A very good day

When I arrived at the hospital today, Sigve was sitting up in bed and stated that "I'm feeling great!" He was laughing, and humming to himself and spoke to several people on the phone.

Later the physiotherapist came in with info about the kind of training and exercises that he needs to do. The important thing now is for him to get out of bed and move around as much as possible. And for the days when staying in bed may seem like the only option, there are still exercises that can be done in bed. The physiotherapist will be coming in every day to help him get started, and the nurses will be helping him too, by urging him to get going.

Sigve had already decided that he would go for a walk when I came, so I got the physiotherapist to help him get on his feet just in case he was feeling unsteady. Hangman had to come too, and it takes a bit of untangling to get him ready.

We walked the length of the corridor twice, which didn't make Sigve neither tired nor out of breath. For a while now, he has to wear a face mask when he leaves his room.

Back in bed, it was time for some grooming. While his hair has been falling out, his nails have been growing like weeds and needed trimming, carefully, and not too close, to avoid cuts and hemorrhaging.

Yesterday I posted a picture of the top of his head, with very little hair left, but still looking fairly even. So before he lay down again I snapped this one of the back of his head. A bit more uneven, to say the least :-)

He's not allowed to shave or trim it yet as the smallest cut could cause hemorrhaging that would need a refill of thrombocytes to stop.

So far he's only lost head hair and beard. His eye lashes, eye brows and body hair is still there. This varies from person to person, but the nurse thought it may still come off.

The lower part of his face looks a bit swollen, so I asked about it, and this was due to the mouth and throat soreness.

Blood samples for testing are taken several times a day from Hicky. I learned a little about the test results today. The leukocytes, (dictionary: a colorless cell that circulates in the blood and body fluids and is involved in counteracting foreign substances and disease; a white(blood) cell. There are several types, all ameboid cells with a nucleus, including lymphocytes, granulocytes, monocytes, and macrophages. Hvite blodlegemer) were at 1,6 today, and the thrombocytes (dictionary: Platelets and other factors present in plasma that are concerned in the clotting of blood, preventing hemorrhage. Blodplater.) were at 24. The levels are still very low, but raising.

At dinner time Sigve decided to try some actual food, and they brought him spaghetti and meat sauce. I got a portion too, and quite honestly, I don't know how sick people, who need nourishing food survive on hospital food. The meat sauce was a thick pasty tomato soup-like substance, with a few little pieces of minced meat here and there, and even fewer pieces of onions over some sticky spaghetti. No vegetables at all. It was all carbs, and no proteins, and no fibers. And it had no taste at all. Sigve tried one half spoonful of it. He also tried one spoonful of the dessert, some kind of fruit soup, and even had a second spoonful of that. Well, at least he tried, and he promised to try something tomorrow too.

As I am living on a low/no carb, high protein diet of fresh, unprocessed fish and meat and lots of vegetables, I would probably starve to death in a hospital!

In the afternoon Sigve's temperature rose slightly, and he decided to dose off, so I went for a walk in down town Bergen, and then I spent another couple of hours with him before I called it a night.

Today I am grateful for:

*Sigve's good progress

*Physiotherapists

*A sunny early autumn day