Dad was able to sit in a chair and eat his dinner tonight. Dr. Duckworth agrees that he is doing very well and can be moved to a regular patient room within a day or two. The overnight EEG, that was done last night, didn't show any epileptic episodes. The two anti-seizure medications seem to be working well.
Last night Dad was able to move his right toes again during his exam, a very good sign. He could move them tonight, too, although they're not as strong as the left toes. He will try walking tomorrow.
Since Dad hasn't eaten anything since Tues. (only soup), he's on a soft food diet. He drank about 3 cups of cranberry juice and ate lemon pudding, potato soup, mashed potatoes with butter, and finely chopped green beans and turkey with gravy. He was really full afterwards!
Last night, Dr. Xiong informed us that Dad has a skull fracture of the left side of his head and showed us the CT scan. Dad must have fallen and cracked his skull from his forehead straight back to the back of his head. It will heal on its own. As for the blood in the left frontal lobe of his brain, there will always be traces of blood in the area, if he should have another CT scan in the future, but the pain should go away.
Dad watched the Discovery channel tonight, which showed this guy working at a garbage site in CA. Some really gross stuff, especially after dinner. Dad read the card from his co-workers tonight, using Mom's glasses. He was looking for the signature of one guy, which he found. Dr. Duckworth walked in at that time. When I pointed out that Dad was wearing my mom's reading glasses (had rhinestones on the sides), it was the first time that I saw him really smile the whole time in the hospital.
Dad's heart monitor showed some couplets for the first time tonight. Usually, we saw an occasional dip on the monitor, but there were two dips tonight before it went back to normal. Dad's echocardiogram will need to be done. Dr. Duckworth mentioned that he will probably need a stress test, where he runs on a treadmill while being monitored.
When we left tonight after 8 pm, Dad still wanted to sit up and watch TV. He would call Nurse Crystal whenever he wanted to go back to bed. He's much more like himself, even asking where Dr. Duckworth came from, but with time, he should become much more talkative. His arm/hand motor skills are excellent since he ate with a utensil and held the cup by himself. He'll just need some physical therapy to strengthen his muscles to walk since he's been in bed for 6 days. He's still sensitive to light and sound, but he only indicated that he was in pain a few times during the visit.
William took me and Mom to Mughal garden, an Indian restaurant on Charles St., between visits (12-2pm, 5-8pm) since we didn't have much time to go home to eat. Apparently, Indian food makes William very, very sleepy.
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