11/16 update

Hi all,

Today was a busy day for Dad. He was still groggy from the procedures of the last couple days but the afternoon brought plenty of activity! We had a few visitors from ICU come by to say hi and Dad seemed elated to see them. Of course, he was smiling and winking at all the nurses.

In terms of his recovery, he had occupational, physical, and speech therapy today. The speech therapist worked with him swallowing; he showed improvement with some deliberate swallowing. The physical and occupational therapists started work but shortly after they began we realized that Dad was leaking a small amount of spinal fluid from his stitches. Not to worry-- the neurology PA came in and determined it was only minor! One would think that leaking spinal fluid was a big deal but apparently not! All of the therapists will continue pushing him on Monday and if they have some extra time, will also stop by over the weekend.

We were able to talk to a case manager about moving him to a rehab/skilled nursing facility today. Hopefully tomorrow we will be touring some locations to determine our top few choices since it looks as though Dad may be moving as early as next week! He has one more CAT-scan on Monday that will tell the doctors whether or not he will receive a shunt before leaving the hospital. Fingers crossed that all will turn out 100%! So far the doctors are very pleased with his scans!

One final note, he was moved into room 2262 from 2266 earlier today. A patient with chicken pox came in and they needed Dad's room because of the separate ventilation.

Thanks for all your love and kindness,

Kate