Paul update - Day 56

Day 56 - Wednesday 7 January

Now that Paul is back at Maidencraig, our lives have reverted back to the pre-Christmas ‘normality’. Paul continues to have physio, occupational and speech therapy and all of his therapists have commented on how well he is progressing; there are small but positive improvements every day. They have put a 24 hour ECG halter monitor on him today to check his heart following the previous scare; fortunately there have been no repeats but this monitor will tell them how his heart is now and presumably whether any follow up is required.

We continue to thank our lucky stars about how well he is doing and every now and then something gives us a stark reminder of what might have been. One example of this is the tragic headline in yesterday’s Evening Express about a 16 year old lad that had been killed in a car accident; the driver was 17. The editorial in the paper suggested that all parents should sit down with their teenage children and impress on them how precious life is and how easily it can be taken away...

The Evening Express actually phoned us this morning to see how Paul was doing; evidently when there is another serious accident they follow up on previous accidents so we are currently trying to decide whether we should speak to them. If it helps prevent others going through what we have all been through, or worse, then it will be worth doing.

Anyway, on a far brighter note, they have now stopped all of Paul’s medication and so the likelihood of him being discharged at the end of January is growing by the day. As a first step, following the success of his visits home over Christmas and New Year, he is coming home again this weekend and we are collecting him tomorrow –Thursday 8 January and returning him on Sunday evening so if you want to visit him, please don’t come to Maidencraig but you are welcome to visit at home. As before though, please ring first to make sure we are in.

They are planning some trips into town with Paul over the next couple of weeks to see how he copes with traffic, crossing the road, getting on and off buses etc., and once that has been assessed, presumably we can start to take him further afield.

So, just to re-cap – Paul will be at home this weekend, back in Maidencraig during the week and the assumption is that this will continue until his final discharge, after which we can start to think about the future once again!

Oh yes, and we persuaded him to shave yesterday so he no longer looks like a wookie!