The Last Word

Hi to All who have come across this blog, it is now time to end it.

This is just to let you all know that I have survived the ordeal and am back in EL.
It was a miracle that I am alive and I need to give my thanks to all who gave positive thoughts and prayers to me and my family, ....it worked! Also to those who took the time to interact with the blog, thank you.

I think that it is time to put the blog to bed as it has done a wonderful job in keeping interested people abreast of things, but this has all come to a wonderful conclusion, just basically forward from here!

If anyone wants to contact me, here are my details,

Colin Kemp

colin@kempestates.co.za
www.kempestates.co.za
h) 083 281 2210
w) 043 748 1112

7 Nov

Going to fetch Colin on Friday. He'll be going to mom's place at Seaspray in Gonubie for a few days to enjoy a bit of sunshine and walking around the beachfront, and maybe coming into the office a few times.
Thanks to all for birthday wishes for Tuesday - he nearly didn't make this one but the rest should be a breeze.

1 nov_2

Me and Lyn drove down to PE to meet the team.

When we got there we saw this tall guy walking down the corridor ahead of us, using one crutch and holding the other in his left hand, with a file under his arm. It was Colin - his helper had disappeared for a few minutes and Colin thought what the hell, let me try with one crutch and Voila!. Well we walked around a bit, outside to the front entrance where Colin had been carried in on a stretcher a few days ago, and which side of the hospital he hadn't seen yet, we met the occupational therapist, physiotherapist, social worker, and doctor. They are all very impressed and amazed at Colin's progress and are all in agreement that he can be discharged next week Friday. Colin is managing to dress himself but wont be able to drive for a while and the team have recommended that he takes it easy for a few months so he will probably only be going in to the office for a short while every day in the beginning. He's thinking of taking in a boarder at the house to help with cooking, possibly driving, so if anyone has any bright ideas in that department please let me know. I thought that maybe he could offer accomodation to some backpackers or something like that and could also show them a bit of the countryside. I'll be going down next week Friday to fetch him.

He asked me to take his paraglider harness down to PE, which he has donated to the Hawkwind Flying Club. Me and Lyn spent an hour or so with him before driving back and I must express Colin's gratitude to Cal and all the people from the club who helped him on the mountain. Cal, especially for managing to hold his flopping leg still for so long, and to the guys from the SANDF in the chopper - Colin says he was NOT going to be driven off that mountain.

It's quite entertaining listening to his account of his perception of what was happening to him at the hospital in his semi dream state. People holding him down, tying him to the bed, whilst trying to explain to them that there's nothing wrong with him, and some of them laughing with evil laughs and just tying the restraints tighter. Then there was this THING in his head, going through his brain, invading his head, which he managed to rip out, which he subsequently realised was his respirator pipe, which he did actually manage to rip out, much to the consternation of the nursing staff. He learned also to be quiet when nurses approached because the guy next to him was quite noisy and they would inject him with STUFF to keep him quiet - he would hear him shouting and then the shouts would get weaker, and weaker, and then die away completely, and there was nothing you could do and you couldn't talk to tell them there was nothing wrong with you and if they would just let you of the damn bed and untie your arm you would show them.

I have this feeling that being near death on a few occasions Colin has been to a place that people dont normally go to and has come back with something more than what he left with. Not quite sure what it is but when you spend some time with him I think you will feel it too.

Looking forward to a braai - yes a braai - with Geoff and Rocky this Saturday and thanks to them for visiting him at Aurora, thanks to the Institute for gifts much appreciated, to Antoinette for bringing them and visiting,to Dr du Toit for visiting him at Greenacres and Aurora, to old buddies who he's been phoning and to those who've phoned even though it's sort of against the rules but appreciated nevertheless but they still dont want him to be stressed with too much buzz from the outside world. Thanks to Belinda and Chris and looking forward to seeing you Chris ;)

1 Nov 2007

29 Oct

As said before no news is good news. Colin phoned me yesterday, sitting outside, just revelling in the early summer weather, inspired, motivated, not looking forward to the pain of the physio this morning but appreciative of the fact that it is necessary. Really enjoyed a visit from Alan T on Sat and phoned a whole bunch of people over the weekend. Alan took him his favourite pillow and a couple of other things, a nice razor and mom sent him some barley sweets. Colin's off the catheter and starting to have good and regular bowel movements - not a polite dinner topic but when you haven't had one for six weeks quite a relief I can imagine - is able to go to the loo himself, has had his first shower, sitting down but immensely satisfying. Everyone who has spoken to him is just so amazed with his zest for life, I imagine having come so close to losing it adds colour and dimension to what the rest of us just take for granted. So many of the patients at Aurora are also so much worse off, and yet still appreciate what they have. Colin is also so impressed and appreciative of the outpouring of concern for him. There are so many things we dont understand about the universe and one of them is the power of prayer and positive thought. Thanks to all for spending some time thinking about Colin, praying for him, and sending positive thoughts out. It's been a humbling experience for us all.

26 OCT

Sorry I gave the incorrect number for Aurora - the correct number is 041 - 368 7285

I see there are also visiting hours on weekends and public holidays from 11:00 - 12:00

Physio going well - lots of pain but walking between parallel bars and very positive.

Looks like he'll be there for three weeks.

Will be going down next week towards the end of the week and will hear from the team what sort of prognosis they predict.

time

for those of you who think I keep wierd hours, the blog time defaults to GMT -8 which is Pacific time - I have reset it to GMT +2.

Colin at Aurora

24 Oct

Colin's booked in at Aurora and is looking really good. He has his cell phone but is still very weak and the staff would prefer it if he didn't really receive calls right now. Although he's totally compos mentis he is like a space traveller who's been away after being away in some wierd and wonderful and not so wonderful places and just needs time for it all to sink in - a bit like the mother of all jet lags.

He had his first taste of physio this afternoon and reckons he's going to sweat (he used a different word) but is looking forward to it.

Visiting Hours at Aurora are Mon - Fri 15:30 - 16:30 and Weekends 15:00 - 16:00. Evening visits are 19:00 - 20:00

UPDATED INFO - MORNING VISITS ARE ALSO ALLOWED OVER WEEKENDS AND PUBLIC HOLIDAYS FROM 11 :00 TO 12:00

To get there is quite easy - take the William Moffet Expressway and turn left at Williams Hunt into Alan Drive and then it's about 4 or 5 kilos down the road on the left after a few townhouse complexes.

Their tel no is 041 368 7285
SORRY - I GAVE THE WRONG NUMBER - THE ABOVE IS CORRECT
He'll be there for about 10 days and I'm sure will appreciate visits.

23 Oct (2)

Had a call this evening from an old friend down in Port Elizabeth. A voice from the past he said. Said his name was Colin. Couldnt believe it. Chatted flat out for about 3 min before I could get in a word edgeways - asked him what about his lungs and breathing when he talks so much - he said he's been doing lung exersizes big time. Voice sounds the same but for a blocked nose kind of sound. All of the literature on the net tells of a big chance that there will be compromised lung capacity after ARDS to the extent that some survivors have to carry oxygen around with them so its incredible that only a few days after coming off the respirator he is totally off oxygen and managing to carry on a conversation without sounding short of breath at all.

Colin is very philosophical about the whole thing and looking forward to a new chapter in his life. Says being out for so long has messed up his sense of time, was convinced that Christmas was just the other day but says he's busy sorting that all out and as time passes his sense of time is returning. Says he could feel all the good wishes from all the people around the world.

He's moving to Aurora at around 11 am and I'm going down to PE in the morning and after spending some time with him around midday will return with mom and will fetch Colin in a week or ten days. Not sure if he'll have his phone but dont see any reason why not unless for security reasons but will check it out and report when I get back tomorrow evening.

Hallelujah!

