Monday, May 14, 2012

Daddy Oh Update

Rachel, dad and I, just a few weeks before the unexpected surgery.

My dad is getting better and better. He is literally taking baby steps and making a slow, but promising full recovery.

It's funny to sit and talk with him as he generally seems stunned as to how it is that he is in the condition that he is in. It's hard to imagine what it would feel like after having brain surgery and my dad is no exception to the bewilderment. Sometimes his eyes will indicate that he is deeply lost in thought and then he'll calmly say, "I just cannot understand how all of this happened." He knows what happened, but he doesn't recall any memory of the actual fall and he is simply in disbelief that the recovery has become this intense and would take so long. I think he feels like he is back at square one compared to where he was three months after the initial accident.

Thankfully, he is not. His recovery this time is not as extensive as it was right after the accident. He still has no appetite, but he is more coherent and lucid than ever. Walking is more of a challenge this time, but he is able to clothe himself, brush his teeth, read the newspaper and speak clearly, enough to have a decent conversation.

My parents hope and pray to be able to stay in Korea through February 2013 to finish their mission at the temple. They both like it there and feel very loved and needed. Neither of them have lived in Korea since they first left to go to school in the United States, my dad in 1965 and my mom in 1969. Korea is truly their home, though it is a much changed landscape. Visiting them I wondered how they would feel having to adjust to a lifestyle and surroundings of a country they only really know from so many years ago and so different than what they know in the US, but they seem as content as can be. Probably the only really difficult things to adjust to are the rapid pace of Seoul city life and not having a car, which I'm sure they are grateful to do without in such a congested place.

They are troopers and we are pray for all to be well with them. It's just a matter of time, and more time.

2 comments:

Nancey said...

iGood to hear that your dad's improving. So strong-willed. Now I know where you get it from. Have fun over there!

Jennifer Lovell said...

I'm happy to have the good report on your dad. What a blessing that he is recovering so well.

How are YOU doing, by the way?