Under there

Did I make you say "underwear?" (Okay, lame childhood joke...my apologies.)

Perhaps I'm a little giddy, but today, for the first time since the day after Thanksgiving, Dad was able to put on his own...what my Grandma Burke would have called "unmentionables." It was amazing, not just that he could do it, but just watching him figure out how best to get it done. He was so determined. He's really been trying to attempt a lot more the past few days.

Which is really great, considering we spent yesterday morning in the %$#@! emergency room. Sigh...do we get some kind of customer reward card for frequent visits? If we show up there one more time, I swear we're going to have our own room.

In all seriousness, Dad started having weird symptoms in his left leg on Friday afternoon. We were getting ready to go see Mom and before he started down the stairs, he said, "Huh...my left leg feels numb." The numbness came and went Friday, Saturday it became a "heaviness," and by Sunday morning it really ached. No way we were taking a chance with that given his history.

It turned out to be nothing, thank God, but in a nice bonus, the ER doc yesterday was the same doctor who worked on Dad when he went in in December. He walked in the room, looked at Dad and said, "You're supposed to be dead!" He was so thrilled to see how Dad has recovered. The last time he checked on Dad (about a week into his ICU stay) things didn't look good. He told Dad, "you made my day!" After the exam, he left the room and a few minutes later a nurse came in. She had also been in the ER that day. I remember when they whisked Dad off for testing, she gave me such a huge hug and all her prayers and sympathy. She was so excited to see Dad yesterday. When she left, she said, "Now I'm going out to have a good cry."

Hey, if you've gotta drag yourself outta bed to go to the hospital on a Sunday morning, at least it better be worth it. :)