Hi friends, I wrote an e'mail on Friday but didn't have this full list, so for those of you who I forgot, my dad started talking on Friday. We also know now that he can see. It was the most wonderful news, miraculous. He is now on a step-down unit, no longer in the ICU. I arrived in Austin last Wednesday. Today was a difficult day, when my mom arrived he had not only his hands a feet restrained but his waist and chest. That had never, ever happened before and my mom spoke at length with the doctor and nurse about the plan for managing agitation. They also knocked him out last night, gave him the maximum dosage of his as needed (prn) medications. I don't know what he was doing, but we were very displeased with how it was managed. He slept the entire day. My mom feels like the medical team is now on the same page as we are, the doctor changed the orders for his as needed sedatives to 1/4th of what they had been. I think it was a busy night and the nurse didn't have time to deal with him. He continues to talk, sometimes he makes no sense or repeats words over and over, other times he seems quite coherent. He has also waved to people. He still is not blinking his eyes so they are taped shut unless he is awake, but my mom has noticed more blinking than before. It is very, very hard to be in Austin. The days drag on and I just think about how much I wish I were at home. But there is not much I can help with at home right now, and I really want to graduate this semester if it is possible. I feel quite disengaged from the world, emotionally flat. But I am so happy that my dad has made the improvements he has. I just wish I could be there to rub his feet and tell him I love him. Soon enough ... Holly