ICU, Day 35

Mom had a ho-hum day... just more practice on the same things. But more progress soon. =)

ICU, Day 34

Mom had a great day. She was moved to a different room yesterday, so she has a view of outside, and more privacy. She's been working today to use her valve more, and she's been eating apple sauce. She also got her NG tube out of her nose, for the first time in two months. Her nose is a little tender, but she's very happy to have it out. There's talk now about moving her to a rehab facility, but nothing definite yet. Keep Mom in your prayers, and throw one in for Mary Ann (her nurse) too. =)

ICU, Day 33

Mom was worn out today. She did a lot of working out this morning, so that exhausted her for the rest of the day. But she's still improving. She's had Mary Ann for a nurse lately, and she's a wonderful nurse. She's been pushing Mom to do things for herself, and to get better in general, and it's working fabulously. She was the first one to start pushing things, to get Mom off the sedation and to start the rehabilitation. =)

ICU, Day 32

Mom had the valve on a lot of the time today, so she was talking a little bit, which was really cool. She also had physical therapy and speech therapy, so she was really worn out. They changed her trache size today so that she won't have to push quite so hard to talk, so she's doing great.

ICU, Day 31

Mom had more physical therapy today, and has been on the oxygen collar all day. She had the valve on for a little while, and made her first sounds today, but it was a foreign feeling having it on. She had to adjust her breathing because the valve is a one way valve, so she can get air in from it, but has to breathe out through her nose or mouth. With more time, she should be able to adjust to it. She also had a speech therapist come in today, and they worked on talking. She was also able to swallow with the valve on, but they didn't try any food or liquid yet. More progress tomorrow. =)

ICU, Day 30

Mom had a great day! She went on the collar at noon, and at 7pm, she's still on it. They'll probably take her off around midnight, then put her back on in the morning so she can rest. They tried putting the valve on so she could talk (the oxygen mask would go over that, so she'd still be getting a slight concentration), but she coughed and it flew across the room, so they're sticking with oxygen for today. She also had more physical therapy, which exhausted her, but she's doing great.

ICU, Day 29

Mom did physical therapy again this morning, and was sitting up some more. She was also on the CPAP setting for quite a few hours, so she's staying strong. There's talk about her getting the valve tomorrow so that she can talk again. Things are looking up. =)