"Weird" and "Outstanding"

First of all: Weird. That's how Sumana described the sensation of the nerve testing. She had 4 wires to her head, 3 on her upper back/neck area, 3 on her lower back and 4 on her legs and ankles. She said it felt like her hands and feet were falling asleep. The funniest part was when the technician applied the electrodes to her neck. It tickled her so much! She giggled and giggled. It was really cute.

Now: Outstanding. That's how Dr. Voter described Sumana's lung function today. (Now this is "outstanding" for Sumana, not compared to any normal function tests). Though her overall lung function is about the same (low 40%), her inspiratory numbers HUGELY improved (from 39 to 96!!) I had mentioned to Dr. Voter how much Sumana hates using the cough assist, so she was quick to praise Sumana for her hard work. She stressed how much better and healthier she's getting. But, when Sumana asked her when she could quit the cough assist machine, the doctor told her probably not for a long time.

I guess it has also been a rough season for lots of Dr. Voter's other patients, so she was especially pleased to hear about Sumana's good health AND that she caught a cold AND got rid of it! Again, she told Sumana this is because of the VEPTR and all of her hard work at PT and the cough assist. Dr. Voter was pleasantly surprised to find out that Sumana walks on a treadmill EVERY DAY. Sumana told her she gets short of breath sometimes after doing that, but Dr. Voter said, "keep at it . . . don't stop the treadmill!" So, hopefully, Sumana 'gets' the fact that her hard work (even though "boring") is really making a difference.