23 Oct

This afternoon doctors from Aurora Hospital in PE will be assessing Colin and he is provisionally booked in to be admitted there tomorrow. He was transferred from ICU to a general ward yesterday and is talking flat out, catching up for lost time, it seems. His reading glasses disappeared so mom's a bit worried about leaving his cell phone with him but once he goes to Aurora he'll probably have it with him.
Aurora are specialsts in rehabilitation - they have the physio's biokineticists, pool, etc on tap - and will be the best thing for Colin right now - I'll be going down to PE either today or tomorrow to bring our long suffering matriarch back home at long bloody last and look forward to my first chat with Colin in a long time - I would like to arrange internet access for him but am a bit nervous of leaving my notebook there so he will probably just have to make do with a cell phone whilst he's there.
Probably post again after seeing Colin tomorrow.

21 Oct

More good news. Off the ventilator and off the oxygen - breathing pure undiluted unadulterated room air through his mouth and nose. T-piece out and hole stitched up. Eating jelly and drinking water. Chatting flat out with mom. Wants his computer. Sat in a chair for 2 hours, stood on his own two feet but couldnt walk or shuffle yet. Looks like he'll be out of Greenacres this week - where to remains to be seen. Superb effort by all at Greenacres - I know at times I've been critical but credit must also be given where it's due, without them Colin would be history and the negative comments were mainly concerned with communication skills and not nursing skills. Thanks guys and girls from ICU, High Care, doctors, nursing staff and last but not least, admin staff!
After I wrote this I realised that perhaps the biggest thank you of all go to all of you who have held Colin in their thoughts and prayers 'cause with all of that positive energy there was no other possible outcome.
Life, is what we make of it.

20 Oct (2)

Today Colin had his first full on conversation with my mom. Totally lucid, asked for a newspaper, wanted to know all about the accident and what happened afterwards, discussed plans for the future as well as business plans he's been thinking about - totally relaxed and with it - quite clearly dispelling any fears about his mental status - with all the oxygen it may even be better than before ! My guess is he'll be out of ICU / High care in a week and either back in EL or at a clinic to do some intensive physio but we'll see what the specialists recommend next week.
I'm not sure if he'll be watching rugger tonight but there is a screen in his room.
Allez le bokke Allez !

20 Oct (day 50)

Yesterday morning and afternoon Colin appeared to have been sedated to such an extent that he was not really "with it", in the sense that his eyes were rolling around and he was not interacting with his surroundings, or with people. The nurse on duty said that she had only given him half the normal sedative so she couldn't understand it. Yesterday evening was better in the sense that he was aware of his surroundings but extremely agitated and aggressive.

The t-piece has been fitted and is still connected to the respirator, which is just delivering oxygen. There is a hole in the t piece which, if covered with a finger, allows the patient to talk. Although he mumbled a few things mom couldnt pick anything up until he got really agitated and without even putting a finger on the hole quite clearly and loudly said "P... off" - his first words in nearly 50 days. Mom was quite upset but saw the funny side later on. Now he reminds me of Moses wandering in the wilderness for 40 days and 40 nights.

After my last post I thought Colin was fully back with us but it seems like there will still be stages of confusion and withdrawal symptoms from all the drugs he's been on for so long, but this is a new phase in the recovery, I think the last word on the last chapter has been written.

Allez Colin Allez !

18 OCT (2)

Unbelievable news - Colin is sitting in a chair ! Mom got there at visiting time and there he was, sitting in a chair - still attached to the ventilator but bright, alert, gave her a hug, quite amazing. Next step is to take him off the ventilator and attach the T piece and then I think they monitor him for a day or two and then put him on an oxygen mixture through a face mask. Dare I say it? Through the woods !

18 Oct

Even more progress yesterday - they took the respirator down to zero - he is breathing entirely on his own with no mechanical assistance other than the oxygen mixture is 40%, whereas the air we breathe is 20%. The next step is to remove the ventilator pipe and leave a T piece in place for emergencies, while they leave him with just an oxygen mask on. Heartrate still over 100 and I've explained to Colin that he must relax to bring it down. He does tend to get very excitable. It is for him a very difficult time as there is apparently still a lot of confusion and an automatic response from him is aggression - one nurse asked me whether he had a "fight or flight" type of personality - as this comes out during this stage - he very definetely has the former.
I met the orthopaedic surgeon yesterday - he came down during visiting hours to show us the most recent x rays and was very pleased with the bone formation, although indicated that there may be too much in the shoulder. From the beginning he indicated that another procedure would have to be performed on the shoulder if Colin wanted full function back but that he could make a decision on that in good time. The pelvis fractures are healing well and although the femur still has a way to go there has been good progress. He indicated that he would like to see Colin go to a specialised rehabilitation centre like the Aurora clinic in PE for a while, as he is going to need intensive physio and they specialise in that sort of thing. I have been there for a visit before and know that they are leaders in their field so we will investigate that.

photo of colin 17 Oct

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17 Oct

Colin is much better - respirator down to 2 ! really excellent - heartrate still a bit high, temp normal - specialist talking about possibly moving him to EL next week !
A picture tells a thousand words - heres a pic of Colin just after he bliksem'd a sister (serious - gave her a bloody lip)- then mom was tugging on his other arm and he gave her hand a smack as well - the sister was quite upset - first time in 27 years she's been smacked by a patient. She can count her lucky stars - I think it was just a warning smack - better treat him with more respect from now one - No wonder they keep him tethered.
He might be off the ventilator in 48 hours and not a second too soon as it looks like he wants to discharge himself pipes and all - I released his right arm and it wasn't 5 min before he managed to pull out his ventilator pipe which I managed to stick back in before any alarms went off.
I asked him for a smile for the photo which he gave quite obligingly.

16 Oct

Like I said, no news is good news. However, there has also been good news. Specialist recommended that the drip be removed from Colin's neck and inserted in his finger (that's what mom said - I would have thought arm) but wherever, as it may have been causing an infection or irritation. It seemed to do the trick as his heartrate went down to under 100 almost immediatelly.

Mom's brother Oom Francois, tannie Este and daughter Lize and kids are in PE for the day and I havent been able to get hold of her for an update but she was really chuffed with his progress yesterday - he also managed to point out three words (sorry cant remember them) but couldn't complete what he was trying to say, on the printed keyboard.

I have some business to attend to in PE and have arranged to go down tomorrow, either just for the day or back on Thursday so looking forward to reporting on some more improvement on my return. On our way back on Sun we got caught in that speedtrap in the Ciskei - that village on the side of the road where the speed limit is 60 - I was doing 112, expecting the road sign but I genuinely never saw it - well the traffic cop wrote out most of the ticket before letting me off what would have been a thousand buck fine - I've said it before but someone, somewhere, is on our side. They are human after all - I was so chuffed I gave him a big bear hug (and nothing else, I'm sure he didn't even expect anything in return and I had left my wallet in the car so even though I felt like giving him something, couldnt, so gave him another big hug.)

Mom spoke to the specialist about moving Colin to EL but he's not in favour at this stage and indicated that he hoped that Colin MIGHT be taken off the ventilator by the end of the week. Personally I think that's a bit optimistic, but its encouraging to know that the experts are predicting the end of that horrible road soon. Apparently his lung xrays have shown dramatic improvement as well - they must have been pretty bad because they've shown dramatic improvement on at least three occasions, but perhaps they've gone backwards as well, I'm not sure.

I popped in to Kemp Estates today for a few hours and intend to move my base of operations there in the interim so if anyone feels like popping in for a cup of java you know where I will be.

PS - Got hold of mom and Colin was very woelig this afternoon and this evening but the respirator is down to 4 ! Thats the minimum before taking him off ! Hold thumbs.
Thanks Lize for the emails and I hope you dont mind if I quote one of them here

"God allows life to be rocky. His challenge is not to let the rocks grind u to dust but to polish u to become a brilliant gem! Stay shinin!"

