update

Yesterday morning we pulled the plug. It's a hard thing to watch a person die. These days, you read about it a lot, you see it in movies, but it's really not quite like you'd imagine.

Today we are making a brief stop back in Boston in order to pick up clothes for the memorial service and take care of a few chores here. Tomorrow it's back to NY to meet with the funeral director and finalize the arrangements.

the saga continues

Today the news was broken to the family at the hospital.

I did a lot of driving.

Staten Island to Manhattan
Manhattan to Staten Island
Staten Island to Rockland
Rockland to Manhattan
Manhattan to Staten Island

Eventually we didn't get much done today.

Tomorrow we're pulling the plug and making funereal arrangements.

I still have no idea what to ask of the people who are offering help and support. Any suggestions?

Denoument

As of 3pm today, Mrs. Li had no brain activity. She is not technically brain-dead yet, but if things do not change before tomorrow, she will be.

Even if she does not die, it is vanishingly unlikely that she will ever wake from the coma that she is now in.

More

Well, today didn't go so well. The arteries in Mrs. Li's brain started to spasm, which is increasing cutting off the flow of blood to her brain. This is very bad. Tonight they drilled a hole in the top of her head in order to allow fluid to drain if this becomes a problem.

I think that if I understood the doctor properly today, at this point she has roughly a 20% chance of surviving without significant brain damage. It is a good indication that she arrived at the hospital in good condition, but the current problems may cancel it out.

I don't know what I can do at this point, but I am hoping hard as I can.

Just Soup

It seems like Mrs. Li is going to be at least mostly okay. She's still a bit confused, there is still some blood in her brain, but her spinal fluid is continuing to be re-absorbed, she's not in very much pain, and the doctor didn't have anything interesting to report today. She did re-gain the use of the right side of her body today, and she can move her legs, so apparently she is healing as expected.

The one slightly unsettling thing is that she continues to speak mandarin to me rather than english. Considering that her mental faculties seem otherwise in relatively good condition, I am not sure whether to be honored or concerned.