Saturday

Today was Louise and my first solo venture up the M8. After the terrifying experience of 5 lanes of traffic, we made it to Dad in time for visiting.
Dad was in better spirits today, although he was very tired. He is now up to 2 sets of 3hours off the vent, on BIPAC, which will take a breath for him if he misses one. On Monday they are going to start the completly un-assisted breathing again. Hopefully this will be the start of good things and we many even get them to deflate the cuff a little to allow him to drink and to talk. Fingers crossed.
Louise and I chatted to him about all things going on in the world. We read the Saturday paper and kept him going through the 3 hours where he did not want to sleep.
He is not enjoying the new Dan Brown book, so any recommendations of a new crime novel that he may like will be very much welcome. We just finished the new Ian Rankin, but we are all completly clueless about the world of crime novels!
Tomorrow Dad's Dad is going with his sister to visit for the first time since the accident. I feel tomorrow will be quite an emotional day for Dad.
We met a very nice representative from Spinal Injury Scotland, who talked to us about his injury and about the work that they do in the Spinal unit. It was great to hear about his injury and recovery. He worked towards his goal "to walk out of the rehab unit" and made it. This kind of dedication to recovery, and results, will be good for Dad to hear in time. At the moment they do not go onto Dad's ward, due to the amount of medical intervention, however I feel it will be good for Dad to have someone to chat to soon!

Thank you...and thursday+ friday

First of all I would like to say how pleased I am that Gaelle (the ICU nurse at the Western General) has found this blog. Colin's first few weeks after the accident passed in a morphine induced dream, actually, nightmare, as he hallucinated for the majority of the time. But the gang there got me through that most awful of times. They were there for both Colin and I, and without their help and constant support it would have been, if possible, more of a horrific experience.
Some of the people, Marion, Valerie, Rachel, Gaelle, Karen McSorley, Mr Nimmo. I will never be able to tell you how much I appreciated your expertise and constant caring. I'm sure I will have missed someone out. But if you have to be in the ICU, hope and pray that you have people like these on your side. Thank you, Charlotte.

Thursday
Colin is still trying to pull himself back to pre-infection health. He was very sore today, and extremely tired. His breathing taking a back seat to painkillers and rest.
This of course is exactly the type of day we all dread, but this is the worst, so anything else will definitely be a bonus.
Les, one of his oldest friends, came to visit yesterday, and both of us really appreciate this. Colin was so glad to hear that friends and colleagues from Sykes cared enough to write and let him know of projects and work that he was involved in. To you all, I thank you. It is so easy to become ensconced in the high dependency bubble and so good for Colin's morale, to know how many people care.
As the heroine of "Gone with the wind" said "Tomorrow is another day..."

Friday

Dad was a little better today. Less pain than yesterday. However he is clearly bored. We all try to bring him as much chat from the outside world as possible, but we run out in about half an hour. Dad was still very tired, but I was pleased to see him a little bit better.
Louise and I are going again tomorrow. We shall go with the regular Saturday paper and struggle our way through the business section for him. Hopefully he will be feeling stronger again tomorrow.

The red cross...

I am now totally embarrassed by the wonderful "Red Cross Parcels". Fiona and Rebecca, most scrummy, but Marks and Spencers and my waistline have now expanded. So please, no more. My wardrobe cannot take any more delicacies.

Thank you to everyone for your kind messages.

Monday and Tuesday

Colin is still weak after the infectious "swine flu" from last week. He is not strong enough at the moment to obtain the results off the vent that he had done. This is frustrating and disappointing for him, and so his mood is low.

When his mood is low, mine plummets too. The long corridor towards Edenhall Ward gets longer everyday.

I dread to see Colin's face sometimes. If he is in a good frame of mind all is fine. If he is down, it is an uphill struggle to turn his mood. He is quiet and his eyes rarely turn to meet mine, just concentrating on that one tile above him.

The world goes on outside without him. But mine doesn't. All the menial tasks seem more menial by the day. I need Colin home. I need my family together again. But only time and Colin can heal that one. Today will be better.

A new week...

I miss talking to Colin. I know I'm communicating with him. But I mean really talking. He is my best friend. I need him to tell me what to do. There is a situation at my work, big companies say all the right things, but really at the end of the day your only a number. Colin would know what to do, what to say, what to write. He always has. Its stressing me out more than it should, because at the end of the day its only work.
Colin was calm today, his physio went well, no temperature and no infection. A good day, we need more of these. He is becoming more involved with "murder she wrote" and "poirot" than is healthy. I am now on the 6th chapter of the new Dan Brown novel, such long words. I'll be back Jilly Cooper!

