Mom has gotten a little more responsive which is good...she nodded her head a little bit and also we were communicating via eyeblinks. She is still running a 100.6-ish fever, but the nurse tonight, Laura, has been very attentive and they took some samples to make sure she doesn't have any sort of infection. The Intensivist thinks that the fever is due to the fact that she had the surgery two days ago and her body is reacting to the talc that they put in to seal her pleural cavity. But just to be safe, they are running the tests.

Just wanted to post some better news -- she's still sleeping, but is responding when I ask her questions :-)

It's funny how life works out -- I find myself feeling very blessed to have grown up in a family where my grandfather was in a wheelchair and attached to various tubes at times as well as having a grandmother who has alzheimers -- I never understood how those would be something to be thankful for, but it has helped me be very comfortable helping Mom while she's in this state. I have no problem helping the nurses move her and am comfortable when situations get seemingly a little scary and am able to help Mom stay calm when she has her coughing spells or gets scared. Also, because Poppop Johnny had the chair, a catheter, and wasn't able to move - the fact that Mom is laid up in bed with lots of IVs and such does not completely overwhelm and freak me out. So in a really strange way, I feel so lucky to have grown up with those experiences. Also, I feel lucky to have grown up in a medical household where I learned to understand that there are reasons for things to happen, but that those reasons may take awhile to figure out and resolve.

I guess what I'm saying is that this has all been a reminder for me that many times we don't understand why things happen or why they are the way they are, but sometimes later something positive comes of it. I'm still waiting to see why Mom is so sick, but hopefully in time we will see...