This week Barrie had his birthday dinner with his son Max and his lovely daughter-in-law, Melanie seen here. It was a joyous occasion as 12 months ago we would not have expected Barrie to look so well, he still is suffering the after effects of the operation he had early November but is much improved. This week he saw his surgeon Prof.Munday who was adamant that Barrie should be very cautious about doing anything strenuous for the next two months as his wound is still fragile. Having said that he LOOKS OK.
Barrie is spending Christmas at home as he is very anti travelling during major holiday periods and prefers to avoid crowds as he is still a bit wobbly !

Barrie was at the doctors yesterday who had a look at his wound from the operation on the 3rd of November. The report was good. For over two weeks after leaving hospital Barrie was very sore and swollen he stayed inside and rested getting the anesthetic out of his body. Today some three weeks after the operation he was out on the town with son Max and me, we went to a Japanese restaurant for some non fattening Sushi at Sushi Hiro in the Uxbridge Road W5, not all that far from where Barrie was born.
He was in good form and quite excited about collecting his new automatic car which will be much better for his legs. He chose something comfortable which is the first automatic car he has owned. His walking has been very painful after the operation but he says it is getting better every day and thinks in a month or so things will be much improved. Anyway good to see he was out lunching again. Paul.

Prof Tony Mundy Has worked his magic once again and barrie is further along in his recovery, the double hernia operation was completed on tuesday.
Myself and Barrie took to the corridors of the london Bridge hospital for a little pre afternoon tea promenade and a meet and greet with the wonderful staff.
I even managed to get my blood pressure done while I was there hows That for service, Barrie will be released today thursday.
more news soon

Barrie is popping back into hospital again today, he needs to have Prof Tony Mundy fix his hernias which occurred because of the pelvic damage to his stomach muscles.
He is expected to be there for just two nights if all goes well.
During the past weeks he has been trying without success to change his car for an automatic which will be much easier on his legs. The dealers were very hard to deal with even in the present recession ! So Barrie has engaged a broker who is a German car specialist who has come up with a suitable deal with in a short space of time.
The car has a private plate on it so the only hold up now is the DVLA who have to allocate a normal reg. no. which should be done in about a week if the postal worker do not go on permanent strike !
Here is Barrie in France last month looking relaxed with a neighbour Jean Ripes. What this space for news updates.

Barrie, who is in S.W. France was really pleased to have won the Danish GP in 1968 as his prize was a large copper pot which has been used a lot this week making Pate de qince and today a tagine with quince which was excellent.
Barrie and Maite are in Lannes for two weeks R&R. They have been very lucky so far with sunny days and no rain.
Their friend Denis has a new group with three guitarists, a bass player and drummer. There is a terrific Dutch singer who voice is perfect for the Bob Dylan covers they perform.
Barrie was present at the Sunday rehearsal and was impressed with the sound in Denis' new studio rehearsal room.
Barrie complains he is suffering with mother in law syndrome who is visiting on a long week-end.
He is also frustrated that the perfect cycling weather can not be taken advantage of as he can not sit on his cycle after trying it was far too painful. Pedaling is not a problem but sitting is! They are due back in London on the 12th Oct. When I leave for three weeks in Japan so sorry but the blog will have to stagnate till I return.

Ends.

Silverstone was an excellent day out, although nothing was arranged the Chevron B8 drivers were there in force, Willie Tuckett, Paul Vestey, Andrew Fletcher, Mo Skailles, Pete Smith, Paul Ridgeway, John Burton to mention a few. The classic LM races was contended by a large field of 60's 70's racers, with a wide variety of cars from GT 40, Lola T70 Mk 3b, Chevrons, Matras, and a single Ferrari which stormed off into the lead. but it did not last long, the real race was between Barrie's old chum, John Burton, Chevron B26 and the American star Bobby Rahl, Lola T290, with the latter prevailing at the finish. It was a great 1 hour race on the full GP circuit at Silverstone.
Barrie met Bobby Rahl for the first time and they are both pictured here.

Sorry the blog has been quiet for a few weeks but Barrie has been busy with all manor of activities. Bank holiday Saturday he and Marie-Therese went to France with me to collect my Krugger show bike which was a real deal, after a fine lunch in the Hotel du Centre, Wimereux with Fred Krugger, the bike was unloaded from the posh Krugger van duly fired up and I followed Marie-Therese and Barrie back to the port in Calais on arrival I had a problem with the hydraulic clutch and we wondered if it would make it onto the ferry. it did and I followed MT & B back to Kent for the rest of the week-end. Since then Barrie has seen the kidney specialist Dr. David Goldsmith who said his kidneys were working at about 35% only and this was irreparable damage from the accident. Not very good news. He is still hampered by two bad hernias which will be fixed only in November by Prof Mundy.

