Recovery

My friend John had an aneurysm seven weeks ago. I visited him a week after the disaster and I went away with a terrible feeling, that I'd seen the last of him as a thinking, active person in any real sense. This was my third visit, and I'm very happy about John's recovery.

John is in a rehab facility downtown. I decided to stop in on the spur of the moment, without announcing myself. Thus I knew that when I greeted him and asked "What's my name?" he either knew the answer, or did not.

"Robert!" John said my name clearly and with enthusiasm. Later I showed him the book I'm reading and asked if he'd read it too. He said that he had not read it but he'd read articles about the author Stieg Larsson, and it's a shame he died so soon.

All this means that my old buddy is out of the woods and back to town, participating in conversations in real time. His aphasia (making correct sentences with some wrong words replacing the right ones) has been disappearing but still occurs occasionally. Reading tires him out quickly. He makes use of his telephone.

What a relief!