August 21 (Tuesday) - 1135pm

Back in town, and on the way home from the airport I had a chance to swing by the hospital and say "hi" to Rich, and then talk with Sam on the phone after I saw Rich.    I was there when the nurse came in to check on those all important numbers--and everything was near perfect in the measurement department.   No fever, excellent blood pressure, O2 count at 98%---all numbers that are textbook.  Yeah.

He also told me they had him trying to walk down the hall, dribbling a basketball at the same time.  Umm.  Not sure how that went or when it happened; but I didn't see any holes in walls when I made my visit, and so it couldn't have gone all that bad.  But I also didn't see the basketball in his room either--so the nurses must have confiscated it.      As positive as all of that is, to this casual observer the in the room reality is that he still needs a lot of help, even with very simple tasks, and so the reality of when he's ready for home for REAL might not be the same as Rich thinks it is.   I guess the doctors and Sam and everyone will work that out.    All in all Rich is in good spirts; but tired of the "frappin hospital life".   He was even thinking about his gutters that have to come down before the snow falls, and he made the comment that if he could just get back to Willow, in his own place, he could make tea whenever he wanted it and exercise when it worked for him.   But the truth is that with his broken arm and weakened state there is much he cannot do, and I suspect it will be a while before he truly is ready to "go home."   

The word on Jeannette is she is stable and continues to improve oh so slowly, but like Rich she too is frustrated with the life in hospital and the ICU.   She wants to talk, but with the trac tube that has been a chore, and her lip reading helpers aren't all that good at lip reading, so it has to be frustrating for her.   But she has certainly communicated she feels like she has been there like forever, and she oh-so-wants to be able to get out of bed and sit up and carry on a conversation.    At least her medical team has started to put her in a special chair every day now, that starts out laying flat, but then is slowly elevated until she is sitting up.  It's a small thing perhaps, but an important thing non-the-less.  

And so, I'll end this update; which has not been all that informative.  But that too is a good thing, because no news is good news, and "stable" is a nice place to be in the world of the very sick.  The improvements continue to come, and yet they don't come fast enough for me.   Ah...patience is a virtue...I remember that from somewhere.    --  John