supposed to be here,” he says, knowing how close he came to death. “To go through what I did — it could have knocked me out, but I’m still here. I’ve decided God is not done with me yet. I’ve been kept here for a reason. I have a purpose, although I may not know what it is today, we never know whose lives we might touch.”
An Attitude Of Gratitude
An avid baseball fan, Richard says one of his few pleasant memories of his hospitalization was watching post-season baseball on television. “My son, Davis, and I watched his favorite team, the Boston Red Sox, win game seven of the World Series together, while I lay in my hospital bed,” he says.
Richard says life is a lot like baseball. “It’s unpredictable,” he explains. “You get thrown a curve now and then. It’s how you deal with life’s curves that define you. You are considered great if you only hit the ball three out of 10 at-bats. Being dangerously ill does not define you. It’s moving on to the next day, the next pitch, the next moment. I teach that to my kids. I think about life that way, and choose to live by that mantra.”
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