Business students with Dr. Jack Bower on their original schedules were surprised on the first day of classes to learn that the assistant professor of accounting was lying in a coma at the hospital.
Bower, who started convulsing during a doctor’s visit on Aug. 24, was in the coma for two full days, as doctors tried to determine what was wrong. They came to the conclusion that one of Bower’s medications for Lymphoma Non-Hodgkin, EXJADE, caused liver toxicity.
“He had a medicine to help with an iron overload,” Bower’s wife Wendy said. “His liver started to fail and his body was trying to get rid of toxins.”
Bower was diagnosed with Lymphoma Non-Hodgkin in 2003. Wendy Bower said the diagnosis has made Bower stronger and given him the desire to help others and become stronger in his faith in God.
Wendy Bower and the rest of the family were with Bower in the hospital throughout his stay. She said it was hard, but it was definitely encouraging to see how Bower’s faith grew as he dealt with his health.
Bower awoke from the coma on Aug. 26, but remained in the hospital until Aug. 30. “I don’t remember a thing,” Bower said. “I just woke up with strong memories of nightmares.”
The classes Bower was scheduled to teach this semester were “shuffled” by the business department as a result of his sudden hospital time. Different professors oversaw the classes on the first day until other professors were scheduled to teach them.
Bower is currently back and teaching classes, but can only take on a limited amount of his previous workload. “The doctors want me to get more rest and work less,” Bower said.
Bower said he is not worried about future complications from the coma. “It’s just a reminder of the frailty of life, that can break very easily,” he said. “If you’re a Christian, you’re ready for death … You know where you’re going.”