Tuesday July 27th, 2010 PM

Alyson would like me to post the following message to everyone reading this.

She said she would like to thank everyone for being so concerned about her. If she could, she would write everyone a thank you letter, but you would not be able to read her writing right now. She didn't think she had that many friends.


Today was alot like yesterday. She got up and took a walk with the physical therapist this morning. It was hard for her to walk today. This was the only walk she went on.

Pauline was shown how to do the exercises with Alyee, and so she is now having Alyee do the stretching and bending. Alyson knows she needs to get stronger and is trying hard to get stronger.

The pain was no less today. It is still very bad in her lower back.

Today to lessen the awful taste of the salt solution she has to take, she tried mixing it with chicken boulion cubes. It is like adding salt to salt. It seemed to help.

Pauline gave her a bath. She still has not had a shower.

She did eat some more today.

What I find amazing is the number of people that continually come into her room in the ICU to do something.

Someone comes in to get the dirty sheets, towels and pillow cases.
Someone else comes in to get the trash from the garbage pails.
Someone else comes in to get the bio hazzard trash.
Someone else comes in to check the supply of rubber gloves.
Someone else comes in to check the hand sanitizer.
Someone else comes in to sweep and mop the floor.
Someone else comes in to deliver the meal.
Someone else comes in to pick up the empty food tray.
Someone else comes in to resupply the medical supply cart.
Someone else comes in to make sure all the lights are working and then they test every light switch.
One day there was even a guy hanging from a rope outside the window cleaning the outside windows.
All this in addition to the nurse coming in all the time to measure, check on, monitor or get something from Alyson.
Not to mention the beeping and flashing from all the monitors.
It is not the Intensive Care Unit, it is the Interuptive Care Unit. You can never rest here.

I say all this because as one of these people who randomly comes into the room all the time just happened to be in the room when Alyson said that she would like some pizza. And Pauline responded that maybe she should order a pizza. They do have delivery to that floor from several area restaurants, for the employees and the patients. They have a menu binder at the main nurses desk that you can ask for to review and order food. We have seen it.

Well this person in the room turned around and said. You want some pizza? And Alyson said yes. And she said that they had a party on the floor earlier in the day, and they had lots of pizza left overs, so she would go and get some and bring it back for her. She came back with two pieces of pizza for Alyson. What are the odds? Alyson had a piece of pizza.

Pauline says the fluid maybe a little clearer than yesterday.

Alyson did sit in her chair today for over an hour in the morning again in the afternoon. In the afternoon she did an activity book that she had been given. And she had the book on the little table that she could pull up to her chair.

Small steps forward. All little signs of progress.

Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers.