Special Treatment

There is no doubt that nurses, psychotherapists and speech and language consultants seem to be always interested and encouraged by the small steps of Mary’s progress. Just the other day I overheard one of the doctors lecturing to a group of student doctors. ‘Mary’s a special patient’ she said (of course, we could have told them this, and frequently do). ‘We are already impressed by her progress, keep an eye on her.’ She told the interested students.

The doctor was lecturing these students on the trachestomy, how this worked, and Mary’s progress coming off it. Infact, it seems that progress has slowed up recently and Mary is finding it difficult to tolerate the speaking valve. (This valve makes the hole for Mary to breath through in her throat smaller, forcing her to breathe through her nose and mouth. The reason she struggles with this is partly because she has a lot of gunk on her chest which is difficult for her to clear.) Until the trachestomy is out Mary is unable to progress to rehab. An estimated date is now mid-April. However all the time in hospital is time which gives the rest of her body - particularly the legs which still have pins in - time to heal.

We are all so aware, as seemingly are all those who seem to look after and care for Mary are, that she is special, that things are slow, but nothing is yet finished, and that there is always a whole lot of hope for more.