Yesterday my dad got his skull piece back! A few hours, some titanium, and a skilled doctor and his skull is all one piece again! We sat in a different waiting room, with a lot more people. We weren't considered ICU this time! The doctor kept telling my mom that he stayed remarkably stable through surgery. When I went to see him this morning my mom told me that the doctor who saw him shortly after surgery had come by to see him. He wasn't required to, he was "just curious." I will let my mom tell it, "A doctor who saw him after the stroke came in to see him this morning. He was "just curious." I asked what do you mean curious? Well I remember your family and how bad the stroke was and I was afraid when you and the kids realized he would never be the same it would be very difficult for you all to handle but then Dr. B told me he was doing Vaughn's cranioplasty and that I would be surprised, so here I am. So he asked Vaughn a lot of questions and asked him to move his legs, move his arms, wiggle his toes and then some more questions. All of Vaughn's answers were appropriate. He shook his head, sighed and said, "I would have never expected him to do this well....and its only 2 months post event....wow...I wonder how it is he's done so well?" I smiled and before I could say anything Vaughn said, "God's got a plan for me." 
Before my dad could leave the hospital today he had to be cleared by the doctor and different therapists. When the physical therapist came in she asked if he needed assistance to walk, I told her no, she said are you sure, does somebody walk with him when he walks, I told her no. She said she had read over his file and again asked if I was around him much and if he could really walk on his own. They got him up and did some balance tests and then they took him for a walk. Now let me back track a minute. When he left Mayo on December 8th to head to Brooks, he could barely stand on his own. 50 days ago. He was in room 510 last time, this time he was in room 514. We saw many of the same nurses he had right after all this happened. It was quite a sight to see how encouraged they were by seeing my dad, remembering where he was and remembering our family and they all just stood in amazement when they saw him walking around the hall. I'm sorry this picture is a bit blurry....it was due to a combination of trying to keep up with him- he was ready to be walking so he could be home - and just the joy and the overwhelming magnitude of realizing that 50 days ago, the last time we walked down these halls, he wasn't walking with us.
From an inside, outsider (I've been there with my mom and dad every step of the way but yet I haven't been the one to recover from a stroke)....it is pretty neat to see how God isn't wasting this pain my mom and my dad and my family have had to endure. Seeing how these doctors and nurses have responded to my dad is like God showing us all how he is using this, this stroke, for His glory.
Oh, and I almost forgot - check out what we were able to get on video today - his fingers are working! They say the hand is the last thing to come back after a stroke because of how much brain is used in moving the hand....so this is like the toe video of him barely moving the toes, but then eventually walking....so here is him moving those fingers!
"God's got a plan." I love my dad so much.
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