Be my teacher!

@ida2,

ida2 wrote:

As I said in the previous section, my mother began a fight against my intense infections. First of all, she concentrated on the matter of hygiene, the most important thing that was merely neglected in hospitals. She observed hygiene intensely, at the same time I was taking strong antibiotics. She kept everything sterile around me. Through such hygienic revolution, she succeeded in eradicating all kinds of infections in my body, and she did this incredible thing only in a couple of months. Although the doctors supposed that I would definitely die because of the infection, I would be cured perfectly.

But another challenge or could say the most difficult one was my respiratory problem. I was still put on the respirator. My diaphragm was paralyzed and my respiratory nerves were asleep! Besides, my lungs and other respiratory muscles were atrophied. Therefore, it seemed that there was no hope to restore my respiratory system.

But my parents were fighters. They didn’t give in any pessimistic situation. On the other hand, they had seen several times that the doctors’ unpromising opinions were not true. So, why they should be frustrated with these opinions?

Therefore, they began to find an anesthesiologist who would react optimistically to my complicated respiratory situation.

(I should remind you that removing the patients from respirators is generally the job of anesthesiologists.)

My parents began to look for an experienced doctor among the anesthesiologists in the capital. But, it seemed there was no one to accept the high risk work of removing me from respirator.

Everything was going such hopelessly, until one day…

To be continued…

As I said in the previous section, my mother began a fight against my intense infections. First of all, she concentrated on the matter of hygiene, the most important thing that was merely neglected in hospitals. She observed hygiene intensely, and at the same time I was taking strong antibiotics. She kept everything sterile around me. Through such revolutionary hygiene, she succeeded in eradicating all kinds of infections from my body, and she did this incredible thing in only a couple of months. Although the doctors had supposed that I would definitely die because of the infection, I would end up being cured perfectly.

But another challenge, or I could say the most difficult one, was my respiratory problem. I was still [...] on the respirator. My diaphragm was paralyzed and my respiratory nerves were asleep! Besides, my lungs and other respiratory muscles were atrophied. Therefore, it seemed that there was no hope to restore my respiratory system.

But my parents were fighters. They didn’t give in to any pessimistic situation. On the other hand, they had seen several times that the doctors’ unpromising opinions were not true. So, why should they be frustrated with these opinions?

Therefore, they began to look for an anesthesiologist who would react optimistically to my complicated respiratory situation.

(I should remind you that removing the patients from respirators is generally the job of anesthesiologists.)

My parents began to look for an experienced doctor among the anesthesiologists in the capital. But, it seemed there was no one who would accept the high-risk work of removing me from respirator.

Everything was going so hopelessly, until one day…

It looks like you're improving, Ida! I think I made fewer changes to that one than to the others. Very nice work!~

0 Replies

@ida2,

Ah! I forgot about this part:

Quote:

And… could you please provide me some examples of all kinds of “Neither… nor, Either… or” sentences as samples?

Quote:

Either/or and neither/nor

1.Either / or - used in a sentence in the affirmative sense when referring to a choice between two possibilities

We can either eat now or after the show - it's up to you.

2. Neither / nor - used in a sentence in the negative sense when you want to say that two or more things are not true

Neither my mother nor my father went to university.

Singular or plural

When using either/or and neither/nor, note the following rules:

1. If both elements are singular, then the verb is singular too.

Either the father or the mother has to attend the meeting. (father and mother are singular; so the verb has is singular too)

Neither Leila nor Nancy is going to write the report. (Leila and Nancy are singular; so the verb is is singular too)

2. However, if one of the elements is plural, then use a plural verb.

Either Sue or the girls are going to prepare dinner tonight. (the girls is plural; so the verb are is plural too)

Neither the teacher nor the students were in the classroom this morning. (the students is plural; so the verb were is plural too)

I stole that from here: http://www.myenglishpages.com/site_php_files/grammar-lesson-either-or-neither-nor.php#.VJQaRF4AHY

There's an interactive excercise where you can test your understanding here: http://www.myenglishpages.com/site_php_files/grammar-exercise-either-or-neither-nor.php#.VJQajV4AHY

0 Replies

@FBM,

Hi, my dear teacher.
How is your cold? I hope you are better now.
I have a cold as well. AGAIN! Two times in a month!
I will continue the story, as soon as I get better.
I miss you my dear teacher…
See you soon Smile

1 Reply

@ida2,

Hi, Ida! I got better after a day or so. Just like you, it was my second cold in a month. It's really annoying, isn't it? Take your time about writing. I'll be here when you're ready. Smile

I hope you get better very soon!

