Taking It Slow

I'm trying to slow down today, and not make any of the thousands of calls I could make. Magda is gong back to Austria tomorrow (Thursday). I did call and suggest that she take some children's books -- maybe they can read out loud to Chukka. I think you must run out of things to say, and I remember being read out loud to when we were kids, it might be kind of soothing. I also suggested they try to track down any cards that might have arrived, and then they could read those to her too.

I like to think of the ICU as a quiet safe place. Of course it's very frightening to be in, or to go visit, but the reality is Chukka's body and spirit ahve traveled very far, and she is in a sanctuary designed to help her come back. It's a separate space with just one patient. The lights are low. There is a one-to-one ratio of nurses to patients there -- each patient has a dedicated nurse that just sits and watches the patient and the machines -- kind of tending the sacred fire at a temple. I think in general ICU nurses are very calm and very calming, they are very familiar with this deep place that Chukka is in. And they are highly qualified; this is a specialty and I'm sure not everyone else is suited. Everything is very contained. This is the best place for her to be.

There has been a minor setback, they can't go ahead with the rest of the surgeries quite yet, so she will be in ICU at least a week longer. Everything is fine, just this delay to take care of her changing condition. I haven't heard anything new since Magda's post, but I"m sure she ocntinues to get stronger and more conscious.

I have identified a "top candidate" for a hospital when she comes back here in a few weeks. When I jump back into the fray, I will start working on the American insurance side, and getting information about how they will make that "transfer". Today, I am truly trying to make none of these calls. As you can perhaps see, I've taken the time to add her address and a link to the sidebar on the blog. If you have other links you think might be useful, you can post them in the comments, or send them to the chukkasupport AT gmail.com address. I may not manage to get all of them up -- it's so hard to stay organized -- but I'm sure you'll forgive me for any mistakes.