Monday Nov 28 Update

Today will be one long post because we were not by a computer to make an update after the morning visit and update.

This morning we were one of the first people called to have an update from the doctor.  As you know if you have to wait it cuts into visiting time.  The doctor spoke very good English which is good so we heard everything without translation.  Basically he said everything was going well.  She is making good progress and she was off sedation and while in theory it should be out of her system in 10 minutes it realistically takes 5-6 hours.  He told us she was off of the respirator but they are waiting for 24 hours of her off of the respirator before taking out the breathing tube.  They want to make sure she has the strength to breath on her own and be able to cough and do everything we don't even think we are doing while breathing.  She was responding to commands for them. 
We then went to see her and she was "awake" meaning she was aware we were there but she did not open her eyes.  She squeezed her right hand when we asked her questions.  Then she tried to write words on our palm.  We finally figured out that she was spelling "pain" and she pointed to her throat.  We knew what was causing the pain, it was the breathing tube.  They were already giving her pain medication but it was good to know that she was able to have this new form of communication.  We explained the situation that they would take it out as soon as they could but it wouldn't be until tomorrow.  Frustration was felt by all including Margaret.  Before we knew it they came by and said visitation time was over.  Amazing how fast an hour can go.  We walked out of the hospital feeling pretty good.

After seeing sights of old Madrid, eating some lunch, and some time at the "Catedral de la Almudena" we went back to the hospital for the evening visiting hour.  They call you in by patient name and make sure there are only 2 people heading to the ICU.  There are 2 ICU wards with 11 "rooms" each.  Margaret is in room 3 so we were called pretty early.  "Room" is a bed with a partial glass divider open to where the nurses are.  It is pretty open so the nurses can see all of the patients in the ward.  The first surprise we saw when walking into the ward was that she only had an oxygen mask and no breathing tube.  We were not prepared for that.  The next surprise was when she was able to hold a pen and do some writing.  After a little trial and error on how to hold and move the paper plus some deciphering we were able to get what she was trying to say.  "Yes Margaret we have your iPhone" was one answer to what she wrote.  After a couple of minutes she was getting tired.  We spent the next hour or so just talking to her.  Fortunately, they gave us some extra time, maybe because we don't speak Spanish or because we were so elated with how she was responding and the medical staff was happy with Margaret's positive interaction with us.  She was able to move her right leg and arm and it made it look like she was uncomfortable.  She did not move her left leg and and only a slight twitch of her left arm.  We left after an hour and a half visit.

After 5 days of so little to have so much even though it seems like not much otherwise made this a GREAT day. We hope and expect to see continued improvement.  This is around the time of maximum swelling of her brain. It seems that she is making very good progress compared to what we are told to expect. 
It is amazing the number of requests for help that we are getting.  I think we have things covered and will certainly let any of you know if there is anything you can do.  What you are doing now, praying and hoping for Margaret I think is helping.  Trust me we are letting her know during the 2 hours we are able to see her 2 at a time of everyone that is hoping for a speedy recovery.