Sorry for the three-day silence. Just got back from PGH today, and with
all the arrangements that had to be made, I had my hands full most of
the afternoon. Thank God for supportive boyfriends who don't mind going
on errands with you.
Anyhoo.
Sunday, April 1
Morale was a bit low in Room 546 when we got there. The doctors
had prescribed medicine for Tatay, not knowing that he was allergic to
it. Everybody got together and prayed about it, and by early evening,
Tatay was back to normal.
We gave Tatay mashed potatoes with vienna sausage, and followed it up
with peeled grapes for dessert. He enjoyed every bite. And asked for a
second helping of dessert.
Took the early morning shift again so Nanay and Tita could take a
snooze. Kept Mariel company while she was doing her paper. We brought
sleeping bags and bedrolls this time so everybody could stretch out in
various corners of the room instead of having to share the sole narrow
bench.
Found out the next day that as Tita was pulling the covers over Tatay,
the sheet brushed his right foot. And he wiggled his toes. HE WIGGLED
HIS TOES!
Monday, April 2
The nurses and aides bundled Tatay up into a wheelchair and
brought him up to the PT room on the 7th floor. Nanay, Tita Alfin and I
tagged along to serve as his unofficial cheering squad. Wilbert, the
physical therapist, showed Tatay how to shift his weight to his right
side and bend his knees. While tatay was bending his knees, Wilbert
noted that the muscles behind his right knee were actually contracting.
We were talking to Tatay and he asked us how long we had been in PGH. I
said ten days. He did a double take. "I haven't left this (the bed) for
that long?" We said---well, that wasn't exactly true. He had gone
around a bit for his PT sessions. But most of the time, yeah, he hadn't
left the bed in ten days. He was appalled at the thought of ten days of
nothing but bedrest. Ladies and gentlemen, my father, the workaholic.
After a while, Tatay asked us "How long will we be like this?" I knew
he was probably thinking about how things would be once we got home. He
was worried for the whole family. Nanay assured him that all
circumstances are temporary. She told him that the doctors said that he
was making unusually rapid progress for someone who had just come out
of the ICU, and that they were confident that he'd be able to walk and
function normally soon. And then she reminded Tatay of one of their old
memory verses: "Do not be anxious in anything but in everything, by
prayer and petition, present your request to God..." Tatay recited the
whole verse without one mistake.
Later that evening, I was rubbing lotion on Tatay's feet. While I was massaging his right foot...his toes wiggled again.
His muscles are beginning to remember.
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