Blue skies

Hi dear friends,

I am so pleased to report that another terrific day was had by our dear sweet Bev!! This time, I'll get right to the point as I really need to get to bed. When I walked into mom's room today, something was obviously missing and I couldn't immediately figure out what it was. Then I realized the entire ventilator machine was GONE!!! She is completely breathing on her own without the aid of CPAP or anything - all she has is a little humidity connected her trach to keep it from getting too dry. I absolutely could not believe it - sometimes it can take weeks for someone to be weaned off the vent, and yet she seems to be moving like a speeding bullet! No weaning for her! :) When I walked over to her bed and said hi and touched her hand, she grabbed my hand and made eye contact!!! It was completely obvious that she knew I was there! She was touching her thumb to each of her fingers, and she reaches up to her chest and lightly feels around...it seems like she is trying to figure out what the heck is all over her and attached to her. I absolutely broke down and bawled like a baby I was so happy, and told her over and over how proud I was of her. One of the nurses who has taken care of her before came into the room and she was just about as excited as I was about her progress, and took the time and care to tell me exactly how much she was opening her eyes and moving her hand and fingers. I am going to miss these nurses so much when mom gets moved somewhere else.

Had some lunch with some good friends (yay for getting to see Hope!! I've missed her so much!) and sat outside on this beautiful fall day. Sam and Kim got to see mom, and I got some great homemade goodies from Sam, Hope brought me an awesome goodie bag, and Kim got me lunch! :) So cute! Then Pam and Jillian came by, we visited some more with mom and talked to her quite a bit this evening. When we came back, she had her brand new helmet on! It's black, very chic, just like her. Now I'm trying to decide exactly what to decorate it with...I was thinking crown jewels because she is after all the Queen, Lilly (who was able to stop by briefly again this evening on her dinner break and was so excited about her progress she was crying through programming cues when she got back to work!) suggested flames and Hell's Angels decorations, and Aunt Linda for sure thinks we should put her signature "Damnit" on the front! Perhaps a combination! :) Later, Shelley came by and picked us up and we picked up some wine and went to dinner, where Kristy and Kari met us too. So nice!

We headed back to the hospital to say goodnight to mom and only planned to stay 15 minutes or so. But her trauma doctor was there once again attempting to place another arterial line in her right wrist (as you may recall, this is the arm she hasn't moved at all), and so I held her hand while she grimaced and was clearly not enjoying the pokes. :( They were finally able to get it in...I guess she just has really tiny arteries...but it may not last too long because once again it is very positional. As the doctor was suturing it in place, the needle was pretty big she was using and mom actually distinctly tried to pull away with her right shoulder!!!! She had not done that at all prior to this!!! Even her doctor was excited about this! Then when her nurse was removing her femoral line, she was moving her right leg!!! There is hope yet for that side!!!

I just can't even begin to tell you all how proud I am of her and how absolutely stunned I am by her amazing progress. It seems like she is doing something new by the hour...she's moving so fast, I feel like I have to try to catch up because I hadn't been expecting such speed! There is no doubt she is a fighter, and every moment she is devising ways to get better faster. Patience with these types of things wasn't always her strongest trait (she absolutely HATES being a patient), and clearly she is impatient to get back to her life! :) Please keep loving and praying everyone...it is quite obvious all your hard work is paying off. I can't thank you enough. Love to all.