After yesterday’s explosion of posts, you’ll to have to content yourselves with just one post from me today.

This afternoon Paul got to leave the ICU. (I hope they didn’t have too much trouble getting the cartoon hearts off the ceiling of his room.) He’s now in Room 4202. For those who want to visit, use the Cascade elevators… or, if you don’t want to wait forever, the stairs adjacent to the Cascade elevators. Cell phones are allowed on the floor, and I have mine with me, but I wasn’t able to successfully call out on it this afternoon. There’s a phone in the room, too, but I forgot to write down the number.

As Chris and others have commented, Paul looks really good for someone who has been through this, and he’s progressing through the medical milestones on time, if not ahead of schedule. He’s getting all his meds and liquid nutrition through the feeding tube, rather than an IV. His digestive tract is working (you don’t need any more details, do you?). He has a lot fewer connections from his body to the hospital room wall. (I don’t think that’s a recognized medical milestone, but it makes us feel better.)

His spirits are generally good, though he’s anxious about how well and how quickly he’s going to heal. When I told him about Chris’ comment that someone, i.e. his surgeon, “should be making applique quilts,” his response was “Frankenstein quilts.” Were it MY face and neck, I’d be terrified to look. I think that, when he decides that he’s ready to look at the incision, he’ll recognize that it was really skillfully done… but that’s only the first part of coming to terms with it.

As Paul and I are both a little anxious about his first night on a regular hospital floor, where he has to share a nurse with more than one other patient AND he can’t yell or get out of bed easily if he needs something, I’m going back to the hospital to spend the night. By the time I get back, there should be a big reclining chair in the room, and hopefully we’ll both be able to sleep.

More tomorrow…