Sunday, July 20

Ahhh, a breather...for Tommy and me, both. Tommy is taking a much-deserved nap as I write this at the rehab center's computer. He was up all morning, and ate breakfast and lunch heartily. I missed those meals, as I spent the morning cleaning the house.
When I arrived home last night, I had a fresh lime and seltzer on the back deck as our wonderful friend, Irv, threw balls in the backyard for Penny and Sandy (Irv has been taking out and feeding the dogs every single day since Tommy's stroke, allowing me to spend time with Tommy). We watched with amazement as a huge full moon appeared over the treeline across the creek--it was eerily beautiful, a deep yellow-orange. A steady breeze brushed the surface of the creek, and as the moon rose, its light illuminated the creek's entire riffled surface--an intense steel blue against the dark fringe of trees beyond. This is what Tommy will eventually return home to, and we are so lucky for that!
When I arrived here at the rehab center in the early afternoon, Katrina--Tommy's nurse for the 7-to-3 shift--told me with a big smile that Tommy had taken "small bites" at breakfast. This was very good news, indeed, because for the last few days he'd been loading his spoon with way too much food and then balking at anyone who told him he needed to take smaller bites in order to avoid "aspiration" (that's when food goes down the wrong tube into his lungs, which can lead to pneumonia). I'd been getting tired of hearing myself say, "Smaller bites!" and spoon-wrestling with him at every meal. The other good news is that Tommy is improving, slowly but surely, in taking on his own weight during the transfers, which still require two staff members to accomplish.