Richard E Kelly

This is day fourteen for Darrell’s stay in the hospital and it was by far his best. While he has a ways to go before he can go to rehab at a half-way house, he appears to be on the mend.
Last night he spent the evening with Marlene and Bob, and during the course of their stay, Darrell devoured his dinner of beef stew. He knows it would have gone much better with a dark red cabernet sauvignon from the Russian River Valley of Sonoma county, preferably a 2004, but that will have to wait.
I wasn’t able to visit Darrell today, but Marlene and Bob spent the early afternoon with him. Marlene reported to my wife, Helen, that Darrell was in good spirits, and while they were there, he sat up in a nearby chair. She said that Darrell’s appetite is now ravenous, which is a good sign.
Plans are for Darrell to start a special rehab in the hospital tomorrow. What is absolutely necessary to his full rehabilitation is for him to start walking. I will report his progress tomorrow.
And yes Ernie, your advice has been duly noted. Darrell’s friends here in Tucson plan to administer tough love when it comes to pushing him to get his legs a moving. And I’m a bit curious. Does anyone else think that Darrell can be head-strong at times? Oh I guess Mur did say something about Darrell being an impatient patient. Okay, so he’s not perfect. But he’s damn good at nurturing friendships.

Last night Darrell was taken out of Intensive Care and moved to Room 429. And with the help of drugs, he had a good night’s sleep. When I saw him at 9:00 AM this morning, he was still a bit disoriented and searching for words he wanted to use.
I brought with me a blood orange that he requested from the day before. He acknowledged my gift with a big smile and approving eyes. I couldn’t peel it fast enough. After breaking it up into single wedges, he savored each decadently juicy, sweet morsel. He devoured it in less than ten minutes, audibly oohing after every bite. Later, he ate some oatmeal with a bananna, and topped that off by drinking ten ounces of skim milk, a cup of black coffee, and a glass of apple juice. He rejuvenated before my eyes.
He told me that his left foot hurt like hell and asked if I could take his goddamned socks off. With the mission accomplished, you could see instant relief in his eyes.
A nurse stopped in and reported that Darrell was doing well. When I asked about his disorientation, he said it was most likely caused by sleeping pills. Darrell later told me that you can’t believe a f…ing thing that the nurses tell you.
When I asked what I could do for him after being with him for thirty minutes, Darrell said that I should call Marlene, as he wanted to see her and Bob, and so I did.
Darrell must start walking! He has been on his back in a bed for thirteen days. We were told that daily strolls are now critical to his healing process. It was to start yesterday, but it didn’t happen. Today, the nurse seemed surprised to hear that, and assurred us that it would begin today sometime. Hopefully, Darrell’s earlier assessment of the nurse’s skills on breaking promises was a reaction of his disorientation from the drugs of the previous night.

Darrell continues to improve and was moved from Intensive Care at 9:00 PM last night. When I saw him yesterday, he told me that it was his best day at the hospital. I will visit him today and give you an update.
During my visit with Darrell on Friday, I talked with his doctor and nurse. They were both optimistic that the problems that had landed him back in Intensive Care were finally resolved. The doctor also told me that all the tests they had done on Darrell could not detect internal bleeding. That in fact, had only been the doctor’s hypothesis, as so many of Darrell’s symptoms, low blood pressure, dizziness, etc., would normally suggest such a condition.