has him in a state of coma. This morning they played around with this and he moved arms and legs slightly. His first reaction was to reach for the ventilation tube, which was gagging him. These are all positive signs at this stage. It is hoped that the surgery will repair the nasal area, which is currently preventing him from breathing on his own
Regards,
Harris family
PS: We have a bike for sale if there is any interest.
As one moment would pass by, there was new hope. Following that moment, though, would come another that wasn’t as good, which was then followed by a positive evaluation of my state. This gives an insight to the tension that was in the air in those first few days of uncertainty.
Four days in and the actual physical damage I had done to my body was still not known, which only meant one thing: more tests.
Wednesday, 19 November 2008
Hi all,
All a bit slow and I guess I’m getting a little impatient. However, this morning the medication that was keeping him sedated was due for change and he started moving his hand around. He could obviously hear us because he responded to the nurse’s instruction. This was only for a couple of minutes as he was put back under in readiness for a scan of his face at 2.00 pm
This is to check that what was done in the operation yesterday is in keeping with that expected. He needs an MRI as well but that was cancelled due to another emergency. This all adds to the wait and thus the impatience. The positives today have us on a bit of a high. I’m sure they will be balanced out over the journey but we’ll enjoy them while we can.
We are back to the hospital this evening so I’ll leave it at that for now.
Regards,
Harris family
The first response came from one of Vic’s old colleagues, Annie Russell, who hadn’t been in touch with Dad for a long time but she had a caring heart. Maybe it had to do with the thirty years of service they both gave to Northern Melbourne Institute of TAFE.
Wednesday, 19 November 2008
Thanks so much for the update. It is considerate of you.
Thinking of you and your family a lot. Wish I could do something useful! Have everything crossed.
Love to you,
Annie
My family was five days into the nightmare at this stage and the emails kept rolling in from far and wide.
Thursday, 20 November 2008
Dear Vic, Deb, Nicole and Brett,
I am so terribly sorry about Scott’s accident and its ongoing distress for you all. I can only imagine how horrific it is. You have all (and Scott too of course) been much on my mind and I am sending you all my best wishes and hopes that soon you can have the news you so want to hear; that he is going to be just fine.
May it be so.
Lots of love,
Cath
After a gruelling week my family was told that my state had stabilised and that the doctors were thinking of reducing the medication that was keeping me in a vegetative state. The first battle in this war was almost half over; the next unknown was whether or not I would actually wake up.
As a kid, I was always the last one at the kitchen table to finish my dinner. While Brett and Nicole were watching TV, or fighting, or having fun, I was still eating my meal. I wasn’t fussy, in fact there wasn’t a food I wouldn’t eat, but, to put it simply, I was painfully slow. So, knowing I was naturally a slow kid, my family just applied that to my waking up. A week later I began to come to the party – fashionably late, but I was getting there.
Saturday, 22 November 2008
Hi all,
It’s been a very long and, at times, a very slow-moving week. Firstly, thank you all for your kind wishes and offers of help etc. I can assure you that it is greatly appreciated. Friends and family are very important at this stage. We have received many calls and I apologise if we have either gotten back to you late or in some cases missed you in the net.
The week has been a contradiction of sorts. Nothing much to report but lots of small forward and promising moves.
The situation in ICU is that if your condition is stable and another emergency arises your needs move down the list. So this week has seen Scott’s face reconstructed with eleven metal plates inserted. He has remained on the ventilator and heavily (very) sedated with a tube down his throat delivering oxygen. Attempts were to be made during the week to remove this tube but to date this has still not happened. Why? Very complicated but briefly, this will not happen until the orthopaedic surgeon is happy with the condition of Scott’s neck.They wish to ascertain whether or not there is any ligament damage. Apparently, these ligaments are attached to the bone and, if damaged, present issues for the bone to move; it could possibly cause problems with the spinal cord.
So we have catch 22. Can’t remove breathing tube until this is cleared, Scott can’t have the tube in without being sedated because of the choking sensation etc., etc. Thus, he has been heavily sedated forwhat feels to us to be an eternity. Until he comes off sedation we are not in a position to assess his overall state of health. That will come when the doctors can ask Scott questions and assess his condition by responses given. Yes, we are frustrated but I guess the longer heis sedated the better chance of stabilising his condition. There have been moments throughout the week that give us hope that he will pull through in some way. How well? Nobody can say, so we can only hope and pray for the best possible. When sedation has been reduced there has been movement (strong on his left side, which is his dominant, and not so strong on the right). He tries to remove the tube at times andhe has squeezed hands in recognition of us being there with him. So where are we at the end of week one?
1 Scott’s still with us.
2 He is moving slightly.
3 His face is looking good. Surgeons have done a marvellous job.
4 Getting ourselves ready for week 2++++??
Our routine is basically get up and go in around 9.30–10.00 am for a couple of hours. Come home, answer calls etc., have a rest and then go back in around 6.00 pm and stay until whenever depending on Scott’s state of awareness. While in the hospital it’s mobiles off, so if you wish to get through to us the best times would be mid-afternoon and around 9–9.30 pm, if you want more than I can give via this email. Feel free to pass this info on to any other interested party not currently on my email group list. Drop me an email address of anyone who wishes
to be added to the mailing list. This way I feel as though there
