{Karlton Bontrager}

The proverbial “calm before the storm” overlooks the fact that sometimes calm follows a storm. Monday was that kind of calm. Outside the window, rain poured down. But inside Karlton’s room, all was much better.

Dozing in the chair next to his bed, I woke up to Karlton’s telling me that he wanted to get up, put his shoes on, and run away from this pain. I reminded him that he needed three people to help him walk, so we weren’t likely to run, but he was not dissuaded. I could see the breakfast cart parked just outside his door, so I decided to get him up and into a chair. Choy-Lang arrived then, so together he got his shoes on him and stood Karlton up. We got him to take a few steps forward. Then we had him turn. Next, he had him step backwards to approach the chair. “You’re taking me the wrong way!” he complained. How badly he wants to leave.

He ate a good breakfast. And he went for a shower. Clippings from yesterday’s haircut had peppered the pillows and sheets he had lain on. It was good to make a clean start.

Friends dropped by in the early afternoon, including a flat mate from Queenstown. Karlton was awake and alert, making cogent conversation with them. The Queenstown contingent has been helping us settle Karlton’s affairs there, closing his flat and retrieving his clothing and snowboarding equipment from the police and the hospital there.

The collection bag and the connecting tubing from the shunt remained empty all day. Nevertheless, the infamous bubble on the side of Karlton’s head has not reappeared. My take on this is that the CSF leak has repaired itself. No longer does it escape into the area outside Karlton’s skull. The medical staff’s efforts to flush the tubing and then withdraw CSF were playing with the pressure in that area. I’m guessing that the new pain that he experienced around his ear was the result of negative pressure, that is, the vacuum created by trying to withdraw CSF. No one has given us an official version or confirmed that explanation, but the neurosurgeon did order the shunt removed. Lying on his stomach, Karlton asked the nurse to be gentle and take it out quickly. But the shunt was already out. He hadn’t even felt its removal. Now he is able to lie comfortably on his back again.