0 Replies

Hi, my dear teacher
I am back Smile

I hope you are well and happy.
Thank you for all your previous suggestions and guidance.
I have an Oxford dictionary on my computer. It is so useful.
Now, it’s time to resume my work Smile

......................................

One day, my mother incidentally called a hospital to query about the anesthesiologists in there. The operator was a kind young lady and introduced a male nurse to my mother. She said the nurse was experienced and he was a specialist in removing patients from respirators.

Soon, the male nurse, called Mr. B, came to visit me. When he was informed of my spinal cord injury and neural problems, he didn’t express any hope.

But he was impressed by my spirit, so he promised he would try his best.

Although I was in an awful physical situation and I could not even speak properly, I had strong spirit. I had never forgotten to smile, even in my darkest days in ICU.

Mr. B told he would begin his work soon, but it was necessary to be an anesthesiologist supervising during the process. So, he suggested an anesthesiologist who worked with him in the very hospital.

Next day, Mr. B brought the anesthesiologist with him to visit me. Just as Mr. B, the anesthesiologist called Dr. H, considered only my hopeful spirit and ignored all the difficulties.

Therefore, they began to remove me from respirator. For the first day, they could separate me from respirator just for 2 minutes. Next day a bit more and day after day they increased the time.

Although my physiological situation and clinical evidences indicated that my independent breathing was almost impossible, I would have good progress during eight days of hard work.

But there was a problem. In addition to physical dependence, I was dependent to the respirator mentally. And the mental aspect was more important…

To be continued…

1 Reply

@ida2,

ida2 wrote:

Hi, my dear teacher
I am back
I hope you are well and happy.
Thank you for all your previous suggestions and guidance.
I have an Oxford dictionary on my computer. It is so useful.
Now, it’s time to resume my work
......................................

One day, my mother incidentally called a hospital to query about the anesthesiologists in there. The operator was a kind young lady and introduced a male nurse to my mother. She said the nurse was experienced and he was a specialist in removing patients from respirators.

Soon, the male nurse, called Mr. B, came to visit me. When he was informed of my spinal cord injury and neural problems, he didn’t express any hope.

But he was impressed by my spirit, so he promised he would try his best.

Although I was in an awful physical situation and I could not even speak properly, I had strong spirit. I had never forgotten to smile, even in my darkest days in ICU.

Mr. B told he would begin his work soon, but it was necessary to be an anesthesiologist supervising during the process. So, he suggested an anesthesiologist who worked with him in the very hospital.

Next day, Mr. B brought the anesthesiologist with him to visit me. Just as Mr. B, the anesthesiologist called Dr. H, considered only my hopeful spirit and ignored all the difficulties.

Therefore, they began to remove me from respirator. For the first day, they could separate me from respirator just for 2 minutes. Next day a bit more and day after day they increased the time.

Although my physiological situation and clinical evidences indicated that my independent breathing was almost impossible, I would have good progress during eight days of hard work.

But there was a problem. In addition to physical dependence, I was dependent to the respirator mentally. And the mental aspect was more important…

To be continued…

Glad to see you back, Ida! Very Happy

One day, my mother [incidentally: off-handedly?] called a hospital to query about the anesthesiologists [...] there. The operator was a kind young lady and introduced [her to a] a male nurse. She said the nurse was [an] experienced [...] specialist in removing patients from respirators.

Soon, the male nurse, called Mr. B, came to visit me. When he was informed of my spinal cord injury and neural problems, he didn’t express any hope.

But he was impressed by my spirit, so he promised he would try his best.

Although I was in an awful physical situation and [...] could not even speak properly, I had [a]strong spirit. I had never forgotten to smile, even in my darkest days in ICU.

Mr. B told [us] he would begin his work soon, but it was necessary for an anesthesiologist [to supervise] the process. So, he suggested an anesthesiologist who worked with him in [that] very hospital.

