User blog comment:Gideoncrawle/Writers Workshop update/@comment-1874924-20100402013232

MIL update: she is still in the ICU, where she has been for the last week, but she is improving. She is mostly lucid, which indicates that her breathing is improving. (CO2 buildup in the blood due to inadequate respiration can, and in her case did, cause confusion and other mental impairment earlier.)

Her doctor is still trying to find a medication/dosage that will give her both decent blood pressure and a decent heartrate. (As it stands, she can't maintain an acceptable blood pressure with a resting heart rate of much less than 100 beats per minute. Yes, that's fast.)

The need for constant monitoring of her heart rate & BP is, frankly, the only reason she's still in the ICU and not in the regular cardiac ward.