Sweet, sweet kisses

Hi dear friends,

Wow, I didn't think my day could get any better than when I received that phone call this morning, but believe it or not, it did! I absolutely couldn't WAIT to get to mom today because I was so keyed up and excited, and quite frankly, I miss her when I'm not there! :) So I hurried to her room today, and when I arrived, she of course looked beautiful as usual. I was ecstatic to know that she had not regressed, and was still answering my questions and everything. We hung out for awhile, and then the speech therapist arrived. She brought with her some bright blue berry-flavored apple sauce, and gave mom a few little bites to see how she handled it, how she swallowed, and if she'd open her mouth. She definitely had a few bites and licked her lips! :) We put the valve cap thing onto her trach, and the therapist tried to get her to say something or at least make some noise with her voice. Of course mom wouldn't perform, and before the therapist left, she asked mom "Am I going to get to hear your voice before I go?" to which mom mouthed "Maybe." Hahahaha....she didn't end up doing it while she was there, but throughout the day, she did try to say words, and made noises, and I got to hear her voice!! Unfortunately I couldn't understand what she was saying, and I think she got frustrated when I asked her to repeat herself. But she made a start!!! Hopefully she'll do more when the speech therapist comes back tomorrow morning!!

Melissa was planning to come down to the hospital and we were going to go out for lunch this afternoon. I was telling mom this, and asked her if that would be okay with her, or whether she would rather I stay with her. Well, she nodded her head that she'd prefer I stay, so Melissa was kind enough to bring lunch to me, and we sat by her bed and ate and chatted. As Melissa was leaving, she told mom that she was glad to have met her, that she and everyone else were thinking about her and sending her love, and then she told mom she had a wonderful daughter. At that, MOM SMILED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was unmistakable, despite the fact that the right side of her face is not quite as strong and so it was a somewhat lopsided smile. But it was DEFINITELY a smile, and I cried. Thank you again, Melissa, for making her smile for the first time. :)

After she left, the nurses decided it was high time we get her up and out of that damn bed, so they brought in a special chair, and we transferred mom over onto the chair! She finally got to sit up and get out of bed!!! I asked the nurse typically how long they usually have them up, and she said generally about an hour, and then perhaps she'd be tired. However, mom LOVED being up, and every so often I'd ask her if she was tired of being in the chair and did she want to get back into bed, and every time she shook her head no. ;) She ended up staying in the chair for FOUR HOURS!!! I sat on the bed snuggled up right next to her left (good) side, and mom would periodically rub/scratch my back, play with my ponytail, and hold my arm. I chatted to her about everything from what was on the TV to gossip from work to family stuff. She raised her eyebrows when I told her Halle Berry and JLo were both pregnant....I have to keep her up on celebrity gossip you know. ;)

In the late afternoon, sweet Sonia A came by for a surprise visit and brought me a great book! When she walked into the room and mom saw the look of pleasant surprise on my face, she was all smiles again! :) I told her she must like visitors, and she nodded yes! So, not to overwhelm her, but if anyone wants to visit, let me know because I think she'd like it! Sonia stayed for a bit and we chatted for awhile, and then the trauma residents came in to downsize her trach again. We had to take off the valve for the rest of the evening so she could acclimate to the new smaller size without any breathing difficulty (she did totally fine), so she was unable to make any more sounds or words.

Right around 7pm, she finally started to become very fatigued being up in the chair, which was completely understandable but unfortunate as Lilly was just on her way in for a visit. By the time Lilly arrived, mom was completely zonked out, and the nurses transferred her back into the bed for a nice nap. I went and grabbed dinner for Lilly and I and we ate in the room and chatted. Now and then mom would wake up a bit, but she was trying hard to rest so Lilly and I mostly just chatted with each other. Toward the end of our visit, she woke again and we tucked her in for the night. I asked her whether she'd be okay for the night, and she nodded. I asked her if she thought she'd be able to get some sleep, and she also nodded yes. Then I bent down to give her a kiss goodnight, and as Lilly is my witness, SHE PUCKERED UP AND KISSED ME BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Just to be sure, I kissed her again, and she did it again!!! Then Lilly bent down to kiss her goodnight, and same thing...a nice pucker. :) :) :) We about peed our pants we were so excited, and as soon as we were out of the room, we jumped up and down and squeeled like girls. We couldn't get over how very cute and sweet and utterly amazing it was, and now I am feeling even more confident she is coming back as HERSELF.

What a red-letter day! I couldn't have asked for a better day EVER. More tomorrow on the time frame for transfer to RIC. I love you all for helping to make this happen...all of you have played a part, so thank you from the bottom of my heart.