Nov 10th,

Hi- It’s Meg McDevitt, visiting…Just a quick note:  Jitka has had a couple surgeries in recent days, in addition to many visitors (including me) and we have been advised the Jitka’s visitor’s as of now, are being limited so that she can rest.  It was so good, very hard, but good.  Jitka recognized us, and tried to communicate, but we are left mostly reading her lips, which is frustrating for all parties.  She looks like “our” Jitka and was concerned that they had rustled her hair.  She was clearly asking for “betty help” with the hairstyle she was left with.    Personally, I was just so happy to see her and her smile.   She wanted to have her hand held and loved it when Julie caressed the inside of her palm….and her spunk is still there.   Steve and Marsha arrived a bit after us and she was happy to see more Seattle faces.   Her strength amazes me (and us), but is not surprising if you know our girl.  Marsha and Steve are here until Monday and Julie and I were here until Tuesday.   If there is anything that we learn that people can help with, we will pass the information along.  The good news, Jitka was off her vent for over 9 hours today.  She is bothered by her trach and we hope that her condition allows for doctors to reduce the size of the trach.  She had four very hard hours this evening, coughing (it seemed like she had swallowed a lot of air).  She seems to be more comfortable now.The sores on her back seem to be getting better.    We are very grateful for the care she received from her nurses and respiratory specialists.    She was excited to see the kids, her brother, and her sister-in-law, in addition to the new faces that arrived today.  Thank you everyone for your support, visiting has reminded me that we all need to be available for the long hall… we need to continue to support our girl!  Love, Meg