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.