today was my dad's second FULL day of therapy . . . he's had more than three hours of therapy daily, and it definitely keeps him busy. he's on a much more strict schedule here, and he's worked quite vigorously by the therapists. with assistance, he has climbed up some stairs, begun walking, learned to balance his body and be more aware of the inactive side, the right side, begun speaking new words, and learned to maneuver a wheelchair. by the time he has finished dinner he makes it VERY clear to us that he just wants to head to bed!
even though we know this will be a long process of healing, it's been AMAZING to see the daily progress my dad makes. this morning, while my sisters and i were out for a bike ride, i received a text from my mom saying that during speech therapy my dad had counted to four, shook his head, and said the word YES!
this evening, however, was so great. my dad was sitting in bed, with all of us around him. he was obviously not tired yet, but we didn't quite know how to keep him occupied (cable TV just doesn't always cut it). my mom pulled out a deck of cards and suggest working on numbers with my dad -- laying out a few cards and having my dad identify which number was largest/smallest. i laid down three cards, and said, "dad, which card is the HIGHEST?" . . . my dad raised his eyebrow and stared at me with a look that obviously said, "can you REALLY not answer that question yourself?" i obviously felt much less intelligent than he at that moment. "okay . . . new card game." Clara and i decided to try 500 Rummy with him. we dealt the cards and began to play . . . to our amazement, my dad played along FLAWLESSLY, not only keeping up, but beating us by a landslide! at the end, we all added up our points. we weren't sure how my dad was going to tell us how many points he had. i began by holding up some fingers, but he didn't quite like that idea. instead, he pulled the pencil and pad over, and wrote the number himself! he then proceeded to add up his previous scores and present to us the added total! and all of this done with his left hand. we all tried not to show our complete awe and amazement because i know my dad doesn't necessarily like us ooh-ing and ah-ing over every small achievement, but as soon as my sisters and mom and i left the room, that's all we could talk about! it was so mind-blowing to know that he could perfectly comprehend, write, and add numbers.
we continue to take him outside when we can -- today was a perfectly sunny, beautiful day for a walk around the Mayo courtyard. we're starting to import food from OUTSIDE of the hospital to keep my dad well fed . . . cappuccinos (extra dry, of course!), cookies and desserts, fresh fruit . . . all sorts of little goodies.
we changed rooms today -- the Rehab Unit is so full that most patients are doubled up. so my dad ended up switching rooms and now has a roommate named Ron, who is quite delightful, but will most likely be leaving some time at the end of the week (which is probably all for the better -- my mom and sisters and i tend to make the room feel quite crowded, i think!).