Patient shown an image of her old lungs

Sorry so slow to post this morning folks! Have had several updates from Joleen about Alison's condition.

The patient didn't get her vent tube out until late morning, which did cause increased irritation in the patient as her parents - hard as they tried – couldn't read her writing on the clipboard. Hard for us to imagine. Your arms are in restraints to the side of your bed ... you're in a prone position so you can't very well see what you're writing ... Dad's holding the clipboard so Alison can try to write, but the clipboard must be moved to accommodate the length of her question and the letters start going on top of one another . . . the Garvins probably wouldn't win any prizes for charades either as they tried guessing what she wanted from her hand gestures. One message they did understand, "I love you," when the patient tried to put her hands together in the shape of a heart. It goes without saying the patient is THRILLED to have her voice to communicate again! The things we take for granted!

The docs showed Alison a picture of her old lungs. "It's no surprise she couldn't breathe," says her mom after viewing the image. Alison had been on oxygen 24/7 for a couple of months prior to the surgery and participating in pulmonary rehab at the local hospital up until being admitted to UIHC, Wednesday.

The patient also got the advisory, "Boot Camp starts soon!" Quite possibly, they'll remove enough IVs (she has many) so she can sit up this afternoon. Before that however, she was ready for a nap after all the exertion of getting the vent tube out and being given an epidural for pain.