November 16, 2005 - Mid-Morning

Mandy is opening her eyes with some frequency this morning. She is moving her eyes back and forth. We're still not sure she's seeing anything and we wouldn't say that she is concious yet, but her overall activity levels are increasing. She appears to be listening to Kurt's voice during her more conscious periods. Her eyes are still closed more than they're open and she's not trying to talk yet, but we're thrilled to see the progression.

They began weaning her off the respirator last night. They turned the dial down so that she is now responsible for intitiating the breaths. She appears to be adapting to it well. We've been told that it takes 1 - 2 weeks to completely wean someone off the respirator and a bit longer to have the trach tube removed. Her neurosurgeon stopped by last night and noted that her response to voice commands is improving. They have an opthamologist coming to take a look at her left eye (it still has some swelling) and they want to ensure that they're doing everything they need to do in order to ensure that heals to the highest degree possible.

Here's to another day of continued progression back to waiting arms of her friends and family!