The first of the visitors...

Dad had his first visitor today. Les, my Dads oldest friend, who has been trying to visit all week but has been evaded by temperatures and swines. Instead of telling us he was coming, he suprised Dad during visiting hours today, so that he would not be jinxed!
Dad was very pleased to see Les. We left them alone to have a catch up! It must have been nice for him to have some new gossip, as Louise, Mum and I have run out of things to tell him this week. We are very boring people!!
Dads spirits are not great this week after the infection and all the fuss. However, he has started breathing off the vent again.
I read Dad the Sunday paper today (unfortunatly not the style section or culture) but the main paper and the buisness! He likes to know what is going on in the world outside the hospital.
Hopefully now that the infection is on its way out, his mood will begin to improve.

No swines...

Well Good News. Dad has a distinct lack of swine flu. Turns out it is just the infection and not swine flu. So hopefully he will be removed from isolation today and we will be allowed to visit.
We will let you all know when Dad is feeling better enough for visitors. Big appoligies to Les who has been coming to see Dad this week and both days we have had to cancel!

Little swine....

Thursday
Arrived at 4 to see the consultant hovering around the entrance. "Mrs Mitchell", my heart missed a beat, "don't worry, there has been a development. On the anesthetist round, he decided that Colin has suspected Swine Flu."
Tests have been sent but I'm quite confident that its probably not.
Great! Colin has now been moved into an isolation private room. They decided it was best I only visited for a few minutes today. I was gowned, gloved and masked and entered...
I thought Colin actually looked a bit better than the days of the very high temperature. Colin is a bit hacked off with this game now. Through the large window he watched his area ajoining completely stripped- bed, equipment all sanitised.
Results due tomorrow.

Wednesday 21st October...

0500, at work, phoned the hospital last night to check on progress, no change but temperature has dropped slightly. Colin is comfortable...hmm. More likely he has burned up so body has gone into sleep mode. Decided to phone again at 8am after the shift change for nursing staff so that they did not consider me a stalker.
Charlie offered to drive today. Most appreciated. The girls, Louise and Melissa, went today aswell to visit their Dad. I was tempted to have the day off, Colin to me to, but I would just sit in the house and feel guilty.
We found Colin looking better than the rest of the week. Still very tired but in much better spirits. Melissa read him the final two chapters of his book. Its only taken us 6 weeks to finish what would have taken him about 2 days to read himself. And lucky Colin, every time a new person was reading to him, he got a new set of characters, as everyone of use pronounced the characters names differently, Colin probably had no idea what actually happened in the end of the book!
He had done two sessions of physio that day, but no breathing. The doctor said that they had managed to grow two bugs from his infections and they had now got him on the right set of antibiotics to fight the infection. They are going to start working up to time off the ventilator again as soon as he is better. I am beginning to think that he is getting bored of us! Melissa and Louise ran out of "chat" quite soon as it has been a quiet week.
Life has entered a new pattern. Work or admin in the morning, and then off to Glasgow. Groceries bought in bits and pieces. I'm not and have never been "martha stewart" but this is ridiculous. James and Louise popped in on Saturday night to do "X-factor" and I was embarressed to say that the cpboards were bare!
My dad has been a provider of smoked salmon over the weeks. So between that and the fruit I should be emerging as Elle "the body" Mcpherson any day now.
Corrine, one of my oldest friends, rustled up some soup and stovies, again much appreciated. I am beginning to feel like a refugee, possibly illegal. The Red Cross have been alerted. Marks and Spencers credit card have put out a warning thatI must have had my card stolen, as their profits have plummeted in the last 6 weeks. The city is looking at a new recession. Enough is enough. For the sake of the country I am going to shop at tesco and fill my cupboard. So if you drop in for coffee their might not be a Martha Stewart or Jane Asher concoction, but you might get a bourbon biscuit, or a rich tea.

Tuesday

Temperature update-
Melissa and I sat at home this morning and went throught all the bills and cheque after cheque was filled in. A job I now have to learn. It was so easy to drop the envelopes on Colins desk in the study. Now a chore that I will have to take on..
Visiting hours, 4 pm. Colin is more aware today. His temperature has dropped to 37. I sit and chat and read the Scotsmand to him. I massage his feet and hands, they still feel hot. Moyra (todays nurse) monitors his temp every half hour. It is creeping up again.
Consultants have visited, the swabs have been in the lab since yesterday, but cultures take time. Antibiotics and medication is administered. Colin's temp remains the same. The windows are thrown open, sheets removed from bed. The air is pushed round his bedspace. Lets hope this works. I have work tomorrow so will phone before bed tonight and first thing in the morning.

