Day 3

Today was Dad's first day of visitors apart from our immediate family. His younger brother Neil came down from Maine with his wife Wendy. It was wonderful to see them. It did bring back memories for all of us back to September of 2007 when Neil came to the very same area of Boston to donate a kidney to their sister Anne. Anne ended up spending 9 months in Brigham and Women's Hospital, with a few short trips to a rehab center in Cambridge. Anne passed away just under a year ago from complications of the surgery and it is a little surreal for all of us to be back just a block or two from where we spent so much time visiting her. We still miss Anne very much and hope that Dad will be out of the hospital ASAP.

In more upbeat news, Dad took two longer walks today without a feeling faint or chilled. He also got to drink water and mentioned that he couldn't wait until he could start to eat real food. He even got in two pretty substantial naps, which hopefully will help make up for the trouble he's having sleeping in the evenings.

We also had a great talk with Dad's wonderful nurse. We were able to get some more clarity from her about the timeline for him to get discharged and what comes next. It looks like the earliest Dad will be leaving the hospital is Thursday. After that, they'll need to return to Boston fairly soon for a follow-up with the surgical oncologist, and appointments with the radiation oncologist and the medical oncologist. Our guestroom will be used well and we're just grateful to be able to help out and that we live close by.

Keep those emails coming, they really lift Dad's spirits and mean a lot to him.