I went to the hospital on Wednesday night and got to see my dad actually sitting up for a little bit - a definite improvement over the past few days. What was even better was finding out that he'd improved so much they were transferring him out of ICU and sending him off to Telemetry. They also sent him off for an MRI, which confirmed the fact that his carotid arteries are dangerously constricted, so the doctors are beginning to discuss how (and when) they can treat that so it doesn't get any worse.

Thursday night I did not get to the hospital at all. I needed allergy shots, and I knew that by the time i got done with those and turned around to come back to Sacramento, it would be time to turn right back around and head home. So instead I went home after the shots and called my mom and my little sister, who were at the hospital most of the day, and told them to call me when they were heading out, and that they were to come to my house for dinnner so they wouldn't have to have yet another meal of hospital food, and instead of visiting my dad, I made what is quite possibly the best lasagna I have made so far. I used whole wheat noodles, which don't get so mushy when they're cooked, and I chopped up a zucchini and a yellow squash and half a white onion to stir into the cheese mixture as a filling, and added in a few cloves of garlic, minced, to give it some pep, and oh, was it good.

Yesterday my boss and I were eying the clock and debating whether we could just leave a little earlier than we might normally leave, when my cell phone rang, and it was my mom, calling to tell me that my dad as doing so well they were ready to discharge him, and that he would be going to an extremely good acute rehab program in Sacramento. So there was my good excuse for leaving work a little early! I zipped off to the hospital and waited while they discussed paperwork and insurance and everything else, and then we followed my dad off to the next phase in his recovery. Later, my little sister and I drove home together and stopped by Baker's Square for dinner and had a completely unhealthy meal of fried cheese sticks and artichoke dip, followed by pie, because sometimes junk food is the only way to overcome a week full of exhaustion and stress and also pie is a perfect way to celebrate one's father graduating from ICU to Telemetry to Rehab all in the space of three days.