Positive update

I went up to the hospital this evening and saw my friend and talked to his nurse. He’s looking better every day I’ve been up there, and he is, the nurse said, progressing well. They had to change his pain medication – the previous one made him too nauseous to see the rehab team today, so they will meet tomorrow instead.

Positive news: It looks like he’ll be released to go home soon, maybe as soon as tomorrow, but more likely on Monday. The nurse said his surgical needs are over and mostly what they are doing now is rebuilding his electrolytes and managing his pain, and that as such, he does not need to be in the hospital.

(I was hospitalized in Japan; they do things differently there – National Health Care, you know, and they keep you until you are nearly well, to avoid a repeat visit)

I’ll meet with his lady friend tomorrow and we’ll try to get things together and plan how to take care of our friend. He broke the L4 vertebrate in his back, but it’s low down and apparently there was little concern about damage to the spinal cord – a good thing by itself. He’ll be awhile healing, but he’s mostly healthy and heals fast, he says, and I told him next year he’ll have a good story to tell.

Onwards I go and so goes my friend too.

*****