Temperature..

Just returned from Glasgow. Things are not well today. Colin was lying as if he was asleep, but he was just too ill to open his eyes. His temperature, when we arrived was 38.6, they didn’t know where the infection was coming from. A lot of samples have been sent to the lab.
Melissa, my father and I sat in silence, there was no mundane chat today, physio but no "off time" from the vent. Just Colin burning up. Windows were opened, fans were set up but his temperature did not change.
Early days, one step forward, two steps back. Please never say that to someone in trauma, it makes them want to scream. But I don't know what else I would say, what is there to say, just be there.

The moon...

Sunday
Colin hates the weekends now. There is only one set of physio on Saturday and Sunday. He feels that those sessions benefit him more than anything. People that know him well understand. Since the day I met him, Colin was dilligent in his exercise routine. From daily workouts at the gym, to running everyday with a selection of dogs in tow. To martial arts and the bench press set that was moved "lovingly" from home to home. His mucking out of stables and riding kept him fit winter and summer. So to be reduced to physio once a day is torture.
I arrive full of chat, anyone that knows me is aware I work for a large airline, dealing with business men and VIPs. Today we had two. J.K. Rowling bustled in, family in tow. No one would have recognised her, not sure of the need for an escort, just drew more attention. I heard someone ask "who is she?" but if it makes her feel better?!
The second was a chap you would pass in the street, no one would take a second look back-
Neil Armstrong, the man on the moon. All these years ago, we had him walking up there- personally I am always unconvinced, an american cover up! " One small step for man...." and 40 years later we are still unable to fix spinal cord injuries, hmmm.
My chat seems menial! I have been on 2 earlies and I am definitly flagging. I leave him to his regime and head home. Shelley is back in Aberdeen. Louise and Melissa are with the lovely James and Paul, life at home is normal.

Monday
Have just phoned the unit. Colin is running a termperature. They are administering antibiotics. This is a massive set back. Not to them, but to Colin, as he will not have any "off time" from the ventilator today, or until his temp or whatever it is that is causing it is controlled. I worry about my visit, Colin might take this in his stride, he is much more resiliant than me, or his moral might take a nose dive, who knows.

"Thats one small step for man..."

Thursday and Friday!!

Colin's mood has returned to normal. He is elated that 3 x 40 mins breathing without ventilation has been achieved that day. Consultants are pleased that this in continuing. He has a pressure sore that began in the Western General ICU. They are used to saving lives, patching up and sending on to appropriate wards. Colin was not able to get a bed in the Spinal Unit for two weeks and although immense care was taken, they are not set up to deal with spinal injuries and his skin tore. It was to such a degree that four weeks later it is still too large to try and sit Colin up. His skin would tear again due to the pressure. So we wait...
Shelley arrived down from Aberdeen to see her Daddy at 8pm. I know she was anxious. It is a bizarre situation walking into the ward full of tubes, lines and beeping machines. But Colin's girls are strong. We approached the bed and both Colins' and her eyes filled with tears. Shelley telling her Dad how proud of him she was for still surviving and proving them all wrong by breathing off the vent and he telling her how proud he was that she had survived another week at university. It is hard to watch Colin with his girls. He hates it, this is not what Daddy's are meant to do. He hates them seeing him being kept alive by a machine, unable to hug or protect them. But he is here and still fighting. We stayed a few minutes and say we'll be back tomorrow. We walk away but I know Colin walks with us and is hugging us with his eyes.
Friday
Visiting starts at 4. I always arrive on time as it coincides with the consultants rounds. Dr Purcell, Irish origin I think, hard to tell, very bright and extremely empathetic, we have landed lucky with her. She calls a spade a spade and you trust her. She is genuinely ecstatic when any small step is achieved and only too glad to be proved wrong in this inexact science.
Melissa is still recovering from a bad case of flu, so she will not take the chance of seeing her dad. Louise has been in every weekend and struggles with tears. She reads Colin the newspaper and listens to songs on her ipod with him. Colin fights emotion and struggles to cope with feelings of helplessness as his girls come and go. As his strength grows things will improve. But all is still too raw at this stage. We need Colin up in a chair, we need him to talk and to fight.
The daily routine of questions and massages begin. Colin likes to have hands and feet moved and manouvered. The nerve endings can cause great pain and manipulation can help. I twitter on and Colin has no hiding place from us.
I have been reading a book to him, an Ian Rankin that he was half way through at the time of the accident. We are now on the last chapter. I finish it wondering if I should read him 'polo' by Jilly Cooper, much more my kind of book. Should I ask him or just start? Colin has had Gavin nursing him for the last few days. He is unbelievable. Colin feels Gavin knows without being asked what he needs, sometimes before Colin himself. He keeps his spirits high and Colin comfortable.
We know as we head home that he is in safe hands.