14 oct

Forgot to mention, we untethered him yesterday and his good arm immediatelly went up to his nose, where the feeding tube goes in, wanting to know what this THING is in his nose, and then to the back of his head, where he just felt his head, had a scratch, and just held his head for a while. He wanted to raise his torso a little, move his pelvis, and communicate, but cant with the pipe in his throat so we were trying to guess what he wanted to say and were eliciting little smiles, frowns, rolling of the eyes and wry looks. I think being crucified would come close to the suffering he is going through having a pipe through his throat and nose and being tethered on hands and wrists.

To anyone who might be concerned about whether his mental faculties have been impaired by being on a ventilator and sedated for so long I must say that his responses to questions are immediate and both me and Ilse and my mom believe that there are no indications at all that his mental faculties have been compromised. A doctor friend who saw him did express some concern about that but bearing in mind that he's been so heavily sedated for so long we think he must have seen him when he was quite heavily under. My impression from day one has been that even when very heavily sedated Colin has responded well whenever surfacing, even if just for seconds. Yesterday was the most awake we've ever seen him and for example, yesterday Ilse was wiping his face with a damp cloth, and asked him to close his eyes, which he did, one by one, and close his mouth, which he did immediatelly, and pursed his lips, and afer a while grabbed the cloth, and took it to his mouth where he just rested it on his lips - you can imagine having no liquid pass your lips all day, it must get pretty dry - the only liquid he gets, other than when they brush his teeth, I think once a day, is though his drip. This wetting of the lips with a cloth also brought the image of someone being crucified to me but I must immediatelly say that however bad it must be, it could have been worse. There is a guy in a bed close by who'se back was broken in a motor car accident a few days ago, and when you see the rocks Colin fell on, it is a miracle that his back in still in one piece. It's been six weeks now and his bones must be just about ready to take weight, once he gets out of here, but he's going to require intensive physio and rehabilitation as just walking is going to be a mission.

He does try to cough quite frequently but I think this is normal, being on the ventilator, and they just have to suck the phleghm out as often as necessary. His hands are still very strong and he is trying to move his legs as if he is trying to do leg raises. Not a bad idea to counteract the muscle wasting as both his legs appear to have lost substantial muscle mass, but I tried to explain to him that he must try to control his heartrate to bring it down. He appeared to understand. I think that is the only thing now preventing him from coming off the respirator. It was so close a few days ago. Apparently once on 4 they can take him off, and he was on 4 when he started hyperventillating and they had to put it way back to 10. It was on 6 on Thursday but yesterday back on 8. Temperature better, but still warmer than his normal, which appears to be around 36.6. It was around 37.5 but not running a fever as such. Will hit the road after visiting at 11 am and report again when back in EL.

13 Oct

So pleased we came down. Colin was kind of awake when we got there, still dazed and confused due to the sedation, shaking his finger at the sister, must be so frustrating not being able to talk, both legs and arms tethered as he is still very agitated when he comes to - heartrate down to 120 and around 116 when we were there, temperature slightly down. All the swelling in his arms has gone down, neck down to normal, they'vd shaved his moustache off so that contributes to the whole lean look - obviously losing muscle mass but generally looking MUCH better. Heart rate remains a concern and respirator back to 8, so he wasn't ready for the 4, but that's how it goes with weaning. Bought some lekker little speakers for my mp3 player and plugged them in - dont know if it was as a result of that but his heartrate seemed to go down straight away. Have left it there and am sure it will create a better ambiance in his room, better than the continual beeping.
Nearly visiting time, took mom out for a drive and got some lekker take away pizza's - she's coping well, after 6 weeks. More later.

12 Oct (2)

There was good progress this morning - respirator down to 4 and Colin relaxed and mom speaking to him and she thinks he was understanding what she was saying. When she got there at 3pm the machine was back up to 10 as he apparently started hyperventillating and his heartrate shot up to 170 - so they put it back up but had taken it back down to 6 this evening, as it was earlier this morning - so the old outboard wasn't ready for a leaner mixture quite yet - temperature is a bit of a concern at 37.5 but they are giving him anti-biotics and are waiting for a culture to see which little buggers they need to target. Crisis seems to be over and hope to report some good news first hand tomorrow / Sun

12 Oct

Temperature now high as well and heartrate even higher - up to 130 - giving him STRONG antibiotics again - eaven heavier sedated than normal - x rays of lung show improvement - cultures taken, no results available yet - me and Ilse going down tomorrow - may post again later this evening.

11 Oct

Heartrate still inexplicably high: 110 - 120 - specialist keeping an eye on it. Temperature normal (which is good as infections can kill these patients), and the good news is that the respirator has been turned down to 6 - specialist wants to keep it there for 2 or 3 days before turning it down more - the outboard's going, dont want to choke it ! He reckons off respirator by thursday next week - I know it's a week later than initial thinking last week but these things go s l o w, there is a high mortality rate and treading on egg shells aint nothing like what they have to do here - all indications are good - looks like we need a concerted effort of positive waaibs and prayers and whatever you can all muster for this last push. Will see him on Sat / Sun and report first hand. Thanks for all the support people from here, around the country and around the planet.

founders day

for those of you who dont know what it's all about - cant imagine there are too many of you - heres a pic from the Selborne web site.

10 Oct

Respirator still on 8 - they dont want to rush it - still very sedated - thanks to everyone for good wishes prayers and positive vibes - mom sounded very positive tonight but starting to get a bit gatvol of being away for so long and wanting to get back home with Colin in time for the rugby final next weekend - I think thats a bit ambitious as I think they need to keep him under observation for at least a week after they take him off the respirator. She's a real fighter and stayer - no wonder she could complete the London marathon at the age of whatever it was, I dont recall. She quite clearly comes from the sort of frontier people who would have survived something like a British concentration camp in the Boer war. Good genes !
Me and Ilse are planning to go down this weekend. Like I said before, no news is good news so if you dont hear from me take it as good news, not that I am planning to post any less - there just hasn't been too much to report - which is to be expected - the rate at which they wean him is difficult to forecast. I dont think that they will be able to achieve their last week goal of getting him off by the end of this week, realistically hopefully next week some time, but looking forward to seeing the bugger and thanks to Alan Angus for those cd's - will also be taking a little mp3 player down. I didn't make Selborne Founders day last Friday - couldn't believe I completely forgot about it - so apologies to the old alma mater and any of my old mates who pitched up - I really enjoy the ceremony of the key - stirring stuff, I still remember the cue to take our berets off - now we shall pray.. 2,3.. off with the beret, and the hyms I suppose can be described as strident,stirring, military sort of stuff, and always the same - I hope they remain the same for another 100 years. "oh God our help in ages past, our help for years to come, our shelter from the stormy blast, and our eternal home" - something in that hym just resonates in me and I want it sung at my funeral one day - pity I wont be there - I know Colin enjoys the ceremony as well and has often accompanied me and would particularly have enjoyed the weekend, being the 30th reunion and all - hope you guys had a wonderful time.
Cheers for now.

8 Oct (2)

Specialist very happy with progress - planning to reduce ventilator to 6 (from 8 today) tomorrow and possibly off the ventilator completely by week end and on a t-piece which they keep in the tracheotomy hole so he can still use oxygen if necessary and so they can plug him in to the respirator easily if necessary. I think he will be able to talk even with the t-piece in and they only keep that in for a few days and then it's off that and if he needs O2 he can use it via a mask - so all on track with the emphasis on taking it slow and step by step. This ARDS is a bustard ! I think his lucid moments are also getting longer and they will also try to keep him awake during the day and try to let him sleep at night once everything goes well, as being asleep for over a month apparently plays havoc with one's normal sleeping patterns. Physio is going to be very important and although they've been doing what they can now they've been reluctant to ruk and pluk him too much.
More tomorrow.

