Evening

This is a picture of Mark enjoying a piece of Mardi Gras King Cake sent directly from the Big Easy by his friend, John Robinson. Thanks John, we all enjoyed a piece.

Mark has a very light schedule on Saturday and Sundays, so it's a good time to visit.

Thank you all for the cards and flowers etc. We will be working on Thank You notes this weekend and making Valentines for his team.

Evening

Mark has done some walking with a cane but he can also walk with his therapists on either side for balance, with no cane or walker.

He's able to get in and out of bed and chairs very well. He can also put on his socks, shoes (tie them too) and shirt. Eating is certainly not a problem!

Even though he seems to see small items fine, like a drop of water on his tray table (which he will wipe up) and can read most letters and his cards, and the clock, he complains about his vision all the time. He is being scheduled to see an neuro ophthologist soon.

His short term memory is sometimes still challanged and he even has some long term memory issues, especially when he's tired.

I would post a picture tonight if I could figure out why it's not going through to my email, even though it was successfully sent from my phone. Maybe tomorrow.

Evening

Can you believe Ernest, Mark's new room mate is the same Ernest who was Mark's room mate at Jefferson Hospital back in early December? Sad to say, things haven't changed much for Ernest.

So much for the safety bed! When I arrived today around 2:30 Mark was in bed napping. The mesh flap - which is basically the entire side of the contraption - on the safety bed was unzipped and flipped onto the roof (picture a mesh playpen, turned upside down on a bed), the bolsters were off and the bed rails were down. In other words, it might as well have been a regular single bed. Good thing he was sound asleep.

Dinner didn't seem very appetizing, good thing I brought in some sushi!

While I was waiting for his clothes to dry (their dryer takes forever) Mark and I had a really good conversation. For the first time, it was a real give and take conversation, with almost no hesitation on his part. He wanted to know what had happened to him and I explained the morning of the event and gave him some of the medical details, but didn't go into the real scary stuff. I explained how the ventricles drained, what effect the blood in the brain has on the drainage system, how fluid builds up and causes hydrocephalus and how the shunts work. I didn't go into the infection, surgeries, pneumonia and the blood clot. It's funny how it feels years ago and almost like it happened to someone else.

Earlier in the evening, when we were having dinner with Maggie, Mark's mom, he even joined in the conversation with no prompting.

P.S. We're waiting for you to visit.

Evening

Mark got a little too self-confident last night and tried twice to get out of bed himself to get to the toilet. Each time he slipped to the floor - not a real fall - and thankfully he didn't get hurt. Nonetheless, they added a mesh tent to his bed so it can't happen again. Previously I could help him out of bed and his chair to the bathroom and shower, but now he had to have a nurse or therapist to help him.

He was also transferred to the other wing of the second floor where the "higher level" patients are. This is the step before discharge. His team is meeting tomorrow and we may have a tentative discharge date.

Not only does he have a smaller and older room (no longer in the nice new wing where he had been) but he has a room mate named...what else...Ernest!

Evening

Mark has rediscovered his love of food. He even thinks the rehab food is good. Mark's cousin Bev dropped off some super bowl food - philly steak sandwiches and wings. Mark was in heaven. He even turned away dinner!

Mark was up pretty late last night so we went into the gym and played basketball and checkers. As for the basketball, I just ran after the ball but we tied at checkers. Then he went to bed for his evening foot rub.

Mark is looking forward to his appointment at the eye clinic. He's tired of his blurry double vision but he seems to be able to read and see the clock. Hopefully we'll see the ophthmologist soon.

Mark's enjoying his visitors so please don't hesitate to stop in.