11/29 AM

Hi all -

This isn't an official update, but I realize in all the craziness of the past couple of days that I missed some things.

On Sunday, Dad had some special visitors at the hospital.  His cousin Loren and his wife Sandra, who live in Alaska but are in Florida for a bit, came by for a visit.  Mom says she's pretty sure Dad knew who they were.  He was pretty talkative, but was speaking very quietly so it was difficult to know what he was saying.  Loren and Sandra brought some of their own canned Alaskan salmon as a present.  I'm sure Dad will enjoy that when he's able to eat it!

Also, Sydney, Mom and Dad's dog, had surgery on Tuesday.  She has had a cancerous tumor growing on her jaw for a while now.  Initially Mom and Dad had decided to just let nature take it's course and not treat it, but the family decided it would be best for everyone to have it removed.  It was a pretty major surgery, as they removed the front part of her jaw.  But we've been assured by a couple of veterinarians that most dogs do very well and can eat and have a normal life after this kind of surgery.  Dad is Sydney's best buddy, and I know she will be an integral part of his recovery, so we're glad to say the surgeon feels she got all the cancer, and Sydney is recovering well thus far.  Mom and I will be picking her up sometime today.  Special thanks to Aunt Jean for making this possible.

Mom and I were at the rehab hospital when Dad arrived last night.  He was in good spirits, and seemed happy to meet the new nurses who were taking care of him for the night.  He was definitely tired, and I can understand why - he had a really busy day yesterday!  They got him a special bed to keep him safe.  Basically it looks like it has a tent over it, so we told him he was camping for the night.  When we left he was all zipped in and falling asleep.  It was great to see him rolled onto one side.  He hadn't been able to get in that position in the hospital bed, and it's his favorite sleeping position.  So, already he looked more like himself!

Dad has a pretty tight schedule today, with therapy sessions at 7 am, 9:45 am, 11 am, 1 pm and 4 pm, so we won't get to see him until a little later.  Please pray he can keep up with everything they have planned for him!  More later....