8 Oct

Stable, temperature normal, heartrate still quite high, respirator still on 8 - will try reducing some more this week. Me and the boys had a weekend away in Port Alfred with another old friend and spent some quality time on the river.
More when available.

5 Oct

Colin appears to be stable, temperature around 37.5 oxygen reduced to pre yesterday levels, and respirator back on 8 so nearly back on track. Thanks to Martin from Majorca for phoning - hope you enjoy the boat show in Genoa - what a life - I dont suppose many people know but Colin's second name is Martin, and my first son's name is also Martin - Colin got it from our maternal grandfather Marthinus de Wet, and me and Ilse wanted a "bilingual" name but I also felt that I'd like to link my sons' name with an adventurous soul like Colin who I think was also in Majorca at that stage, selling time share, and I also had the Martin I refer to above in mind - he's been a globe trotter since an early age. Good on yer mate. Us and the Krog's go way back, just before Alison, Frans Moolman and the Gypseys, Hugh Derby (bless his soul) and the evenings spent playing guitar at the Woodholme in the lounge, or at the yacht club sipping wine. I remember seeing Martin surfing at Gonubie point, like unbelievable - no fear and just thrashing the waves - going LEFT into the bowl and just cruising. Me and Alan by comparison really pendantic but enjoyable nontheless. Those were the days.... wheeze wheeze, ...now where are my slippers? more good news tomorrow !

4 Oct

Colin went in for the minor op this afternoon and had a bit of a bad reaction to something after he came out - heartrate went up to close to 140, complexion very yellow, panic stations set in with nurses running around, calling the specialist, giving Colin more oxygen. Apparently there was another incident yesterday when his oxygen pipe became blocked.If he wasn't in icu there is little doubt that both incidents would have meant he would be paragliding with the angels right now, but fortunatelly they stabilised him swiftly and although his heartrate was still around 130 this evening, his temperature is down to normal (thank heavens) and the ventilator is still down to 8. All the literature we have found on the net warn of a few hiccups along the road to recovery. Mom was understandably quite freaked out as she witnessed both incidents and has taken a bit of strain over the last two days. Colin smiled at a nurse this morning when she cracked a joke and shook his head this evening when mom asked if he was in any pain, so they seem to be reducing the sedative and hopefully he will become more and more aware of what's going on and be in more of a state to co-operate with the weaning process.

and more

more photos

accident scene photos

3 Oct

Colin had a bit of a temperature this morning which is not good but it went down a bit this afternoon. The ventilator has been set at 12 breaths per minute and they have managed to bring it down to 8, which means that he's doing the other 4 himself and throwing in another 2 or 3 for good measure , which means that the weaning is going according to plan. Just hope the temperature doesn't jeopardise anything. The specialist advised the nurses not to give him antibiotics but rather to wait until tomorrow to see if he doesn't sort out the infection himself. Tomorrow he goes in to theatre to have the wire removed from his shoulder as they couldnt do it in icu but it should be a minor and pretty standard procedure. He was still fully sedated today.

Gerhardus Combrink was at the scene and took a lot of photos and kindly sent them to me - they are really fantastic and when you look at the view you can understand why these people take the risks they do, even if they turn into Icarus now and again and become fallen angels, and now Colin has turned into a Rip van Winkel. I'll post some of the photos just now.

2 Oct (2)

They are trying to wean him off ventilator - they set it at 12 breaths per minute and then reduce it by 2 at a time but he started hyperventillating when they tried the first time today so they will try again later. While we were there he was breathing up to 10 times per minute on his own, but not necessarily an indication of anything as his heart rate was up around 110 and he was clearly quite agitated. He opened his eyes once and nodded when I said to him that he was still at GreenAcres hospital. Took a few photos and will post one just now. Getting him off the ventilator seems to be a bit like tuning an outboard engine that hasn't been used for a while - you need to know what you're doing and get the mixture just right - I think the carburettor is ready - just the rest of the stuff that needs to be balanced.

2 Oct

Tues morning 5 am. Thinking about Colin and what the doctor said. Within a few days, if all goes according to plan and he is removed successfully from the ventilator, we can start thinking about moving him back to EL, with the emphasis on Start thinking. Probably at least two weeks in ICU or High Care. But I played a bit of music for him on my cell phone last night - just put it quietly next to his head and played for an hour - also helps visiting hour go by when he's doped to the gills. Anyway, the point I'm trying to make is that so many people have offered their help in any way, but there is not really much anyone can do at this stage, especially as they dont really allow visitors other than immediate family, but what would be nice is if those of you that have the technical ability, and these days most people can burn a cd, could make up cd's (in either mp3 or wav format (or dvd's) of your favourite music or music you think Colin would like - he enjoys a wide range of music, from strange Spanish trance music to Bob Dylan and rocking classics with extensive harmonica riffs like the evergreen Highway 66 - he always has music playing at his home - just a thought, and of course visits - he's probably going to be home for a while before he gets up and about, but we'll know more about the sort of length and rehabilitation program in time. Maybe movies would be good as well.Documentaries as well - these days most people can record dvd's off the tv - if you see any interesting programs coming up - technical, scientific, nature, motivational thinking, whatever - think of maybe compiling something for Colin.
Thanx

1 Oct (2)

Specialist is very happy with Colin's improvement. The x rays they took yesterday show a vast improvement over those taken last week Thursday, when there was apparently no or little improvement over the last batch - the x rays show white spots which is apparently inflammation or fluid and as indicated this has reduced dramatically. Colin opened his eyes a few times this afternoon and a couple of times seemed to know what was going on and recognised me but it must be hellishly frustrating not being able to communicate or just scratch, or even cough properly - they have to suck fluids out of his throat - when you think of how many times a minute you actually clear your own throat, Colin wants to do it but cant and then his face goes red and he really seems to sukkel, but then it goes away and his colour returns to normal. Lip has healed almost completely, complexion looks very good, swelling overall has gone down, rash which was apparently caused by cortisone has gone down substantially, but the nurses are dreading it when he finally wakes - the bigger ones say the little ones wont have a chance because he kicks around so much - at the moment both his wrists are tethered and when he comes to for a few seconds he strains his neck trying to sit up and tries to move his arms to scratch whatever is itching but cant - I tried to explain to him that he must remain patient (excuse the pun) for a while longer and I think he understands. Specialist is positive, nurses are positive, mom is also sounding very positive. Will see him tonight and tomorrow morning and then return to EL. The orthpod is away till tomorrow afternoon so I wont be talking to him but apparently the bones have started healing very well. Probably most positive post so far. Took a photo of him when I realised I had forgotten to switch my cell phone off but it didn't come out well - very blurred - I think I'll leave it till he's awake.
Thats all for now - thanks to all for your thoughts and prayers - please keep them coming !

1 Oct

Well it was a month ago today.
I'm in PE and visited Colin a few min ago. Looking very peaceful. Nurses say he is breathing quite a lot spontaneously and a lot depends on the x rays they took yesterday - me and mom are seeing the specialist at 12:45 and will have more to report thereafter.

28 Sept (2)

Spoke to mom - he's very agitated and thrashing his good arm and leg all over the place - even kicked the old lady one shot ! They removed the wire from his arm - it was a temporary repair - I think they just put a piece of bloudraad in for the time being - nurses say he is just withdrawing from the morphine and needs to go through it - being a smoker (hopefully an ex smoker after all this) apparently makes it worse (is anyone listening ?)- maybe he just wants to get to the re-union next weekend and the buggers wont let him go...he is still on the respirator but they are reducing oxygen levels and he is starting to breathe more and more by himself. Sounds like business as usual and all on track from a clinical point of view but all quite troubling for mom.
Will be going down either tomorrow or monday to see for myself.

