Hand Gestures

In case you're wondering, I'm planning to update this every night while Rachel's in the ICU, but back off to 1-2 times per week once she's out. I'm planning/hoping to put the brakes on the emotional rollercoaster we're all on...

At the hospital

• Today was a good day. Labs are looking pretty good: Dialysis is doing its thing, bilirubin now under 2, WBC close to normal, etc. (Was it last night's meditation group?)
• Rachel was awake and fairly pain-free for most of the day, and more interactive than she's been for two weeks. Having the breathing tube out of her mouth helped greatly -- no bradycardia, she's more relaxed, we've backed off on her pain meds some, and she smiled quite a bit today. One of the residents who's seen her for 3 weeks now (Dr. Jen, from Infectious Diseases) stopped in to say goodbye, as this was the last day on her rotation. She was so overcome with emotion to see how well Rach is doing that she started crying and left the room for a minute.
  
• The kids came by today. I described the tracheostomy to them before going in; it sounded too gruesome to Conor, who chose to stay in the waiting room. I didn't push him. Rachel was very happy to see Fiona and Emmet.
  
• We're struggling to communicate right now, as Rachel's still a little loopy, can't talk yet, and strapped to the bed to keep her from pulling IV lines out. That leaves us trying to interpret her limited hand gestures and facial expressions. (They have an electronic alphabet tablet, but she can't work it yet.) Last night when Father Tom stopped by she was flapping one hand back and forth; we finally figured out that she was waving "Hello". I instructed her to wave her hand side-to-side to indicate "Hello". She responded with a hand gesture requiring only one finger, whose meaning was unmistakable. So she's gettin' a little feisty.

At home

• The Joneses (friends from our old Evanston dinner club, and now from Lake Geneva) visited this afternoon and later joined us for dinner. The kids all picked up right where they left off in July up north, which was fun.
• This is my weekly shout-out to Evan and to Aunt Kathy; every morning I go to the hospital knowing everything's taken care of on the home front. Thanks, guys.
  

Pat