No News Is Good News

Things have been all quiet on the western front the last couple of weeks. I’m not going to lie, it’s been nice to say the least. They say no news is good news and that has certainly been the case since Dad’s been home, with regards to his health. I am hoping that trend continues after he sees the neurologist this Wednesday for his first post Stillwater head exam. Other than baby aspirin, he has not been on blood thinners since he had the hemorrhagic stroke in mid-January. Part of this week’s visit is to determine if he is to go back on them and what level he will be on. As I wrote previously, it’s a tricky situation because while he needs to be on blood thinners for his atrial fibrillation they aren’t necessarily good because of the dissected artery in his head. The dissected artery can’t be repaired and the afib will never go away. Both these issues will continue to be at odds with one another for the rest of his life. Needless to say it will be interesting to see what the neurologist has to say and what her course of action will be.
In other news around the Villa Walter, Dad has been bored. Never one to just sit around he has been bored out of his mind lately. I’ve started giving him little jobs to do around the house though and that seems to be working out nicely. Yesterday he was pointing to the glass sliding doors. After a moment or so I figured out he wanted it cleaned (darn dog nose prints). I was in the middle of something but assured him I would get to it. He shook his head and said he would do it. I love his can do attitude. However, the previous weekend he had almost fallen backwards, when he stood up from his chair in the backyard. The chair had tipped back and he almost went with it, but caught himself with his improved balance. The incident still made me a little nervous though and I was not comfortable with him bending down that far to try and clean some glass so I said to him, “Tell you what, I will clean the glass, why don’t you make your own lunch today.” He was having soup and toast. He looked at me, said OK and immediately got up, glad to have something to do. Now, the only thing I did to help him was open the can of soup, otherwise he was on his own and did everything himself. I write about this like it’s some monumental task he accomplished and you know what? It kind of is and it may seem like a little thing to you and me but for him, it’s huge. This entailed, getting the pot to heat the soup up, the bowl to eat the soup, the plate for the toast, the knife to butter the toast, the spoon to stir the soup, all while maneuvering without his hemi-cane in the kitchen. I know people that can’t boil an egg (they exist) and there was Dad, getting everything together to heat up some soup and toast a piece of bread, without burning either of them. Piece of cake. The other day I came in from outside and I heard him in the kitchen. He was trying to grab some paper towels. I got out of him that he wanted to clean the countertops. So, I handed him the cleaning wipes and told him to have at it. He proceeded to clean all the kitchen counters, clean the toaster and change out the garbage. The only thing he couldn’t do yet was carry the garbage into the garage. I say yet because he isn’t quite at the point where he doesn’t need his hemi-cane. He will be though, he will be.