Bedside buzz

Sorry the update is late. We've just shaved my mom's head. Yes, read that sentence again. We've just shaved my mom's head. Turns out she can really rock the GI Jane. Last night Josephine (another fantastic nurse) let us in on a little secret - if we HAVE to put in a tracheostomy we won't be able to cut her hair. I mean, the half mane was nice and all, but we decided that perhaps she might enjoy a nice clean start. The whole thing was quite the team effort, the respiratory nurse Ray (who shaves his head, so naturally I had to have him involved) and Lauren (the ICU nurse) helped to turn her head and make sure she was comfortable. Don Marshall actually did the buzzing after Sally and I did some trimming with the scissors. Watching my husband help my mom with such care and compassion was one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen. He is someone my mom considers to be like a son and today I saw him truly love her like a mother. It's something I will never forget. It wasn't easy. Not for a minute. We all know how my mom feels about her hair, but it was heartbreaking and heartwarming at the same time.

In other news, she opened her eyes yesterday. It was a few seconds, but we saw her and hopefully she saw us. I know she heard us because we all screamed. You can see her squeeze her eyelids from time to time and every once in a while if we're lucky we get another tiny peak. You can tell she's working on it. Who knows what else she might have in store for us. She also continues to play possum, meaning she doesn't really like to do tricks for anyone but us. I know it's hard to believe, Pam not doing what she's told. Apparently she also moved her left leg on command last night which is HUGE considering the left has been fairly unresponsive. Breathing on her own. Still intubated. Ray (the head shaven respiratory nurse) seems to disagree about the gag reflex. He thinks it's there. I told him to "go have some words" with the doctors. Not sure if he'll go that far, but said he would talk to them about it. Right now, she's getting her spa treatment - some of us might call it a bath.

I'm sitting in the lobby under an enormous sky light, my Aunt Dee is reading the paper. Each of us is trying to figure out who (if anyone) should take the night shift now that Rick has had to go back home.

I continue to remain hopeful and vigilant. I can't believe how happy I am to just sit and stare at her. Just hoping pretty soon she'll stare back at me. That's what I've got for now.