Friday, March 31st

Hi Everybody!
Thanks to everyone for leaving us such heart warming comments. :o) I really appreciate your prayers and concern. So I'm home for the weekend as my university is only 2 hours away. As you can imagine, I was really excited to finally get to see my mom off of the ventilator. I was at the university the last time they took her off and so haven't had a chance to talk to her, in person, since right before she went into surgery. It was really great to see her sitting up in bed. She has a real hard time not talking too much. Doctors have said that even though she can now talk she doesn't need to strain her vocal chords too much nor use up her energy chatting it up. So, we're trying to make her continue to use facial expressions and hand gestures to communicate but it's going to take a while before she completely complies with our requests. Parts of my mom's personality are surfacing: she has the nurses warm up the water and orange juice for her as it soothes her throat. She had Dad, Pratap kaka and me rub her head for her. She is working on her breathing and lung strength by using the little breathing toys they have given her. Her doctors have decided to feed her through a tube so as to give her pancreas and liver a rest. She's still a little jaundiced but hopefully it will clear up in time. They have given her a heart shaped pillow which she hugs very tightly when she coughs as it hurts her stitches.
I got her to quietly listen to my stories of stuff happening at school. I've managed to copy my fathers trait in making good friends; I have some of the awesomest friends one could imagine. After talking to mom on the phone yesterday evening, I was able to relax with my closest friends ever over some thai food and tiramisu. So don't worry about me, I'm taking care of myself. :o)
I'm looking forward to spending the next two days with her. Hopefully, with God's grace, progress will continue in this same direction. Thanks again (I think I might say this with every entry on this blog) for all your prayers and keep up the good work! :o)
lots of love,
shaylee

Hi Everyone!
I have more progress to report today. They did some breathing excersices with my mom this morning and were able to take her off of the respirator around 4:00 pm. So far she has been able to have a little clear liquids. She's still in good spirits and is staying calm. Sheila aunty called me after she visited her and told me that Mom was staying calm and letting her body rest. I was able to speak to her very very briefly on the phone: I did most of the talking and mom just listened. So with god's grace I've been able to let you know of some more positive progress. Let's keep praying and hope that mom's recovery continues to move in the right direction. Thanks for all your support.

lots of love,
shaylee

Wednesday, March 29th

Today has been a good day for Mom. She was able to rest on her own. She is usually very hyper and can get anxious at times but the nurses were able to calm her down. I just got off of the phone with the nurse and she said that Mom breathed on her own for a significant time today. They are letting her rest through the night and still have her hooked up to the respirator. They will try to let her breath on her own again tomorrow. Her blood tests didn't show an infection in the blood so that's a good sign. Her pancreas is doing a little better her kidneys are a little worse. They will look at the blood test numbers again tomorrow and the doctors/nurses will see what they need to do. All in all today has been a good, restful day for mom. They didn't sedate her too much today so she was able to interact a little while Dad and Pratap kaka when they visited.
She's been asking for ice but its not good for her. The nurses explain to her the reason why they cannot give her ice and ask her to be patient and she understands. She nods her head and resumes resting. She's not fighting it and is letting her body rest. It's relatively good days such as this one that we all need to remember and optimistically look forward to when things get a bit rocky. I know everyone keeping my Mum in their prayers/thoughts. So keep up the good work! :o)

lots of love,
shaylee

Tuesday, March 28th

I got to see Mummy 4 times today as I am home for the day. She is still on the respirator and will be on it for a few days. According to her lung doctor, her lungs look alright. I just got back from the 8:30 visitation half-hour and she looks like she is sleeping and resting right now. Mummy just needs to rest and let her body heal. Doctors are concerned about her liver and her pancreas and they did a few tests and are coming up with a plan. Mom has some jaundice and her pancreas is swollen. The nature of these two things is that it will resolve itself in due time. They are giving her gut rest by not giving her food and switched out a drug that might have been the cause for the swelling of the pancreas. She is sedated and rested most of the day. She is still able to hear us when we come into the room and was able to acknowledge us by opening her eyes a few times and raising her eyebrows and arms. This night Mom and I did Ohm Namah Shivay japs (she in her head and me aloud) for a while and we said a few other stotras. Dad, me, Pratap kaka gave her a head massage earlier as she likes it. We had some support of friends and family friends in the waiting room waiting for us when we arrived at the hospital today. My mom's nurses have all been really great. They do such a great job and are so dedicated to their patients. Mom is a real favorite for some of them. :o) Everyone has really been amazing through this hard time. Please continue your prayers/positive vibrations for my Mom. She is a fighter!!

