Yesterday was a better day, though exhausting.  They reduced the pain medicine and he regained most of his sanity.  He slurs his words something terrible, though, so it takes a lot to understand what he’s thinking.  He associates me with horse racing, and remembers Bill Benter, and how I used to play the horses.  He also remembers a parishioner of his father’s who had a race horse at Santa Anita.  All this comes out all mixed up, and takes a while to sort out.

Kris and Jerry visited for more than an hour, and gave me a little break.  Neither of them could make dinner, though, but they gave me a swell recommendation.  I had dinner at Monterey’s Fish House, where I sat at the bar.  The guy on my right had had an Alzheimer’s mother-in-law, and was very sympathetic.  The gal on my right ordered what I did, and we agreed we should have just ordered one and shared it.  It was absolutely wonderful, East Coast giant scallops in a pernod cream sauce on linguine.  I took 2/3 of it home to the Scalberg house.

Late yesterday afternoon, the CHOMP portal yielded a doctor’s report which said, in part, “ the above described nondisplaced lateral femoral condyle fracture. Given this patient’s other challenges, and his declining mental status, I do not see a need for operative intervention at the present time”

I sent it to our nurse with this note: “This likely means the bone will knit such that the knee will never bend again.  I am not sure this is a good idea.  I am also not sure an operation is a good idea, but it might be short term pain for long term improvement.”

She wrote back that it was too dangerous for his brain, and that we had better just bring him back to Santa Rosa for rehabilitation.  We should be able to move him into The Terraces after a stay in a skilled nursing place in Santa Rosa.  I understand that’s the best course of action. I can then move back into the Lodge on the 13th, be near him, and at home.  He’ll be in the hospital for another day or two, anyway.