They just came in and said that they are going to take the shunt out later today. Tommorrow they will do another CT scan to see if she was able to absorb the spinal fluid on her own. They said they need to give her the chance to have it out.

She pulled out her feeding tube again. She really doesn't like it. We have no idea how she did it. Her hands are tied to the bed and my mom and I went to get something to eat. When we came back the nurse said she had pulled it out. She's a magician!

They also came in and did the swallow test again and she still wasn't able to do it. She just couldn't quite get enough force behind her cough.

She has got a lot secretions in her lungs and they come in every four hours or so and put this vest on her that vibrates her whole body. It supposed to loosen up those secretions so that she can cough them up. If she doesn't cough them up, they worry she will get an infection. But she has been coughing a little better today.

Apparently Melissa is getting a little bored. She pulled her feeding tube out this morning. Now she is asking every five minutes if we will untie her arms and take tubes and monitors off. I can't blame her... this place isn't too exciting!

Melissa seems to be more herself. She apologizes for everything, even when it's not her fault and she says thank you a lot. She even a sweetheart when she's sick.

She has been asking for a drink about every five minutes and we have to keep reminding her that she can't have a drink until she passes the smallowing test. She asked a few minutes ago and we reminded her and she said, "That is so stupid." Then a few minutes later she said, "Michelle.. I'll pay you if you'll get me a drink." Ha ha... She must think that I am easier to buy than my mom. It made me laugh.

They said that test came back for her arteries and everything looked fine! YAY!

Here's the final update for the night:

They just put the feeding tube in and did an x-ray to see if it was put in the right place... so we're just waiting to here back about that.

Also, earlier today they did x-ray of her neck to make sure she doesn't have any blockage in her arteries. She has been complaining that her neck hurts so they just want to be sure. They haven't got the results from that back yet.

Also they have clamped the tube that is draining the fluid from her brain and they are leaving it clamped until tomorrow morning. Then they will do a CT scan to see if she is able to drain and absorb the fluid on her own. If she is doing well, they will take the shunt out.

We have to make sure her hands are tied to the bed all the time now because she is always trying to pull the tubes and IV's out.

Someone from her school dropped off a bunch of cards from students at her school and they are sooooo cute. They say they are from Mrs. Steiner's class. We have had a lot of fun reading them. Melissa is going to love reading those when she is able to. I thought you might all enjoy reading a few: (I'm typing them exactly the way they are written because I think the mistakes are so cute.)

"Get well soon Ms. Farmer. I hope you get out of the hospital soon. How are you? I hope your good. I wish you get well soon really. I like your name. It sounds cute. I super super super like your name. I hear that you are the greatst ever. And I think too. I miss you."

"I howp you git well befor it starts to snow so you dowt haf to wac thr the snow. git well soon. (** This one also had a hand drawn flowers that popped up when you open it. SOOOO CUTE!)

"Get well soon. your my friend. I hope you come back I really miss you and I hope you like this card and I think your eyes are so pritty and I think every thing about you is grate and I really want you to come back."

I was just reading some of them out loud to my mom and Melissa said, "Michelle, who wrote that?" I told her the name of the student and she said that she knew the student wasn't in her class but she knew that Mrs. Steiner taught 3rd grade. I went through and read her each card and she even cracked a little smile. THANKS MRS. STEINER'S CLASS. That was so fun!

They just came in to do the swallow test and she wasn't able to do it. She choked on it and they had to use suction to get it out. They said they will have to put a feeding tube in today sometime.

Also, thank to Uncle Bruce and Aunt Judy for stopping by. I was out running errands so I'm glad my mom had some company while I was gone. Thanks!

So here's the update so far today:

When my mom and I got here this morning she was in getting a CT scan on her head. They said that it looks like the ventricles (sp?) are smaller but the blood is still there. They are hoping that they will be able to take the tube out of her head tomorrow. They keep clipping the tube that drains the fluid from her brain off and they watch to see if she is able to drain and absorb the fluid like she is supposed to. They also did an X-ray on her chest to fix the placement of the pick that goes to her heart. They have been giving her all of her medicine through that pick. It's now in the right place.

She is still having trouble coughing. She just can't seem to suck in enough air to get a good cough. They keep suctioning her throat but hopefully she will start coughing and swallowing on her own soon.

She has also been talking more today... although none of it really makes sense. She is pretty confused. They say that it is pretty normal for her to be saying some strange things at this point. Today she said one of her students names and when I asked her about it she said, "It's one of my kids... tell her to be quiet." I said, "She talks a lot in class huh?" and she nodded. She was moving her hand back and forth and when I asked what she was doing she said, "Passing out the paper.. it has words to help with their writing." She's been talking a lot about school today.

One of the PA's came in this morning and I finally just asked her what I should tell Melissa's principal about her coming back to work. She said that it would be quite a ways down the road before they could even look at whether she would be able to go back to work or not. She said to let her principal know that she should probably find a long-term replacement. So I called her school to let them know. Everyone at her school has been so nice to help her out. Her aide is teaching her class this week and then starting Tuesday they have a teacher that retired last year coming in to take over her class as a long-term sub. Melissa has loved the people she worked with at her school over the past couple months and loved her job. She has worked so hard at it. Even when she was at home, she was always doing school stuff. Her principal raved about her teaching and said that she was doing such a good job. We hope that she can recover and get back to the job that she loved so much.

They are trying wake her up enough that she will be able to swallow. She have been feeding her through an IV but they want her to be able to start swallowing water and ice chips on her own. They are going to come in and test her this afternoon. She keeps asking for a drink so we hope she is able to do that. If she doesn't pass, they will be putting a feeding tube down her throat. So we've got our fingers crossed that she passes.