Day 56

Today was a good day. Colin is feeling so much better, and they removed his central line today as well as spigotting his trachy.

We have also discovered that while he still cannot sleep without his sleep apnoea mask, it is not easy for him to be heard with the mask on, and so for the short-term, he has asked the nurses to put the fenestrated filter on while he sleeps, and then put the spigot on during toe day so he can talk. Such an elegant and simple solution.

There was a moment of panic in the gym when they tried to lie him on his stomach to do certain exercises, but he found that he was not able to breathe at all. The physios are brilliant, and they noticed that he needed help immediately and Valerie called in a very calm but loud voice for help. In a split second they were getting him up and sitting so he could breathe. They are just phenomenal and I am understanding more and more each day why he loves to work with them.

I am looking forward to seeing him tomorrow so we can just hang out and have a calm day.

We took my Dad for his birthday dinner tonight at one of his favourite places – the Brazen Head. They serve fairly authentic Irish food, and it it always a hit. He had his usual steak and kidney pie, and even let himself go and had a pint of Guinness.

Happy birthday for yesterday Dad. Colin was sorry not to be there, but he will be there for the next one.

I am having some technical difficulties so I am unable to upload any pics from today or the last day at the ICU. I changed a setting on my phone because I ran out of space and now my photos are somewhere in cyberspace where I can’t seem to find them.

Today I am grateful for my family, for my kitties (one of whom rushes out to greet me often), friends, warm baths, warm beds, and good food. And I am grateful that Colin is so strong. I know we can get through this together. I am sure there will be many more tears, from both of us, but that is OK.

He is looking forward to the braai on Sunday. I will post lots of pics from that.