Perseverance

An eident drap will pierce a stane. (A steady drop will pierce a stone.)
- Scottish Proverb

Isabel's Robertson family comes from a long line of Scottish Highlanders believed to be descended from a Scot by the name of Robert the Bruce. The legend of his hiding in a cave and watching a spider weave its torn web again and again, tells us how he mustered his own perseverance to struggle on. "When life seems stacked against us, where do we find the perseverance to continue?"

This family legend was told to Isabel as a child and has inspired her on several occasions throughout her life. We have all seen evidence of her dogged determination in the midst of adversity of the last 36 months. Isabel and her two "think-outside-of-the-box" Respiratory Therapists have challenged the idea that weaning off the ventilator needs to happen only in acute care in Saskatchewan.

Isabel had a goal or "bloody mindedness" (as a Scottish friend suggests) ~ and pushed on day-in-day-out hour by hour.

As we celebrated the Christmas season, Isabel and her therapists worked on. Mum would email us each day between Christmas and New Years saying: "6 hours off", then the next day "8 hours off", then "10 hours" and so on.

And now it is February..., and she is comfortably completely free of the vent.

Like the steady drop of water, Isabel's perseverance to gain as much health as possible is pure perseverance!

(with thanks to Caitlin Matthews for the inspiration for this posting)

Isabel's Olympic Gold Medal

A "gold medal performance" has occurred at Wascana over the last few weeks. Isabel has completed her winter marathon. After 2.5 years on life support, the ventilator that has given her 8 puffs of breath each minute has officially been turned off and Isabel is breathing on her own. She has also sent her oxygen tank packing.

Isabel has weaned herself off the ventilator!

Her Wascana Respiratory Therapist has thought for some time that Mum could get off the vent. Late last fall, with an additional Respiratory Therapist to support the effort, and a long-awaited "doctor's order" from her respirologist (lung specialist), training for the marathon began.

One hour off the vent followed by rest with the vent back on... ....then two hours off the vent and rest again..... and then off again and on again as the hours increased. And so the December days moved on. By early January, Isabel was successfully breathing on her own 12 hours a day. Then came approval for her to use her speaking valve for those same 12 hours a day.

Some of Mum's inspiration during this time came from the words of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and are fitting for the "push-plateau-push" of a marathon:

Let us, then, be up and doing
With a heart for any fate;
Still achieving, still pursuing,
Learn to labor and to wait.

Late January and early February included four weeks of plateau with 12 hours on the vent and 12 hours off. And then the final push began on Sunday February 7 when at 7 AM the vent was turned off. On Thursday the 11th, at the 100 hour mark of being off the vent, her various therapists descended on her room for a 15 minute party to celebrate her being officially off the vent and to receive the news that her arterial gases had tested just fine.

Isabel has now been breathing completely on her own 24/7 for nearly two weeks.

At times, WE have been holding our breath, however Isabel has not been holding hers! She continues with her regular physio- and occupational therapy, visiting with friends, and exploring Wascana's halls. She says she is doing "just fine", and that she now never thinks about the ventilator.

As Mum says: "Miracles do happen!"

CONGRATULATIONS, Mum! You and Rufus lll could have carried that torch to Vancouver!

Blooms in the February Sun

It's two years since Isabel "packed her bags" and moved into "Wascana". Where does the time go? Isabel says that sometimes it feels like 10 years, and yet, she can't believe that she hasn't seen some familiar faces or places for that long as all remain so familiar to her.

This winter has brought the gift of abundant flowers for Isabel's window sill. Amaryllis, roses and daffodils grace the wide sill at the moment. Amaryllis bulbs arrived from friends during the Christmas season.

"Grower Direct" sent dozens of roses to Wascana in January and Mum's family-friend who works at Wascana's Hostel sent a dozen her way. Isabel quickly dispatched four to friends who live on another unit. And Isabel's roses have bloomed for two weeks.

An old friend arrived with a "daffodil plant" along with full recitation of Wordsworth's "I wandered lonely as a cloud". How is your school memory? Both Mum and her friend had learned the poem by heart in school.

We will endeavour to keep daffodils blooming on Isabel's windowsill until we find them in our own gardens this spring. A phone call to an English friend this week revealed that the daffs are coming through the ground under his roses.

Ah ~ back to the windowsill here in Canada ~ right under our noses.

Happy Groundhog Day!

Hello from Wascana

The days are lengthening and it is said that the western gophers told us yesterday that Spring is coming sooner than later..... And here's to Isabel's Orkney friends who have written of their acknowledgment of Candlemas. February 2 is known as a seasonal turning point on the Celtic Calendar ~ the day that marks the loosening of winter's grip upon the land.

All is well at Wascana with Isabel's steady weaning of herself from the ventilator during daytime hours. She has been rereading letters and cards from Christmas and her birthday, and is ever grateful for your many stories and good wishes.

YES, to those that have asked! Isabel did celebrate Robbie Burns Day with a small gathering; Scottish music; the wearing of tartans; and a new friend reciting Burns poetry. And haggis, tatties and neeps on the menu! Isabel is not yet able to swallow as well as she would like to so is not yet eating and drinking orally, but with recent progress, perhaps that too, will change this year.

We promise more of an update soon!