And we're back!

My apologies for the absence of posts for the last two weeks, I was a little preoccupied. Hopefully most of you received the emails my mom sent, but for those of you who didn't, I'll fill you in:

Dad was transferred to UCLA's Neuro ICU two weeks ago yesterday, where he received fantastic care. As usual, he was by far the tannest, most popular guy in the unit. All kidding aside, his treatment was great. His doctor even did rounds through a robot...seriously, a robot. He has shown no seizure activity and his scans are even "improved" to use to the direct quote (apparently this neurologist is a man of very few words, but we'll take it!).

The big news is that he is now entirely off the ventilator, and was moved yesterday morning to a stepdown unit. He's still receiving oxygen (part of the weaning process), but we're really proud that he's come this far. As far as his activity goes, he is now able to smile and stick his tongue out on command. His eyes are open pretty much most of the time, which is a huge change from when I last saw him. He still doesn't track anything, but he does a good job of looking in the general direction of the person talking to him.

All in all he seems more alert than when I last saw him. His weight loss is also a big change that I wasn't expecting to be as drastic, but it's to be expected. He'll be starting physical therapy this week to get him moving again.

Well I am heading down to the hospital now, let's hope there's less traffic because it's Saturday(uuugh I hate the 405)!! I'll post again soon!