Steroids kicking in? Up in the chair shaving

We just don't know what to think. Dad is up in the chair, shaving himself, after having a shower (while sitting in the shower chair). He's much more conversational, a little bit of a sharp tongue, and have even seen him smile a few times. Too bad he couldn't act this way when the surgeon's are up in the morning for rounds.

Everyone on the floor is happy to see him shaving himself and talking, eyes open (mostly), a little stronger in his grip in both hands today, and pretty good hand/eye coordination around the whole shaving experience. I, of course, think he's rallying just a bit so that I didn't have to shave him.

Dad may end up with a mustache and a goatee the way he is going, but he's looking/acting a bit better. Of course the doctors aren't around to see all of this, but I'm snapping a few pictures to show them. They tend to come up when he's super tired and almost non-responsive.

The rehab doctor came up this morning and thought Dad looked much better than yesterday. They'll continue to follow him and work with the surgery team to determine when Dad is ready for rehab. Rehab consists of three hours a day (six 30-minute sessions, or three hour-long sessions), and yesterday there was no way he'd qualify. Thanks to the steroids, he's getting quite a bit stronger.

Dad wanted me to be sure to share with all of you how not fun the EEG was. He's ready to file a brutality claim with the hospital, but we're reassuring him that it really wasn't that bad and that it's normal. The rehab doctor actually served as a "control patient" when he first started to help calibrate the machines. He said it wasn't a lot of fun, but they needed a good connection for the EEG wires to get good readings.

No ride outside today - he can't yet leave the floor. But they're going to check to see if maybe tomorrow he could go outside for some fresh air.

I need to convince him now that calling a barbershop is not in his immediate future. One of the male techs is going to come in and help Dad finish up shaving. If we can just keep Dad from wanting to get out of his chair to get to the phone, that will be a victory.