Saturday Morning Update: Andy Tarter on the mend

Andrew Tarter, age 27, resident of Rehoboth MA, USA is now well on his way to having logged the most time in a hospital bed of anyone in his immediate family. This is day 8 in the hospital and he probably won't be out of there till late on Monday, November 30 at the earliest.
He was transferred out of the ICU and into the Co-Op building on the other side of the hospital.  His room is smaller and visiting hours are from 1 PM to 8 PM.  If you want to see him, that would be fine.  Please keep visits short because he is still on the mend and gets very tired very quickly.  Thanks!

When he wakes up from sleep he gets very disoriented.  He doesn't know where he is, and probably gets a little freaked out.  The nurse is there to help him stay calm and not try to make a break for it.  His arm is on the mend, his shoulder will heal fine, the bruises in his upper body will subside, and I am confident he will regain his short-term memory.  You see, he doesn't capture the things that are going on in his long-term memory, so right now it's clear that he doesn't remember what happened just a couple hours previously.  I also feel bad asking too.  If someone asks him "what did you have for breakfast" he'll look, and in a split second I can tell he doesn't really remember, and he glances around in confusion.  After that split second of confusion, he makes something up.  I bet he's trying to be normal, and act cool because it must be horrible to know that you should remember something but you just don't.

Like I said, I'm confident he will recover his short-term memory but it will take a little time and patience from us all.  The pain medication and anesthesia probably doesn't help matters either.  Please pray that God would fully heal him.

Andy in the yard, Summer 2009