leenie g

10:15 a.m. Today Andy had the first of his weekly family visits with the head nurse, nutritionist, case worker, physical therapist, and respiratory therapist. Eileen is progressing. Progress will be slow. It is too soon to know just how long rehabilitation will take. It is a very difficult situation that Eileen has found herself in. She feels the drugs have caused her immobility, but the fact that she has been down for 50 days is hard on a body. For every day that you are down you lose a week (or some such formula). ?? We need to be as positive as we can with her. She is taken off the respirator each day now for periods of time. Yesterday it was eight hours. Weaning is a slow process. The good news is that her heart rate is good. Her trach will be replaced with a smaller trach. She is learning to swallow. She also has a speech therapist working with her. She is able to whisper. Andy was told he is to stand to her left and make her talk