Well, last night's blog was not the end of the day. I got into bed at 9:00, just as planned. About 10 minutes later, the phone rang. It was Dick. He was still confused from the events of the day and had forgotten that I left. He wanted me to come back. So, I did. I got there just before 10 and was able to sleep on a sofa bed that is in his room. Of course, I got little sleep, as he did, because they are constantly checking on him and doing things. But at least I did get some sleep.

My only worry was Chelsea, our poor little lonely old doggy. I called Jim and Michelle and they took her out in the morning and fed and gave her medicine. Then I called our neighbor Dick to take her out at about 9AM just for good measure. I went home at 11:00 to check on her, clean up and change my clothes. I also did the grocery shopping and bought lottery tickets. Chelsea was sure glad to see me. She is a good little girl but I can tell that she is feeling neglected.

Today was MUCH better. Dr. Fehrman came in at about 7:30 and changed the dressing on his stump. It looks pretty good. The leg is no longer swollen and the wound does not look red or puffy or anything. So the circulation must be good there.

Then Dr. Phelan came in with good and bad news. The good news is that the ecko on his heart showed that the right side of the heart is fine and healthy. The bad news is that the left side does show some problems, however, they are related to the sleep apnea and are being dealt with so that is OK. The lungs ARE clearing but have a ways to go and he is getting respiratory treatments so we don't end up with pneumonia. The only other bad thing is that there is sign of kidney failure. Again, the good thing is that kidney function can return when caused by this kind of trauma and Dr. Phelan has adjusted his meds to try to accomplish this.

The bad news is that he will be in the hospital for probably four or five more days.

Physical Therapy came in today and he was almost able to pull himself to a standing position, using his upper body, the right leg and a walker. Almost. Whis is good as weak as he is and considering that his last physical therapy was on Friday.

Anyway, an altogether successful day, we think. I intend to sleep soon and I hope he has a good night too.

I can't believe that it is October already. We will aim at getting Dick home for Thanksgiving.

When Bret was in Kindergarten, he had a wonderful teacher called Miss Gamel. She was young, very pretty and blond. As a matter of fact one of the boys in her class, she had 16 boys to 4 girls, told his Dad that his teacher was a "big, beautiful blond." One day, Bret came home from school and told me that two of his classmates had gotten in a fight and Jimmy hit Johnny 21 times. It mentioned it to Miss Gamel because it sounded SO funny. She agreed and thought that she really might have noticed a fight that had 21 hits in it.

Love

Mary