Paul update - Day 35

Day 35 – Wednesday 17 December

Good news........perhaps!

Having asked yesterday whether we could bring Paul home this weekend and being told categorically that Christmas would be the earliest, and only then because it is Christmas, we arrived today to be told that he can now probably come home after all!  I think what is happening is that the physios and the doctors are not liaising and one is saying one thing without the others knowledge. 

To be fair though, the physios are rightly concerned about the facilities we have at home and whether we are able to cope with transferring Paul in and out of the car, in and out of the house, toilet, shower etc and they need to ensure that everything is safe.  They will supply and fit various bits of kit in the house but they will be unable to do anything before this weekend and hence the conflicting stories.  I therefore took some pictures of the house, the step at the front door, the bathrooms etc. and showed the physios today and they seemed quite content.  Pat, Paul and I are having a session with them on Friday to show us how to do the various things that we will need to do and provided we "pass" he can come home this weekend – possibly just for the day or maybe even overnight to return to Woodend on Sunday.

Therefore, anyone who might be thinking of visiting on Saturday – I see from the comments Holly that you are planning to - please check the blog Friday evening or give either Pat or I a ring ,or send any of us, including Paul, a text on the mobiles and we will let you know where he will be.  If he is at home, you are more than welcome to pop round.

As you might guess from the above, Paul now has a mobile phone again – he has a replacement sim and Mark's old phone so you should be able to text him again as of now.  He still has the same number but that might change if Santa Claus has listened to his request for an i‑phone!  The only problem we have is that I only had a limited number of contact details to put into his phone so if you do send a text to him, please can you put your name at the bottom so he knows who it is from.  For example I know for sure that he will have lost your number Rosie as it was only in the phone that has been lost – we think it is in the hospital laundry system somewhere but it hasn't turned up yet.

Paul had quite a busy day today – he had physio, occupational and speech therapy as well as a couple of visits from the doctors for blood tests; we found out the other day that he was still having a daily injection to prevent blood clots but they have now been stopped as well so as far as we know, he is now on no medication whatsoever, other than the cream that still has to be rubbed into his arm.

We arrived just after lunch, and then Amy, Jennifer and a little later Suzy arrived and we went for the daily visit to the WRVS cafe. We had to leave Paul with them as we had an appointment with somebody from a head trauma support group and then an appointment with the physio and occupational therapist to discuss the weekend.

Stuart and his Dad then arrived having driven up from St Andrews straight to Woodend to see Paul and I think it safe to say that Stuart was both relieved and delighted to see the progress Paul has made – last time he visited was the day before Paul regained consciousness...

By the end of the day Paul was quite tired so he settled down to watch the TV.  A couple of days ago we took in his duvet so he now has a piece of home with him and seems quite content.

So, just to confirm, Paul might be able to come home on Saturday either for the day or overnight into Sunday, but we will not know until Friday.  I will try and update the blog Friday evening when we get back (I can't get on-line at Woodend) or if anyone visits and can update the Blog before I can please feel free to post a comment on the blog.  Alternatively give us a call!

This is all good news, especially when you think back to this time 5 weeks ago today when Pat and I were driving to the ARI not knowing what to expect....!