At 10:15 this morning, the team suddenly made the decision to pull Lilyan’s breathing tube and see if her body would be able to handle all of the fluid in her chest better. They decided to ease her down by moving to a BiPAP for awhile first. She was so completely exhausted from all of the coughing and choking and suctioning all morning. So, while she wasn’t crazy about this mask over her face, at least it wasn’t down her throat, and she fell into a deep and naturally peaceful sleep.

Then she stretched out both arms and positively glowed. She just lay there like that, all stretched out on the bed like someone basking in the sun on a beach, and she was just the cutest thing, ever! After about 20 minutes without the mask, she started having trouble breathing, so they started to put the mask back on. At one point, she very politely told her nurse, “That mask is too tight on my nose,” in a voice that clearly communicated, “so I won’t be using that anymore, thank you.” She didn’t win that one, and as soon as it was back in place, she once again, fell into a deep sleep.

Her therapists brought her a wheelchair with a reclining back and she sat here for an hour, blowing bubbles and watching a movie, before she started to struggle a bit with her breathing again. So she got back into the bed, got the mask back on, and took another long nap for about two hours.

Now she is playing on the iPad again while her new animal friends and Roslyn’s Maggie and Murphy look on.