Growing and Growing

These 4OperaDudes were on the television this morning …

I asked the kids if I could change the channel from what they were watching ( … something about a huge red dog named Cliffy … ) to something I wanted to show them. They whined, “Daaaaaaaaaad ….” and finally conceded, “Oooooh, okay ….”

Over the next four minutes, we all sat there glued to the tube … listening to Amazing Grace … if you missed it, then you missed an amazing rendition … full of chills … enough said!

You left a comment on “Two More Sleeps” and we just had a take a second to respond. Yes, it is true … Dad is scheduled to go home … leave the hospital … check out … sometime tomorrow, Thursday, November 20, 2008. That will be officially 61 days after the ViolentSilence. ( … For those of you new here, the ViolentSilence was Dad’s near fatal car accident, which I described as I arrived on the scene here … ) You said that his recovery was truly miraculous. We could not agree more.

[For all those voyeurs reading this private letter from me to BookWork, I guess that I should bring you up to speed as well. You see, Dad's getting out tomorrow. You ask, "Self, how can that be?" Thanks for asking!

Mentally (as in brain injuries), Dad is on top of his game. There does not appear to be any long-term damage. He has full memories of his life and he even recalled some childhood stories that I have never heard. He does not remember any details about the accident and he only remembers his recovery going back about 3-4 weeks.

Internally (as in heart, lungs and other organs), Dad is recovering well. His broken bones are healing nicely, his lungs work great, no problems identified with his heart, and other internal stuff appears to be good.

Sense-ly (as in sight, sound, touch, taste), Dad has left some room for improvement. His right eye may need a cornea replacement surgery if there is not 100% healing (... but we here at G&G know better, right? ...) There is significant nerve damage that affects the entire right side of his face. There is still some hearing loss due to the impact and bleeding. Dad goes to the EarNoseThroat guys sometime tomorrow.

Spiritually (as in "Who loves you?"), Dad remains a humble servant. He is overwhelmed by all of your prayers, notes, words of encouragement. He knows that he is a now-walking miracle. He knows that his life ... post-ViolentSilence
... will never be the same.

Emotionally (as in, "How are you really doing, Ray?), Dad cannot wait to get home, which will be a better environment for some of you to come by and visit.]

BookWorm, thanks for leaving the comment. We will let you and the rest of the World know exactly when Dad flies the coop tomorrow. I hope you stick around G&G, as we have some great news to announce soon.

Getting back to work,

Self

It’s about 4:45 pm, and I just got the “What are your plans tonight?” email from MyBeloved. This time, she actually gave me a choice. She said, “Pick your poison.” Well, here are my choices … what would you do?

Survey Results – GlowDay.com

I told you about Dad’s visit last week to Dr. BoneFixer. Well, it appears that Dad snuck out over the weekend to make a few dollars (or pennies in this case). And PrayerWarriorToo caught Dad on tape. Check him out:

That’s not right … a collection of stories, events, and incidents that are just … not right!

Remember my friend, LegalAide? You should, I just told you about her a few minutes ago. Anyway, while we were talking about life and signing over Dad’s life savings to me, Dad decided to pass some gas.

I said, “Dad, you just tooted in front of my friend. That’s not right!” (… I know it’s sexist, but if “she” were a “he” I would not have said anything … I would have just laughed … )

Smiling, Pacino-voiced-Dad responded, “It was medically necessary.”

Nice.

My friend LegalAide came with me to visit Dad today … well, not to visit Dad … but to notarize some documents. Since LegalAide has been following our journey since the beginning, she knew all the stories and all the names. We ran into Pastor LittleBabies, who was rapping with Dad right after lunch.

LegalAide said that Dad looks like he was ready to just jump out of bed … luckily he didn’t … but instead, he grabbed a pen and signed over all of his life savings to me (Sorry, CaveBear) … I mean, he signed the accident report information sheet for the insurance company. Thanks for the help, LegalAide. Here’s an update on Dad:

1. Dad passed his final respiratory test, which means his lungs are back to normal and better than ever! It also means no more respiratory therapy. Respiratory Therapists Q1, RedWisdom, Mouse, Sunshine, TooTall, BubbleGum and GottaGo would be so proud of Dad.
2. Dad took his longest walk yet during morning physical therapy. Most of his exercises have gone from lying down, to sitting up, to standing up.

Dad continues to be worried about the nerve damage throughout his face due to the multiple factial fractures. He talked to Dr. Groovin’ about it this morning and, based upon that chat, Dad said that we could all pray for the following:

• That the nerves throughout his fact start to regenerate on their own without surgery.