Tuesday

Mom, Dad and  I attended a family welcome conference this morning and learned a lot about how HS operates. I was impressed. There were four other patients and a couple of family members present but two of the patients had to leave mid meeting because of pain issues. Each patient is given a schedule every morning to prepare them for the day. They are encouraged to rest or take a nap in between sessions. They are usually very prompt and stay on schedule. After the gathering, we went back to Dad's room to check his schedule and found that he had about 20 minutes before he had and OT confab, then it was off to lunch with the 12 o'clock bunch. He had about an hour and a half rest period before another OT and PT session in the afternoon. A friend of Hannah's,(Adam Hobbs, for all you Hobbses in Alabama following the blog) came by to meet us and said he would make sure that we had the best of the best therapists. I went back to work and Mom had an appointment with their neighbor who has been terrific in repairing the damage to the house from the ice storm. 

Charlotte and I went back to see Dad this evening and found that our son Nathan had already been by to check on Dad. He was awake and much more energetic than this morning. He said, "These people know what they are doing." A tech came in to help Dad get into bed and it was amazing what he had learned and accomplished this afternoon. He got up out of the chair and stood without a flutter or sway, he pivoted and sat on the bed with very little help. His legs and abdominal muscles are not strong enough yet to pull his legs into the bed without help but wow what a difference 24 hrs. has made. I could tell he was encouraged and was impressed with the afternoon. He told us that the PT was a no nonsense gal that stayed on point but with humor and positive reinforcement. He said that tomorrow will be a test with the schedule packing a full day. I asked him how the food was and he said that it was great!

They are addressing the bladder issue and while it is somewhat painful, it is short lived and Dad seem to think it was worth the discomfort. He was wearing a fleece top because he said that he had been cold all day. The room was chilly so I adjusted the heat. His roommate was discharged this afternoon so I guess Dad will have a new one soon. 

We had a prayer of thanks and let Dad rest.

God is good!