The Eagle Has Landed

My parents arrived in Phoenix around 5:15pm yesterday, after a very long flight. They were in a very tiny prop plane, so their flying time was around 8 hours. My dad did well and the flight nurse and crew were very nice. The last part of the flight into Phoenix was a little bumpy because of all of the wind and my dad was a little queasy around the time of the landing and right after. A flight nurse said that was normal for spinal cord injury patients. Brian and I met the plane and loaded up my mom and their bags. We took her for dinner while my dad was transported to the hospital.

We got to the hospital around 7pm. My dad was getting settled into his room and quite exhausted. He dinner had just been hooked up and was slowly making its way down his nose. It looked just like a Starbucks vanilla latte hanging in the bag. Probably not as tasty though. We stayed just long enough to meet the night nurses and supervisor and make sure they were getting him a call button that he could actually use. My dad has a roommate, who we didn't talk to, but his wife was very nice and friendly and said how wonderful St. Joseph's is. We left around 8:30 and drove my mom to our house so that we could get Cinderella Pye before taking them both home. I'm hoping my mom got some much needed sleep last night because she was completely exhausted from the events of the past 2 days, if not the past month.

My mom and I will go back to the hospital later today, hopefully not until this afternoon, so that my mom can get settled in. I need to start teaching her how to get there and back by herself! Overall I think they will be happy being back in Phoenix, though there will be some adjustment as they both get used to the new routines here. I'm thinking they will find the hospital people every bit as great as those at Froedtert because it takes a special kind of person to work in a hospital. I should know. I married one.