This was by far the longest, most comprehensive, most encouraging
and the most rewarding visit I had with Jeff this year!

Sue and I, after consultation with Byron (about Jeff's lunch and
nurse-care schedule) made it to his room around 1:30 pm when Jeff
has just finished his lunch.  Both Byron and Jeff's uncle Jim
were there, and Jeff was wide awake and in good spirits.

Right about that time, a nurse came in, so all of us stepped out to
the waiting area and it turned out to be only a very quick check up
by the nurse because in less than a minute Byron told me the nurse
was gone and that I could go in, while they stayed outside and
chatted with Sue.

Jeff and I talked for almost 45 MINUTES, with Jeff doing most of
the talking!!  :-)

I learned quite a bit about Jeff's condition from him first-hand,
including the confirmation that he WILL NOT need a liver transplant!
That would have been a major hurdle in his route to recovery had a
transplant be required.  In fact, Jeff said ALL of the readings on
his liver are now NORMAL, with the exception of one thing (whose
name escaped me, but apparently is not a major factor in his liver's
capacity to sustain vital functions).

Previously the doctors had given up hope on him when he failed to
respond to the strongest antibiotic available -- and I thought that
had something to do with Jeff's liver.  But Jeff said the antibiotic
was for his chest infection, and HE knew why he was moved out of the
ICU because the doctors could do no more for him!

That was when his miraculous recovery began!

His broken hip was repaired in surgery on Sunday, and he does not
seem to have any noticeable effect from it.  What was noticeable was
a cut on his forehead and one black eye -- which he said he got
AFTER he broke his hip, and when the doctors and nurses were working
on him, he banged his head somewhere.  :-)

He told me many other personal and private matters, unrelated to his
present health condition, that will remain private.

On the NEDfest front, on my last visit I mentioned Viv saying something
about giving him a wet kiss at the NEDfest, and from his response
I realized he knew nothing about the Choo-Choo-NEDfest, now named
the CHA02NEDfest, the weekend BEFORE the CAIV02NEDfest. So, I briefed
him on how THAT came about, and that Viv is expecting to see him at
the CHA02NEDfest, not the Cayman one.

I told him about my post about the history of the 10,000 posts in
Scuba-SE, beginning with 160 posts from 1998 to May 2000, and now
well exceeding 10,000.  Jeff gave a knowing smile to know that his
contribution and work on Scuba-SE was well received and appreciated.

Jeff says his fingers are not quite ready to type yet, but he is
already talking about soon he'll be able to hook up to a computer
and send a post to Scuba-SE himself!

I think this ad lib report should give you an idea about Jeff's
dramatic progress in his recovery and his current shape.  After
about 40 minutes of the conversation between just the two of us,
Byron, Jim, and Sue returned, and we left shortly thereafter.

As we were pulling out of the parking lot, I was somewhat surprised
to see Byron and Jim walking to their car too.  It was then that I
realized that Jeff was in such a good shape (he could readily
summon a nurse if needed) that they are leaving Jeff unattended,
for the first time that I am aware!   Now THAT is still another
good sign.  Nope, Jeff was NOT unattended when he broke his hip. :-)
His mother Carolyn was there.  He just slipped and fell.

-- Bob.