[The next], Mr. B brought the anesthesiologist with him to visit me. Just as Mr. B [had], the anesthesiologist, [...] Dr. H, considered only my hopeful spirit and ignored all the difficulties.

Therefore, they began to remove me from [the]respirator. For the first day, they could separate me from respirator [for only] 2 minutes. [On the next] day, a bit more, and day after day they increased the time.

Although my physiological situation and clinical signs indicated that my independent breathing was almost impossible, I [wound up making] good progress during eight days of hard work.

But there was a problem. In addition to physical dependence, I was dependent [on] the respirator mentally. And the mental aspect was more important…

Excellent work again, Ida! In the first sentence, the word 'incidentally' didn't fit there. We use 'incidentally' to introduce some less important information or sometimes to change the subject:

A: I bought a car today. Oh, and incidentally, I saw Tom at the supermarket.

Also, near the end, you see where I changed your wording a little to make it more natural for a native speaker. You wrote "I would have good progress." However, "make progress" is a collocation, so it's better than "have progress." I used "wound up making" in order to show you an alternative way to say "I would make."

I think the other changes I made might explain themselves, but if you have any specific questions about any of the changes I suggested, please feel free to ask.

2 Replies

@FBM,

FBM wrote:

One day, my mother incidentally called a hospital to query about the anesthesiologists in there.

You don't phone up to query, in this context query is a noun, so either of the following would be acceptable.

One day, my mother incidentally called a hospital to ask about the anaesthesiologists there.

One day, my mother incidentally called a hospital with a query about the anaesthesiologists there.

One day, my mother incidentally called a hospital with a question about the anaesthesiologists there.

Btw, I don't think you need to use incidentally, it doesn't seem to add anything to the sentence so I'd leave it out. I also cut out in because the sentence is definitely better without it.

2 Replies

@izzythepush,

I probably read that as "inquire" before. I was more focused on the "incidentally" issue at the time.

1 Reply

@FBM,

I also changed the spelling of anaesthesiologists to shut my spellcheck up.

0 Replies

@izzythepush,

Thank you for your suggestions Smile

0 Replies

@FBM,

Hi, my dear teacher.
Yes, by “incidentally” I meant “off-handedly”. Thank you for suggesting this word Smile

0 Replies

Besides physical dependence on the respirator, I depended on it mentally and my mental dependence was much more intensive.

After 16 days, I was actually removed from the respirator, but I was terribly scared of independent breathing. Mr. B and Dr. H wanted to discard the machine and threw it away from my room, but I was restless and wanted to breath by the machine at least when I was asleep. Therefore, they had to work on me for more several days. But they could not prolong the process any more. Physiologically there was nothing threatening, so they could end up the process.

There was a tube on my neck which was stuffed into my trachea. Through this tube, called tracheostomy, I was attached to the respirator. But now that I was removed from the respirator, there was no longer need for this tube.

It’s time to get rid of all these horrible things__ respirator, its hoses, Oxygen capsules, tracheostomy, etc.

In order to keep me calm for saying goodbye to the respirator permanently, Dr. H suggested that the tube would be removed in a hospital. Therefore, my parents got me permission from a private hospital and transferred me there.

One day almost at 2 O’clock in the afternoon, Mr. B pulled out the tube from my trachea, but when he was pulling it out, it stuck a bit in the middle of my trachea. However, it didn’t matter, everything was going very well. I was breathing easily without respirator and tube. Everybody was happy and congratulated me on this victory.

I was really well, but at midnight…

1 Reply

@ida2,

ida2 wrote:

Besides physical dependence on the respirator, I depended on it mentally and my mental dependence was much more intensive.

After 16 days, I was actually removed from the respirator, but I was terribly scared of independent breathing. Mr. B and Dr. H wanted to discard the machine and threw it away from my room, but I was restless and wanted to breath by the machine at least when I was asleep. Therefore, they had to work on me for more several days. But they could not prolong the process any more. Physiologically there was nothing threatening, so they could end up the process.

There was a tube on my neck which was stuffed into my trachea. Through this tube, called tracheostomy, I was attached to the respirator. But now that I was removed from the respirator, there was no longer need for this tube.

It’s time to get rid of all these horrible things__ respirator, its hoses, Oxygen capsules, tracheostomy, etc.

