Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa is communicating through a speaker (a speaking valve) for a few seconds or a few minutes at a time, Dr. Prathap C. Reddy, chairman, Apollo Hospitals, said on Friday.
“The next thing is to see that she stands up and walks,” Dr. Reddy told journalists at an event. As reported earlier, the Chief Minister had undergone a tracheostomy. “We train those with permanent tracheostomy. In her case, it is going to be temporary,” he said.
‘Breathing on her own’
The Chief Minister was breathing on her own “90 per cent of the time” and was getting whole body physiotherapy, static and active, Dr. Reddy said.
On Ms. Jayalalithaa’s shift from the critical care unit to a special room, he said that when the team of doctors felt that “every single organ of hers was functioning reasonably well” and that she did not need the same level of care she needed in the first few weeks, she was moved to a place where she would feel much more happy.
Praising the “wonderful team of doctors” at the hospital, he said, “She is absolutely fine. She has got a very strong mind.”
On her discharge, Mr. Reddy reiterated that she would decide. “It is she who is going to decide the date. She will go only when she realises that everything is perfect,” he said.
