Monday, October 9

Margaret was awake today. One of her first questions to Tom was, "How do I get out of here?" It was nice to have her spirit back. There were questions about what had happened and what would happen. It seems that even in just waking up after a week, she was already Margaret again, trying to organize her thoughts and plan for what comes next.

For most of the day, she held her own with just the oxygen tube in her nose. Her oxygen saturation levels remained good for the most part. The fever has not returned, and overall, she is doing well.

She still doesn't really need visitors yet. Even though the occasional friendly face made her smile today, it would just be too much to start having visitors right now. In addition to the rest, she also continues to need a sterile environment. Tom and Marty look forward to beginning to read her the cards that have been sent and the comments left here sometime tomorrow. Your messages do get to her, so please send them if you would like to!

The biggest piece of information learned today was that Margaret will need rehabilitation after she gets out of the hospital. This means that she will either have to go into a nursing home or have skilled nursing at home for several weeks. We are thankful that a relationship has already been forged with a home health provider recommended by the Presbyterian Board of Pensions. Tom and Marty will begin meeting with staff at the hospital tomorrow to try and make a plan to continue Margaret's recovery once she is discharged. The doctor said that her discharge should likely come in 3-5 days. When he said 3-5 days, it seemed like Margaret actually shot him a look, causing him to reconsider and lean more towards the 3 side of things. Who knows, though? Maybe she really is back and fighting, just like the amazingly strong woman we know she is.