On a brighter front thanks to the BRDC Barrie has been able to continue with hydra therapy and gym exercises at the RAC in Pall Mall, today he was given a lift by his chum in a Ferrari 430 which was a real treat. It was a rare black one with yellow callipers on ceramic brakes, Top stuff, Barrie will be driven to Silverstone tomorrow by Marie-Therese for the Le Mans series race where no doubt he will find some old chums.

Barrie was back at London Bridge Hospital this morning to see Prof. Anthony Mundy regarding the troublesome hernias. Anthony Mundy trained in surgery and urology at Guy’s Hospital in London and became a Consultant in 1980 and a Professor of Urology in 1990. 

After a extensive, painful examination this morning the surgeon said he would perform the hernia repairs at the next available date convenient to both of them and it appears that this will be early November. It will only require a two night stay in the hospital and a couple of weeks of taking it easy so this procedure should not be too disruptive to Barrie's rehab program.

Barrie is still troubled by very poor renal performance, recent blood tests show this is not improving  and will see Dr. David Goldsmith at Guy's Hospital on the 1st of September in order to see what, if anything can be done to improve his kidney function. He does get very tired due to his blood not being in the best order.

 Today August 5th, Barrie was seen by Mr. Martin Bircher.
Mr. Bircher is one of the few surgeons skilled in vital surgery for crash victims with pelvic and other orthopaedic damage.

This is a highly specialised field, and patients from throughout the country are referred to him as soon as possible after their crash.

 Sadly Mr Bircher did not see Barrie for the 1st time till December 08, some five months after the accident, at that time Barrie was advised to see Prof Mundy to get the very urgent urological problems sorted this was done in February of this year.
Today Mr. Bircher advised that he was not going to do any pelvic surgery, he said Barrie would never be the same as before the accident due to the 65mm gap in the front of his pelvis,  however as he is walking without too much pain the risks of further surgery for only limited gains were not worth taking at this point.
So it is now down to Prof Mundy to try and repair the two hernias which will make life more comfortable and Barrie will continue to get as fit as he can with rehabilitation physio.
It was not altogether bad news and Barrie will see Mr. Bircher again in six months to see how the walking has progressed. Hopefully by then the hernias will have been patched.

Barrie was seeing specialist Mr Taylor at the Wellington Hospital yesterday where is poor body underwent another series of x-rays and scans, this time on his neck and spine. He will get the result next week to see how all this exam went and if there is something to be done about the neck problems.
In the mean time Barrie was taking lunch on Friday with Ed Nelson, [a direct descendent  of Lord Nelson of Trafalgar and British Naval fame] 

Ed used to race GT 40 Ford with the likes of Mike Hailwood, David Piper, Jackie Epstein and others, he is also a fellow member of the BRDC. Ed and Barrie lunched at Chimes in Pimlico and chewed over old racing times.
Barrie should know in about 10 days when his next operation will happen, when he knows it will be posted here.

Barrie's next hurdle is to repair the hernia which he got in Tours and which has continued to worsen over the past months, so he will go for a scan tomorrow Monday at 9.00h, then a consultation with his surgeon Prof.Mundy on the 29th July, Barrie hopes this car be repaired pretty soon in early August. He must fast before the scan so no porridge and blue berries for him tomorrow !
Here is what he might look like having his scan !

Barrie has completed the journey he started last July when he had the near fatal accident. He was driven across France by Marie-Therese and en route they stopped to see an old friend from Kent, Tony Beeston. Tony's wife Pam, made a delicious fresh salmon lunch and Barrie enjoyed seeing their retreat near Cognac for the first time, the visit was recorded by Pam.
One arrival to the destination the Smiths were warmly greeted by local friends, it was very emotional for all. Dinner was waiting and wine was taken !
Barrie and MT were able to use a friends pool every day and this helped Barrie's legs no end, by the end of ten days he was feeling much better from the daily hydro therapy.
Now back in London the physio people have said there was a marked improvement and Barrie hopes that during the next couple of months he will be able to discard the crutches once and for all. However there is still the problems of poor renal function, pelvis and a hernia to be resolved. The latter will need some surgery as soon as a referral is made. Barrie expects that this will be only a short operation unlike the last!

