This past weekend

Update from Scott:

Kelly and I went up to visit dad on Friday night. We got there around 7pm, and he was very tired and sleeping pretty soundly. He did wake up, but seemed like he wasn't up for having company. So we went back to the hotel and rested up from the drive.

Saturday was much better. Dad was awake and alert, and was much more interactive. You can always tell when he feels better because he wants to sit up in bed and wants to wear his glasses. He attempted to participate in many of the conversations going on in the room, and seemed much more engaged with everything going on.

I offered to rent a movie for him to watch, so I ran over to Jewel/Osco and got a movie from Redbox. After the movie had been on for an hour or so, dad seemed to be losing interest, so I asked him if he was having trouble focusing on the movie and he shook his head. I asked him if the movie sucked, and he nodded in agreement.

So apparently Knowing isn't much of a movie, if it can't keep the interest of someone who has been bedridden for almost a year.

Dad was also awake and alert through most of Sunday - so it was a pretty good visit.

His sister Deb should be getting there sometime Monday afternoon, and Martha is heading back up there on Wednesday for the transfer.

Dad has been admitted to a skilled nursing/rehab center in Oelwein, Iowa - and will be moved there this Thursday, if all goes well this week.

How we ended up in Oelwein is quite the frustrating saga.

For several months, we have been looking for places that can not only handle dad's complex case, but also has open beds and is a reasonable distance away. Harmony House in Waterloo was the only place in Iowa that we could find, and we've been talking to them for months about getting dad there, in addition to a few other places in Illinois.

HH continually had no beds available, and apparently nobody there thought it would be valuable to tell us that they have a sister facility 20 minutes away that offers all of the same services and therapies, and has beds available.

Really? Seriously? We might have been able to move him months ago had we known that little nugget of info. Thanks, Harmony House. We didn't even know the place in Oelwein existed until 2-3 weeks ago, and we learned it from somewhere else.

Anyway, now we have a place to go, and if dad doesn't get anymore new infections in the next few days, we'll have him back in Iowa for the first time since early January.

We'll post another update later in the week, closer to the transfer day.