Sylvia's Journal

I will begin tonight’s entry by apologizing to everyone for this unexciting entry. Sita has been doing a phenomenal job keeping everyone updated with her humorous and touching writing. I however, am exhausted (recovering from the cross country voyage) and still absorbing all of the facts, so I will make this short and simple.

When I first arrived in the morning I set dad up with a Poirot DVD which he watched with Jim and really seemed to enjoy. I also gave him a milkshake that our incredibly kind neighbors the Hinds’ (Thank You Debbie!!!) set me us with. The smile on his face was priceless… he loved the taste and was so excited to not be eating his purée hospital diet. Tomorrow I will bring some fresh fruit to mix up for him in a smoothie, and maybe some Gazpacho too. He had a tough night last night, emotionally he is really struggling, but today he seemed to have balanced out. He is aware of what has happened and is trying to come to terms with it all. He said today that he understands the position he is in, he does not want to be in it, but he knows now that all he can do is get better. This was good to hear. Also today he had a couple of other triumphs. He sat up on his own (only for a few seconds after he was lifted up) but on his own none the less. He was very happy with this and I think felt finally like there was progress to be made and he could do it. Also he is able to touch his index finger to his thumb on his left hand (the one with the radial nerve damage), which is a huge improvement from yesterday. He can wiggle his fingers and move them up and down (which he also could not do yesterday). He still cannot bend his thumb up and down (down a little but not up), but he is getting better every day. The therapist said that usually movement comes back from the fingers first and moves its way down so eventually he will be able to move his wrist up and down again… so he’s on his way and is getting better fast. Also his catheter was removed today (something he was not too happy about because now he has to pee into a weird water bottle type thingy), but still he’s making progress and on his way. The last of the sutures were taken out from his head and most of the staples are out.. the rest should come out tomorrow.
Mom got the staples taken out of her stomach (i think it was 23 or 24 in total). I also washed mom’s hair this morning (a real wash non of that no-rinse stuff). She was very happy to have actually clean hair. She is now home and sleeping comfortably in the bedroom that Steve and Sita set up for her in her office, it is quite cozy and she has all of her necessary gear (walker, wheelchair, and the all-important commode). She had a tough time leaving dad in the hospital today, but she got to stand up next to him and give him a shower of kisses. The ride home went pretty smoothly and the people at CVS got her pain killer RX as quickly as possible.

So thats the major stuff for today. Again I apologize for the quick unexciting prose, but alas, I’m pooped and promised dad I would be in the hospital to see him as early as possible (it was one of the most difficult things i’ve experience telling him that mom was going home but he had to stay, he looked hurt and sad and pretty upset) needless to say it was tough saying goodbye, Jim offered to hang out with him but he told him to go home and do what he needed to do. Dad continues, despite his condition to be constantly worrying about everyone else and making sure that everyone is ok and taking care of themselves.

Thank you a million times over to everyone, your love and support is so greatly appreciated and is surely helping with their recoveries.

Sita posted all of today’s photographs on her flickr site which you can reach under the ‘links’ link above.

-Tessa