The grumpy old man...

Charlotte's First Blog:

Wednesday 14th October- With continued joy of Colin's breathing progress, Charlie, my brother, drove me to the hospital. This was a relief as after 3 early shifts, and visits to the hospital not allowing me to reach home till after 8pm, I was liable to cause an pile up on the M8.
Charlie and I went in, (his first visitor since week 1). He was glad to see him, but I could tell that he was agitated, not the Colin that I had left the day before. I started with the usual questions:
1) how are you? 2) any movement? 3) Hows your temperature and chest?.....ect
Colin is unable to speak, unless the "cuff" on the vent is down, but still his reply to me was understood! As I know some of you are off the more gentile disposition, it will be translated to "Bog off!"
At this point Charlie decided to retire to the coffee bar.
Well, I said, "thats charming!" - "im tired" he mouthed.
"I don't actually care" I said "I think you actually have the easier part in this game! Your job is to lie there and get well. I have to deal with all the outside cr*p and the animals and the forms and all the medical intervention. I've done nothing else but think about how Im going to keep our family afloat! So don't you dare turn into a grumpy old (bleep) who no-one will visit, including myself!"
We sat in silence for a few minutes. Goodness knows what he was thinking. I was calculating, in my head, how many of his airmiles it would take to buy a one way ticket to Rio.
"Sorry" he mouthed.
"Me too" I said.
"so, any movement, hows your temp, chest, etc...."
Wife from hell has returned!

The first....

I was asked, very wisely, to start a blog, to keep you all updated about the progress that my Dad is making in hospital.
For those of you who don't know me, and there will be many of you, I'm Melissa, "The Middle Daughter" and the one that knows how to use a computer/the internet/ had actually heard of a Blog.
Firstly, can i say a thank you to EVERYONE, for their kind words, letters, phone calls and flowers. It is so heartwarming to know that my Dad is cared for and respected by all these people, and they were a great comfort to the whole family.

So here it is....THE COLIN MITCHELL RECOVERY BLOG!!
I will try to post as regulary as possible. Keeping you all updated on every finger and toe!

I'll start with a little break down of things that i know about Dad's condition-
When he fell, he broke the C2/C3 vertebrae. There is no brain damage. He has suffered a large laseration to the neck, where his hat had cut it open. Once patched up, he spent two weeks in the ICU at the Western General. They were great and were a fantastic support to Mum in the first few awful days. At first, he was able to move his head left to right and up and down, much to the annoyance of the nurses who were trying to get him to keep his head very still.
The prognosis was not good. Dad was doing nothing for himself apart from keeping his heart beating. The breathing tubes annoyed him greatly. They moved his breathing to his throat for a tracheostmy (sorry about the spelling for any of you who are in the medical profession).

After 2 weeks, he was transferred to the specialist Spinal Unit at the Southern General Hospital in Glasgow. He remains on a high dependancy ward, due to his need for ventilation. He is recieveing excellent care and attention.

The great news- and the reason for starting this blog.
In the past few days, Colin has managed to voluntarily move his toes AND has spent 10 minutes breathing for himself, without any ventilator assistance.

Dad has on several occasions now, been able to wiggle his toes. He has sensation and can feel many parts of his body. This is a great start by any stretch of the imagination, and our hope is that he continues to be able to do this. The question on everyones mind is, "what does this mean?" and to be honest, neither the doctors or ourselves know. This could mean just that, he can wiggle his toes. We work one day at a time. However, from what we were first told in the ICU, this is leaps and bounds that my Dad has come on.
Having first been told, because of the placement of the injury that Dad would never breath off a ventilator, to have him taking breaths all by himself, unassited by machinery, for 10 minutes today is incredible.
The ward are going to work with him to try and increase and sustain the amount of time that he can spend off the vent.

We know that this is going to be a long and tiring journey. There is no cure or quick fix. It is all about determination. And for all of those that know my Dad, you will know, if anyone can do it, it will be him.

Thank you all again for your continuing support. I will try my hardest to keep these reports regular and detailed!
Keep those fingers and toes crossed.
Best wishes to you all
Melissa