I went ahead and paid the outrageous change fee that Delta extorts from its customers, so for only $300 extra, we will now be flying back to Saint Louis next Monday instead of tomorrow. This will allow my mother and I to spend significant chunks of time with my grandmother as she adjusts to the rehab nursing center where she will be moving tomorrow from the hospital.
My grandmother is feeling much stronger now that she's getting nutrition through that feeding tube, but she still tires easily. She started today very alert and was even able to communicate in coherent sentences, but by the late afternoon we were straining to hear her and it was impossible to tell what she was trying to say or if it even made any sense. At one point it was just me in the room with my grandmother, my mother and Nathan and they were all vocalizing in their own ways. I couldn't understand a word of it.
I didn't bother bringing my running clothes and now I'm regretting that, since it would be really nice to get out for a few miles on my own. A neighbor with three young sons is available to help me out for a few hours a week and I'd love to use a little of that time to get away from all of this...a little farther away than just the shower anyway. I should check and see if our gym has a location here in Columbus. A pilates class might be just the perfect thing.
The little guy is still going with the flow here, though seven-hour-days in a little hospital room are a bit much to ask. His schedule is all mixed up, but I'm hoping to be a little more regimented about that this week. He's such a good-natured fellow. I hope all this serves to make him into a flexible human being who can roll with the punches and not simply another neurotic with a collection of sad stories for their therapist.
