A much lighter note from Bilbao!

Just as they do everywhere, Dad and Kim have seemed to make a little family of friends in the hospital. He is in a room with 3 beds and different men have come in and out this week. A few days before I came back to Bilbao, there was an older couple Olga and Eduardo. Eduardo has been in and out of the hospital for the past 6 years, has 6 different diseases, and Olga has been taking great care of him. Olga did not speak English but Kim said she was the sweetest woman in the world; they bonded through a lot of hand gestures and pointing. Olga slept in one chair every night as Kim slept in another. They also met Eduardo and Olga’s son, who is an IT director in Bilbao, and honeymooned in Orlando, knowing a little bit of English! The son watched a basketball game on TV with Dad, chatted about the Lakers and kept talking about Magic Johnson. haha Eduardo was taken out of the room while Kim made a run to the hotel. Olga came over to my Dad, pointed at her ring finger and waved goodbye, meaning say goodbye to your wife for me. Unfortunately, they weren’t able to find out what happened to Eduardo or if he is okay. Dad asked Olga and she just pointed down, down, like his health was getting worse.

Antonio is the other man in the room. He loves to sit in a chair and stare out the window all day until his wife comes in the afternoon. After Eduardo, came a younger guy with about 8 lip piercings, camo pants, and an inappropriate screen t-shirt. He was extremely nice, learned English while living in London for a few months and became a HUGE help translating with the doctors and nurses. Apparently he was hospitalized in London before he knew English and completely understood Dad’s situation. He was released this afternoon. The downside to these friendly roommates was the smell. Bathing isn’t a high priority for a lot of Spaniards. Antonio’s bed is by the window and he would get cold if they opened it. At one point, Dad, Kim and I could not go into the room because it smelled so bad. Luckily they cleaned today and one of the men showered!

Walking to and from the waiting areas, Dad’s room, the cafeteria and nurse's station, Kim has become accustomed to the regulars. There is little old man with a plaid shirt and suspenders who has been here most of the week as well. His wife is a few rooms down and he walks around the corridors all day. He has said ‘Hola’, ‘buenas dias’, and been friendly to Kim all week. Today he began telling us bits and pieces about his wife, asking if we liked Bilbao, engaging in random conversations and kept rigging the doors in the waiting room so they wouldn’t slam so hard. Kim also felt triumphant today when a woman she’s seen all week finally broke her cold stare, smiled and said ‘hola’ as she passed down the hall.

Most of the nurses have been really friendly and were completely entertained by my Dad before I got here. We’re not entirely sure why, but Kim said they would giggle and talk amongst themselves as they changed his IV and patted his belly. Dad would say random words to make some form of communication. One afternoon when they were changing his IV, he said ‘whiskey’? They laughed and said, no, no whiskey. The next time they said Rum! and everyone laughed.

For the first time in 7 days, Dad was allowed to drink water. At lunch they gave him tea and chicken broth. Now, he won’t stop talking about how good a pickled tongue sandwich, tomatoes and a set-up would taste! It was 70 degrees in Bilbao today and absolutely beautiful. The 3 of us sat outside on a balcony or in the common/waiting room with fresh air and sunlight. It was a good change for them! As for his health, things are progressing. Like I said, he had liquid food today and will be eased into a normal diet. The doctor predicted 2-3 more days in the hospital and he'd be okay to fly home.