Saying Goodbye

Mumsy is doing a little better. I got pretty frustrated with her over the last couple of days. She wouldn't use her speaking valve for one thing. I know it made her nervous, but she needed to use it a little, every now and then so her lungs and vocal chords would get stronger. And she wouldn't eat or drink anything, cuz she wasn't hungry. But she needs to get her stomach back to digesting regular food. Not to mention the tube feeding isn't all that good for her system. And she stayed in bed all day yesterday. Now, she would have to get them to bring in the recliner, and carry her and all her tubes to the recliner...it is a big ordeal, granted...but it's really good for her muscles to sit in the chair. But this evening when I came to visit she had been pretty active while I was gone. She had sat in the chair and drank some coffee, and had practiced applying and removing the speaking valve. And had practiced using it. Which means this evening we actually had some conversations. Up until now she had just been mouthing words, gesturing and writing on the clipboard. That all makes for a lot of frustration on both sides. But the speaking valve was a big improvement. And since this will be my last visit with her before I go back to Japan, she will actually be able to tell me "Goodbye" instead of mouthing it.