Friday Update

I was in to visit my father this afternoon for a while. My mom has come down with a mild cold and therefore is not supposed to visit this particular hospital floor. We hope that with some rest she will be back in action very soon; it is difficult for her not to be there, but we don't want my father (or anyone else on his floor, for that matter) to pick up a virus.

Dad was in good spirits, still not in pain, and had been up walking again this morning with the physical therapist. He reported that he'd been sitting up in his chair again for most of the morning! This is quite remarkable. While I was there, what we expected to be a quiet afternoon became much busier...Dad had volunteered to allow a 1st year med student to interview him; this was going to involve a case history and a brief physical exam. The young man expected he'd be with Dad for an hour. I thought that was quite generous of my father, but we would expect that, wouldn't we? While he was involved in that, an occupational therapist came in to do her evaluation and she was very pleased with his balance and coordination. My favorite part of that exam was when she said in front of him that it should go quickly because he was so "high-functioning". I noted that - at least most of the time - his family would agree. What a strange thing to say in front of someone, but I suppose those terms are used differently in my line of work.

The days are going by slowly for my father, but the television has been his best distraction. Unfortunately, when he tries to read novels or magazines, he falls asleep. He was excited to read all the blog posts and your comments that I left him with, however.

I'll be going back later this afternoon and will keep you posted!