Thurs 10/8 update

[Joe Haldeman]

Thurs 10/8  Went in to see Joe for a few minutes and found him  
asleep.  Temp 99, respirator turned down a bit, food intake up a bit,  
all good.  He heard niece Lorena talking, turned to look at her and  
smiled.  Smiled at me and squeezed my hand.  We explained, again, that  
he couldn't raise his hands because he had a gastric tube down his  
throat and a trach tube and they didn't want him to touch them.  He  
mouthed "Oh, shit."  Smiled after that.  Next week they plan to move  
him to an acute care rehab facility, a step down from the ICU, not too  
far, with an emphasis on rehab.  I have to decide which of three would  
be best.  I'll go visit each over the weekend.

After three hours with Joe and nurses and social workers, Tim, Lore,  
Rusty & I went to the Cincinnati Zoo.  Of course it poured down rain  
the whole time.  We bought ponchos and had the zoo to ourselves.   
Enjoyed giraffes, elephants, bears, tigers, lynxes, rhinos.  Ate ice  
cream afterward.