Jayalalithaa speaks for a few minutes using a speaking aid: Apollo Hospitals chairman

CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa is recuperating normally and is now speaking for a few minutes using a speaking aid as she has undergone tracheostomy, said Apollo Hospitals chairman Dr Prathap C Reddy on Friday.Speaking on the sidelines of an event here to honour families of organ donors, Dr Reddy said the chief minister communicated for a few minutes using a speaking aid. “For those it is a permanent tracheostomy, we will train them to use the speaker. In her case, it is only temporary. We are not going to be training her,” he said.Dr Reddy said the chief minister was breathing on her own most of the time and undergoing physiotherapy specific to each organ.“She is breathing 90% of the time. After the sixth or seventh week, we found that every single organ of hers was functioning reasonably well. She is now getting whole body physiotherapy -- both static and active. For each organ they have a specific way of doing physiotherapy and we are following it,” he said.Asked when Jayalalithaa would be discharged, Dr Reddy said, “She will go only when she realises that everything is perfect.”Jayalalithaa was admitted to the hospital on September 22 with complaints of "fever and dehydration." She was later put on respiratory support and treated with antibiotics for infection and lung congestion. She was given passive physiotherapy. A team of doctors from the UK and All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, joined the team of doctors at Apollo Hospitals to treat her. She is on a regular, but high-protein, diet.On November 19, she was shifted to a special room from the intensive critical care unit. The room is a personalised one which would have the facilities of an intensive care unit, including respiratory support, a senior doctor said.