Larisa Wakes Up

Larisa had a fabulous Friday. Yesterday they ended up closing the rest of her stomach so that it no longer is open except for the colostomy bag. She has been running a temperature of about 102 for the past couple of days. They have done lots of blood work and chest x-rays to check for the beginning stages of pneumonia. The chest x-rays came back normal. They are checking out various options to determine what is causing the temperature. They won't give her an antibiotic until they know exactly what is causing the temperature. She also indicated that Larisa has been having trouble digesting the food from the feeding tube in her stomach. They did give her some medication that will help that digestion to take place. Her right arm, the one that is broken, it has been days since she would move her fingers on that hand. Today she was able to move them when the nurses asked her to wiggle them... Yay!

The highlight of the day came last night- she woke up! She had opened her eyes for a little bit in the afternoon, but last night they said she was awake for about an hour and a half. She was still quit groggy but tried asking questions. Chantel could understand her and said that she was aware of talking to her but was not fully aware of all that had and was going on over the past 8 days. She would ask Larisa the questions and then Larisa would answer. She did ask "what happened?" Chantel told her that she had been in a serious car accident. Larisa said that her leg, arm and throat hurt. Chantel explained to her why things were hurting but did not give lots of detail for fear of scarying her. After about an hour and a half of being awake, pain was increasing. They increased her medication back up a little to help her to relax and decrease the discomfort.

While talking to Larisa, Chantel was telling her about the people who had come by to see her. She told her about her one friend pretending he was her fiance, and Chantel said she just smiled. Chantel told her that no one was allowed to come in and see her, and she said her face got very sad. But told her that once she was better, she would be able to see her family and friends.

What a blessing today has been. As a parent myself, I can only imagine that overwhelming feeling of joy Chantel and Sergio must have felt tonight as they were able to communicate with their sweet Larisa for the first time since the accident. I know that it was with tears of joy and very grateful hearts that they spent those 90 minutes talking to her.

As we learn and hear about experiences such as Larisa's I think we realize how often we take for granted being able to talk to our loved ones and friends. We just never know when it could be the last time we say something to them. I think it makes us all think and evaluate our own relationships with our loved ones, even for just a moment. But when a second chance is given - Hope is restored, faith is increased and family ties are strengthened - what an amazing blessing!