Day 19 - 3/13/2010

Darrin's doing well in his therapy. It's the weekend, so there's less going on, but today he had what they call recreational therapy. That's Darrin's element, so he did just fine. My dad says he played cards with someone and threw a ball around in a game.

My dad says Darrin is very wiggly. When I was there last, he was always moving his legs around. Stretching, curling up, kicking, etc. Darrin will get up off the bed and move to the couch for a while, and then go back to his bed. I don't think he's supposed to get up by himself, but then when he goes for his walks nobody holds him. They're right next to him, but he balances on his own. He stood up and gave hugs to all his visitors last night.

My dad also says all the nurses love Darrin. He's very courteous, and always says thank you.

Tonight for dinner Darrin had lasagna, green beans, two servings of fruit (he's always liked fruit a lot), part of a roll (he says they're always too dry for him to swallow well), and juice and I think chocolate milk. He's eating really well, but still nothing like the piles of food he'd normally snarf down. His feeding tube is still in, and my dad says that may just be because it's the weekend and nobody has come to take it out. It also may contribute to him not being as hungry at meal times.

Things are slowing down a bit now. Darrin's making good progress, but head injuries take quite a bit of time. The rest of his injuries and various conditions seem to be healing well. My dad says every now and then Darrin will say his head hurts, and they'll get him more pain medication.

Tomorrow my kids will get to see him for the first time since he fell. Jonah has been wanting to go see "Adi's Daddy" for a long time. Then he discovered the escalators in the hospital, and overcame his fear of "moving stairs." Now he just wants to go to the hospital to go up and down the moving stairs. Kids brains are so funny.