Who doesn’t love flowers? Birthdays, Anniversaries, Funerals, Get Well Wishes, everyone loves flowers. Since getting home from the hospital, lots of friends and family have been sending flowers to Suzanne which bring such joy to her. Bright ones, tall ones, roses, bright yellow, short ones, all sizes. Especially in the past few days, she had 6 different arrangements that really brightened up the house today.

Trying to discover all the variables that lead to Suzanne’s lung and sinus mucus problem has been a chore. Tracheostomy are notoriously plagued with mucus issues and suggestions for some relief have been given by doctors, nurses, friends, and the internet. Along with that issue, she is also developing a hacking cough and some sinus sneezing and drainage. All in all a challenging event.

We have tried an expectorant to thin the mucus which made her restless and irritable, so we discontinued that. Sleeping in her chair more upright provides some relief but definitely isn’t as comfortable and doesn’t provide the needed rest. Extra moisture by running two vaporizers next to her most of the time seems to help but only provides a benefit when she’s sitting. She also is wearing the speaking valve all the time, although not recommended by the manufacture, some research show benefits.

Today, as she sat in her chair I could see the light go off in her head as she looked at me and said “wowers” Since I’m rapidly learning to translate Suzanne speak, I confidently responded with “What?” When she pointed at the four flower arrangements in the living room as both our minds melded into one and I said, “OH, Flowers!” With that, I grabbed all the flower arrangements in the house and moved them to the sunroom, and closed the door.

Within the hour, she quit coughing and has hardly sneezed since. What a tough realization, the little bundles of joyful color that have been brought to the door every now and then have been part of the problem. And she loves flowers! Additionally, we have had flowers in the house pretty much since this all started. All we can figure out is it was either the number of flowers in the house, OR there was a particular type of flower in one of the arrangements that caused the problem. We are working to re-introduce some back into the main part of the house to try and figure that out. But for now, we have to find that fine line between graciously accepting colors in the house and simply breathing comfortably.

The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.
Isaiah 40:8