And getting better in many small ways .....

Since the last post Douglas has been quite up and down by turns. The downs were really quite miserable for him I suspect and he was rather unresponsive to the extent that any form of physio was refused.
However by Wednesday he seemed to have gathered himself together a bit and, much to everyones surprise, one of the nurses (who has a very good way with him) breezed in and said - right now Doug. You don't get to lie there looking scruffy in my ward, so you're going to have a bath, get your hair washed and sit up in the chair for a couple of hours, so lets get started. In no time at all he was up in his chair, looking good! However, by the time it was all done, he was pretty bushed and sadly his visitors didn't really get much of his attention!
This was repeated every day and, by Sunday he was looking much better and being more positive about getting his trachy out and then getting rid of the PEG feeding tube!! He actually asked if he could have a drink of water! We felt really bad about saying 'no - cause you've still got to re-learn the art of swallowing'
He was a bit upset at that, but it didn't last long - Sheena explained all about trachies and swallowing etc. and one of the nurses talked over the business of getting used to breathing through his mouth and nose in preparation for trachy removal.

All in all his mood does seem to have improved greatly and he does appear to be thinking about the way forward (although perhaps he doesn't think of it quite that way yet). More important perhaps is that he does, at long last, appear to be believing folk when they say he IS getting better.
We hope this continues .....................

Once more ....... thank you all for your support! I know Douglas appreciates it even although he can't always join in the chat.

Iain