Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Rock and Roll

The doctors are going to keep Cathy on the trach collar for 15 to 16 hours today. They had her put on it around 5:30 this morning, so she has one or two more hours to go. Cathy's feeding tube was also changed. What makes this event so notable is that this occurred during the earthquake that struck this area this afternoon.

Cathy passed the speech therapist's test (she said the alphabet) so she was able to wear the talking valve for a few hours today. She will be able to wear this valve for only a few hours each day. There are warning notices for the nurses posted throughout Cathy's ICU room - "Valve must be removed when patient is sleeping"; "Suction patient before installing valve and deflating trach cuff"; "Suction patient before removing valve"; and a few more.

One more milestone to note: Cathy has only one IV medication remaining that is still being given to her (this is an anti fungal medication). This is a huge difference from four weeks ago.

Cathy says "God bless another day. Thank you, everyone, for your thoughts and prayers."

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Cathy I am so happy for you as you reach each milestone.

Rock and Roll...is here to stay !!

I love you ...

Melody said...

We were wondering about the quake! Glad to hear it only made a special moment even more memorable! To have communication back must be great Cathy! Way to go!

Ted & Melody