So, it's been a few weeks since I last wrote about my dad. I thought some of you may be curious as to how he's doing, so here's a bit of an update on his recovery (from the trio of strokes he had in mid-February).
The short and sweet of it is that he's doing really, really well. He's still in a nursing home and he still can't use his left arm or leg well enough to walk or otherwise fully take care of himself, but he's able to use both limbs a little bit more each and every day.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyLXOO34KLrju92d-8hC33x534XIZHXLLCwvUlJ41dCag8nkQER48knljpDWIqz2JzhTwI2LH0fl8ldKoX9NaqCmrMpVfKuhPiPlrGwePObI6i3LbK4o_aJEM1gsIFiQpML_GV/s320/6448512367_9c4c800614_z.jpg) |
My mom and dad during our most
recent family vacation. |
In fact, earlier this week my mom surprised me by telling me that he stood up, on his own, for the first time since he had his strokes. Previously, the most he had been able to do with his left leg was kick his foot back and forth while sitting in a wheelchair and raise his knee while lying in bed.
Anyway, how big of a deal is it that he was able to stand up on his own, you ask? Big enough that my dad's physical therapists did a little "dance of joy," according to my mom.
Sadly, I wasn't able to see any of the above in person. I'm hoping I'll be able to witness, from afar, at least some of his future "momentous occasions," though, since my mom recently picked up an iPad and has been using it--and Apple's completely fabulous FaceTime app--to make video calls to me (and to David, too, when he's not working) pretty much every other day.
Thanks again for all of your support, by the way. It's been extremely helpful and my dad, mom and I have greatly appreciated it.
UPDATE: I hate to update this post already, especially with not-so-great news, but I wrote this on Friday night and didn't expect anything negative to happen between then and now. Unfortunately, something did. Basically, my dad had to have his gall bladder removed yesterday. Thankfully, the infection that brought about its removal had nothing to do with his recent strokes. Also, he's expected to recover from the surgery and return "home" to the rehab facility fairly quickly. Anyway, here's hoping this is my dad's last step backward on his road to recovery.
See also: Previous posts about my dad