Barrie was very pleased this week to hear from his old friend John McDonnell.
Poor Johnny has not been well and during the past couple of years has kept himself locked away in SE Kent where he lives.

John was a racing car engineer and has worked with some of the countries best known drivers of the period, Chris Craft, Richard Attwood, David Piper, Mike d'Udy and of course Barrie.
John prepared Barrie's class winning Lola T70 in 1970 when they took it to Kyalami 9 hour race in South Africa, also he prepared the classing winning Lola T290 at the 1972 Le Mans classic, this was the 1st Lola car to every finish the 24 hours race in France. John has lots to be proud of and Barrie was really pleased to hear from his old friend again this week.

Here is Barrie photographed [by Marie-Therese] with one of his heros, David Piper. Silverstone in May this year.
David is the worlds most successful private entrant/driver in the world of sports car racing. David has driven in every major sports car series all over the world. For years David was faithful to the Ferrari marque, competing with P2/3 , P4, 275 LM all of which he still owns and runs. Barrie first met David in Magny Cours in 1969 when David was running a Lola T70 Mk3b with a 5 litre Chevy motor. Barrie was driving the Avalon Racing Chevron B8.Also at that meeting was Paul Hawkins Richard Atwood and Mike Hailwood. In those days Magny Cours was a lovely little circuit about 5 kms from the village. Sometime the scrutineering was done in the village  square and the cars were driven down the main route national to and from the village which surprised some of the locals in their deux chevaux !
In 1970 David was driving a Porsche 917 at Le Mans while filming with Steve McQueen, the filming was done at real speed and David had a very heavy crash, in this accident poor David lost his leg. Once he had got to grips with his prosthetic leg he was soon driving in races again and has continues to do so up to this day. He has raced for nearly 60 years ! He had been a hero of Barrie since the 60's and today they are good friends.

Barrie was enjoying some sun at the week-end when he had a surprise visit from the Grand children of his daughter. Mia sitting Jade kneeling certainly brought a smile from the proud Grand-Pa.

Barrie has has a busy week St. Thomas for xray , later in the week a visit to the wellington for aqua physiotherapy ,then on friday down to westgate to enjoy the sea air Saturday morning was spent in deal shopping at the local fishmonger and back home to see how our drivers were doing at the race of the year Monaco.

Barrie made it to Silverstone on Saturday meeting up with many old friends for the 1st time since the accident. despite his handicaps he managed to walk to the pits and is seen here with HSCC race director Grahame White, Breda and Marie-Therese. There were over 400 entries to the Silverstone meeting and Barrie saw some of his favourite cars up close including a beautiful B.T.8.Brabham Climax, lots of Chevron B8's and many others. The weather was kind and lunch at the BRDC club house was enjoyable with Peter and Dianne Smith who had come from Yorkshire especially to meet up with Barrie.

Barrie went to hydra therapy for the first time this week at The Wellington Hospital in St John's Wood, he was lifted into the pool via an electric chair which saved him risking the stairs, difficult which crutches. Physiotherapist Susan de Jager was really helpful according to Barrie, he said the session was really quite exhilarating, the water was 34c which felt really very pleasant, Barrie needed some buoyancy aids as Susan said there was little body fat to keep him afloat ! This was very pleasing to his ears. The half hour first session was quite tiring but Susan was sure that hydra was the way to go. It was reported that he is very still in the hips and pelvic due to the long stay in hospitals where he was immobilised. There is another session booked for next week.

Barrie was out in town today on an Adventure to Acton, this is quite a journey on crutches from SW1 but with the help of Marie-Therese he made it.
the purpose of the journey was to see Dr. Raymond Lim, for a dental check up. Dr. Lim said his teeth were not too bad considering that they had not been cleaned for four months after the accident then only a short brush every day  till he came home in February. So thanks to Dr. Lim for a new highly polished smile Barrie is now wearing.

Barrie was able to collect his buckle from Greg Hofmann who had it repaired after the accident damage, Greg was on a trip to England and Scotland with his family.
The repair done by silversmith Robert Leekya is remarkable, a beautiful job of excellence done by the original maker.
Barrie is very grateful to Greg Hofmann of Turquoise Village, Zuni, New Mexico for arranging this repair.