In order to keep me calm for saying goodbye to the respirator permanently, Dr. H suggested that the tube would be removed in a hospital. Therefore, my parents got me permission from a private hospital and transferred me there.

One day almost at 2 O’clock in the afternoon, Mr. B pulled out the tube from my trachea, but when he was pulling it out, it stuck a bit in the middle of my trachea. However, it didn’t matter, everything was going very well. I was breathing easily without respirator and tube. Everybody was happy and congratulated me on this victory.

I was really well, but at midnight…

Besides my physical dependence on the respirator, I depended on it mentally, and my mental dependence was much more intense.

After 16 days, I was actually removed from it, but I was terribly scared of independent breathing. Mr. B and Dr. H wanted to discard the machine and took it out of my room, but I was restless and wanted to breathe by the machine at least when I was asleep. Therefore, they had to work on me for more several days. But they could not prolong the process any more. Physiologically, there was nothing threatening, so they could wrap up the process.

There was a tube in my neck which was stuffed into my trachea. Through this tube, called a tracheostomy tube, I was attached to the respirator. But now that I was removed from it, there was no longer a/any need for this tube.

It was time to get rid of all these horrible things, the respirator, its hoses, oxygen tanks, tracheostomy tube, etc.

In order to keep me calm about saying goodbye to the respirator permanently, Dr. H suggested that the tube [...] be removed in a hospital. Therefore, my parents got me permission from a private hospital and transferred me there.

One day at almost 2 o’clock in the afternoon, Mr. B pulled out the tube from my trachea, but when he was pulling it out, it stuck a bit in the middle [...]. However, it didn’t matter; everything was going very well. I was breathing easily without the respirator and tube. Everybody was happy and congratulated me on this victory.

I was doing really well, but at midnight…

Hi, Ida! Your story continues to fascinate me! Also, it seems to me that I'm having to make fewer and fewer suggested changes. I want to check your understanding about something, if you don't mind. In the last full paragraph, there's a sentence that starts with, "However, it didn't matter..." I put a semi-colon there instead of a comma. I'm wondering if you know why I did that.

1 Reply

@FBM,

Hi, my dear teacher.
No, I don’t know why you put a semi-colon instead of a comma. Please explain it to me.
Thanks 

1 Reply

At midnight of the day when Mr. B pulled the tracheostomy tube out of my trachea, I felt my breathing was getting harder. Mr. B had stayed with me in the hospital that night, so I told him about my problem. He said I had to wait until morning.

Early in the morning a Thorax specialist came to visit me. He ordered that they took me immediately to the operation room. There he looked within my trachea by a tool called bronchoscope, then he had to put another tracheostomy tube into my trachea.

During the bronchoscopy, he had found a tragic problem with my trachea. Because of low caring in the ICU, my trachea was damaged in several spots. They called this problem trachea stenosis. There was a surgical treatment for that, but my trachea was such damaged that they were not able to recover it.
Therefore, they brought me back to the ward while I had a tracheostomy tube again.

Everybody was tired and desperate. It seemed that there was no way for me to get rid of the tube. I had succeeded in removing from the respirator, however the problem with my trachea and the fact that I must bear the tube maybe forever ruined the happiness of the victory. Besides, with a tracheostomy tube I was not able to speak; as a result, the hope that I would able to speak after about seven months was lost as well.

Since then I have gone to the operation room many times for bronchoscopy, but there is still no treatment for me. Thus from that day till now, I have a tube in my neck and I have to change it every year. However, there is a hope! Researchers are trying to make an artificial trachea, and they have made some progress so far.

But although I still breathe with a respiratory tube, you’ll see in the following that something wonderful happens!

Then, follow me to know that…

Probably, I can’t post a new section until next week. So, bye for a while Smile

2 Replies

@ida2,

tracheotomy? I haven't looked it up to check.

1 Reply

@ida2,

ida2 wrote:

Hi, my dear teacher.
No, I don’t know why you put a semi-colon instead of a comma. Please explain it to me.
Thanks 

OK! Let's think about ways to join two independent clauses. One way is to use a comma and a conjunction:
Tom went to the party, and Susan stayed home.

But if you want to show a strong cause-and-effect relationship or some emphatic connection between the sentences, you can use a semi-colon:

Tom went to the party; he couldn't bear to stay at home.

