Niilo’s appetite is kicking in. Yesterday he ate a bit (including some birthday cake Heather and Mom brought in from Dane’s 19th party), and today he’s had oatmeal and more for breakfast. The PIC line in his arm vein reduces difficulty of blood draws and possibility of direct feeding. Visitors: you are welcome to ask the nurse for some applesauce or pudding and see if Dad would like some. I was helping him to some pudding yesterday while a cooking show was on the television (on when I came in), and got mesmerized by the hard shell clam preparation. Dad pushed at my arm to let me know he was still hungry. This is good, in my opinion, because the amount of food he’s had in the last week is tiny.

He’s doing a bit of aided walking. Some talking, a little reading (thanks for the Anchorage Daily News, Dick). The pain intervention has been cut back to Tylenol, allowing for a next step of Vicodin if needed. The morphine (even at half the smallest dose) may have been impacting Dad quite a bit.

His tummy track is really impressive. He got the bandage off a couple of days ago and things look to be healing well to the ignorant eye (Chena’s). Heather expects Dad to remain at Fairbanks Memorial Hospital, Room 315 for another week. He is weak and not generally engaged. Visitors are welcome, and please write in the little Niilo book if you care to.

Thanks much to you who are posting, reading, calling, and generally being supportive. Love, Chena