Barrie was in Wimbledon at the week-end for a BBQ with Max and his family, the Wistaria was a fine backdrop for his latest portrait shown here.
On Monday Barrie went for yet another physio assessment, this time at the Wellington Hospital in St.John's Wood NW8. Here he saw the hydrotherapy facilities. the physio consultant Carole was sure this was the way to forward for Barrie as he still can not weight bear fully on his left leg, the water buoyancy will allow him to do more in water than he could otherwise.
An appointment was made for the 30th April, he is keen to see what improvements can be made in the water.
Barrie is looking forward to a visit from his old racing chum Johnny Blades this week, John can be found on Barrie's racing site with a rather lovely Danish girl at the Danish GP in 1968, see the Chevron B8 page.   www.frenchpix.com/racingtimes

After a sunny Good Friday at home in Eastbourne I rode my GS1200 across Kent to join Barrie and Marie-Therese in Margate for a couple of days.
No sooner had I arrived and after a quick cuppa I realised that Barrie was feeling better and in good form as he was hopping out on his crutches up the drive to try and get away with my bike. Fortunately I had had the good sense to put the disc lock on so he had no chance of taking it down the road for a spin!

With the promise of more sun in the South East it was going to be a bright week-end to say the least.
Barrie is due to start rehab and hydra therapy next week which should see his mobility increasing, soon I really will have to watch were I put the key of my bike!
Paul.

Two or three week-ends ago I asked Maite what she had done with the horse hair braided belt I was wearing during the accident, she told me, [ some 8 months after the accident ] that the belt was in my cupboard but the silver and turquoise buckle had been badly damaged during the crash. It had been crushed against the BMW fuel tank, some of the turquoise stones were missing or broken. The silver buckle was dented.

I was very upset as I loved that buckle and had worn it for over twenty years since I bought it on a trip to Zuni in New Mexico. 

It was made by a North American Indian called Robert Leekya who lives in New Mexico and was a really skilled silversmith.

Upset as I was I decided that this favourite item would be repaired. I did some research on line and found that there were two Indian Jewelry shops in small village of Zuni 

I was not too sure who I bought the buckle from but did have an idea from looking at photos of the shops on line. 

I had reply from the shop where I purchased the buckle who said they would repair it for a very modest $50-60. 
Then the second shop replied who said they knew Robert Leekya and could get him to do the repair for me. They would only estimate after they had seen it.

Fantastic I thought, remember I bought the buckle in 1982 ! Robert was still alive and working !!

Much against Maite's advice I packed the buckle and trusted it to the post to get it over the remote Zuni, New Mexico for me. 

Yesterday I heard from Greg, the owner of Turquoise Village shop, that the buckle had arrived and Robert Leekya had seen it and said he would restore it for me "as new" for $80.
I was ecstatic with this news...............
Then can a second email, the shop owner Greg said that he was coming to London on 21st of April and he would bring the buckle over with him, he is staying near Harrods in Knightsbridge where I will collect it later this month.

Barrie made it to Kent again this week-end and although he was experiencing some problems with his pelvis, which some what worries him, he managed to get to the local barbers and have a "proper" haircut for the first time since the accident. Another milestone of trivia one might say but for Barrie he was very happy to be looking respectable again. More in store next week-end when he will venture out to a black tie dinner party at the RAC in Pall Mall this will also be a first social even since the accident ! Photos to follow next week........ !

Barrie did make it the seaside over the week-end and seemed to have chosen some great weather as well.
He did manage a short walk to pose for a seaside postcard picture. Crutches still very much in evidence but he is getting around slowly.

Very sorry if you have been trying to log on in the past few days but there was a serious problem with the server and the blog was down for about four days [and nights !]

As the week-end approaches Barrie is about to take his first trip to Kent with out the tubes and pipes he has had attached for the past eight months,
This might seem a simple 75 mile car journey with Barrie's wife doing the driving but........ for him it will be an adventure. let's hope it all goes well and by Monday we might see some pictures from the seaside.

Further to a trip to London Bridge Hospital on Friday the 13th March Barrie found that the date was not at all unlucky for him.
After much deliberation between Dr.'s it was decided to pull the last tube in his body, leaving him tube free for the first time in over eight months.
Wow, what a relief it must be for him after all that time, maybe at last there just might be a very small light at the end of the tunnel !

There are still some issues to be addressed plus the inevitable rehab and physio to get him moving with out those crutches.

Steve Hanson the Orthopaedic surgeon who visited Barrie last week advised him to start to wear normal shoes for a couple of hours a day, so the Airboot leg brace might be redundant soon.

Barrie is still pretty housebound while his wounds are mending but he is not short of visitors, here is is with a couple of beauties who came for dinner this week
cheering him up no end!

