Mrs. T opened her eyes this morning for the first time since her double-lung transplant surgery. She appeared to respond when I asked her to blink if she could hear my voice and understand what I was saying. We’re not sure whether that might have been wishful thinking on my part, but the doctors continue to be satisfied with her progress to date, and I’m not complaining.
I sat by her ICU bed for a couple of hours, talking quietly about what had happened during the past couple of weeks and making reassuring noises. I also played a piece of music on my laptop, a beautiful little piano solo by Aaron Copland called “Down a Country Lane” which we both love and which was performed thirteen years ago at our wedding. It struck me that if you were gradually coming out of a protracted coma, that might be a nice thing to hear.
We still have a dauntingly long row to hoe before we get back home again, much less to Sanibel Island—but Mrs. T took a giant step in the right direction today.
UPDATE ON SATURDAY MORNING: I just got a completely unambiguous I-hear-you eyeblink response from Mrs. T when I asked if she could hear me and knew who I was. Yesterday I wasn’t sure—today I am.
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Aaron Copland’s “Down a Country Lane,” played by Leo Smit: