Monday, Monday

Dad and Diana talked with a Dr. Franklin today. Dr. Franklin told them that the plan for this week was to wean Mom off the ventilator and that on Friday they planned install one of those tracheotomy speakers, a la South Park Ned, so that Mom's would be able to talk. I believe the procedure is called a laryngectomy (sp).

Mom also had her first visit from a physical therapist today. The therapist had her do multiple things just to figure out where she was at physically; things like move her fingers, hands, toes, feet, and bend her knees. She also had a visit from a speech pathologist(SP). I was not super clear on what the SP had her do, but is sounded like the SP basically just tried to get a gage on what her current mental capacity is, and from all accounts it is normal. In fact, Dr. Franklin told my Dad that her mental awareness at this point is pretty far advanced for a person who has suffered the injuries she has.

Dad was allowed to give Mom some ice to suck on today, and after a little work she was able to get it down. Dad also said that Mom was awake and alert for a good portion of the day today and that her spirits were buoyed when he reported that both her college roommate, Marilyn, and Elena had called to wish her well.

Dad found out today that the full Ankeny PD report of the incident had been completed and that besides the ticket issued at the scene there will be no more charges in the case. We haven't seen the report yet but I did ask Dad to get a copy of it, it should be an interesting read.

That's the news from the front, come back tomorrow for another exciting installment of our harrowing tale!