Tuesday, April 15, 2008

After a quiet, cool Sunday where we made soup and had dinner with some of our friends from Fisher House, Monday was back to business.

Mark had his usual therapies of speech, occupational, and vision this morning before lunch. Physical therapy was after a nap this afternoon. Unfortunately, his legs were very stiff and although they did range of motion exercises, they were not able to straighten them as much as they had last week. Just a couple of days without intensive therapy puts you back a bit.

Today was a recreational day outing to the Big Cat Rescue park here in Tampa. Mark has been looking forward to doing this. The rescue group saves wild tigers, lions, and other exotic cats from homes and businesses who have not taken care of the animals and rehabilitates them. (Hummm, sound familiar?) The patients get special treatment and a special tour which is not usually given to the public. When he was told they would be able to see the workers feed the tigers, Mark quipped "I hope it's not Sigfried or Roy!" As you can tell, the smart-ass sense of humor has remained intact.

They had a good time and it was a wonderful cool day which means the cats are more active. They were taken to lunch at Smoky Bones and Mark had ribs which are one of his favorites. Tonight dinner was brought to the hospital by an Army colonel who is based here in the area. She delivered home made ziti and sauce with meatballs and sausage, salad, rolls, and cookies for dessert. Mark had another huge meal before the volunteers from St. Mark's Catholic Church showed up with cake, ice cream and root beer for floats. Root beer floats are another big favorite of our favorite patient, so he had one of those too. Needless to say he was ready for bed early since tomorrow is another work day.