He's back!

Today is remarkably different in how clear Randy is speaking and how perfectly he is remembering everything. He is really himself today, complete with dry humor, smiles, and stories. He is able to take small bites and little drinks, he can focus clearly on all of his surroundings (well enough to read the calendar and clock on the wall), and he is sitting up very well.

Since the conversations can now take up an entire 20-minute visit, we cannot record every detail, but here are a few highlights:

• Randy said "I'm really tired--they keep waking me up and I haven't had a sense of day or night. But based on the light outside I'd say it's about noon." April replied, "You're good! It's 12:30." Randy smiled and said, "Well, I cheated--I can see the clock on the wall!"
• April commented that we wanted to hear all of his stories from when he was unconscious, and Randy said, "I kept waiting for Kelly's stories, and she didn't have any. I think I should have some stories from all of this, but I was gone. G-O-N-E. I was really O-U-T."
• We were trying to assess how far his memory extended. With a little prompting he remembered Thanksgiving, and then he remembered he had been getting ready for Tom Halliday's Christmas party. "That was a big party--I should have gone."
• We asked if he knew Steve was his hero, and he said "I heard about that--he saved my life. I'm going to have to pay him more." (Steve, now you have it in writing!)
• "Do you feel like a performing seal now, with all these people asking you to wake up and say hi?" "Yep." "Well, we brought some fish for you. Open wide." "Fish doesn't sound good."
• He does not like the chocolate pudding. He's going to try the vanilla next time.
• He remembers Thanksgiving (the last holiday), and going out with Andrea and Tyler to dinner on the Saturday before it happened.
• He wants to sleep more-- people keep waking him up every two hours, and he wishes they'd stop and let him sleep for seven hours at a time. Sorry dad... welcome to the ICU!
• He gets dizzy easily, and is very annoyed with it. He doesn't remember the last few days of having trouble breathing and, oh, living, so we told him some dizziness is acceptable.
• They wanted him to feed himself, and he had a few coordination problems. "I never thought I'd have trouble feeding myself!" (Kelly Hicken, he's eating the same way you did at the start of your recovery)
  
• They are moving him to the 5th floor intermediate care facility within the hour!