Russ, careful what you ask for as you may get it….
Rob Colliver has sent through these priceless piccies of you! 😉

From Dani:

Had a good chat with the critical care duty doctor this morning. He showed me the latest chest x-rays from which Russ’s numerous rib fractures are still very much in evidence – as is his lung damage. So still quite a way to go before the chest trauma damage is fully mended. This obviously impacts on his respiratory functioning, making progress that much slower.

Having said that, progress is being made and the medics have now agreed that Russ is able to be off the ventilator during the day, resuming it during the night.

He’s also now back on solid food during the day, being fed by tube during the night. Great food menu at London Bridge Hospital; real top notch fodder. The doctor suggested that Russ go big time for the carbo/protein load. However, Russ is finding it difficult to break his lifetime fascist food regime and, despite the doctor”s advice, always goes for the “healthy” white fish and fruit platter options. On top of everything else, he doesn’t want to turn into a fat bastard!! :-s

As Melissa mentioned, there is an ever-present orderly queue of visitors for Russ outside the doors of Critical Care. I left the hospital at 10:45pm and was there most of the day. By my count, there were 13 other visitors during the course of the day. The nurses have decided that as visiting is going to be permanently busy,they need to diarise some daily “recovery time” for Russ and we have therefore decided that he will have a break from visitors and treatment 10-11am and 2-4pm each day. As he wakes up early, they are relaxed about early pre-10am visitors 🙂

I continue to be wined and dined most nights post-hospital visits. My poor liver. I”ll always be thankful to Cardiff University for my alcohol-drinking qualifications. I might have only got a 2:1 in law, but I got a double first in drinking – and that has stood me in good stead all my life :-).  Russ was keen for me to post a piccy I took at dinner last night, not least because of the rather amusing “speccy” theme. As is the way when you are dining with 40-something friends, there is always someone who’s clearly become old-age long sighted but is not prepared to accept it and nonetheless tries to soldier on without glasses albeit clearly unable to read a bloody thing. Step forward Sarah Frankum who can’t even read a restaurant menu without lots of dramatic gurning expressions. Anyway, check out the picture below where Sarah is sporting some “reading” glasses fitted with mini spotlights at each side, produced by the maitre d’ of the restaurant. Now that’s what I call service!!!

Available in your local Specsavers store shortly.

Danielle xxxx 

j

Woke at 3.30 again. But feel ok.
Not allowed normal drinks again, gotta have everything thickened.
Thickened water’s not the best…
But a smoothie is fine. For those outside London, that’s a posh name for a yoghurt without a peel off silver top that you lick.
And it’s more expensive.
Not sure what I’ve got on today but do know this is the calm before the storm.
Got a few books, thanks to Irinder even got Netflix on my ipad!
Never been one for TV, but never spent long periods in bed before either.
Currently on the end of a nebuliser to open my lungs a bit. Should help.
Any TV recommendations?
Dani and the girls go away to Portugal on Friday for a week, so I’ll miss them like anything, but they’re gonna come back for my birthday, by which time I should be sitting up (?).
My mate. Dr Tom came in yday and commented that I wasn’t anywhere near as emaciated as I could be ( looking ok, I think that means )

Am trying to post pics but can’t seem to do that. Anybody got any any stupid pics of me, stick em up and make me laugh.

Lots of love.

Busy day.
Visitors from 8.30 til 4, then 6 til 11. .
It’s so touching but tiring.
Thanks to Andy for sorting out my ipad and Scott andIrinder for getting me on Skype.
I’m bristling with comm’s technology that I can barely use!

My chest continues to leak secretions, but it’s a better color and density I hear.
Hope to go out tomo morrow but not sure.

Great to see Ina, dan, tom, Charlie, Lisa, irinder, Andy, kate, Pia,and Dani
Everyday is better than the last, recently, so that’s pretty good

Isn’t it.

The teeny waiting room of the ICU department of the London Bridge hospital has turned into Piccadilly Circus since Russ’s return.

Each day I email Russ ‘tomorrow’s visiting list’ which is compiled of about 2 or 3 sensibly spaced visitors all of whom are very compliant and mark their allocated space in the calender.  At the end of each day I get to hear of all those that dropped by in passing……10 so far today alone! 🙂

Ha ha – Russ is clearly the most popular patient at London Bridge Hospital!

I know he is very grateful for your time and efforts as is Dani.  Dani is away for a few days as of Friday and will be hoping that the steady stream of visitors continues to fill the time when she would normally reside (3-7pm).

Thanks to you all. xxx

The details of the crash will forever be known only by the motorcyclists…
What I can tell you is that I was going does hill fast- about 40mpj- and they were probabably coming up at the same sleep so a whack at 80mph (fast when just wearing Lycra)
My bike stayed on the bend and so did I, so it was as though I just shot straight UP and came down again, landing on on COMPLETELY obliterated helmet
That must have ‘folded’ me and broke me ?
I hear trat first on the scene were Dickon and Q who had resist my pleading for an hour to be turned from face  down.
They tried to distract me with anecdotes, no doubt Dickon nice clean music industry Catherine Jenkins type stuff and Q talk of beer and strippers   Life in a wheelchair was never mentioned, the I was saying I couldn’t feel my legs.
A van came with a strtcher, followed soon by tha ambulance heli which whisked me away to Toulon Military Hospital.
I think Roy spent mont it that ‘early’ time with me, as a bloody good mate and French speaker.  

It would seem I have surrounded myself with men and women of rich and varied talent.

Frankly, looking at them , you’d never know 🙂

Think you need to resister agooglmail email address to write something…?

Lots of visitors gently waking me today, but I’ve been in the chair ( ribs hurt too much for more than 20mins, had physio, seen food therapist , but can’t talk cos ‘ speaking valve’ back in’  app was raising my co2 too much 🙁
Charlit came from. Hong Kong to see me. That guy’s a legend.

Gonna see lots of my work ppl tomo, should be a step closer to normality..,

Hey Mr Dawkins.Arti here, all the way from Singapore! Been trying to write on yr blog for weeks…with no luck. Haven’t stopped thinking about u. So glad ur slowly but surely improving by the day. Just found ur number, hope this is still u.xx