Linda

Went to see Linda at the hospital today. I'm actually very encouraged. When we got there she was awake and aware. She's still on the ventilator, so she couldn't speak, but she could answer yes or no questions and flip her brother the bird. :-) She is still very sick, but she is improving. They still don't know if this was caused by Valley Fever, but at this point it's kind of academic. They don't want to keep her on the ventilator going down her throat. If it stays there much longer it can cause a lot of damage to her vocal cords etc. However they think she's going to need to continue on a ventilator for a while yet. So, they need to do a tracheostomy. When my sister Cheryl talked to Linda about the possibility of a trach, Cheryl thought that Linda had shook her head no. I wasn't sure at the time how drugged up Linda was. I wasn't sure that Linda understood that the tracheostomy was temporary and she would be getting off of the ventilator as soon as her lungs were strong enough. I had several conversations with Linda about going on a ventilator, but it was always about the possibility of me going on one permanently (this was when I had pneumonia and wasn't sure if my lungs were strong enough to recover). I needed to make sure that she understood all the ramifications. So I went to see her today. I think she was mentally competent to make the decision, but because she was on medication the hospital needed someone else to sign consent for the tracheostomy. I talked to her about it. She seemed to be okay with the idea, not enthusiastic (who would be), but okay. I told her that as far as I was concerned she was the boss. If she still thought she wanted the tracheostomy, I would sign the consent. Which is what I ended up doing today. Linda has a long way to go yet, but she is getting better. Slowly, but surely.

Thank you everyone for the good wishes.