Barrie had a visit from his orthopaedic surgeon Steve Hanson yesterday who is on a short visit to London from his current hospital in Bordeaux.
He kindly inspected Barrie's left leg on which he did an excellent, complicated rebuild and said it was healing well and ready to have some weight put back on it again.
Small but positive progress indeed. Barrie will be meeting with Professor Munday on Monday for final urological tests and a result of the previous operation.

Hell to Heaven in 8 days.

Barrie has been out of London Bridge hospital for 8 days now and although his surgery wounds have been very painful, he is seen here making a recovery at his son Max’s house together with Marie-Therese and Dollie on the occasion of Dollie’s birthday dinner.

Barrie’s healing progress will be monitored by Prof.Anthony Mundy on March the 10th further to some x-rays, if positive there will be some fast improvements expected.
Dr. Steve Hanson the orthopedic surgeon who operated and rebuilt Barrie’s left leg is due in London on the 3rd of March and will inspect the progress and decide when the air boot cast can be at last discarded……….. all this is indeed very positive, so Barrie keep hanging in there , you are nearly at the top of the hill, it is all down hill after that !

Its the little things that matter. Barrie is in full recovery we know that because this morning his breakfast was delivered with an individual single portion marmalade which had been already opened and part used .
Barrie was not happy and he bloody told them so! they are now under no illusion that recovery is in full flow and Barrie will be dispatched home on thursday,
no doubt with a sigh of relief from the catering staff
Chef

On Tuesday afternoon Barrie Had his operation ,he was in theater for 6 hours they corrected his urological problems this included work on his bladder. Barrie stayed in the high dependancy unit overnight He has now returned to his room . although in some discomfort his mood is happy and buoyant we all wish him a speedy recovery. he should be out of hospital in 7-10 days.
Paul

Barrie got his appetite back! you can see from the photo he  
had a good plateful! and it was dispatched with relish well actually polenta and tomatoes
 Barrie will get his urological operation on Tuesday as mentioned in  
previous blog.
We will let you know how it all went in a few days,
regards to all Paul.

Things are looking up as Barrie has now got a date for his next operation 10th Feb. at the London Bridge hospital, Barrie is expected to in there for about a week.
Other good news is that after over six months Barrie had his first glass of red wine. Despite earlier attemps at Christmas and the New Year when red to him tasted disgusting, today a little vin de pays from the South West of France went down quite well. Only one half glass though!
All good news.

Barrie continues to be at home, it has been a month now since he was discharged from St Thomas'

He finds progress depressingly slow as there is still no fixed date for the urological operation which would really set him on the road to recovery.

On the NHS it might not happen till end of April or May which is much too long to wait, therefor the family are trying to get the insurance company to pay for
private treatment which could happen in February provided funds are forthcoming. A very frustrating situation both for Barrie and his family as not much progress can be made till the next procedure is completed. Needless to say the insurance company are dragging their heels !
Ends

Barrie was in a tizz last night having to go to A&E to get his catheter changed, the old one got blocked.
I arrived at St.Thomas's 17.15 then waited for a couple of hours then got transferred to Guys where after an other wait of an hour or so I
had the item changed buy an excellent Dr. Willbe, nearly an appropriate name ! Once again we see the pressure which the NHS is under and how they are understaffed.
One has to go to 1 hospital to get booked into another as Guy's has no A&E dept and St. Thomas's no urological dept. Although Barrie knew this he was unable to go directly to Guys as he needed a referral from St. Thomas's in order to be admitted. Ridiculous .

I have to say that I have been a little remiss in my duties to those who have been following the blog. Barrie is now currently happily installed at home with regular visits from the district nurse to redress his leg.
Christmas and new year were spent with Family and friends in London and westgate. Unfortunately Barries taste for Champagne has as yet not returned !
He require a operation at the end of this month or the beginning of next at which point things should start to progress rapidly his support for his leg will be removed in the coming weeks and a more intense regime of physiotherapy will no doubt follow.
Chef

Latest news is that Barrie will leave St. Thomas Hospital on Wednesday 31st and will stay at home until being admitted to Univercity College Hospital sometime in January to carry on with his treatment. After very nearly six months in various hospitals Barrie is really pleased to be off home even if it is only for a couple of weeks.

Happy Xmas holidays to everyone looking at the blog

Barrie left the hospital on Xmas morning and went for Xmas lunch to his son Max in Wimbledon
He will stay there and at home until Sunday
He really enjoyed his Xmas lunch but was disappointed that he could not drink any wine as it did not taste good to him ! The wine was fine but his tastebuds need to be trained again !

Barrie has been coping very well with the stairs but he is not too sure about his new airboot as it is very hot and makes his skin very flaky and he is not sure if it gives him proper support. We will have to check with hospital when he goes back.

