ICU Update 3 Dec 2007

My Prize Fighter

I'm sitting beside Andrea as I type. She is now wide awake and we are "talking." She is able to point at letters and spell words. I knew I was a bad speller so no shock there. However I have discovered I suck at charades. Andrea was trying to tell me something and held her two fingers together. I said the letter “A”. She looked at me like I was crazy. So I got this little keypad they have in the room so she could point to the letters and spell the word. Her finger just sat on the letter X and I thought she was too weak thinking what word starts with X. Turns out she was telling me they took new X rays today. This was after she spelled out “Someone sent me a new mattress.” Ummm maybe the drugs have not quite worn off. The doctor came in and told me they ordered Andrea a new air mattress. I looked at Andrea and she was smiling.

Andrea is relaxed and smiling at me right now. They were able to decrease the vent settings this morning. Not much but they did lower the pressure. She no longer has restraints on her arms and they are taking the bite tube out as well. The bite tube prevents Andrea from biting the vent tube. She was a bad girl on Tuesday when she decided she was not going to sit in bed with a tube down her throat. After that “event” she got a "rep" in the ICU, but she is winning them back with her smiles now. A lot of the nurses that cared for Andrea this past week have come by and said how well she is doing. She is so amazing. The doctors feel it will be a slower recovery, days not hours. But I'm betting on the little one, in the blue gown, weighing in at 95lbs, from Texas, with an undefeated attitude…Annnnnnnndrea Raaaaaaaavellla!.