No Talking, No Talking, No Talking....

But the good news is it will probably get better on it's own.

A lot of you know that Patti is still not talking (sounds like she has laryngitis) well since the transplants. Today, Patti had an appointment with the Ear, Nose, and Throat specialist at the Cleveland Clinic. Dr. Kominsky, using a little light with something on the end of it so he could see what was going on, put this scope up her nose and down her throat to watch her vocal chords work. What he found is that her left vocal chord is paralyzed. The probable cause is that the nerve that controls that vocal chord was probably stretched during the operation. There is a slight possibility that it was damaged, but most likely it is only temporary. If it is "permanent" there are procedures that the doctor can do and they are office procedures, but Patti is just not ready right now for another procedure. She is going to wait it out and see if her voice returns on its own. Her lung doctor, Dr. Budev said she has never seen anyone with permanent vocal chord damage from the transplant surgery. That makes us feel a bit better.

Today was her last day of the IV steroids. Thank you God! They caused her blood sugar levels to SOAR into the 400s. The insulin she has been taking has helped, but she is SO ready for her blood sugar to be lower normally.

OK. Now, the best part. She has appointments tomorrow morning (starting at 7:30 am) for blood work, chest X-ray, etc. and after all of that she will see Dr. Budev who may, note I said may, tell her she can go home to New York for a couple weeks. She will have to come back for another bronchoscopy, but like I said, not for a couple weeks! She is trying not to get her hopes up, but it is so hard. She misses her Nate and Brady.

Tonight we went out to Rockne's for dinner, then stopped at the grocery store for the fixin's for chili for tomorrow night. We are planning on IHop for breakfast on Thursday. I took pictures tonight, but have no way of posting them yet. I'll post them as soon as we get back home.

Please keep the prayers coming for the "bad" effects of the steroids to go away -- shakiness, upset stomach, and bad dreams, the return of the function in her vocal chord, and that test results tomorrow are favorable and Patti can return home for a couple weeks.

Thank you all so much. We can feel your prayers.