Post-Op Day 7: Dianne writing on Dan's site

Yesterday afternoon, Dan definitely felt stronger. Dan, his mom and dad decided to enjoy the beautiful afternoon here and stroll on down to the Praça Imperial near Dad's hotel. His dad had scouted the area for the most wheelchair accessible sites, and still we found the journey challenging. There are almost no curb cutouts, so we had to lift the chair over curbs or dare the Lisboetas who drive the avenues like it's the Indy 500. Dan endured the bumpy cobblestone sidewalks without pain to his neck and enjoyed seeing some of the statues and buildings that he hadn't had a chance to see since we arrived.

Later, we sat in a café near the park and enjoyed a couple of glasses of cerveja, which is really quite good. As it became time for dinner (7:30 pm), we decided the restaurant there was as easy as any to get a wheelchair into. Dan enjoyed his costeletas de porc as a nice change from fish. By the time we had wheeled him back up the hill to the hospital, we had all had enough of an outing. Dan was doing fine, but his dad had definitely had a workout.
Today, Dan feels good, except for a little low blood pressure upon getting up. Dad says the backs of his legs ache from pushing the chair uphill. Dr. Lima stopped and checked Dan's sense of smell. Dan doesn't think he lost any smell or taste (as they only harvested material from one side of his nose), so one less side-effect to deal with. Dr. Lima also checked his legs, and thinks that the feeling is coming back slowly. We exchanged addresses, phone numbers and e-mail, and Dr. Lima said he will see Dan in Detroit when he comes to visit. He will continue to follow Dan's progress in a long-term study. He gave us the discharge papers for Saturday.
We will actually leave the hospital Sunday morning around 3:30am to be ready for our 6:00 a.m. flight back home. Matt and his family do not fly out until Thursday next week. They were not able to get an earlier flight reasonably, so have decided they will see as much of Lisbon as they can while they're here. We said our good-byes to Dr. Lima, as he hopes to have the day off Saturday and Sunday.
This afternoon, Dan and his dad are outside sitting in the sunshine. It is cool enough today for a light jacket, but we certainly cannot complain about the weather we have had so far. We look forward to seeing you when we get back to Michigan. The libraery is closed on the weekend, so this will be the last posting from Dianne until we return home.
Love to all Dan's family and friends.