The good news is that they're starting some new antibiotics today which should take care of the infection. The bad news is that this isn't helping her get off of the ventilator any more quickly.
Despite the pneumonia her lungs are getting stronger. Her ventilator settings have been gradually decreasing since the weekend, and she is very close to being on settings that mimic a "normal" breathing pattern that you or I might have. In fact, while they were cleaning her tracheostomy yesterday, she was able to take several breaths on her own through the trach, without being hooked up to the ventilator. We are very hopeful that if they can take care of the pneumonia in a timely manner she'll be working toward periods without the ventilator within the next week or so.
She's been getting a lot of visitors lately, however, and that has been a bright spot for her. Today Thomas Hopper came by and read to her for a while and as he was reading to her from Wordsworth's Tintern Abbey I was caught off-guard by the freshness and poignancy of his verse. (Though an English major myself, I generally dislike poetry. I confess that I only appreciate Wordsworth when Wordsworth is read by someone who appreciates Wordsworth.) In any case, Emily enjoyed it thoroughly and as I sat and listened I appreciated the general tenor of the piece.
There is a lot of text and subtext here, and I won't bother to parse out the whole thing - though I do suggest you go read it yourself - but I will tell you my immediate reaction to the poem today.
By one reading, Wordsworth is comparing his present experience of Tintern Abbey to his past remembrances of the location, and noting how his connection with this place has sustained him in difficult times in other places. He hopes that this place that has sustained him in the past will do so in the future, noting "that in this moment there is life and food for future years."
I thought for a moment about all that we have been through this past month, and all of the love, prayers and support that have sustained us and kept our faith strong. I found myself hoping that even though things have been exceedingly difficult, that there will be something in this moment that will be life and food for future years. I pray that we never take little things for granted again.
