A big day!

All,

Paola is continuing to improve. As of this evening, she still thinks she isn't ready for visits or phone calls, but there is lots of good news to report. First, Paola added chicken broth to her diet of jello and so-called "Italian desert" (i.e., slurpee). Secondly, and more importantly, she stood up today and was able to transfer into a chair. Getting into the chair was quite painful, but she did a very good job, and she stayed in the chair for at least 1.5 hours, maybe 2 hours. Then, she got back into bed with only moderate assistance. The doctors said she absolutely had to get up and sit in the chair today, so she met the goal. I think tomorrow's goal is to start walking again.

Only slightly less exciting was Paola's other big accomplishment of the day -- sleeping. While I was with her, Paola managed to get an hour of relatively undisturbed sleep, which she really needs. It's hard to sleep in a hospital - people come in and out of your room, your equipment beeps, the equipment from other rooms beeps, and your loving friends and family keep telling you to do things ("Take deep breaths") or asking you questions ("Do you want some water?"). Paola hadn't gotten much in the way of non-artifically induced sleep, so it was really good to see her take a nap.

That's the news here. As you can see, it was a big day. Tomorrow promises to be another one so stay tuned.