Angela had a great day today. Her chest x-ray is looking much better and so is she. She still can't swallow, but she is starting to cough a little. And her respiratory therapist today had a couple of neat tricks. He has a machine called a cough assist that blows air into someone's mouth via a mouthpiece and then sucks it out, encouraging a cough. The hospital has only had the machine a year or so and not everyone is familiar with it or uses it. When he told us about it I was reminded of the Bible verse that says "Before they call I will answer". I was praying for some help for Angela's cough and there it was. Another machine he has does a percussion on her chest to loosen things. She thought it felt a bit like a massage.
She sat up a couple of times and tried to stand with Physical Therapy but wasn't entirely successful. Tomorrow they plan to try a special kind of walker that they said would support her in a way she would feel more secure.
Her voice is coming back. It is weak and a bit squeaky, but I am starting to be able to hear her, and she actually talked to Mike on the phone, a couple of words.
Most of the day today, when she wasn't sleeping, she was using just a plain nasal cannula - at around 5 liters per minute, rather than the high-pressure one she had yesterday or the BiPAP. She was on about 35% oxygen. This is getting into the neighborhood of where she was before the pneumonia and is making everyone very happy.
God has been so good to us and I feel very blessed.
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