"I think he's turned the corner" (as said by Dad's neurosurgeon)

Positive news out of the hospital today. Dad's medical team is very pleased with how he's doing. He's getting stronger by the hour, it seems. Just as soon as a bed opens up down in rehab, he's on his way down there for 10-14 days (or shorter/longer, depending on how he does).

He's all cleaned up after getting a haircut and a pretty good shave (not great) from the traveling barber. He's even in some running pants and a t-shirt instead of a hospital gown. That makes as much of a difference as anything, seeing him in normal street clothes.

Swelling continues to be there (and may actually still increase with ongoing necrosis - no way to know when it might peak and then start tapering off), so they are keeping him on the high dose of steroids for a while. They "may" get him down to 18 or 12mg by the time he leaves rehab, but they want to be really careful in doing that.

He's had PT in already to work with him, and he actually walked down the hall! Still with some help, but it was with one person, not two, and pretty much under his own power. He likes to lean to the left quite a bit still, so they rehab folks have their work cut out for them in getting him to keep his eyes open and compensate/right himself using his right side.

I actually escaped back to the hotel to work for a while (still no connection at the hospital for some reason), so i thought I'd update the blog while I had access. A busy day ahead as he moves into his new room on the third floor, gets oriented to the new staff/new surroundings, and gears up for at least three hours of rehab that starts tomorrow.