June 17, 2008--a few words of clarification

This morning it occurred to me that the glowing reports I've been posting of Dad's improvement might be somewhat misleading, and that visitors might be surprised to find him in a seriously compromised state. Let me be clear: he suffered an acute stroke, and currently, he is simply not the same person who left Pine Ridge for Disney World almost two weeks ago.

While his right side is growing stronger every day, his motor skills in his right hand are somewhat lacking, and he can only take tentative, shuffling steps. Likewise, while he can speak clearly, he often says things that don't make much sense. He might not be able to answer questions, and he often isn't able to respond to requests or commands. He recognizes me and my mom, but he might not recognize others. He often appears confused, and he doesn't seem to have much awareness about what has happened to him or where he is.

And so while we have been enormously encouraged by his remarkable progress, I thought it'd be a good idea to put everything in context. Just over a week ago, my Dad could not speak, he could not move his right side, and he did not know who we were.

Today, he's walking a bit, he knows who he is, where he lives, and what he does for a living. He can brush his teeth and comb his hair, he can feed himself and swallow solids. He's also able to carry on short conversations and interacts very appropriately with the doctors, nurses, and therapists who visit him. And we see signs of his funny, mischievous personality all the time.

Relatively speaking, then, he has made tremendous strides towards recovery. Just this morning, his Occupational Therapist commented that his strength, mobility, and cognition have drastically improved since their session yesterday.

Meanwhile, we are preparing for him to be moved--most likely tomorrow--to the Rehab Hospital at Wake Med. If you'd like to visit, please be sure to call my mom's cell phone beforehand; there's no telling where we'll be!