Further Update on My Father

Well, we’re home. It’s been another very long day of driving that included a brief (90 minute) detour to and stop in Gettysburg today so I could see about acquiring a few more primary sources for the retreat manuscript (I bought 8 books that represent primary source material that will help to flesh out the story even more).

Okay, here’s the latest on my dad. We didn’t get to see him on Thursday night, as we got in too late. Traffic was horrific on the trip, and it rained like hell the whole way. What is normally a 7 hour drive was nearly 9 as a result. So, we got there too late to see him.

Friday morning, Susan and I surprised him at breakfast. He’s come a tremendously long way. His speech is clearer (when he’s not exhausted), and he was glad to see us. We went and got him a birthday cake, and came back later for a birthday celebration. We watched him go through his occupational therapy, and I was thrilled to see him walking, both with and without the walker. Considering that I fully expected him to be wheelchair bound for the rest of his life, you can imagine how thrilling it was to see that. In short, he will not have to spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair. Susan and I then went and got him dinner at his favorite restaurant and carried it in to him as a special birthday treat. He went through those ribs like Sherman went through Georgia. 🙂

On Saturday, he was discharged from the hospital and transferred to a long-term rehab unit in a nursing home. Although he was very tired when we got there, he hadn’t been outdoors since the day before the stroke, and the weather was gorgeous–warm and sunny but not much humidity. So, we took him outside in his wheelchair and sat and enjoyed the day for a while. When I got him back into bed after that, he was snoring within three minutes. Poor guy was absolutely wiped out.

Today, we took him a television set from home before heading out of town, and he had gotten a good night’s sleep. Consequently, he was bright and cheerful and attentive when we got there, and his speech was pretty clear. I hated to leave, but we had no choice.

He’s come a tremendously long way in just five and a half weeks. I still don’t know whether he will ever be able to come home, but even if he can’t, he will be able to enjoy a pretty good quality of life, since he’s ambulatory again. I feel much better about things.

My mother is a challenge, but I won’t bore you with that. Suffice it to say that there’s a lot of pressure on me. However, it’s great to see him coming along.

Back to the Civil War tomorrow……