January 25th

Dad had sort of a rough morning. He got really light headed and felt like he was going through afib. They ordered an EKG, and there was no indication of this, so it was a continuation of the low blood pressure problems he has when standing up.

So, we had dad's health care conference this morning, with Ron participating by speaker phone. The plan is for dad to leave on Friday (same day I leave for Minnesota). Norma got two weeks off of work (thank you FEMLA) and she will be supported by a nurse coming 3 times a week for general help and PT. Dad is excited about going home, and happy to have two weeks with Norma.

This afternoon, Norma attended PT and OT with dad, and got an idea of the exercises he needs to continue after he gets home. Sarah, one of the PTs came down to talk to me afterwards, and showed me the plan she is sending dad home with. She said she went over everything with Dad and Norma and also said that if they need any help, they can call in to talk to her. Sarah is a PT goddess and definitely worthy of tonight's shout out.

Despite the rough start to the day, dad did well in the afternoon. He did over an hour of PT/OT and came back feeling tired but good. He stayed awake through Wheel of Fortune and NCIS, making it the latest he's been awake since I've arrived. He smiled at me tonight and said that it was amazing that he could feel so terrible in the morning and so great by evening. I'm hoping this is a sign of steady improvement. This morning I was worried about a major setback.

I walked over to the marina across from the hospital today, and got a picture of dad's old boat, "The Bad Habit." I'll post the picture, although it is sort of lame since I don't have zoom on my camera phone.

Side note: I was talking to Jane, who runs the guest house where I am staying, and asked about her weekend. Turns out she and her husband spent the weekend making sausage. They made 300 pounds of sausage, and actually had to purchase a second deep freeze to store it in. I told her that news like that would definitely make tonight's blog.

Peace and love,
Robin