28 Sept

No news is good news, will post again later.

26 Sept

Good news - he had a bowel movement and everyone is happy - I also enjoy having one but never thought I'd tell the world how happy we are that Colin had one ! Specialist was at the hospital at visiting time this afternoon and saw mom and was quite upbeat - they've taken him off morphine - from 10mg every hour to nothing seems to me like a very positive thing as well - they are still struggling to take him off the respirator but it looks like bringing him off morphine is part of the process - he's still very bloated and has a bad rash which apparently may have something to do with the cortisone they are giving him - what a cocktail of drugs he is getting ! mom sounded really positive - she's my barometer and she was sounding very upbeat this evening.

Had a good suggestion from Bruce Rothman:
Very Tongue in Cheak (sic), I'm wont to ask whether you'll arrange a day when the 30 year crowd (Yeah - I'm almost amazed at how many of us are still around), could come in and do Colin's sedating ourselves! What with the natural diuretic value of that wonderful distilled product of the Scottish Hig'lands, we'd have his kidneys working right-as-rain!

Sounds like a good idea!

25 Sept

Doctor spoke to Colin this morning and told him to stick his tongue out - he cant speak with the respirator in place - and he stuck his tongue out - he's still very heavily sedated as they cant take him off the ventilator yet - they are trying, by reducing the oxygen content, but apparently he started struggling, indicating that he's not coping yet, so they will monitor and continue with the weaning process, which is encouraging, as they wouldn't be trying to wean him if the lung infection was still in place. Kidneys are functioning but there is apparently a concern because there has been no bowel movement since the accident so they'll be calling in a specialist to look at that if no change (if you'll excuse the half hearted pun) tomorrow. Its a long road and I think the indications are mostly good, I think he's on track but there are still all sorts of dangers and complications that are possible. He's still very swollen and like I said, heavily sedated like in unconscious 99% of the time, but intentionally unconscious. If they wanted to bring him out of it they could but they keep him there because its the best for him at this stage.
More when available. Good wishes still coming in from around the globe. Keep up those positive thoughts, prayers and meditations. As a lawyer I became quite cynical about human nature but this incident has reminded me what goodness people have in them and what makes us the most successfull animals on the planet - our genuine interest in others and desire to help them. Your good wishes are a constant source of strength to us all ! Colin has touched many of your lives and will continue to do so. Aluta continua !

24 Sept

We last saw Colin yesterday at 11 and mom says when she saw him today his position was pretty unchanged. Still quite swollen and giving him medication to keep the urine production going and very heavily sedated. Its important to get him off the respirator asap but today being a public holiday he'll have to wait until tomorrow before the specialist sees him and makes an assessment. Thanks for your good wishes "middle child", Alison, Francois and Sunette - yes ARDS is a monster - I'd never heard of it before but it seems to actually be quite common, especially with multiple injuries and especially when the lungs are involved. I wonder whether Colins lungs were not involved initially - when you see the break in his upper arm, right in the shoulder joint it's not difficult to imagine a huge shock to the lungs,but I'm just speculating, it doesn't appear to have to start with trauma to the lungs. At this stage it's one day at a time and back to reporting second hand via mom in PE.
Although I'm certainly not qualified to comment, it seems to me strange that the hospital rotates nursing staff in the ICU, so that each day a different person will nurse diferent patients. I would have thought that it would be important to have first hand knowledge of a long term patients history - for instance the swelling doesn't necessarily look shocking to someone who doesn't know Colin, because it takes on his body's proportions, but to someone who had seen him previously it would be immediatelly noticeable. (he looks like he could weigh 95 kg, instead of his normal 75) I understand that in some hospitals they try to keep nurses with patients because they become familiar with the patient's history. I suppose there must be very good reasons why this hospital has adopted this regime. I suppose that one benefit of many nurses attending to one patient over a period of time is that you have many eyes and minds considering the same patient - there are probably benefits to both systems.
Will report more tomorrow. Keep up those good vibes and if any of you have some room for improvement, give some thought to looking after your lungs better - they are our primary interface with the world.

22 Sep

Colin seems to be stable, temperature 36.6, heartrate 80 - 90 ish, heavily sedated but opened his eyes briefly and definitelly recognised us, but only fleetingly, then back into the mists. It's an interesting situation - they give him a drug to suppress his normaly respiration, so that he doesn't fight the respirator, and then when they wean him off the respirator they have to decrease that drug so that his natural breathing takes over - they are very wary of weaning him too early because if he's not ready for it then he has to go back on the respirator. They also have to bring him back to consciousness so that he works with them. At the moment he is too restless when he surfaces so they sedate him heavily, so its quite a fine balancing act they have to perform. Weaning will only start on Monday, if the indications are all good, as the nursing staff have to wait for the go ahead from the specialists. Obviously the longer under constant anasthesia the greater the risks of other problems cropping up. His urine output dropped yesterday and that could mean kidney's showing signs of stress, but they gave him something to encourage urine production and it worked, so we're hoping for the go ahead on Monday, as his body will function better when he's conscious.
Ilse did some more research on "lung shock" or ARDS (Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome), which appears to be what affected Colin as a result of the breaks to the bones in his body - bone marrow and fat get released into the blood supply and find their way into the capillaries supplying the lungs and cause damage to the "extremely thin membrane (alveolar- capillary membrane) that prevents fluids from passing into the alveolar space. ... damage to the alveolar-capillary membrane causes it to become permeable. This allows fluid from the blood vessels to flood the air sacs, making it difficult, and sometimes impossible, for oxygen to enter the capillaries." (See the ohiohealth link below.)

Thereafter, he developed some infection, which has by now hopefully cleared up.
The difficulty which he had excreting urine has resulted in his body becoming quite bloated - but as indicated above they gave him something which sorted that out, although his urine production tonight wasn't that good.

Links to ARDS can be found on
http://www.ohiohealth.com/bodymayo.cfm?xyzpdqabc=0&id=6&action=detail&ref=3795
http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/Diseases/Ards/Ards_All.html
http://www.ards.org/learnaboutards/whatisards/harborview/
You will see that the reported mortality rate is pretty high - 30 - 40 % - I am sure that Colin has left those sort of odds behind him. Thanks to all for your thoughts and prayers. Ilse chatted to a guy in the waiting room whose 10 year old son was involved in a motor accident today and is in a coma - Eeesch... what a heartbreaking place a hospital can be - I was watching cricket while this poor guy was sitting there all on his own.

More tomorrow or monday.

20 Sept

This morning mom phoned and was a bit despondent - the infection in the lungs is still evident so they cant take him off the respirator yet and he's still fully sedated although opens his eyes from time to time - I'm just so grateful I saw him compos mentis for a few seconds so know that he's still inside there somewhere - amazing what the soul is or the individual - where does it hide or go to when unconscious or is it just a mass of cells that somehow function together and create this personality when awake - as some people believe - Colin used to be very interested in astral projection - hope he's making full use of the opportunity now, although I dont think so because if it's possible I think one needs to be able to focus ones concentration and I dont think the drugs allow him to do that - I think he's just adrift in this interminable sea somewhere with who knows what sounds, colours and sensations - just hope the visions are benign.

anyway mom said she would be seeing a man about a shaking matress - apparently Aubrey Klinkradt had one after his horror encounter with flesh eating bugs kept him on his back for I think 8 months - well lo and behold, this afternoon the matress was installed at the hospital - apparently it shakes electronically and prevents bedsores - doctors and everyone fully agrees that it is a fantastic aid but the hospitals dont supply them because of the cost factor.

Looking forward to going down on Saturday and seeing for myself what progress after a week. I'm based in East London next week and then finish my current contract and will be more flexible time wise and able to go down to PE if necessary during the week, possibly to relieve the old lady a bit. Keep up the positive energy, prayers and good wishes!

