Mmmmm....Pizza!

Dad is continuing to recover well.  He has been moved to the ortho-neuro floor.  (He was put in Progressive Care following the surgery so his blood pressure could be closely monitored).  The staff physician who was with Dad during his past hospitalizations has been assigned to Dad.  Dr. Dave knows Dad's case very well and works well with Dad.  We are grateful for all he has done!  Dad's PT is going well.  He is up and walking around the room a couple times a day.  The therapist is pleased with Dad's progress and can already tell that he is getting stronger.  Dad is having some swelling issues due to the steroids that are given post surgery.  The Dr. is starting to reduce the dosage so hopefully the swelling will start to go down.  The Dr. is starting to talk about sending Dad home in a day or two, but is cautiously not making any promises.

The challenge is going to be preventing this type of fall from happening again.  Part of Dad's condition is that when he stands, his blood pressure can suddenly drop.  Dad does not have any warning that this is about to happen.  That is what caused Dad to fall.  We all want Dad to be up and active and doing the things he wants to do.  But, we are going to have to use some precautions.  The blood pressure drops seem to be more frequent on days when Dad is tired or in his words, feeling "dumpy".  He is going to have to learn to allow us to help on those days.  We definitely don't want a repeat performance of his last big number!