Home

Derek's home, but very tired. So, I don't think that he'll be blogging today, but who knows, sometimes he does things during the night when he can't sleep. I any case, we're all glad to have him back.

Before he left the hospital, his friend Simon came to visit, and they spent an hour or so together, in the room and the little lounge at the end of the hospital hallway. Simon may be leaving the hospital tomorrow. I imagine that Derek will leave a post on his blog tomorrow as well

Perhaps coming home?

Derek just phoned from the hospital to tell us that he may be coming home today. He'll have his lunch at the hospital, and then he'll decide whether he feels up to it. He told us that he walked all the way across the street to pick up a cappucino (his room is on the 10th floor of the hospital), and walked up a flight of stairs as well. It sure looks like eating normal food makes for rapid improvement. More later, perhaps from Derek on his own blog

Moving along

This morning, we visited Derek again at the hospital, and we went down to the internet room where Derek put in a post on his own blog (http://www.penmachine.com/). You can see his comments there.

We spent a good part of the day with Derek. The thing that delights us is that Derek ate some really substantial food today. He had chocolate pudding, a real hamburger, a few slices of canned pears, and tea, as well as a tall Coffee "Americano" from the Starbucks I mentioned in one of my previous posts, along with a cheese sandwich. He is also reading quite a bit, and taking some naps to combat the fatigue which unfortunately still overcomes him after some physical activity. I think that, with the more substantial food, he'll overcome this situation soon.

In the early evening, we went to the cafeteria balcony, where Airdrie and their daughters Marina and Lauren dropped in a little later. This perked Derek up. Hilkka and I left soon after, to pick up some glucose strips for Dereks blood sugar tester.

Derek intends to watch the fireworks with Simon tonight.

The target for Derek's return home is still Monday. We'll see...

Another step forward

Derek is now off intravenous food and is eating more normally. Today Airdrie brought his Matzoball soup again; in addition had a cheese sandwich, some tea and a decaf tall cappucino from Starbucks. He weighed himself, too. With the lack of food at the beginning of his hospital stay, he is now down to 67 kg (148 pounds). This means that he's lost about 23 kg (50 pounds), a quarter of his normal weight. He also had a shower - at long last, he said.

The hospital food tray contained some fish, which, Derek was astounded to say, tasted very good. You'll notice that he's very interested in food.

He still tires quickly and his homecoming is now tentatively set for Monday (perhaps even part-time, meaning for some hours during the day). We want to make sure that Derek does not come home too early - we don't want to put him back into the hospital yet again.

During our visit, we all went down to see Derek's friend Simon, who is in hospital recovering from a heart valve replacement.

The loss of weight has made sitting in a chair really uncomfortable for Derek. so my wife Hilkka will buy him a "whoopy cushion" tomorrow, to see whether that'll help. His butt has no fat, so it's understandable. The recliner chairs at his house are what Derek is really looking forward to.

Derek is off all pain medication now (except the occasional Tylenol).

He'll have another chance to see the fireworks tomorrow, and he may also be using the "internet room". This means that you may see an new entry in his blog; watch for it...

More food

Last night, Derek watched the fireworks (it was Spain's turn); he said they were very good.

Derek is having more food today. Before we went to visit him, he asked us to bring him a special kind of soup of which Airdrie had brought him a little yesterday. He told us where we could get it, and we drove by and picked some up for him. This is one of those special, hardy Jewish soups, with motzeballs (meatballs). We brought him a large portion, and he ate it all (except for the carrots, which are too fibrous at this time). He also asked for, and we brought him some no-sugar-added pudding and he had one of those (the package contains six). He also had some tea. His doctor is saying that they're aiming for a Saturday release from the hospital. We'll see how things are progressing, but it's something to aim for.

After all that food, he had a rest while we were at his bedside. He still gets tired quite easily, but makes an effort to move around. He's been down to the cafeteria on his own for some tea (six floors down and some distance to walk). Since he's is still tied to his intravenous rack, this is a slow process, but things are looking up some more.

Up a little more

Derek had a good, if tiring day. Many visitors, among them a couple of his band's members. He's getting more food by mouth, some broth, bouillon, decaf coffee, tea, Jell-O, etc. He's enjoying it all; we kept talking about the food he's going to eat once he is back to normal. In addition, he's still getting his intravenous sustenance. Derek's spirits are up; he also intends to watch the fireworks tonight. The view from his hospital floor will be excellent. So he's come up a little more; we're all happy about that.

Progress

Derek finally got off the nose tube. He also tried, and tolerated, some basic food. We went to the hospital cafeteria balcony, sat in the sun, and Derek had a little of the scone Hilkka had picked up. He said it tasted heavenly, he was ready to cry. Somewhat later, he also had a little bit of ice cream, and later still a cup of vegetable broth. He is still on the intravenous feeding. He felt best about having the nose tube removed, and it also cheered him up to be able to go for some oral food. Another thing he felt good about was that the removal of the nose tube allowed him to wash his face properly, and he "bathed" his nose for about ten minutes. He called that another "heavenly" experience. Oh, the little things in life.... Tomorrow, he expects to "eat" some more "easy" food (clear liquids). Hilkka intends to make him some chicken broth - without the chicken and the noodles.

Airdrie, Marina and Lauren visited at suppertime. They had been to Playland, and had a lot of stories to tell. It's funny how sunny weather cheers everybody up.