Here's a fun page where you can learn more about semi-colons: http://theoatmeal.com/comics/semicolon

0 Replies

@ida2,

ida2 wrote:

At midnight of the day when Mr. B pulled the tracheostomy tube out of my trachea, I felt my breathing was getting harder. Mr. B had stayed with me in the hospital that night, so I told him about my problem. He said I had to wait until morning.

Early in the morning a Thorax specialist came to visit me. He ordered that they took me immediately to the operation room. There he looked within my trachea by a tool called bronchoscope, then he had to put another tracheostomy tube into my trachea.

During the bronchoscopy, he had found a tragic problem with my trachea. Because of low caring in the ICU, my trachea was damaged in several spots. They called this problem trachea stenosis. There was a surgical treatment for that, but my trachea was such damaged that they were not able to recover it.
Therefore, they brought me back to the ward while I had a tracheostomy tube again.

Everybody was tired and desperate. It seemed that there was no way for me to get rid of the tube. I had succeeded in removing from the respirator, however the problem with my trachea and the fact that I must bear the tube maybe forever ruined the happiness of the victory. Besides, with a tracheostomy tube I was not able to speak; as a result, the hope that I would able to speak after about seven months was lost as well.

Since then I have gone to the operation room many times for bronchoscopy, but there is still no treatment for me. Thus from that day till now, I have a tube in my neck and I have to change it every year. However, there is a hope! Researchers are trying to make an artificial trachea, and they have made some progress so far.

But although I still breathe with a respiratory tube, you’ll see in the following that something wonderful happens!

Then, follow me to know that…

Probably, I can’t post a new section until next week. So, bye for a while

At midnight of the day when Mr. B pulled the tracheostomy tube out of my trachea, I felt that breathing was getting harder. Mr. B had stayed with me in the hospital that night, so I told him about my problem. He said I had to wait until morning.

Early in the morning, a thoracic specialist came to visit me. He ordered them to take me immediately to the operating room. There, he looked inside my trachea with a tool called a bronchoscope, and then he had to put another tracheostomy tube into it.

During the bronchoscopy, he had found a tragic problem with my trachea. Because of the low quality of care I had received in the ICU, my trachea was damaged in several spots. They called this problem tracheal stenosis. There was a surgical treatment for that, but my trachea was so damaged that they were not able to repair it.
Therefore, they brought me back to the ward with a tracheostomy tube again.

Everybody was tired and desperate. It seemed that there was no way for me to get rid of the tube. I had succeeded in getting removed from the respirator; however, the problem with my trachea and the fact that I might have to bear living with the tube forever ruined the happiness of the victory. Besides, with a tracheostomy tube I was not able to speak; as a result, the hope that I might be able to speak after about seven months was lost as well.

Since then, I have gone to the operation room many times for a bronchoscopy, but there is still no treatment for me. Thus, from that day till now, I have a tube in my neck and I have to change it every year. However, there is [...] hope! Researchers are trying to make an artificial trachea, and they have made some progress so far.

But although I still breathe with a respiratory tube, you’ll see in the following episode that something wonderful happens!

Then, follow me to find out about that…

Great work! I see that you used a semi-colon correctly once there (I underlined it), so you already have a good idea about how to use it. I modified a few expressions, so please ask me to explain anything that you're not completely sure about.

You know, the best test for good writing is whether or not it makes the reader want to keep reading. I definitely want to keep reading! I'm looking forward to the next episode....

1 Reply

@McTag,

Hi, dear reader Smile

Tracheostomy means opening an airway from the neck and putting a tube through it into the trachea.

0 Replies

@FBM,

Hi, my dear teacher. I am back. Sorry for the delay.
Thank you for your all favors Smile

Yes, I knew the principle partly, but just about “conjunctive adverbs, such as however, therefore, nevertheless, etc.”
But now, with your explanations, I’ve learned it much better Smile

Thank you for everything.
And one question… so far, I’ve seen anywhere I have put a “such” before an adjective, you changed it into “so”; like this one: “my trachea was so damaged that they were not able to repair it.”
Then, where and how can I use a “such”?

1 Reply

Be my teacher!

Related Topics

Quick Links

My Account

able2know