Evening, March 29

(e-mail from B. Parady)

All in all a good, quiet day. No fevers, normal temp, normal pulse, some sedation and little open eye activity under the sedation. In the evening the temperature was sloping up and pulse up slightly. No fever emerged and she had a great alert evening. Mom had a great evening. Made for a happy day.

Good because the vitals were steady. She has her hockey helmet on now. The doc says that she needs to keep it on. It is a peculiar sight. She wears a large since she needs a little extra allowance for her head where the bone was removed. It may take months before the bone is installed.

Found out that the tennis shoes that Shelly bought to keep her soles straight have stylized biohazard symbols. Very Warhol-esque in a hospital sort of way.

Took another step today toward moving her to California. We are trying to get everything aligned for her move to Santa Clara Valley. This appears to be the only option. There is no top facility in NYC that will take an acute rehab patient. I thought that it would be easy but no such luck. NY is out.

So now it remains to get her stabilized which she is not, for the doctors to at both SCVMC and Saint Vincents to review her case and when she should be transferred, and then for me to arrange an air ambulance when the doctors deem it right. Basically the stars need to be aligned. When the call finally does go out, everything happens in 24 hours.

Lots of questions. When and if can they wean her off the ventilator? How much function will Santa Clara require? When will she be ready?

At this point I am praying for her recovery to get her to California, hopefully within the next month.