Wine and Dine

Wow, I feel like I have rested for the first time in months. Last night, Kenny slept the whole night without incident. The nurse and I have decided that getting him up and in his chair is really good for him and, like a child who spends a lot of time outdoors playing, he really sleeps well afterwards. He slept nearly 12 hours and awoke this morning ready to eat breakfast. He ate it in stages, just like he used to: coffee, then fruit, more coffee then cereal, except he had a bath thrown in between the second coffee and the oatmeal. Afterwards he went back to sleep and slept most of the day.

At 6:00 PM he was ready to get up, go to his chair and eat dinner. He is now able to get himself into and out of the wheelchair with only a little help from us. Glory! Once he was in his chair, he decided to celebrate with a glass of wine. He commented that he was hungry for the first time in a long while. He is a member of the "clean plate club" tonight; he all but licked his plate since we had lamb chops and mashed potatoes. The pups really had little to clean off his plate this time.

The highlight of his day, however, was when Larry set up a conference call early this morning with his grand niece and her husband. Mike (McGinty) was in Seattle and Laura, his wife was in Denver. Mike had called last night but Papa was sleeping so soundly that we were unable to awaken him. He was so tickled to talk to Mike and Laura, to find out how everyone in the family is doing. Mike and Laura, thanks so much for loving him so much. He is so proud of all of you. He was telling me a few weeks ago that he feels very lucky in his nieces and nephews (grand and otherwise) and he is so proud of all of their accomplishments.

I was talking to his nurse this morning when she came by to check on him and we were saying that it always seems like we are taking three steps forward and two steps back. I think yesterday and today have been " three steps forward and one step back" days. I love it!
Sherry, his nurse, felt really good about his condition at present. All of his vitals were good. We finally took him off of the oxygen since he kept pulling it off in his sleep. He is taking very little pain medicine, other than Rapid Release Extra-Strength Tylenol. In addition, a close friend is a physical therapist and she is going to drop by and show me some excercises that I can use to help him strengthen his legs. He is surely the "comeback kid". He surprises us everytime. I will say that I hope we can help him get a bit stronger so that he can stay out of bed a little bit longer during the day. We do not expect him to be able to do a lot of getting around but if we can move him in the wheelchair without tiring him out, then he can enjoy the TV and newspaper and maybe even begin to do a little reading again.

Thanks for all the prayers. We can feel them. They sustain us. Talk to y'all tomorrow.