The Eagle Has Landed

The transition home has gone pretty smoothly. Dad is still weak and a little confused at times, but infinitely better than last August.

When Mom and I arrived at the hospital Friday around 2:00, Dad wasn't in his room. Mom thought he might be taking a walk with the physical therapist, so we looked around the hallways. No Dad. Looked in the pt room. No Dad. Asked at the nurses' station. No Dad. Then an assistant went into Dad's room and he called to her from the bathroom. He had gone into the bathroom by himself and could not get up off the potty. And didn't call for help. *sigh* I'm sorry he was stuck, but I do think the experience wore him out and maybe took a little wind out of his sails. In a good, right-view-of-self way. I even heard him tell the assistant, "I feel weak."

Once Dad got settled back in a wheelchair, he let us know several times that we had arrived later than he wanted. He said he had been "waiting and waiting" and wondered where we were. I looked on his release papers and he had signed them about 20 minutes before Mom and I arrived, so I don't think we put him through too much. A really nice touch to Dad's leave-taking: The team who cared for Dad during his stay lined up in the foyer and applauded him on his way out to the car.

Dad let us wheel him up to the door at home, then he walkered it to his chair. The Chair. He is so happy to be at home with his chair, his bed, his wife and her cooking.