Tuesday, September 29, 2009

September 29th update

I apologize for not keeping up with the blog recently, it has been a busy few weeks. Dad has drastically improved over the past few weeks, specifically his speech. Not only is he speaking much clearer, but you can also tell that it is his voice.

We have had a tremendous number of visitors over the past few weeks and I truly believe that all of the excitement and social interaction has expedited my father's recovery. If you would like to come visit we would love to have you. We just ask that you call or send an e-mail to either kathyplaneta@comcast.net or nicholas.planeta@gmail.com first. What has surprised me the most is the astounding amount of food we have received. It is, quite literally, more than we can eat. As such, our long time family friend Linda Milano has stepped in with a wonderful way to keep things organized. She has created the Planet A online community using the Lotsa Helping Hands webpage. If you would like to bring a meal over we ask that you please become a member of the community and utilize the calendar feature. To become a member of the community please do the following:

1) Go to http://www.lotsahelpinghands.com/c/618195/login/
2) Enter your e-mail address underneath where it says "Interested in becoming a member of this community?" and click "Continue".
3) Then either Linda or myself will approve you to become a member and you will receive an e-mail with further instructions.

Thanks!
Nick

Saturday, September 19, 2009

Bad news...

Unfortunately, I have some very bad news. Last week my father was admitted to the hospital, because he was having severe pains when he tried to eat or swallow anything. The medical team ran some tests to try and figure out the source of the discomfort and eventually came to the conclusion that he has an internal infection. Worse than that, while my father was in the hospital he had a stroke. The episode was very frightening, but less severe than many other cases. Fortunately, Dad is still 100% mentally and is able to speak fairly well. Immediately following the stroke he was completely paralyzed on the left side, but each day Dad has regained at least some sensation. Now he is able to wiggle his toes a little and move his entire left leg back and forth.

Overall we were very pleased with the care Dad received at Brigham and Women's Hospital, specifically the treatment from the Intensive Care Unit staff. We met some truly remarkable Doctors, Nurses and Physical Therapists during his stint at Brigham and Women's, but good Lord were we happy to leave.

Today they finally released my father from the hospital. He was ecstatic to come home and spend quality time at home with his parents and siblings who were visiting from Syracuse, NY as well as my sister who came home for the weekend. We have rearranged the living room in order to accommodate a hospital bed. I want to thank Grandma and Grandpa Planeta, because they went out a bought a beautiful flat screen TV that fits perfectly on our mantle. It is a great space for people to come and visit my dad. If you would like to come by please give us a call at the house.

God bless,
Nick