Monday, March 27th

Hi Everyone,
Today started out alright for Mummy: it was the 3rd day that she was off of the respirator. She wasn't feeling very good when Dad and Pratap Kaka went in to see her this morning. The doctors were thinking about sending her to the regular room as her condition had progressed for the past couple of days. She was able to eat and drink a little but was feeling very uncomfortable and had trouble breathing. Around 5:30 this evening, I got a call from my father telling me they were going to put her back on the respirator. So, mom's back on the respirator. I came home and just sat with mom for 45ish minutes. Her nurse tells me that things like this happens, patients many times have to be put back on the respirator. I know it's not something Mom would want but her body just needs time to heal. There are a lot of things that the doctors are concerned about right now and they are running some tests to figure out what caused her to have to be put back on the respirator. Mom was really anxious this morning and in caring for her the her nurse took a little longer in processing the paper work that would send mom to a room on the floor. Turns out, this was a blessing in disguise: had Mom been on the floor the nurses would probably not have been able to get all the equipment together in time to save her. We can't celebrate too early with Mom. Her recovery is going to take a real long time. She and we both have to be incredibly patient. I know she's a fighter but she might be disheartened to be back on the respirator. Dad is holding up alright thanks to the constant company of Pratap Kaka. He was naturally shooken up a bit when the pager started going off. But thankfully, everything worked out. Mom's body is now taking its on sweet time to rest and heal. Please please continue to pray for her and send her positive vibrations.

Sunday, March 26th

We are really getting to see the fruit of everyone's prayers and mom's hard work. This morning she was sitting up in bed when my Dad and Pratap kaka went to visit her. She had some clear broth for dinner last night and some ice cream for dessert. Pratap kaka had the honor of feeding her the first spoon of clear broth. This morning she was sipping on some clear broth when my Dad and Pratap kaka visited her. She said that she had been working on drinking the one bowl of soup for an hour. Since she now had visitors, she let Pratap kaka and Dad feed her the soup and let her hand rest a little. She's felt everyones positive vibrations and is now able to obviously show that she is working hard to get back to a healthy lifestyle. She told Pratap kaka today that she was going to work hard for Dad and me. The doctors are still concerned about a few things and are going to take their time before they move her out of the ICU. She is doing a few exercises to build up the strength in her lungs. They have a machine thingy that she blows into every hour.
Dad brought her some of the disgusting flavor fresh juice that my mother likes. It's freshly squeezed juice with apples, carrots, celery, basically a mixture of fruits and vegetables. Mom enjoyed drinking it and was generous enough to insist that her nurse have a sip. Surprisingly, her nurse declined my mom's offer to have a full cup of the juice. lol. ;o) So Mom is showing signs of her own personality again and making people laugh! :o) Hope the day continues to be as good as the morning. :o)

Saturday night

Yeaee! Guess who just heard her mom's voice after 5 days of silence? MEE! :o) I just spoke to her nurse and he is very pleased with mom's progress. Mom was able to get on the phone and talk for 2 seconds. Made my night!! :o)

Saturday, March 25th

Great news everyone: Mom's off of the respirator! When I spoke to her nurse this morning she said that they were doing excersices to try to build up Mom's confidence and strength in an attempt to get her off of the respirator. I imagined that it would take atleast another day before she got off of it. However, I got a phone call from Dad around 3:30 pm telling me that he had just returned from visiting mom and that she was off of the ventilator. She is a little more alert that before and is now able to talk a little in a hushed tone. Sheila aunty called me after she visited her today to also break the good news to me. It will probably be a while before Mummy has the strength to talk on the phone. Sheila aunty told me that mom was in no hurry to hear my voice or talk to me. ;o) (we'll have plenty of long conversations/discussions once she gains a little bit of strength) She knows that its better for her to not talk much and rest. Her nurses and doctors have told us of small progresses in her health since Wednesday but today was an enormous achievement. Hopefully she will continue to be able to breath on her own and will not have to be put back on a respirator. Dad and Pratap kaka have made a routine to go to the Y and exercise after seeing mom in the morning. They are also doing well. So overall today has been a good day for Mom. Mom is in good spirits and will continue to fight to get back to a healthy lifestyle. Keep sending the prayers and positive vibrations. :o)

Friday, 23nd of March

Hi Everyone!!
So I decided to create a blog to most easily transmit information to everyone about Mom's status. All three of us are really touched by the number of phone calls and people praying for mom. Please continue your prayers as she needs all the prayers she can get. Mom's open-heart surgery was on Tuesday the 21st. The surgery lasted approximately 8 hours and she almost didn't make it out of the OR. But with my mom's will to live,God's grace, and your prayers, she made it through the surgery. For the past three days she has been in the ICU. She is still on a respirator but is able to use sign language, recognize our voices, and write with her finger on people's hands. She is incredibly strong and knows what she needs to endure and do to get healthy. We saw her open her eyes for the first time on Wednesday morning. Yesterday she opened her eyes for Bhau mama and me when Bhau mama went to say goodbye. Bhau mama was here for the surgery and left yesterday. Dad is hanging in there and doing fine as he and I have a lot of support from Bharti Aunty, Jagdish kaka, Sheila aunty and the Augusta community. One of my Dad's friends is visiting for 10 days to give him company all the time. Mom's health is now moving in the right direction. The improvements are going to be small and incredibly slow but she is a fighter. I am returning to school today and will be coming and going from Athens as often and as my academic schedule permits. Thanks again for all the warm wishes, prayers and positive energy!
lots of love,
shaylee