no good news, no bad news

This just in from Volunteersville:

The dahlias, gladioli, and daylilies are blooming. A pileated woodpecker was sighted in the front yard and a redheaded woodpecker and a hummingbird at the feeders in the back yard. Sister Jo Jo has been there this week to accompany Mom and Dad to their doctors' appointments, do some oral history interviews, and work on the ever-present jigsaw puzzle. She is as resourceful as she is good company.

Chas Golly saw Doc Justice this morning, and the CAT scan showed no significant change from the last scan two weeks ago or the one six weeks ago. So is the glass half-full or half-empty? Even fancy digital imaging technology doesn't show everything inside the man's skull, but it doesn't show any new bleeding or fluid, and that would be a problem. It also doesn't show a return to pre-injury shape and contour.

Since he is having no symptoms to speak of - at least he isn't speaking of having any symptoms, no dizziness, loss of balance, headaches, or disorientation - Dad has been declared fit to go back to his regular activities. He can play golf, work in the garden, drive the car, cut wood, carry water. And he is glad to be back in the game.

Actually he has been playing for the last two weeks with his Monday morning league, the Mulligans, although not at the level he would like. His energy is sufficient to make it around 18 holes, so endurance doesn't appear to be a problem. Yet he isn't getting much distance on his drives, and he isn't getting under the ball in general, so he's trying to correct the mechanics of his swing.

The Doc is waiting before putting Dad back on coumadin, the blood thinner that so many people use. He an atrial fibrillation, so the chambers of his heart don't completely fill and empty with each beat, and a little blood tends to pool up behind the valve that fibs. There is always a chance that stationary blood could form a clot that could then move somewhere, such as an artery in the brain, and do some damage, such as a stroke. Coumadin reduces the risk of a stroke, but it also increases the risk of the bleeding that was caused by his (unrelated) head injury. There is trouble if it's too thick and trouble if it's too thin, so the head has to heal some more before he resumes the heart medication.

Mom has her own issues, including a vitamin D deficiency and a number of foods she can't eat, and she has lost a few pounds. She has reduced her activity because she gets fatigued doing household tasks like cooking and cleaning, but there are things she would like to do if she had the energy, such as play a little golf and do more in the garden.

My parents are getting older. They have a lot of history, mostly healthy and active, but everything takes its toll eventually, and they are slowing down and wearing out. They have a lot of habits, mostly productive ones, but at some point any groove can become a rut, and it gets harder and harder, if not impossible, to unlearn one pattern and learn a new one. I doubt whether the little bit of taiji I showed Mom or the rehab program my nephew Max worked out with Dad can make a significant difference. Especially if they don't practice it. They do what they like to do, and it's been working pretty well for fourscore and seven years, so maybe they know what they need.