Mon. 4-25

Aly is improving today but is still on the ventilator and still asleep. However, somehow she is fighting her way to consciousness. Kevin spent the night last night and was here this morning. He said there were several occasions where Aly opened her eyes and wanted to communicate. They gave her a clipboard with paper and a pen. She wrote, "when did I" then fell back asleep.  Later, she wrote, "why do I have a tube in my mouth."  The nurse then explained why, and then Aly wrote, "when do I get it out".  At that point, the nurse went out to the doctor and told him the dose needs to be increased because she is so coherent.  Another time she wrote letters in the air with her fingers and Kevin then guessed the word and she would nod her head for yes or no. My mom was with her this morning and she said Aly motioned with her hand like she was tipping a glass because she wanted water. Since I've been here this evening she's aroused once. Her eyes seem unfocused yet she responds to voices and wants to communicate. It is a little eerie yet amazing at the same time.
Her lungs are improving (clearing) which seems to confirm the diagnosis that it was a reaction to the blood she was given. They say if it was an illness or something else the lungs wouldn't be improving so quick. At this point their plan is to wean her off the ventilator sometime tomorrow. Another chest x-ray is scheduled for the morning. They have also restarted her chemotherapy doses this evening.
Through this we did receive some positive news. They did some blood tests to check the progress of the chemotherapy. There are tumor markers in the blood cells when cancer is present in the body. Aly's marker level is lower than when she first started treatments which normally means the treatment is doing its job.
Aly just keeps proving to us that she is a fighter. She is amazing.