19 Sept

haven't heard anything from mom and havent wanted to bother her (and I think she hasn't wanted to bother me) - I'm sure no news is good news - will report again tomorrow.

19 Sept

Not much more to say - mom says she was quite upset when she saw him yesterday afternoon as he was fighting his restraints and still isn't conscious - probably 10 - 20 % conscious - last night he was more relaxed, his heart rate was up to 118 but probably because of the stress caused by fighting to get up - apparently he tries to lift his head and I know when I was there he was continually trying to scratch an itch on his face but couldn't because of the restraints - temperature normal - must be torture but at least everything seems to be looking good - me and Ilse going down this weekend to see for ourselves - hold thumbs for the removal of the respirator today / tomorrow.

18 Sept (2)

Still heavily sedated and fighting restraints when surfacing but looking good and starting weaning process (off respirator).

18 Sept

The Blog sub title has changed
No longer "updates on Colins condition"
Now - "updates on Colins progress" !

17 Sept

Just spoke to mom, she visited Colin and reports that he is resting well, although heavily sedated as he was quite restless before that.

She also saw the orthopaedic surgeon who reports that it will be at least 2 weeks before we can move him. The shoulder fracture was just temporarily repaired as they didn't want to do too much to him in one op and concentrated on the femur, which was fractured in three places. There is no fracture to the knee - there are drains coming out of the knee because a lot of fluids build up in there due to the trauma and being flat on his back - but colour coming out is clear and thats good. Fracture to pelvis will take at least 8 weeks of flat on back rest.(not sure if 8 weeks from accident or 8 weeks from now)

Xrays and ultra sound examinations of his chest were performed and as soon as those are available, if positive, and I think they expect them to be, they will start weaning him off the ventilator and keeping him less sedated.

More as I hear it.

Now that I have a soap box

Please excuse me for indulging but these thoughts kept going through my head whle sitting in the hospital and I thought I'd put them down in writing:

The Genesis and The Exodus

The cold clinical corridors
Scented by coffee and detergents
Brightened fleetingly by flowers carried by
warm caring people
Strangers at first, seemingly
unaffected by the coming and the going
of new born babies born proudly out the front
and corpses discreetly removed out the back
They speak to me of resignation and defiance
Of pain and joy
A pit stop and an end stop
A beginning and a fresh start
Of humanity and suffering
Of dignity and shame
Of defiance and tolerance
Of suffering and pain
Humbled and grateful
Enriched by their experience
Not at their expense
But vicariously
Be tolerant and ever grateful
And watch your bloody diet !

Theres a sign on the wall setting out the hospital's responsibilities and next to it, the patients responsibilities. No 1 on the list of patient responsibilities is something to the effect of "Look after your body" - how true - when you see some of the patients walking around (and the people visiting them) you cant help thinking that if they had looked after themselves better they wouldn't be there.

I take my hat off to all nursing staff (and doctors) because they are on an emotional roller coaster ride every minute of every day. I once read a book by Isac Asimov and one of the story's was about this Martian who would respond to peoples emotions somehow - eventually he got torn apart or went mad because he started tuning into too many people's emotions - I think of him at the hospital - you look at peoples faces and very seldom see what they are going through, only when you talk to them sometimes. We dont talk enough.

Its trite but its true - crisis bring out the best in the human race !

16 sept

More improvement this morning - when I came into the isolation room, which is situated in ICU, Lynette said look Colin here's Leon and he looked at me and nodded, quite clearly compos mentis, and a bit later the nurse made a comment which made him smile - first time I've seen him smile since the accident, but he's still very heavily sedated and drifting in and out of consciousness and haziness - I mention names of people and he kind of registers - sister says they will be doing an x ray of his lungs tomorrow but she can see that there are no secretions and the fluid coming out is clear, instead of yellow as it was last week, and theres much less - he's breathing easier, heart rate down to 61 but fluctuates when he wakes to around 80 - 90. Once they take him off the respirator they put him on oxygen for three days but with a metal valve in his throat in case they need to plug him in again - When they take him off respirator depends on outcome of x rays and whether he can breathe on is own, which seems to depend on the infection. He is also being fed through a pipe and his stomach and intestines are retaining nutrients. His lip is healing well and skin colour is good, swelling going down all over , neck nearly back to normal dimensions, The operation wounds are still weeping at the shoulder and leg but he is on day three of the new antibiotic and responding very well.

He has been through the valley of the shadow of death and come out on the other side but still has a moer of a long way to go - mom has an appointment with the orthopod tomorrow and will find out when we can start thinking of transporting him back to EL - probably not for a week or two or at least until he's off the ventillator and breathing comfortably on his own. I'm off to Queenstown tomorrow for a week but will post second hand reports ex mom.

15 sep (2)

Well not much to report - situation very similar this afternoon and this evening - they are keeping him heavily sedated, but occasionally he kind of surfaces for a minute or so at a time. Eyes open and reality intrudes with a shock into his dazed, drugged consciousness, you can almost see him asking the question - what the HELL is going on here - he sees us standing around and recognition focuses his eyes and then he's gone - but its controlled, he tries to scrach himself but his arms are tethered at the wrists because of the danger of pulling pipes out, and you can see the frustration, anger, pain, and then it goes away and he slips back into the mists. It's going to be a long time, but he's clearly a hell of a lot better than last week. Me and Lyn going back to EL tomorrow and leaving mom behind.
Cheers for now.

15 Sept

Quite heavily sedated, opening eyes briefly, but pretty unfocussed and glazed (just like normal on a Saturday morning around 3am after a heavy night out !), temperature normal, heart rate around 68, clearly uncomfortable with all the pipes, metal rods and stuff inside him and feeling pain, but definitely much better. Will report further later today.

14 sept

MUCH better - they did the tracheotomy at 6 pm and when we saw him at 7 he was opening his eyes - still very blurry and disoriented but recognised our voices and even nodded his head. Colin is back. As I said earlier very disoriented and wanting to move his arms and legs, the monitor on his finger keeps falling off, causing the machine to beep. He even has his own tv, not that he can see anything yet but maybe tomorrow. He cant talk yet, mouth very dry but much more comfortable with the pipe out of his mouth.
Temperature 36.5 Heartrate 84 Sore on lip clearly busy healing and will leave a small scar. Growing a moustache as they probably dont want to shave upper lip and looking quite handsome ! Night staff caring and friendly. Everything just started going right today. Comms with the doctors and the hospital started happening, got some documentation from the Medical Aid, still a lot of things that are not clear re the medical aid but things are happening and a huge improvement in Colin's status. Keep those prayers and positive vibes coming and thanks everyone. Will report some more tomorrow morning.

14 sept

I have managed to break through the red tape and speak to people at the hospital. Thanks to Tyrone for putting me on to a very caring lady in management. She called up the details and got back to me within minutes. I am waiting for a call from his case manager but have also received a call from the credit control manager who will be faxing me accounts and a fax from the medical insurance scheme concerned. It is apparently quite a complicated story, with codes and stuff, but it does appear that he'll be covered for a substantial portion of the expenses, which was a concern of his before he went under.

They are apparently operating on him at 2pm for the tracheotomy and I suspect that when we see him tonight that information will be a little more forthcoming and will be shared with you all as soon as it is available.

Thanks for the thoughts and prayers - also from all the Old Boys who will be gathering for the 30th re-union next month who are contacting us also thanks very much we will pass on all the good wishes when the bugger wakes up eventually - he always was a hard one to get out of bed !

