Good news/ so-so news.....

The so-so news is that Mom's blood pressure has skyrocketed to the point that they could not think about doing the tracheotomy or place the feeding tube directly to her stomach. They are having trouble it seems in getting the right balance of medication to control the heart rate and blood pressure at the same time. A cat scan will be done tomorrow or the next day to see if something else is going on. Leaving the respirator tube in longer enhances risks to the vocal chords and of infection like pneumonia. Higher blood pressure can indicate that Mom has more discomfort or pain. I pray this is not the case.

There are no new signs of responsiveness other than the blinking of the eyes slowly on command every so often.

The good news is that they will try to wean Mom off the respirator slowly to try and avoid the tracheotomy. The surgery schedule is backed up almost a week I'm told. If Mom's vital signs are stable and a time slot opens up, they will do the tracheotomy. If Mom looks like she can handle getting off the respirator by the end of this week or early next week, they will skip the operation.

Pray that Mom can loose the respirator while still keeping her vital signs stable and strong.