Monday, Nov. 7: Improvement

It has now officially been one week since the beginning of radiation treatment -- only 5 weeks to go. My dad has also started with steroids again (he was on them @ St. Mary's in Grand Haven) to reduce swelling. Even by last Friday, either from the steroids or from the radiation, my dad was much more alert and communicative. This was a total relief to me, at least. He has been speaking audibly (unless he's really tired and it's close to nap/bedtime) without any sort of prompting or needing to be reminded about taking deep breaths. He has started making some more jokes, and he has even been feeding himself!! I'm so pleased about all of those developments. He still can't bear any weight or stand on his own, but I'm hoping that maybe we can coach him back to walking a little bit. Wouldn't that be great?

Thanks to Dimitar and Kyu, my "host family brothers" for coming to visit my dad Halloween weekend. Even though we didn't end up having time to carve Jack-o-lanterns, we did pick out pumpkins, which is half the battle. The boys brought a skeleton t-shirt with them from my dad's house and explained that my dad's plan had been to wear the t-shirt and somehow attach the x-ray of his actual left shoulder (from his motor scooter accident in July) to the shirt. So funny! I'll see if I can somehow get a photo of that later so that you can appreciate the full effect.

Thanks very much to Jack and Tom for coming to visit last Friday.They were with my dad during lunch, as I understand it, and up until my dad left for radiation. I hope you were able to have an enjoyable visit!

Thanks, too, to Jonas, Dr. Chang, and the rest of the family for visiting on Saturday. I think we probably haven't all been together in one room since I was 12 years old. I know my dad enjoyed the visit, and even though he has been better able to speak lately, he had his work cut out for him with such a lively group. Dr. Chang was my pediatrician throughout my childhood (I was actually named after her), and she was present at the births of my brother, sister, and I. She said that since I was the firstborn, my dad had been particularly nervous. At one point, the delivery doctor (there must be a name for that kind of doctor) turned away from my mom, looked at my dad, and told Dr. Chang, "You'd better go help him, instead." Then, my dad fainted. Dr. Chang was careful to explain how this wasn't just a regular ol' faint, either -- he slowly slid down the wall he'd been leaning on for support. It's a great visual, isn't it?

I also owe a ton of thanks to the awesome team of people who have been helping with the daunting chore of fall yard work @ my dad's house. I've been impressed with your ability to coordinate trips, equipment, tasks, and just general do-gooding. I definitely have a few lessons I could learn from you all.

It's an overwhelming task to consider how we can ever repay all the people who have been helping out along the way through completing chores, sending cards/letters/flowers, coordinating efforts, calling/texting, driving here for visits, or sending warm thoughts. My whole family feels an enormous amount of gratitude for you. Thank you.