Paul Update - Day 14

Day 14 – Wednesday 26 November

Two weeks on and Paul’s progress has been remarkable. He is now fully awake during the day (but needs an afternoon nap – no change there then!) and is aware of what is going on around him. His speech is improving slowly but we are still having difficulty understanding some of the things he is trying to tell us which is frustrating him. The hard part for us now is accepting the fact that further progress is going to be slow and difficult – he has done so well in the last 4 days since regaining consciousness that I think we half expect him to continue to improve at the same rate, but it is clear that this is not going to be the case. Still, he is doing remarkably well and we are all very proud of his patience, good humour and fighting spirit.

We had a phone call from the hospital at around 10 today to say that he was going to have an MRI scan at 11, and could we get there because they wanted us to sit with him and talk to him to try and keep him calm so that they didn’t have to sedate him. The reason for this is that the scan is done in sections and lasts about 20minutes in total and he has to keep very still for long periods. So we rushed in only to find a huge queue for the car park again, so I dropped Pat off at the door around 10:50 and joined the queue.... I got in about 11:40 – just as the scan was finishing, but I am pleased to report that he was as good as gold and didn’t move a muscle, so we are just waiting for the results now. It must have been a relative of Lewis Hamilton driving him around on the trolley to and from his scan, Pat couldn’t keep up!!

Ramsay baked 5 cup cakes for him yesterday; he had 1 before we left last night and they had all gone this morning – so either the nurses pinched a couple overnight or he had a midnight feast!

Judith (who works with Pat)visited around lunchtime and watched him eat a huge lunch of turkey and cranberry sauce, mashed potato and peas – and after all that he decided to have his afternoon nap just as his other visitors started to arrive! Charles (Catherine’s Dad) came in first but unfortunately Paul was asleep for the entire time that Charles was with him. The nurse then woke him up to do his blood pressure and just after that Andrew, David (Webb), Amy, Arthur, David (Findlay), Suzanne, Mark, Ramsay and Duncan all arrived throughout the afternoon so thanks to all for the goodies you brought in for him (and us!).

At our request, he has been moved into the corner of the ward which is much better because there is more room to put up his cards, the speakers for his music etc. and he can see out of the window.

Apart from the trip for the MRI this morning, Paul hasn’t really left the ward yet so we are hopeful that we will be able to get him into a wheelchair and take him down to the cafe tomorrow for a cup of tea or something, just to give him a change of scenery.

Just before we left for the evening, he suddenly became concerned and asked what he should do if he needed a pee (not the word he used....) during the night, so we managed to set up the buzzer to call the nurse (I told him it was room service!) so judging by the amount he has drunk today, they could have a busy night!