Am update July 26th
Today is Lily’s birthday. Happy birthday lovely Lily! Russell is looking forward to hearing your voice on the telephone this evening. We shall all shed a few tears.
To our great delight Russ was very awake, aware and was even cracking a few jokes this morning.
The nurse was telling us that his priority was enabling Russ to return home. He explained that the change in pressure during take off and landing would adversely affect Russell in his present condition. Russell responded in writing on his white pad…..’no probs, I will cycle home…….’. We all laughed. later he asked me what the NHS was like prewar……. I know that I am over 40 but….! We were delighted as you can imagine. He managed to drink two cartons of orange juice and, when we left, was looking forward to his ….mashed…..lunch . A mashed lunch is a first for Russell. The gastric tube is still in place but, if he can cope with a mashed lunch, it will be removed soon.
The two hours spent with him were a real boost for us. We are looking forward to 4.00 pm when we visit again today. Further update later so watch this space
Message From Sarah Frankum from hers and Larry’s visit earlier in the week;
Larry and I arrived last Tuesday afternoon and were expecting Russ to still be sedated so we were delighted to find him wide awake. We hadn`t seen him for 4 weeks and were amazed at his progress as although the pneumonia had knocked him sideways the old Russ was definitely there. Over the next few days, although very tired at times, he continued to improve and communicated by mouthing and writing. He loved hearing about all the support from home and was staggered when we showed him the calender so he could see how many friends and family had been out to visit him as his short term memory seems to be very hazy. However this also appears to be improving as he was able to recall certain things over our visit – he remembered from the Wednesday to the Thursday that a royal baby had been born and even enlightened us on the choice of name. He has definitely not lost his sense of humour – for example – I am reading a text to him from my phone at which point he asks Larry for some paper, looks at me and writes “Get some f**king glasses” as I am clearly struggling to read the small print!! We left after seeing Russ Thursday afternoon with more positive news of a hopeful repatriation next week which Wonder Wife Dani is busy sorting – in fact another comment Russ wrote down to Larry was, “I wish you were as lucky as me with my wife”. No offense taken Mr Dawkins!!!!
Mummy Dawkins PM (prime minister…)
Part 2
We returned to the hospital après lunch to find Russell under going thoracic vibration ,we were banned for an hour. At 5.15 we were readmitted to find Russell looking very OK thank goodness. He complained that he was feeling hungry and wanted to ‘ order lunch ‘ which we did for him. Lunch provided was very appetizing ‘ soup ‘ ,’ mashed potatoes and diced ham’ , ‘trifle’ , ‘ semolina ‘ and a drink. Wow , a bit of a change from a nasal drip feed ! But where was the wine that we had ordered? He can have some on Monday apparently !!
He managed to drink all the soup plus large amounts of mashed potato and ham plus some trifle. Well done Russ, really excellent.
He talked to us for the whole time .
At 5.40 pm lily rang Russ to tell him about her birthday and her drama performance . Amber followed with her account of the day. His face was a picture of happiness, it was tearful for us to watch.
However, he was very tired by 7.30 and wanted to sleep and so we left a little before 8.00 feeling happier than we had for a very long time. Well done Russ.
It has been an eventful and emotional week for us and for Russ too.
Roy was there when we arrived on Tuesday. He was a great support to both Russ and to us. Sarah and Larry arrived on Tues and were invaluable, today was our only full day with Russ on our own.
Russ has leapt forwards from Tuesday to today. We can leave tomorrow feeling much happier than when we arrived last Tuesday
Dani will be very happy with the progress that he has made since she saw him last Sunday
Am signing off as blog writer Melissa. Lol Di xxxxxxxxxxxxx