Barrie is certainly enjoying beeing out of hospital but it is still early days for him to be left at home by himself. He still needs lots of looking after

All the best to everyone
Maite

Hi everyone
 
Unfortunately Dad isn’t very well at the moment.  
 
Dad has been struggling to maintain a normal body temperature, suffering both very high and very low temperatures.  It has now been found that he has bacteria in his blood, which sounds rather worrying.  He has also been shaking periodically, which is all related to the same problem, apparently.  He has been put on an course of antibiotics intravenously so these should take effect very quickly, but the downside is that he does experience unpleasant side effects, including nausea from these.  
 
Marie-Therese has come down with a bout of flu so she couldn’t visit Dad yesterday but did manage to visit him today, keeping a surgical mask on and being extra careful to avoid physical contact with anything, but Dad is in low spirits and, inevitably, the longevity of his recovery and the prospect of yet another setback is taking its toll.
 
We can only wait painfully patiently whilst this latest worry passes.  At times like this, the best comfort we can take is to remember how intensely difficult things were several months ago and recall the effectiveness of Dad’s strong will, even then, to overcome the hurdles.
 
It will be Dad’s birthday on Tuesday, so hopefully the antibiotics will have eased his symptoms by then to make it a more comfortable day, although the prospect of him having a glass of celebratory champagne certainly isn’t going to be on the menu now, sadly.
 
More soon!
 
Love
Nat
xxx

Barrie had a busy day today with ecg on his heart and a further xray on the damaged leg. The heart results will be ready tomorrow. The leg is making progress if a bit slow!
They will change the cast next week which will give more support.
The last word is that he will be in St. Thomas till after xmas.

Hi everybody

Once again, I must apologise for the infrequency of the blogs here – we’ll do our best to improve how often we provide updates, but please do feel free to email Dad on his usual email address (barrie@frenchpix.com). Please don’t be offended though if you don’t receive a reply. Dad will really enjoy reading all your messages and will be very touched to receive them, but it’s not too easy for him to reply on the Blackberry that Max admirably managed to sort out for him as a much needed lifeline to the outside world, as the keypad is a little small to type on too often!

Dad’s mobility is steadily improving and he is gradually regaining his strength (thanks to Paul teasing Dad’s appetite with a steady flow of Chinese food to raise his energy levels!). Apparently, today Dad managed to walk to the nurses’ station and back - twice – once using the zimmer frame and once on crutches! He has been having some gruelling physio which, whilst exhausting, certainly seems to be slowly but surely producing the desired results! He’s even using equipment that is sometimes used for women in labour!!!!! (Large exercise ball to sit and roll on!) Unfortunately, he’s suffering quite a bit of swelling in his feet, so the cause of this needs to be identified.

Dad’s kidneys are again not working properly but this is being monitored. He also still has ongoing urology problems for which further investigations are due to be undertaken but his kidney function needs to improve before these can be carried out.

Thank you to everyone who continues to check this site for updates, despite us having been somewhat slack with this lately and to all of you who continue to give Dad strength with your kind messages. Special thanks too, to the many visitors who have gone out of their way to keep Dad’s days interesting and giving him your visits to look forward to during these drawn-out days, weeks and months he’s now spent in hospital.

We are unsure yet whether Dad will still be at St Thomas’s for Christmas and if he has moved into a rehabilitation unit by then, we don’t know if he will be allowed out on a “day trip” for Christmas Day. The main thing is that he’s here to celebrate it, regardless of where he is, so that’s cause for celebration in itself. Next week, it will also be Dad’s birthday (shared with several of you!) which is another event that we didn’t know post-accident if he would see, so a calorie-rich birthday cake will provide another perfect excuse for trying to fattening him up!

Once again, many thanks for all you have done and continue to do, in keeping Dad’s spirits and motivation as high as possible. It’s very much appreciated by us all, but most of all by Dad who is quite overwhelmed by all your lovely messages!

More soon!

