October 31, 2005 - Evening

Our girl has given us a little bit of encouragement tonight. Although the neurosurgeon has not yet been able to evaluate the CAT scan, one of the trauma docs shared with us that it shows "slight improvement". In addition, they've confirmed that her brain did not herniate. (Her brain did not overswell onto the brain stem causing brain death) The rest of her body appears to remain strong. She is attempting to "overbreathe" the respirator. This is a good sign as it means that her brain has sufficient function to try and breathe on its own. She has slight pneumonia, which is common and they are treating.

It will take days if not more than a week plus for the phenobarbital to work its way out of her system. Until then, she is under a powerful chemical paralytic. Once that works its way out, we'll be hoping that our girl regains some level of conciousness and any potential brain damage is minimal. There is no set time table for coma periods in head trauma. We just have to be patient and let our girl heal as she is able. We are discovering that this is a long term marathon, but we believe our girl can win it and we are all with her the entire distance.