Catching Up

It's been a busy couple of days, and I'm not even sure I remember everything that happened. Here's what I remember:

1. I had a fiddle lesson on Friday afternoon, then took my fiddle into the hospital and played a while for Dad. He got through the night ok -- no sundowning, but no sleep. Wouldn't it be great if we could solve the sleep problem!

2. On Saturday morning, knowing that Bob was taking the train up for a visit with Dad, I drove down to Fullerton. I had a professional cleaning crew come through Dad's house and put things in order. It was a good start, but there's a lot more to be done. I didn't even touch the back two bedrooms and bathroom, only the main part of the house that Dad uses. It was a good first cleaning, but it will need more. In addition, I need to buy Dad a complete new set of linens for his bed. He needs a fresh, clean, healthy environment when he returns home. I touched base with Homeland Security (Laura and Jonny), and found Dad's reading glasses (that's huge! now he can read).

3. I stopped by the hospital on my way home from Fullerton. I was tuckered out from the housecleaning, and only stayed about half an hour. I read Dad a blog comment he got from Switzerland -- he *loved* that (vielen danke, or mille grazie, to the pilot from Switzerland!). I told him that Marilyn and Caitlin (my uncle Bob's daughter and granddaughter) would be up on Sunday morning.

4. Saturday night I crashed on the couch and went to bed early.

5. Sunday morning I met Marilyn and Caitlin at the hospital, and Dad got an earful of twin fiddles. Caitlin's had her fiddle for about a week, so we spent a few minutes reviewing some tips. I look forward to more of that!

6. Dad and I have discussed the rehab facility where he will be going. My biggest concern is that Kaiser will try to move him without talking to me first, so we wrote the name of our preferred facility on a card which he keeps near him, and write it on the white board in his room as well. I've left the discharge planner a voice mail message expressing my choice, and hope to talk with her directly tomorrow. Dad's more or less completely off the vent now, and so I think there are very few remaining medical issues. He needs food, physical, speech and occupations therapy, rest and recuperation, all of which he can get in the rehab facility. We'll set up a personal environment for him there, with pictures, iPod, computer, books, glasses, magazines. I hope his stay there is short. Even though he needs their services, he also needs to get back to life.

Speaking of pictures, Marilyn documented her and Caitlin's trip, and will be forwarding me the pictures for posting on the blog.

The milestones I'd like to hit next week: liquids, sleep, transfer to rehab, and more visits from friends and family.