Reply #6: Thanks for the info.

[JackDragna]

The reason for the ventilator is because of a result of a surgery for a tumor. The surgery went fine, but my sister has chronic bronchitis/COPD and the nursing staff sort of dropped the ball on making sure she did things to strengthen her lungs, like getting up and going for a walk. So, they've apparently put her on the respirator for a bit to give her lungs a chance to catch up. The pulmonologist said they're going to try to take her off every day for the next couple of days. Is that a sign the docs think this will be short-term? I'd ask myself, but unfortunately, I'm kind of out of the loop. :(

Edited to add additional detail.