Love
Nat
xxx

Today is the 34th wedding anniversary of Barrie and Marie-Therese. Sadly it is the first one where they are not together !!!
MT had to go to Kent Friday evening. She had a nightmare journey which took over 5 hour to cover the 72 miles
we wish them both well

I spoke to Barrie this evening and recovery has had a blip ! his calcium levels are quite high and in response to that the doctors have reattached a drip.
this is quite upsetting for Barrie as it restricts his ability to be a little self sufficient moving around the room himself unaided .
We are hoping that this situation will be quickly resolved and things can return to the normal upward trajectory .
Chef

Barrie will be out for the day on the 10th Dec Wed. So please do not visit during the day. Barrie will be back by the evening after an out patient visit to Pelvic specialist at St. Georges Tooting. He will acompanied by his son Max

A momentous moment this evening Barries appetite has been rather megre until now, I thought a little of what you fancy does you good !
He loves won ton soup so I collected one from the canton in soho and delivered it still piping hot to Barrries suite.
Seldom have I seen anything devoured with such gusto and enthusiasm not least from someone who has hardly eaten for four months I am hoping to get the call bring me won ton soup again.
Chef

 
Hi everybody
 
We apologise for the rather less frequent blogs lately – we will try to keep everyone updated as often as possible, but Marie-Therese and Max are often exhausted by the time they get home from visiting and I’ve been unable to see Dad at all since his return to the UK as I’ve got a chest bug which I can’t risk passing on to Dad. 
 
Dad apparently is in OK spirits on the whole, but he is still very emotionally and physically fragile.  
 
It is expected that Dad’s “open” cast on his leg will be replaced soon with a different type which must stay on for a minimum of one month, but ideally 3 months.  He still has ongoing urology issues which need monitoring.
 
Max and Marie-Therese had a meeting at the hospital yesterday to discuss the next stages in Dad’s rehabilitation and where this will all be done.  Nothing has yet been decided but we’ll keep you posted when some definite arrangements have been decided.  In the meantime, Dad’s enjoying his wonderful view and may even, without realising it, be having some form of soothing therapy watching the river traffic floating by!  (Effortless hydrotherapy?!)
 
I’m sorry I can’t offer you any first hand information or anything more substantial.  The main thing is that we have Dad back here where he is easier to visit (it seems his social life, at least, has been thriving!) and that although seemingly slow, his progress is steady and moving in the right direction.  Before we know it, the next phase will have come and gone and we’ll all be chatting about him reaching the milestone of coming home!  Let’s hope time passes as quickly as that for him!
 
Many thanks to you all, as always, for your kind and ongoing support and well-wishing messages, which do all reach Dad.
 
More soon!
 
Love
Nat
xxx

Roy victor the photograper visited Barrie today and took a few pictures , rumour has that Barrie will move to a rehabillitatipn centre next week so visitors beware
watch the blog for further details current visiting hours are 3 pm to 8 pm
Room 29

George Perkins Ward
North Wing
11th Floor
 
For anyone needing travel information for getting to St Thomas’s Hospital, please click here 

Hi everyone
 
Here are the details for visiting Dad, for those of you who are able to get to St Thomas’s Hospital in Central London and would like to go and see him.  
 
However, please email Marie-Therese at marithesmit@hotmail.com in advance of any intended visit, as Dad is extremely weak and tired at the moment.  This, along with hospital rules, means he is unable to have too many visitors at the same time.  By having prior notice of who is coming, Marie-Therese will be able to co-ordinate a steady flow of visits which will ensure that Dad doesn’t have some days with nobody coming and other days with too many visitors.  Visiting times are 2pm to 8pm daily.
 
Dad is in:
Room 29
George Perkins Ward
North Wing
11th Floor
 
For anyone needing travel information for getting to St Thomas’s Hospital, please click here 
We don’t have a phone number for Dad in his room at the moment because Dad is too tired to take calls and given the massive support he has had from you all, his phone would probably be ringing constantly with so many well-wishers kindly calling!!!!
 
Love
Nat
xxx
 

Hi everyone
 
Today is the day everyone’s been waiting for – Dad is finally back in London!!!  It’s difficult to re-visit the times when we wondered if this day would ever come.  I haven’t spoken to Dad personally since he’s been back, but his journey went smoothly, he has a very comfortable room to himself in St Thomas’s hospital, with a view overlooking the Houses of Parliament!!!!!  What a contrast!!!!  No word yet though on the hospital food, but it’s easy now to tempt him with familiar goodies!!!!
 
This is just a very quick update to let you all know that Dad’s back safely on home territory – we will let you know when we have more information and when we know visiting times, etc.
 
As always, thank you so much for the messages, kind wishes and support that you have all so kindly continued to give over these long, rollercoaster months.  A new chapter has now begun for Dad, with raised spirits at being “home”, no doubt.
 