13 sep (2)

Mom saw the specialist this afternoon - she had to raise hell to get to him and once she got through he was very apologetic about the infection on his mouth - I'm no expert but the few people I have spoken to feel that with proper attention it wouldn't have happened - they are now putting him on a new course of antibiotics and his body is obviously very compromised so any small infection has the potential of causing major problems. I'll be going down tomorrow with Lyn to lend a bit of moral support to mom and to see for ourselves. Will return on Sunday and Mads will probably be flying up from CT on Monday. Will report more tomorrow.

With all the good wishes prayers and positive thinking going on those germs dont stand a chance ! Keep it up and thanks.

13 September

First the good news:
Temperature slightly down, pulse stable at 86.
Now the neutral news:
tracheotomy not performed today, will be done tomorrow.
Now the other news:
Turns out his knee is broken as well and the pelvis is broken right through, not just cracked as we thought.
and the bad news:
They moved the tube in his mouth to the other side of the mouth this morning, while my mom was there, and found that there was a massive infection under the tube, with some of the lip gone and pus oozing out of the wound. This is ICU at Netcare Greenacres Hospital in PE. How long it takes before it gets to that condition is unknown to me but it probably doesn't happen overnight which makes me wonder about the supervision Colin is getting. They say they are going to move him to isolation, which is in ICU, in a tent, in order to reduce chances of infection. They say he will probably be there for a long time - How long we dont know.
The problem with getting no information, or limited information from the hospital, is that we tend to jump to conclusions - either negative or positive, which could be completely unwarranted. These guys could use some P.r.o! It may be unfair for me to conclude that the lip infection is evidence of negligence on their part but in the absence of any information to the contrary what else can we think? I'm mindful of the fact that his vitals seem to be stable and thankful for that.
More anon.

12 sept

Colin's temperature rose slightly again today but not as bad as before - his eyes are opening quite often but not registering anything - they seem to be reducing the anesthesia in the weaning process. He grimaces with pain and seems to want to cough. They will be performing the tracheotomy tomorrow. The specialist actually spoke to my mom this morning and was quite pleasant. Another nurse from hell was on duty - told mom that she shouldn't look at the machines or ask questions about the relevance of oxygen volumes, temperature, heart rate etc, mom's tired after nearly two weeks down there. The waking up process is apparently always quite difficult. They have quite severe withdrawal symptoms from the anesthesia, but positive in the sense that there seems to be some light at the end of the tunnel.
More tomorrow.

http://www.eternitypress.co.za/freshair/airlore.htm

12 sept

Spoke to mom last night - his temperature has dropped - not sure exactly what it is and his heart rate is below 90. They are performing a minor op on him today where they take pipes out of his nose and mouth and stick them straight through his throat - standard procedure after 7 days. Mom sounded postitive last night and we could be over the worst. They reduced the sedative slightly yesteday as they want to start weaning him off it, reduced oxygen as well, so things are looking up. Its posible that he could be conscious this weekend some time.

11 Sept

Just heard that his temperature has dropped a bit and heart rate is under 100 so that sounds good. I'd like to quote from an email received from Bruce Rothman which probably sums it up and casts a more positive spin on it. Bruce says he's not a doctor but appears to be quite knowledgeable. I think what he says is probably spot on except for the temperature which I think is caused by an infection. I'm not sure how the mechanics of the embolism works. Does it stop the blood supply to the whole lung or to parts of the lung or what and if so how does providing oxygen help?

"Wow! Horror of horrors that bone marrow has caused an embolism in his lungs (from what's been said, nobody uses the word but that's what it's got to be), as it can cause suffocation, so good that the boy is on oxygen to limit the possibility of damage to the brain. Hopefully he'll suffer no more than the consequences of a transcient ascemic attack. In a way I'm relieved that his body temperature is so high as this would appear to reflect the effort of his body to get oxygen to his lungs. The heart is obviously working furiously which I think means that his brain is saying "give me oxygen!" and is not going to give up! Hopefully his liver and other organs are working as furiously to filter out any marrow material and that he'll soon wake up with that "pop" feeling (akin to surfacing from a day long hangover), and that all will be OK!"

Bedford - where it all happened

10 Sept (2)

Just heard from Lyn who heard from mom - temperature is still raging - mom says it feels like putting her hand under a hot water tap when she feels his head. Perspiration running down forehead and arms. Sister says she thinks the fever is breaking and that his temperature is "a little down" - maybe she's right. Will update more tomorrow.

10 September 2007

Mom spoke to the specialist this afternoon. He says that the cultures have come back clear but that they have taken more specimens for culturing. He says Colin has not contracted Pneumonia but has "lung shock". He was quite blunt and unsympathetic, from what I can gather and just repeated himself when mom asked him what "lung shock" is - you can find out more on
http://www.medterms.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=7817
The mortality rate for lung shock seems to be better than for pneumonia whilst on a ventilator 30% as opposed to 40%, but can be causd by pneumonia.
The specialist says that it was probably caused by bone marrow and that it could also have got into his brain and caused some damage there. Only time will tell.
I think the biggest danger is the temperature. How this specialst can say there is no pneumonia and almost imply that there is no infection because the cultures are negative seems to me to be an attempt to mislead us intentionally. There is clearly a serious infection as he has a serious temperature and they haven't been able to identify the specific bacteria yet. Why not just say it?
Well keep up the good wishes and thanks to all the Old Selbornians who are phoning in - I dont think Colin is going to be running around too much at the reunion but Deus Dixit, he will be back in East London.

9 September 2007

Well this morning his temperature was still high at 38.4 although he actually felt hotter. His hands are very swollen as is his neck. His breathing was however more relaxed and not like he was running a marathon. Probably because his heart rate was down a bit to 118. The nurse from hell was on duty again – not really from hell but as officious as hell. Spoke to Oom Johnny Rautenbach, Ilse's uncle in PE, who is a doctor, who confirms that they can keep people like that for a long time, (unconscious and on a ventilator) so it appears that everyone who knows confirms that although it looks pretty scary, its quite normal if you're used to that sort of thing.

We drove back this afternoon and haven't heard from mom and Lynette so won't be worrying them. The hospital has mom's cell number and will phone him if anything goes wrong, so everytime her cell phone rings our hearts skip a beat. So I haven’t phoned her and she hasn't phoned me – no news is good news at this stage. I'll be going down again next weekend, maybe bringing mom back depending on progress. Lyn is coming back tomorrow with Colin's work bakkie.

We have ICU's phone number and will phone tomorrow night to speak to our friendly sister who should be on duty then.

To sum up his status. He is totally under sedation and unconscious. It is unlikely that he has more than fleeting seconds of very confused consciousness in a day. He grimaces with pain when they turn him onto his left side every four hours and you can see that he is trying to cough every few minutes. He has slime and mucous building up in his lungs which needs to be drained periodically and this causes him discomfort so he is not so far under that he doesn't feel some pain and discomfort but he's pretty far down. Although it all looks quite scary and there is still danger until he starts breathing on his own, that's not going to happen until the lung infection clears up substantially. At the moment there's a third world war raging in his body and theres no doubt that the good guys will win, but it may still take a few more days. One of the friendly male sisters described his situation as "critical but relatively stable", which pretty much sums it up.

Keep up the good thoughts, prayers and positive thinking and thanks to all.

8 September 2007

Me and Ilse drove down from East London today. Mom has been here exactly a week and Lynette flew down yesterday morning. We saw Colin this afternoon and this evening. He is still in ICU and will apparently be here for a lengthy period of time. This afternoon we spoke to two sisters – both started off aggressively. The one because there were three of us at his bedside instead of two and the other because I was reading the charts at Colins bed. My mom tried to reason with the first one but to no avail, and although my first reaction was to be sarcastic or equally officious with the other one, I suppressed the emotion and ended up trying to draw whatever information I could out of her. It turned out that she actually didn’t know much, and in retrospect, probably knew nothing about Colin, and was probably guessing about what she told us.

