He was still very groggy; three hours later he would not even remember he saw us. But one of Dr. Gardner's team members came in and checked that he was "awake" and could follow simple instructions. He could open his eyes, stick out his tongue, raise his arms and bend his knees.
Soon he started moaning about how much his head hurt, so he got some Tylenol with Codeine in his IV. Although his temperature was very warm, the burning he mentioned was actually his catheter. I was worried he might try to pull it out, but his nurse (Jen) later told me that would be next to impossible because there's a balloon in his bladder holding it in.
Again, he thought he was dying, but seemed to believe us the first time when we told him he wasn't. He asked if they got all of the tumor and when we told him, "Yes", he said we could go eat dinner. Oh, and of course he asked about Toby (our Golden Retriever).
I've just returned after dropping off Mari Ann at Family House and making a quick sandwich. He's more alert, but still pretty out of it. He asked me what I watched (on TV) tonight and went back and forth between real conversation and nonsense.
Apparently while we were gone, they did a CT scan and swallow test, if our patient is to be believed, and everything is fine. He is aware of crossed eyes and I asked him how he knew. He said he could tell when he looked with his right eye. Indeed, he is a little cockeyed, but there is no indication at this time how long that will last.
He just woke up and asked me why I was still here. A few minutes ago, I could tell he was trying to stay awake because I came back to see him. But I told him just to sleep and I would sit here with him for a while. I keep staring at him, so incredibly overwhelmed that he has gone through this. It's miraculous for any human being and, considering the petty argument we had on Saturday, so much more meaningful that this human being is him. It's a great way to put things into context.
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