Day 8

Day eight has been a bit cruisier then day seven, We rolled in bright and early in the morning to find that Burt has lost his prime window position and has been moved to another room. He now has a roommate named Don. Don just had his skull opened up to get rid of a brain hemorrhage so he is not always the most vibrant roommate, but apparently they had a little chat earlier. Don's wife Dale is lovely and sometimes keeps Burt company when we are not there.

Today's bribe was a fresh batch of Apple Cider donuts. We brought them in the afternoon, for the 3:00 shift, having already won over the morning nurses. Now we have to find a way to get some treats for the night shift.

Burt had a so-so sleep last night, but that's better than he has had so far. He is a little disoriented on a few things, but for the most part he is definitely more alert. We asked him to try and look at us when we are speaking to him and he is doing much better at that. That said the expression can be a little creepy, almost like Marty Feldman from Young Frankenstein.

The food tube is pumping away with no complications so far. The mild fever is due to... you guessed it - a Urinary Tract infection!!! Now he is on antibiotics and liquid tylenol injected by the quart. Also, they are taking out the catheter. This is very exciting and will give Burt a lot of relief as he has referred to it as a baseball bat all week. When we tried to comfort him by telling him it was the size of a cocktail straw, he simply said, "uh-huh... baseball bat."

Speaking of baseball, Burt is surrounded by die-hard Red Sox fans. Not an ideal position for a bed-ridden Yankees stalwart, especially as the Red Sox continue to lose and the Yankees are in first place. They seem to be giving him a by and sticking the needles in gently.

The lack of the swallowing has given dad a bit of thrush, so he has been given another throughly unsatisfying substance to wash his mouth with. He is rightly obsessed with swallowing as he has not been able to drink anything all week. As he can't swallow he has to suck out all of his saliva with a tube. Just to keep going with the baseball theme, the line of the day was that Dad would like to go to the same spitting camp that baseball players go to. As he says, "they can spit through their teeth, out the side of the mouth, anywhere they want."

As for body movement, the physical and occupational therapists worked with him for an hour and this was by far the highlight of the day. Burt kept seated in an upright position for ten minutes with minimal assistance and was able to pull both his shoulders back. The therapists were really impressed with how much better he was today, especially since he did it with his eyes closed. As for us, we have never been more proud of him. He worked so hard and faced his new condition head on, with the utmost of courage and no self pity.

It was a sight to see and we look forward to tomorrow.