Dad continues to slowly but surely progress, physically and cognitively.  In fact, his release date from the hospital has tentatively been set for Tuesday.  That is not set in stone and will depend on how he does the next few days.   He should be able to return to his home rather than to a care center,  but will still need supervision and help from the family.  He will also be attending frequent outpatient rehabilitation therapy. 

Dad still needs to work on getting stronger.  Today he was able to ride the stationary bike for about 10 minutes, but he was really tired after that.  He also seems to have some balance issues at times, and has been complaining of dizziness.  So he will need to be continually monitored if he is up and about.

Cognitively, Dad has made a lot of progress. He is usually pretty clear on the time of day, the month, etc., which had not been the case up until this last week.  His memory also seems to be returning to him a bit.  Today he told me about his trip to California with my mom, which was in April right before his accident.  At one point we had been told that the month of April was gone from his memory completely, but that does not seem to be the case.   There are times when he is still a bit fuzzy and confused, his short term memory is still unreliable,  and there are still some cognitive tasks that are difficult for him, but looking at where he was even a week ago, the progress is significant.   Dad continues to not recognize how much progress he is making, and has been struggling with feeling a bit down.   He has enjoyed having visitors this week and the visits seem to perk him up.

Dad has also been having quite a bit of pain this week, especially in his head.  Where all of his facial fractures are, it is very painful for him and the pain radiates into his head giving him severe headaches.  He always asks whichever family member is there to rub his head, neck, and back continually.  He has probably had more massages in the last week than most people have in their entire life  (we are all at his beck and call)!

The biggest struggles for Dad right now are that he will not eat and therefore remains on a feeding tube and that that they have not been able to get him off of the catheter.  They can send him home with both the feeding tube and catheter if they have to, but they were hoping to resolve those issues first.  Dad just hasn't had any appetite (I can't blame him when I see what they are trying to feed him).   He will not eat more than a couple of bites at a time or take more than a couple of sips.  He is only allowed to eat very thick liquids and pureed foods at this time, as his swallowing still needs to get stronger.  However, his swallowing will not get stronger until he actually agrees to eat.  So we are hoping that he will quickly regain his appetite!  We would love for him to return home without his feeding tube.

Dad reminds us often about what is really important in life.  In his own words, "FAMILY and the GOSPEL are all that matter in this world.  Everything else is just fluff."