Hello, dear friends and family. This rollercoaster of a week continues on, and so do we.
When Dad and I arrived at the hospital this morning, Mom was up in the chair, this time with a helmet on. (She's generally supposed to wear the helmet when she's not in the bed, particularly if she's alone in the room.) She seemed very tired. Her night nurse mentioned that she'd been pretty awake from midnight to 2am or so, but that most of the night she'd been pretty sleepy. The helmet kept sliding down and sort of covering her eyes, so we asked if she could have it off when we were with her in the room, and the staff agreed. She became more responsive when the helmet was removed, though she still seemed rather fatigued.
The trauma and respiratory therapy folks came in to swap out her trach for a smaller size (the goal is to continue to decrease and wean her off of it altogether). She tolerated that well. At around noon, the nurse noted how tired Mom looked and decided to move her back to her bed so she could rest better. She rested more-or-less peacefully until just before 3:30, when she started looking around more. Right around the same time, the physical therapy duo who came by yesterday arrived. They managed to get her sitting up on the side of the bed (with the helmet on and a fair bit of support), and she was able to respond to some commands to move her left foot and leg, as well as her left arm. They also helped her move her right leg and arm a bit so that she hopefully can keep range of motion there if she's able to regain any connection to that side.
It was encouraging to see Mom do so well in physical therapy, and we also were reassured by both the trauma and neuro teams that it is expected with her level of injury for progress to feel like it ebbs and flows. She's got a lot to heal from, and it make sense that she would be exhausted by it all.
Before I sign off for the day, I wanted to let you all know that our GoFundMe is now live. In addition to being linked in this post, we've linked it in the "Ways to Help" section here on CaringBridge - just click the link in the box that mentions the GoFundMe fundraiser. We so appreciate all of your continued care and support for Mom and all the rest of us. We are feeling that love and we know she is, too.
