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Around 5:30 pm this afternoon my wife and I brought Derek back to his home. He is quite tired at this time but no doubt happy to be away from the hospital (no reflection on the great staff there!). He had a big day, visiting his friend Simon and dealing with the minutiae which go with hospital discharge. He even managed to walk up one flight of stairs at the hospital and did it again at home. We are all happy to see him back with his family. Airdrie and the kids prepared the house for him and got everything ready so that he'll be comfortable in his recovery.

I'm not sure when Derek will "reappear" on his blog, but since it does not require a lot of physical exertion, I expect that you'll hear from him directly sooner rather than later.

Coming home?

A phone call this morning from Derek has given us another upswing on his way to recovery. He said that he's feeling pretty good and that the withdrawal control program seems to be working. Yesterday evening, he had enough stamina to visit his good friend Simon James in Simons' hospital room five floors below. Simon had to have a heart valve replacement, due to a congenital problem which has plagued him all his life. Simon had his operation on Wednesday and is still pretty groggy, but is coherent and happy to see visitors for short periods. I'm sure that he and Derek have a lot to talk about. Derek intends to visit him again today.

Derek said that the staples used to hold his incision together are going to be removed today. The incision seems to have healed (note to Christa Giles: "knitted") very well. There'll likely always be a scar, but I think that the idea of stapling is to "minimize" its appearance.

It's Derek's choice regarding whether to come home today or stay another day. It all depends on how he feels later on. We'll let you know. You may see Derek on his blog soon.