She's A Champ

Hi Everyone,

We had quite an exciting day in the ICU. I know....you're probably wondering, 'how in the hell can the ICU be exciting?' Well...the ICU gets really exciting when the Queen is able to be weened off one of of her two "pressers" (which is the fancy medical term for blood pressure medicine)!! This is great news because as we've stated before we needed the prayers and good vibes for her blood pressure to be stable without the medicine. So good job internet world...your prayers, thoughts, and vibes are reaching the Queen! Her other presser was lowered a lot from earlier this morning, so this is also good news. Night Nurse Emily's main job tonight will be to ween her off of the other presser. Although we are beyond excited, we all are keeping in mind that she is still very sick and has a long way to go. But she is definitely headed in the right direction.

We got an exciting visit from my mom's oncologist (aka cancer doctor) today. I say exciting because this doctor has to be one of the most beloved women by my mother. Seriously. She might as well be famous my mom loves her so much. She can only speak super positive words for this doctor and the entire Atlanta Cancer Care (shameless plug) staff. Anyways, we got to talk to her doctor and she said that she is "cautiously optimistic only because it is Jean" that she will get herself out of this ICU. She said that she stopped doubting my mom a long time ago because she has her own agenda. And my goodness...she is making that agenda quite clear. Her oncologist was explaining the process of Xigris to us. Xigris is the magic medicine/potion that is VERY new technology used to reverse sepsis (my understanding is that sepsis is a giant infection to the blood stream and basically the entire body. Google it and you will see that it is super dangerous). They told us on Friday that my mom fit the extreme qualifications for Xigris. Friday was such a blur that I couldn't tell you what those qualifications were, but she did fit them. Anyways, oncologist doctor told us today that my mom was the FIRST person she has EVER recommended for Xigris. So, to all you fancy schmancy medical students and researchers....thank you for having smart brains to come up with technology like this! This is a 96 hour medicine, so tomorrow will be her last day on it. The fact that her blood pressure is becoming stable w/o the pressers is proof that the Xigris is working. We are still continually thankful for the quick response time of everyone and especially for this magic medicine/potion that we love. Just one more great story from the oncologist. I was telling the doctor just HOW much my mom loves her. And her response was, "well, you know your mom is like a pet to us. She gets whatever she wants from anyone in our office." If you know my mother, you know that this is literally one of the greatest things she could ever hear. She is totally the lady that brings Mike's brownies to the doctors and nurses. And hey, I guess all those brownies paid off and now she can be known as their loyal pet :)

That was a lot of writing but blogs are only fun if there are pictures! Below is the poster Nancy created with the letters for my mom to point to. She hasn't been using this quite as much since her writing is so clear now. Notice the "for real" box at the bottom. Rather than spelling "for real" every single time she can now just point to the box.

When you walk into the hospital there is this silly but precious sign of these two little kids dressed up as doctors saying "shhh!" You have to look carefully because the background of the picture is blurry, but Aunt Jenny just couldn't resist imitating the kids in front of the sign. Never a dull moment around here.

We love you all!!!

Love,

The Queen's Royal Court ;)