Sunday afternoons have become go-visit-Grandpa day in Oaktown, so that we can catch up on our week and give Dad some much needed company. Dad was in good spirits and excited to share the goodies with us that his sister, Mary, brought with her when she visited this past week. It wasn't a coincidence that Aunt Mary called "just to say Hi and thinking of you" the night Dad had his stroke. They are close and it meant a lot to Dad that his sister came to visit. Thank you Ron and Mary for supporting Dad by coming here for a couple days. I know it helped him feel loved and lightened his spirits. Even though he has a rigorous therapy schedule during the day, he gets so lonely back in his room. I know having family visit is the highlight of his days. We talked and laughed together in a quiet room set aside for visits on Dad's floor at the rehab facility on this sunny Sunday afternoon. The kids munched away on treats, and provided ever-present entertainment while we heard about what Dad did the last week to wake up his brain after the stroke.
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| Showing off his hand exercises as we first arrived |
Mom tells us the Doctors are encouraged by Dad's quick recovery so far. His left-sided paralysis is decreasing, and his smile is getting much better. Mom runs him through all the facial exercises he can do to retrain those muscles, and he practices swallowing, puckering his lips, raising his eyebrows, and smiling to wake up that part of his brain that moves those facial muscles. He is much more alert and aware of what's going on in the room, as opposed to the first week where he just kept talking about the same things over and over and slept a lot. We could tell he was stressed about getting back to work and life after a couple days in the hospital, yet he didn't realize it wouldn't be possible for awhile. Yeah, that first week was hard to see my always on-the-go Dad laid up with all the desire, but no possibility of getting out of that bed right then.
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| J showing Gramps her robot beetle built up from tiny pieces |
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| My Man with his girls. This picture reminds me- almost everything I have read about thumb-sucking says you have to just ignore it until the kid is ready to give it up. I can't! It drives me nuts. What to do........??? |
I knew Dad was coming back to us when he sat us all down for a talk. He told us the target date the Docs set for him to come home was March 10th, his birthday. Then he made us all promise to help Mom as much as possible because she was working so hard already going to work and tending to Dad's needs. He joked with my boys that they could scrub the bathrooms at his house to help Grandma and call it a "Pee-pee party." He is still a little uninhibited and the boys think it's hilarious that he talks about that sort of stuff that they are not allowed to say in front of girls. |
This whole situation has forced me to think of the possibility of losing my parents, the possibility of my kids losing their parents, lots of uncomfortable things that one doesn't choose to think of often. I've had the prompting lately to dot the i's and cross those t's with regard to our financial planning, life insurance, our will, etc. We want to change some things and it's time to do it. Yesterday.
Above all, I thank God for sparing Dad's life to be with us here on Earth longer. I'm selfish that way. I want my parents around to spend time with me and my kids for as long as possible. We are so blessed that Dad is still here, doing well and on the road to recovery!
