Hospital Day 2

The MRI showed nothing in her brain. The brain is free of any lesions. Janette does not have cancer in her brain. The neurologist speculated that she could have a form of cancer in her brain fluid or spinal fluid. The oncologist on-call from our cancer center had no theory and no cancer prognosis. She, the oncologist, didn't have much to say to us at all. She was nice, but insubstantial feeling. It's Sunday; tomorrow our normal oncologist may be back in circulation.

But really, the only way to get more data is to do more invasive testing, like a spinal tap. We're not going to do that. I doubt Janette wants any more cancer treatment, anyway, unless is palliative for pain management.

She's in no pain right now. This evening she had a milder headache.

Yes, she is alert now, as alert as anyone is after a major health ordeal. She is on a ventilator and only mildly sedated. I think what they give her is not really a sedative, but something relaxing so she won't choke on and fight the ventilator tube. Gagging on it without help is a good sign. So is taking breaths on her own, which she does occasionally. She's aware when she's not sleeping. She spent a couple of hours on and off trying to mouth something to me. She knew I wasn't understanding her and knew enough to continue to exaggerate her lip movements until finally I saw "go home."

"You want me to go home?"

She shakes her head no and tries to point at herself.

"You want to go home?"

Yes, she nods her head.

"You can't go home yet. You're on a ventilator because you had trouble breathing during your seizure crisis. Once on a ventilator, the body stops trying to breath on its own. You need one to two days to be weaned off of it and then you can go home. You have to learn to breathe on your own first."

She relaxes, nods her head to shows she understands, closes her eyes and allows herself to go back into a doze.

We can't usually read her lips. Mostly she obviously wants to tell us something and then nods or shakes her head to questions. This must be very frustrating to her because we have to guess from infinite possibilities. She's told me she's not uncomfortable and not in pain. She spent a long time on and off trying to tell us the ventilator tube hurt her lip. They moved it to the other side right before we figured that out.

She's receiving wonderful care from the CCU nurse who's been on during the day this weekend. They work 12 hour days, 3 days a week. Tuesday, a new nurse will be on duty. A respiratory technician comes by regularly to take readings and check on her and the ventilator. We've also been pleased with their care.

Tomorrow they will begin weaning Janette off the ventilator. This is important. She needs to get off the ventilator soon. So, if you want to pray for something, you can pray for if it's in her best interest, Janette is able to breathe completely on her own.

Janette is on medication for seizures. She will need to stay on that medication after the hospital.

I think that's everything. Oh, if you're thinking about flowers, she can't have flowers or plants in the CCU rooms.