This evening visit was like a breath of fresh air by comparison. The sister was sent straight from nursing heaven. Friendly, compassionate, caring, a real lady of the lamp. She explained to us that although they were not permitted to express opinions to family members, she was of the view that Colin had definitely contracted pneumonia and that he would be in ICU for a long time. How long is a long time is anyone’s guess, it seems. Even our angel wasn’t prepared to commit herself on that one. She didn’t seem to be overly concerned about Colin’s appearance and indicated to the patient next to us who was seeing visitors and looking quite good, who she said had been flat lining a few days before.

This morning his heart rate was 68, but this afternoon it had shot up to 128 and his temperature was 38.5. This evening his heart rate was down to 122 but I didn’t check his temperature although it felt hotter. They are taking regular cultures of lung fluid, blood, urine and testing to see what the best antibiotics are to give him. His lungs have obviously been compromised by years of abuse and it will obviously take longer than normal before they heal. Hopefully he will be able to leave the smokes behind him. We asked the sister whether his body and his heart in particular could sustain such a high heart rate. She assured us that it would be no problem for someone “as young as Colin”.

Being on such heavy sedation, and being artificially ventilated has a number of unpleasant but unavoidable consequences. One of them is that when they wean the patients off the sedatives that they suffer from withdrawal symptoms. The patient in the bed next to Colin was going through such a process and was moaning and growling into his oxygen mask. They also have to wean them off the ventilator and this they have to do whilst the patients are conscious, and this is apparently quite difficult, and if he remains on the ventilator for a few more days, might have to perform a tracheotomy, which sounds scary, but is quite a routine procedure, which makes breathing and draining the lungs a lot easier.

His status remains critical but relatively stable. His hands and neck are swollen but this is apparently a normal consequence of the ventilation. He opened his eyes a few time this afternoon, but there was clearly nobody home. Pupils were rolled back in the sockets and he reminded me of the patient in the movie “Jacobs Ladder” which some of you might be familiar with. I am sure he is going through similar journeys and battles. It is quite scary to think that as we speak and go about our daily routine, that he is there, lying on his back, panting through a small hole in his mouth, with oxygen being forced down tubes into his lungs. On the positive side, the oxygen supply being given to him is set at the minimum setting. The original plan was to take him off the ventilator today, but it seems like it might still be a few days before that happens.

Obviously there is no interaction between us – it is possible but unlikely that he can actually hear what we are saying, if he can hear anything at all. He was apparently fighting against the tubes this afternoon and they had to sedate him a bit more but apparently that is quite normal.

There is some confusion and conflicting reports about whether Colin’s hospital plan pays for all of this as it is obviously an expensive exercise. I have got all the relevant phone numbers and will be writing letters and sending faxes on Monday, to find out exactly what the position is. Colin was quite concerned about the financial implications after the accident, and so are we, and will be quite relieved once we know what the position is. The conflicting reports range from yes we cover three days in hospital to yes we cover 100 days in hospital so there’s quite a difference. If its only three days at least we know that we’ve got to start making contingency plans. As far as the hospital is concerned we are all really impressed with it. It imparts confidence, although sometimes some of the staff seem a bit detached and uncaring, as if the patients are just on a production line. I also get the feeling that because we are in another town, and don’t know the doctors personally, that we are treated a little as “outsiders”. Thank heavens for that caring sister this evening – I told her that she is an angel.

Me and Ilse are returning to East London tomorrow after visiting hour, and Lynetter either later or on Monday. Mom will probably remain here till he gets out of ICU or comes off the critical list. I will probably come back next weekend by which time I am sure things will be looking up a lot.

I don’t think heaven is ready for Colin yet. He’ll cause too much disruption. Will report again asap.

6 September 2007

Colin was following his passion, paragliding, in Bedford on Saturday 1 September 2007, when just after take-off a gust of wind caused a full frontal collapse of his canopy. He was about 30m in the air and too low to recover. The canopy apparently partially filled but according to Colin, this seemed to aggravate the situation and accelerated his downward flight onto the rocks below. In time we will able to joke with him about his accident on Spring day. It has always been a favourite day of his.
Fortunately the other members of the Hawkwind Hangliding and Paragliding Club (www.hawkwind.co.za) were on hand and this is the report from them per Cal Dyker, Colin’s instructor:
“Just to fill you all in about Colin Kemp's crash in Bedford
Just after take off on thr NW side he had a full frontal\90 % collapse. He was probably 20-30 meters high and just off the first step of the launch.
He was to low to recover and was facing the mountain when he hit.
He suffered a broken Femur, broken pelvis (front and back) and broken upper arm, all on the left hand side.
We got to him in less than a minute and ran through basic first aid. Thank goodness for Jackie’s first aid kit, I gave Colin a Voltarin shot and Pierre (Doc) was luckily on hand to administer a drip and was a huge help in keeping Colin stable.
Thanks to Karen and Theo for organising a army chopper to evacuate Colin.
Thanks also to all present for helping and supporting.”
I saw Colin the day after his accident and was pleasantly surprised at what I saw. He was obviously in a lot of pain and discomfort but fully compos mentis and in relatively good spirits. He was a bit grumpy about not being able to smoke but quite philosophical about it. We bought him some Nicorettes.
Mom managed to book into accommodation right across the road from the Greenacres hospital and has been there for a week. According to her Colin was in a lot of pain before the op on Monday night, which was exacerbated by spasms which he was getting, causing the broken bones to move around but by Tuesday he asked the nurses to take him off the morphine and things were looking good, although he was still getting the spasms which were still causing him to cry out with pain.
On Tuesday night he started struggling to breathe and eventually apparently stopped breathing and was rushed to ICU where they stuck tubes in his lungs and put him on a ventilator. He also developed an infection and they have taken blood samples to try and identify which nasty little bugs they have to try and eradicate but at the time of writing he seems to be coping with the infection.
Lynette flew down to PE this morning, and was very pleased with what she saw – his colour is good, his kidneys and heart are all functioning and his eyes opened momentarily a few times.
They plan to keep him under heavy sedation for a day or two longer, until they can safely stop ventilating him artificially. Apparently the blood marrow can escape into the blood stream when a person suffers from bad fractures and that can create clots and when they get into the lungs, as apparently happened with Colin, can cause the person to stop breathing completely.
Evey day that passes brings him closer to the day when his bones will have completely healed. He fractured his left upper femur, a few inches under the hip joint, so there was fortunately no particular involvement, but it was badly fractured, with about three pieces displaced, and the pelvis was apparently not a bad fracture but even a slight fracture can be extremely debilitating and he will have to be flat on his back for at least six weeks. He then also had a fractured left arm right at the top inside the shoulder joint, from what I could make out on the x-rays. They have wired up both the leg and the arm but the pelvis has to heal on it’s own.
When I spoke to him Colin was very thankful of the fact that he had survived and that he had not broken his back or his neck. He is not allowed to have a cell phone in the High Care unit where he will be transferred to once he leaves ICU but within a week or so will have his cell phone with him. It is not clear at this stage when he will be permitted to come back to East London, but it looks like it will be in an ambulance when it happens, probably in about two weeks time, and then into a hospital here for a few weeks.
We are all very thankful for all the calls we have been getting from friends and family from here, from other parts of South Africa and from across the world. I must also mention that our cousin Esmé is on a long road to recovery after undergoing a relatively routine procedure in Cape Town and unfortunately contracting septicaemia. She underwent six operations in the space of a few days and it was touch and go for most of the time. She is at home but still very frail and with long term complications that still need to be resolved. Please also spare a thought for her and her family.
I will keep you all posted as things develop and am confident that in a few days will be able to post some photographs of Colin together with some good news about his recovery.
Special thanks to all at Kemp Estates for keeping the flag flying and to all Colin’s colleagues for your support and good wishes.
Leon Kemp