{Karlton Bontrager}

Friday morning was a busy one. Karlton’s nurse got him up and into the shower–the first shower he’s had since returning to the hospital last Monday. He also got a shave; his being on anticoagulants makes us nervous about letting him use a triple-blade razor. In the midst of all this, he had to answer the PTA questions. Was he only joking when he answered that his name was Leonardo Di Caprio? His PTA score was a mere 8.

While Karlton was sitting on the rolling chair, dressed in only a hospital johnny and waiting to go to the shower, I noticed how different his arms and legs have become from each other. The right side continues to look athletic and muscular; the left limbs look thin and the muscles are smooth. I’d already noticed the change in his abdominals. His lean “six pack” is beginning to sag and go soft.

Early in the morning Karlton told me that Jennifer and Alexa, his sisters, had been sleeping in the bed next to him all night. He was concerned that Alexa hadn’t woken up. Usually those ideas go away by themselves. But yesterday afternoon when Alexa telephoned, he told her about the incident. Somewhere in the intervening hours he had figured out that it didn’t quite make sense.

Concerned about the continuation of services once Karlton returns to the United States, we have been looking abroad for the answers. What a surprise it was to find that a well-respected neurologist from San Diego is practicing temporarily in Dunedin and has been seeing patients on Karlton’s floor. Besides having many contacts back home, the man is active in the Brain Injury Association of America. Choy-Lang was able to spend some time with him in the afternoon and get some tips for how to coordinate services once he is States-side.

A childhood friend of Karlton’s is in New Zealand on business and has visited him frequently this week. Last night they went through some old photographs together. Karlton had agreed to look at photos if he could say “pass” for the ones that he didn’t care to look at. Given the opportunity to have some control of the situation, he was willing to use his eyes in a way that he has shunned to date. The need for control is probably an important one. His body has been operated on, stuck, prodded, and exposed largely without his consent or at least any real ability to deny permission. This was a way he could have his say.

As the evening wore on, the two friends got silly. They laughed together. And then they laughed again. Big, mirthful belly laughs, mind you. With no reproofs for the laughs making his head hurt. Yes, he is getting better again.

Thank you once again to all of you for your whole-hearted support and encouragement. Special thanks go to Jaimee, Jane, Ryan, Sarah, Tobey & Mary Ellen, the Antwis, and the Sorrentino/Stahls.