At the Hospital

Huntsman Cancer Institute—Salt Lake City, Utah

I am surprised at how few pictures we took during our seven day hospital stay. Fortunately, Grandma took a bunch of pictures with her camera. Unfortunately, I don't have access to them yet. So here are three pictures from our own camera. I'll post more when I get the rest from Carla's mom. You can click on any picture to enlarge it.

I had my surgery on a Friday morning. This picture was taken Sunday afternoon when Carla's mother brought the children out to visit. The nurses preferred I spent time in this chair if I was awake. I had just started eating soft foods that day. You can see the soup, sandwich and jello on the tray. Carla took the children on a tour of the hospital while I ate my lunch. Then the kids went with me on my walk around the fifth floor corridors. This was the first time we were all together since Thursday night. It was a fun visit.

Our family

Tuesday morning I got unhooked from all of my tubes and IV's. Carla took this first picture of me as a free man. She said I had lost my shadow. That's what she called the IV stand that held everything and had to follow me everywhere I went. Abigail gave me the teddy bear on the window sill. She had slept with it for weeks and given it lots of hugs before sending it with me. Thanks, Abby, for the bear hugs. The knit hat on the bear was hand made and donated to the hospital for patients to enjoy. I chose it from a basket full of hats with bright colors and pom poms. Thanks, anonymous donor, for the hat.

There are no strings on me!

Wednesday morning my wife hands me the cell phone and says that my niece has a question for me. Nauni and her husband, John Michael, live in Arizona. When I say hi to Nauni on the phone she wants to know how to get to the hospital from the airport. Surprise! They had flown up for the weekend and wanted to see us at the start of their adventure. And you wonder why I always tell her she's my favorite niece. We took them up to have lunch on the top floor of the hospital. There is glass all around the restaurant with beautiful views of the Salt Lake valley. Thanks, guys, for an awesome visit!

My favorite niece, Nauni and John Michael

We appreciate all who stopped by my room to visit with us. It was great seeing everyone. Thanks for your support. Sorry we didn't think to take more pictures. We'll have to see what's on Grandma's camera.