I saw...

R.!!!! today :-). I know what you're thinking. I see him every day. But what I saw every day whas not the R. I knew. Today was the first day I saw hím again. I really donn't know how to explain it. Maybe it's because we could really communicate today. He had the strengh to point whole sentences on the alphabet board they have in ICU, with his own finger. He asked, 'whats the planning', meaning 'what's going to happen and how am I going to do from here'. He 'said', 'my water cup is empty', meaning 'I'm thirsty'. Because of the tube its very hard for him to swallow, so we give him water using a syringe.
He's even making jokes by asking 'were are we going to sleep tonight'. We both have are own place, so that would have been an issue when he was up and about. He knows he's not going to be able to leave the hospital within a few day's or weeks though. He asked his youngest daughter, 'why no water ice'. Last time he was awake we bought him water ice lollipops. As soon as the tube gets out we'll do that again!
Instead of me holding his hand, gently caressing, today it was the other way around. Can you believe my heart bursted out of my chest!

The new chest drain is doing its job, another 3 liters of fluid out of the way. I can see he's breathing better. He stil has a normal temperature. His hands were tied in the last few days while he was awake because he had pulled out his ventilator tube before. Today his hands were loose untill this evening. He understands that he should not do thát again. Only in the few moments when he wakes up after napping he panics a bit and grabs for the tube, so this evening they tied his hands again. Hoping for a restfull night and seeing him even more strong tomorrow.

Sigh......

Btw, the Bee shot was made in my garden.