Dad passed his swallow eval today and is able to drink whatever he wants. I stayed with him during his physical therapy session and he did great. One area he needs a lot of work in is balance. They did several different activities that will help improve his levels. He does pretty good until they ask him to close his eyes and do things. But I told him I would have trouble myself at some of the things he's working on. He is still convinced he has a cabin cruiser boat and makes us laugh at some of the crazy stories he tells us. He knows all of you ask about him and is looking forward to being able to return to the gym. He told me the only thing he is happy about is the weight loss. He still has his great sense of humor and picks on everyone down there. As always Dad is leaving his stamp on everyone's heart.

Dad continues to improve. Unfortuneately he is having nightmares which he believes are real and gets frustrated when we tell him otherwise. The staff has reassured us that is normal and will improve over time. He is able to eat pureed food and drink thickened fluids although he hates it. We are hoping he can upgrade soon to thinner fluids because he really wants a coffee.
The secretions are less so the tracheostomy may be able to come out next week. He is working hard with the rehab team and is worn out by the end of the night. He can talk good and understands everything we say although needs occasional reminding once in a while.

Tuesday
Sorry its been a week but I have good news. We had a meeting with some of Dad's therapists and they are very pleased with his progress. He is walking with little to no assistance. His short term memory is coming back. He grabbed a phone book one day and managed to find his name and began to dial his number to have Mom come and pick him up. They said physically he is doing awesome. Cognitively hes doing well but it will be a much longer process. He still gets very angry and agitated but that is to be expected. He has a lot of fatigue which may be a life long issue. They are planning on sending him home on July 15th as long as he has 24 hour supervision but will not be able to do anything that could risk injury to himself which will be hard considering how active he was prior to the fall. He is able to swallow better and they are hoping to be able to remove the tracheostomy next week as long as his secretions continue to lessen and become thinner.
Once he is home Mom is going to let me know about a schedule for visitors. The doctors and therapists have told us to keep the visits brief (about 15min) and to a minimum amount of people a day. That is due to the brain healing and keeping his distractions to a minimum as well as his fatigue. He will continue to receive outpatient therapy which the staff has compared the impact on him being like us working a 16 hour day. I will try to update as things change but for now they are slow but heading in the right direction.
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