Thursday Morning

When I left last night, I tucked Dad in using a new navy blue blanket I bought at Bed, Bath & Beyond yesterday. He had asked for some pillows to help prop his head up on either side. Though he's getting stronger, he still finds himself tilting over the left side in bed, and thought pillows on each side would help keep him straight. The pillows and the blanket match, and he looks pretty comfortable! I taped up pictures of Ricky and his dogs, and me playing the fiddle, where he could see them at night. We left the curtain drawn back, since I think claustrophobia contributes to his night terror. He got through the night much better, with no terrors, but no sleep either. So he was in much better condition this morning than he was yesterday morning. No restraints, and he was proud of that. They were changing his bed linen when I arrived, and they put the blue blanket back on the bed, and he was ready to start a new day. He said that he was hungry -- that's the first time I've heard him say that. He's discovered that he really likes vanilla pudding. Applesauce and cream of wheat: good. Pureed scrambled eggs: bad. He's still on pureed food, so we added "move to solid food" for his plan for today. He'll be getting out the staples from the surgical wound today, since the surgeon says that's all healed up. That's a particularly good item to put on the plan, because at the end of the day we can cross it off, as opposed to goals such as "walk further" which just get put on the list every day. I brought the newspaper, and we had a good talk about politics and the economy -- another indication of improvement! He wants to get Sonex pilot hats for all the nurses and doctors as "thank-you" presents. When I bring in cards and e-mails, he cries when he reads them. Yesterday I brought cards from Betty Van Zandt and Kathy, and an e-mail from Brad Hale. He read each one twice, and cried each time. He's also very touched emotionally to hear about support from my mother. Also: we used my iPhone to talk with my brother Ricky last night! So we can set up phone calls if anyone wants to talk with him.

This morning I read him the latest set of blog comments, and he cried again.

Remind me to blog about the symphony story! Gotta run right now.