She speaks!

Mom's first words were not to me, but to the doctor.  I happened to run into him when I left the room to give Mom time to rest.  We ran into each other on the second floor.  He told me he was going to go see my mom right then.  I told him about the breathing tube and he asked if she had spoken yet.  The nurse told Mom and I that I couldn't ask any questions that required more than a "yes" or "no" nod of the head.  She told Mom not to try to talk until tomorrow.  I did remind him that the nurse probably wouldn't make him follow the rules - he was the doctor after all....

He was waiting to get on the doctor elevators.  I decided it would be awkward to ride in the doctor elevators, so I told him I would meet him in Mom's room and raced up the stairs.  I beat him.  

He said hello to Mom and then asked her 3 questions:

What is your name?

What year is it? (Tricky - it is just now February.)

Do you remember where you are?

Mom answered, "Debbie", "2009", and "Baylor."  

Somehow these words were not the ones I thought Mom would whisper after exactly 14 days of silence.  The words were said in whispers that were so quiet they had both the doctor and me leaning over her bed.  Both of us were about a foot from her head and straining to hear.  I think maybe when she chooses to speak she will have some deep philosophical words for us.  Until then, I was happy with these words.  

When I first went to see Mom, the nurse had sedated her.  Mom was very irritated with her breathing tube.  The nurse had given her morphine, but it hadn't helped.  Sedation did help because Mom could just sleep.  I held her hand for awhile and then went to find a place to sit and wait.  I had some work to do, so I did it.  The nurse had promised she would call if she saw a doctor.  I still checked on Mom several times, though.  

I had a friend visit (Susan Walden) and we talked for awhile.  She took me to lunch, too.  The doctor called while we were eating (of course) and I rushed up to Mom's floor.  He told me the breathing tube would come out - right then.  I waited in the hall.  After the breathing tube, Mom got to eat ice chips.  The nurse wouldn't let her have too many at first, but after about an hour the nurse turned the ice cup over to me and Mom ate the whole thing.  We had a system.  If she wanted more ice - she had to squeeze my hand.  She squeezed my hand often.  It was a good day! 

Mom didn't want me to leave.  When I stepped out for just a minute to call Dad and run an errand I told Mom to sleep.  That is when I ran into the doctor and rushed back to her room.  She is doing so well!  

Mom's ICP levels were normal today.  Every time she coughed the alarms went off because her ICP levels would shoot into the 30s.  The nurse assured me this was normal and it was fine as long as her pressure went back down.  If the pressure stayed up for more than 15 minutes - I needed to get someone.  Thankfully that didn't happen.  

Remember - yesterday we turned off Mom's drain from her brain?  Her ICP levels had been great, so the doctor turned the drain off.  Brain fluid still wanted to drain, so instead of going out of her head via a tube, the fluid collected between her skull (on the outside) and her skin.  To fix this mostly "cosmetic problem" (Doctor's words - not mine), Mom's head was bandaged again in hopes that her skin would again stick to her skull.  The shunt will stay in until this problem can be fixed.  The tube was opened again to allow draining.  

All of this is great news!  Mom is getting better!  Thank you for all of your support and please continue to pray for my family!