April 12, 1:00p update

It's now been five weeks since Linda was admitted to the hospital. Since my last update one week ago (my apologies for the length of time that has passed), she's made some amazing strides in her recovery.

Over the last four or five days, Linda's been breathing completely on her own, without any assistance from the ventilator. All of her IVs have been removed, leaving only her abdominal feeding tube. Her trach tube is still in place, but she's been working hard each day to strengthen the muscles needed to swallow and cough. This, along with her ability to breath on her own, has her therapists hopeful that she will be able to have the trach tube removed sometime in the upcoming week.

She works daily with her speech, occupational and physical therapists. They exercise pretty much every part of her body, including her mind, while using all kinds of different activities; sitting in her chair, standing, taking a shower, etc. The occupational therapist, Rob, was just here and had her sitting in her chair and using a 3/4-full water bottle as a dumbbell. She was able to do several sets (20 reps each) with both arms, transferring the bottle from one hand to the other between sets. She exercised her arms, lungs and heart using a table-top rowing machine for two sets of two minutes each. She was also able to hold a cup of ice chips with one hand and feed herself with the other. Amazing. From the look on her face, ice chips never tasted so good. :-)

Linda tries to do everything she's asked to do, no matter how difficult or painful it must be to her. And she does it most of the time with a smile on her face. It's incredible to see the progress she's making.

Pink toenails alert! Brooke's custom pedicure service paid her a visit last Thursday and gave her a complete makeover. She's now sporting a cute new shade of pink on her toes. :-)

Linda's abdominal incision remains healthy and continues to heal as expected. The sores/wounds on her bottom however are significant and are causing her pain and discomfort. Her doctors/nurses are monitoring them closely and doing what they can to accelerate the healing process.

Over the next couple of weeks she will continue to work on regaining her strength during her stay here at Promise. Once she's strong enough, she will then be transfered to a facility (most likely Intermountain Medical Center on 53rd and I-15) where she can undergo intensive physical rehabilitation for a couple of weeks before returning home. It will continue to be a long and steady process.

Considering all of this, Linda remains strong and determined in her recovery. She's very aware of her surroundings and her fun personality continues to shine through. She even enjoyed being able to listen to a little Josh Groban on my iPod this morning. Her family appreciates the incredible amount of love and support Linda's received over the last five weeks. Thank you.