May 9, 2011 Update

Hi Everyone,

Dad is home and is looking awesome. His energy level is improving
daily. He's glad to be home, however he's already bitching about
missing Mary's cooking.

Today's doctor appointment with Dr. Nichols went well. Dr. Nichols
gave dad a full exam and redressed his incision and re-packed the
wicking. He told Tom that he has done an amazing job being a male
nurse and if it wants to make $38/hour - he's welcome to join his
medical staff. Tom's retirement is looking solid!

All kidding aside, now that I have watched the clean-up procedures
twice, I have a better understanding of what is going on. Tom has
achieved rock star status in my book.

Dad's vitals were good, BP 126/74, temp 97.2. He's in good spirits,
not in a lot of pain, more discomfort than anything. The swelling is
doing better but still has a way to go. Dr. Nichols asked to see him
again Friday at 11:45am.

Dr. Nichols said he wasn't too concerned over Dad's kidneys. He said
he didn't feel his elevated levels were in the dialysis range. He
also was blunt about the suggestion we place him on a new diet. He
said it is common for people to want to listen to a nutritionist and
try to fix things. He said, at 87 let him enjoy what he enjoys. To
Tom's point however, living on cookies and cereal is simply not
healthy. I get it though, cooking for one, especially for guys, is
pretty boring. I did go shopping last night and restocked his
kitchen. I totally understand a lot of it may go to waste - but I just
couldn't stand to see no real food in the house. Tom/Mary have done a
great job of making us aware of this; I'm not sure what the solution
is. I'm fearful if we have food deliver, he'll simply not eat it and
it will stack up. It might be a good idea to go grocery shopping for
him every 2 weeks anyway and also throw the dated stuff out. If it's
here, he might make better choices.

He's glad to be home, he wants to go to Grant's last baseball game
tonight (which Tom has green lighted) so things are looking good. He
gets to taste some of my home cookin tonight, so the pressure is on me
to deliver. I better go, I have to go turn on the food channel.

Love,

...Jim