Thursday, June 25, 2009

Day 13 of Recovery - Moving Day

10:00 am, June 25, 2009: I knew I would be cutting it close for my next appointment, but I really wanted to at least spend a few minutes with Tesfaye this morning to make sure he is on a path of continuous improvement. My plan for a quick in and out visit was thrown off a bit by having to wait for the "rounds" to leave his bedside. When I was able to enter I was greeted by a lovely smile and he looked terrific, the best I have seen him looking since the surgery. Though it is still difficult for Tesfaye to talk because of soreness from having the tube for so long, he said he feels good and he thought he will be moved back to the step-down unit later. He also gestured and said that he liked the way I was dressed. I did happen to be wearing a new tie and pocket square - leave it to Tesfaye in the middle of everything to notice and comment on what I was wearing. Though my visit was "short but sweet" I left feeling good about how well he looked. With my schedule today I would likely not be able to see him again, except perhaps later tonight.

11:00 pm, June 25, 2009: After a busy day of meetings as well as attending a nice lunch hosted by David McLean on his birthday (happy birthday David!) for Michael Ignatieff and a dinner gala for the Whistler Film Festival, on the way home I dropped in to get a glimpse of Tesfaye back in the Spine Step Down Unit, though I figured he would likely be asleep. Nanci did drop in to see him with her sister Julie this afternoon and she told me she ordered the TV hookup for him and wanted me to check that the TV was indeed functioning. All was quiet on the ward but, sure enough, when I went into his room Tesfaye was asleep with the TV turned on to the CNN news channel (Michael Jackson's death being the story of the evening) and the headphones still wrapped around his ears. I untangled the cord from the various tubes still attached to Tesfaye so that I could remove the headphones, and turned off the TV; he remained fast asleep throughout. As I left I asked Nurse Christine how he was faring and she said he was doing well and had done some walking earlier that afternoon. She said they were happy that Tesfaye was out of ICU and back in their Unit -- so am I.

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