March 31, Midnight update

Quick update.

Linda has improved enough to make the move yesterday from the ICU at LDS Hospital up the road a few blocks to the Salt Lake Regional Medical Center (the old Holy Cross Hospital). She's now on the second floor in an acute care facility called Promise where she will remain for the next several weeks as she continues to heal and gain back her strength.

Before she left the ICU early Tuesday evening, she had what they are hoping to be her last dialysis treatment. Her kidneys have improved to the point where her doctors are feeling confident enough to suspend those treatments for now and remove the shunt in her chest. They also replaced her existing trach tube with a smaller one that will allow her to begin speech therapy. All this was done prior to loading her up in an ambulance and transporting her to Promise.

She's now had most of the IVs removed from her arms and is continuing to breath on her own for most of the day. This takes an incredible amount of effort on her part so the respiratory therapist is attaching the ventilator at night to help her rest.

With the feeding tube and ventilator repositioned from her nose and mouth, the sores on her nose and lips have almost completely healed. She looks beautiful!

She's becoming more and more aware of her surroundings and physical condition and is able to consistently answer questions posed to her by nodding and shaking her head. She's also begun to mouth letters and words within the last couple of days. She's remembering words and phrases during her sessions with her therapists, even when they try to trick her.

Linda's cute personality is slowly beginning to shine through the haze and if you're lucky enough to be on the receiving end of one of her smiles...it's as if you've been given a priceless gift. She was even able to roll her eyes at me after one of my stupid remarks and direct a special Allen family "gesture of love" to our brother Steve. :-)

Our sister Patti was able to make the trip from North Carolina to Salt Lake yesterday and was greeted with a big smile and a tight squeeze of the hand from Linda. We're glad she's here with us for a few days.

Linda's working hard and doing the things she's being asked to do. She's a fighter and we know that she's being blessed because of your love and support. Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers...we know it's making a positive difference. Thank you.