When I arrived this morning, Vernon still hadn’t opened his eyes for anyone, but his blood pressure was stable and the signs of recovery were good. He is on a much stronger antibiotic than before in order to kill off the infection this time. Let’s hope its the last one for awhile….or ever!

The problem is: his kidneys aren’t producing urine, but they are producing just enough fluid for bacteria to grow.  Oh, how I am beginning to appreciate the amazing machine of a normal, healthy, working body.  When all is well,  most of us don’t even know  (or need to know) what’s going on inside of us….and what a blissful state of being that is!

Anyway, he is doing better, and by the end of my time there, his eyes were open and he was  showing signs of listening with occasional words thrown out.  In his moments of clarity, h e was incredibly emotional when he did say something, maybe picking up on part of a conversation he could hear in the room. (Lois and Marcia came to visit and he responded a little to them.) Most of the day, he was still unresponsive to me or the nurses. But I’m told he will show more signs of recovery by the day. It’s marvelous that even in his state, he still has access to all three therapies, even if there isn’t a lot they can do with him at the moment.

Strangely to me, the way he was acting to day was very much how I imagined he would act when he first woke up from coma.  It was a bit like being in a time warp: back at a hospital with all the wires and beeping monitors, with him coming in and out of consciouaness, emotionally speaking nonsense as if he life depended on it, as if he had some kind of message.  So far, no hidden secret from the Beyond.  He did mention an aunt Margaret, that he used to call Auntie Peggie, for example. I’d never heard of her, but she sounded so special and important, as he’d shed some tears as he spoke her name, that I wrote his sister to find out about her. She’d never heard of her, either. Marcia had been telling a story about a family member named Margaret, also called Peggie, and Vernon had picked up on it, that’s all.  Serves me right for thinking everything he says will  be profound.  That only happens in the movies, apparently…and in other patient’s waking moments, perhaps.

Not only is he improving, but we have been assured that Vernon will be in the hospital for long enough to secure the next level of his Medi Care, which is more good news. You’ve certainly worked hard for it, Baby!