Have I reached the party to whom I am speaking?

I may have just dated myself, but how many remember everybody's favorite telephone operator, Ernestine?(snort, snort)

Well I had an operator hook me up to a pretty important caller yesterday...you'll never guess who....My mom!

They capped her trach, and she tolerated that very well, so I was allowed to talk to her on the phone! Pretty amazing when you think that less than 2 weeks ago it was not looking too positive. I have only been home 12 days and when I left Mom was still very "out". They had tried several times to wake her from the sedation and she just was not responding...and the few times she responded, her pressure was so bad they had to re-sedate. So although talking does not seem like a big thing..it is pretty HUGE in our books.

She has also been moved from ICU to the Critical care unit of the hospital; 6 weeks in ICU is a serious thing, and we were told that the longer she stayed on a ventilator, the less chance she would have of breathing on her own, but guess what??? she has been breathing on her own for 6 days now so that is a HUGELY positive step too.

Thanks to all of you who sent support by way of your prayers, positive thoughts, phone calls and e-mails. It meant a lot!

They are going to do a swallowing assessment today(not quite sure what that all entails) and see how that goes.

Although I am really not looking forward to going away again, I am anxious to see Mom and all the improvements she has made.