Dad's surgery went very well. He was back in his room and able to do rehab the second half of the day.
Some of the neat things that we have seen over the last few days:
- We were sitting with dad while he was looking at his bible. At first we thought he was reading, until we took a closer look. He was quoting John chapter 1 from memory (his bible was open to Psalms). When he got stuck, he realized that he wasn't reading, found the book of John in his bible and read all of the first chapter out loud.
- I started reading Philippians to dad (he had memorized the book of Philippians before he went into cardiac arrest). He started finishing my sentences as I read aloud to him.
- Dad is very busy during the weekdays. He has therapy from 9:00-12:00 a.m. has a break for lunch and rest, then he is back to work from 2:00-4:00 p.m.
- In talking with the speech therapist today (1/19/13), she is seeing some big improvements in her time with dad. Three days ago she had him do an activity with blocks (it took him about 10 minutes to do), today he could do the same activity twice in less than 5 minutes. When asked what they do during this therapy dad will say, "They ask a lot of pointless questions. Sometimes they are hard. Sometimes they are easy." At times they will read dad a story and have him paraphrase the story or they will ask a bunch of questions. Mom was with dad while they were doing this activity. Dad couldn't remember much about the story so he made one up. My mom said that dad made up a very elaborate, funny story. She said that the Speech Therapist was trying not to laugh (because they didn't want to hurt dad's feelings if he was being serious). Dad finally finished his story looked at the speech therapist and said, "I'm obviously b-s-ing you. I have no idea what the story was about." Every one got a good laugh. His sense of humor is definitely still in tact.
- During Physical Therapy they spend a lot of time doing activities that dad sees as being "pointless." They will tell him to move his foot up and down 15 times, then move the other foot 15 times, take him for walks, have him walk sideways using a rail, etc.
- During his occupational therapy they have him put things in order, work on math skills, fine motor skills, living skills, etc.
- Dad discovered a few days ago that he forgot how to subtract. This was very frustrating for him to find out. The nurse gave him a clip board with paper. He keeps this next to his bed so that he can practice on his own when he gets bored. He also likes to practice writing.
- Dad loves to go on walks. They allow us to walk with dad around the floor, but he is not allowed to walk on his or around to any other parts of the hospital.
Dad is in good spirits, but he is ready to go home.
VISITORS --> If you want to visit dad, the best time to do this is on a Saturday or Sunday. Please call (Tom, Amber, Aubrey, Chantel, Nathan or Renee) in advance so that we don't have 20 people in dad's room at one time. Dad loves having company, it helps to make the time pass.
PHONE CALLS --> Dad does have a phone in his room. If you are interested in speaking with him he loves to talk on the phone (you can get the number from any of the above people). We ask that you call in the evening after his therapy is done.
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