Day 2

So after a long evening and going to bed around 130am, my mom and I woke at 5am and continued to talk and got up around 6am.  We had some coffee, tea, OJ and toast.  Jim and Ann were awesome, they were there for anything we needed.  We got to the hospital around 930am and the main man was awake and starting to show some signs of improvement.

Skip was very cognizant of my mom and I being there and was squeezing our hands.  We told him how much we loved him and he shook our hands and again (silently) told us how much he loved us too!  By 945am, Scott, Jamie and Annie were there as well and Skip was delighted to see them.

For those of you who don’t know, Skip has the most ticklesh feet in the whole world.  Around 11am, the attending nurse touched the bottom of his right foot and he twitched it;  which was very encouraging!

Around the same time, my mom and I went back into the room and he pulled my mom close with his left arm and tried hard and was able to mumble, “I love you”, which was again very encouraging and extremely touching.

Skip was well aware who was present and was squeezing all of our hands and kissing both our hands and cheeks.

The nurse was very impressed at how well Skip was doing and amazed at the physical shape he is in.  Skip kept trying to get out of bed and continued to take off his gown.  We calmed him and told him how important it is to be the patient and be patient.

By the end of the day we were all so happy because he was making some strong strides.  He was slightly moving his right leg, a tiny bit of movement with his right arm but most importantly he was responding with nods and squeezes to the questions and commands of the ICU staff.  The CT Scan was showing positive results that the hemorrhage was not expanding and the brain was not swelling.

We all went to lunch and had a nice time, talking, laughing and telling some “Skipism’s”.  I know we all have some good ones but they ranged from his spilling of wine, to breaking glasses to all of his comical little things…

We went back to the hospital where again, he was keeping on track and not sliding backwards.

The ICU informed us the first 3-5 days are critical and we can hope to see steady improvement each day.  Even if a new day doesn’t bring a “new sign” of improvement, as long as things do regress we can consider the day an improvement.

We asked the Nurse about if it’s possible to overstimulate him and he asked what kind of a person my dad is…and I don’t need to further elaborate on this topic but he’s very gregarious, optimistic and loves his family.  I think the day was outstanding but I continued to remain “cautiously optimistic” and was not going to let my guard down.

We could hope for the future days to bring such improvements but this was really the day after and we were all so happy to know how much he was able to accomplish. 

Please feel free to comment…

Thanks again for your thoughts and support!