Ana Updates 006 December 5th 2008 (English)

December 5th

Ana is awake.

Even though she was totally sedated she pulled her breathing tube out on her own will. From a pain management point of view it would have been better that that she remain sedated a day or two more, however from a human point of view it shows great will to surpass this ordeal and this is the most important thing in a situation like hers.

She has a lot of pain in her neck and her head. This is normal. When we get a wisdom tooth removed we’re sore for a few days. Ana had a hole the size of a dollar coin made in her skull, the tumor was removed and the bone piece put back into place. It sounds amazingly simple if it’s said this way.

She is totally lucid. She knows where she’s at; she knows she had surgery done, the day of the week etc... If you speak to her in Spanish she answers in Spanish, if you speak to her in English she answers in English, ditto if you speak to her in Italian which is her native language.

As soon as she starts giving orders we’ll know she’s completely recovered no matter what the doctors say. Ha ha ha if she reads this remark she’ll kill me.

It’s difficult for her to speak since her throat is really irritated due to the ventilator tube and pulling it out prior to disinflation is not helpful. At 4:30PM Paula Maril one of Ana’s best friends called my cell phone from Uruguay and was able to speak about 10 minutes with her.

In the evening she drank some apple juice, it’s the first thing she ingests since Friday and she tolerated it just fine. Maybe tomorrow she’ll try some apple sauce or mashed potatoes. If all goes well in two or three days they’ll make her walk again. She has been bed ridden since Friday of last week.

I’m very grateful for the special Mass that was held asking for Ana’s health and recovery. I was told that there was a very nice group of people participating. I’m sorry I couldn’t attend but I hadn’t seen my children for about 36 hours and I thought it was really important for them that we do something as simple as take them home and have dinner together. I honestly don’t know if it was them or I that needed this more. To avoid pointless debates I’ll declare the issue a draw.


Bottom line it was a very good day


Victor