Looking like a new man after a shower - getting out today

We finally got to talk to the neurosurgeon last night just before 9PM. All went well with the surgery, and they were able to get four tissue samples from the surgery site for the pathologist. There was just a little bit of bleeding on the follow up CT scan, but nothing to be concerned about. Dad is passing his neuro exams with flying colors. We're anxious to get started on treatments.

After warning the nurse as we were leaving that when Dad is tired, he tends to get a little obstinate about getting out of bed, they were able to secure a poor soul to sit in the room and try to keep Dad in bed overnight. We found out this morning it was a bit more challenging than perhaps they realized. Apparently Dad was a bit impulsive last night in wanting to just all of a sudden get out of bed. We haven't gotten the full story yet, but there were at least two escape attempts, one of which was almost successful. Dad made the night shift a bit more exciting than they may have wanted.

This morning he is looking good. He was up sitting in the chair when we walked in, and had almost all of his lines removed except for one IV that they will keep until we get ready to walk out the door. He didn't get much rest last night with all of the alarms (including a bed alarm that alerts them when someone is getting out of bed without help), so he's pretty tired. Not really in pain, though, which is a nice change from yesterday afternoon. He's on tylenol - hard to believe that's all after what he went through. Then again, the brain doesn't feel pain, so it's just the surgical site that could give him painful reminders.

He did have a shower up here this morning, and just had a huge breakfast. He's going to take a nap now -- shower wore him out. When he wakes up, he'll shave and brush his teeth, and we'll take off for the hotel. All of the discharge orders are written, prescriptions are in the pharmacy, and we're on "our" schedule for leaving. So nice. And our nurses here have, as expected, been fantastic. Julie yesterday and today is so accommodating and nice; and Paula (the brave soul that took on Dad during night-time hours) was great as well. One thing about Mayo's - they hire and retain the best in the business.

Once in the hotel today, I think we'll all take a nap. Long day followed by a short night has left us all pretty tired. We will meet up with the neurologist tomorrow who will talk to us about next steps. Best guess is we will travel back to Omaha Thursday morning.

More tomorrow after we meet up with the neurologist.