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.