Roller coaster going back up, up, up . . .

When I got to the U this morning, Bob was sitting up in a chair and a woman was by his side. I introduced myself, she said she was from OT, and that she and Bob had just walked to the bathroom, got washed up and were now just going over a few things he can do to conserve energy, not wear himself out. I just stood and stared at him. Was this the same person I left last night? WTF?!? He looked at me and said, "I wasn't quite expecting you yet . . . we're not quite done."

I said I can come back; I'd brought some magazines to leave in the sitting areas (we've been finding ancient issues here and there—on 7D, Penny found a mag from 1998 . . . ) I could go do that while they finished up. I ran into Caryl, the nursing care coordinator who told me Bob's care conference is going to be a little earlier than expected, and that she'd come let us know where it would be as soon as she found an available room. I called Penny and Jim, who were on the road, just to let them know, and then went back into Bob's room and took a seat on the window ledge.

The OT said she was just going over some things Bob can do to conserve energy. She asked him if she knew what she meant by that. He looked at her with a blank look at said, "What, do you mean insulation, that kind of thing?" Oh god, he's still confused. The OT and I both paused, looking at him with concern. He looked at both of us, gave a little snort and rolled his eyes. "Yes, I know what you mean." She went over the things Bob can do to keep his energy reserves up to capacity, so he doesn't wear himself out. She then asked him if he had seen any doctors today, if he had any updates on his status. He kind of laughed, said he's seen many doctors already. I asked if he heard anything about the MRI done yesterday. "Yes," he said, looking at his hands in his lap. "It was not good news." My heart dropped and I almost didn't want to ask him to explain, but had to. He took a deep breath. "They told me my brain was completely normal. Can you believe that? Normal. All this time, I thought it was exceptional. . ."

Care conference is to converge in about 1/2 hour. Gotta go over our notes. More later.