Love
Nat
xxx

Arrived with some goodies form the local Market on saturday clementines custard tarts chocolate chip cookies. by now I was getting used to Barries overly sweet tooth and all items were approached with some fervor,not the same can be said for the hospital food, Barrie did in fact mention it to one of the leading surgeons saying "when you start eating here instead of going out for lunch every day ill start eating here too! "
†he suprise of the day was that when I arrived barrie had just returned from his final xray and the nurse was there to remove the stitches from his leg, and to top it off Steve Hansen arrived from Bordeaux to check out how his handiwork was progressing he was more than happy with the results as Barrie was to see him.
all is not rosy as there is still the urology problem which is slow to respond and Barrie is suffering with some of the symptoms of being bedridden for so long. these issues seems to cause the most discomfort!
today sunday barrie was to have his stitches from his hip removed and after that he just has to wait.
my understanding is that Maite will travel to paris on tuesday and travel back with ~barrie by ambulance on wednesday morning during his transfer to st Thomas`s hospital in Westminster (Dear old Blighty) nobody is looking forward to this more than Barrie.
after assessment he may be moved to full time rehabilitation or even sent home and continue rehab as an out patient, these matters have yet to be decided
and arranged. Chef

I was pleased to see my friend barrie in good form today. Although there have been recent upsets in regard to the way certain issues have been dealt with things seem to have moved on to a positive mood, in every likelihood barrie will have his stitches removed Monday an xray of his leg also and then dispatched to london on wednesday.
so full on visiting will ensue Barries wish is to attend the BRDC christmas dinner!
A good target and wonderful motivation for him.
looking forward to another day with Barrie tomorrow.
Chef

Having just arrived home from paris with my mum, yazz is typing this blogg for me as I do not have another email in me.
We arrived yesterday afternoon to find Barrie in a similar state to how he has been since his operation. He is still having difficulties eating anything more that a few mouthfuls of food. Bearing in mind how disgusting the food is at the hospital this is probably not such a bad thing as starvation is probably a better option than being poisoned!
The fact of the matter is that having not eaten solid food for over a three month period Barries stomach has shrunk so much that he only handle very small amounts of food. At least during this visit the small amounts that he was eating was not causing him to vomit.
In the afternoon during our visit we were joined by Rene and we all enjoyed a few good old stories from the good old days. We stayed at the hospital until 8.30 and having re instated Barries television subscription we at least left him with the prospect with watching some champions league football which is about as good as it gets on a French Tv channel.
We arrived today with Barrie in a very sad, upset and in an emotional state of mind. This had all been brought on by an earlier visit of an extremely insensitive doctor who came into his room and explained that they could do nothing further for Barrie and they wanted him out of his room as soon as possible. It was as if the doctor was insinuating that Barrie would be thrown out onto the street which of course would never be the case but this is how it seemed to poor old Dad. Within moments of hearing about the insensitive of this 'nasty piece of work' doctor I left the room and quickly tracked down the whereabouts of this monster. Having confronted him regarding the earlier incident I wanted to turn him into a patient however diplomacy got the better of me and having expressed my thoughts about his inappropriate comments we came to an arrangement with each other on how to resolve both of our problems. His was that he wanted Barries bed back, ours was that we no longer wanted Barrie subjected to this kind of treatment for a second more than necessary. The outcome of the next hour of negotiations resulted in the probability that Barrie will be Transported back to the UK by road ambulance either on monday or wednesday of next week. We are now just waiting for the confirmation of Steve Hanson that there will be a bed available at St. Thomas's hospital in London.
Paul is on the way out tomorrow had will hold the fort over the weekend and then next week, hopefully Dad will be on his way back to UK at last!!!
Max

Over the weekend Barrie had a few up and downs
His problem with nausea and not being able to eat has eased up a bit and since yesterday he has been able to eat a little food and even one or two ice creams !
His recurrent urology problem is still causing some worries and today again he had to be transfered to the urology department of Hopital Necker for a consultation
It now looks as if Barrie will be transfered back to London around 12 November after they have done the first important check on his leg
Barrie is now getting out of bed, going to sit in his chair and walking around the bed aided by two nurses and hopefully by the end of the week, all this should be getting a bit easier
He will have visit from Max and Dollie on Wednesday and Thursday followed by Paul the chef on Friday until Sunday

Hi everybody

This is just to let you know of the latest news.  Dad was today taken  
to another Parisien hospital to have a urology problem dealt with,  
which was a successful "excursion" and at the time of writing, he is  
probably still not back at his own hospital.  The disruption to his  
daily routine today meant he's not really been able to try to eat and  
we're hoping he won't be hungry when he does get back to his room as  
he will have missed hospital dinner.  (He's probably started to get a  
bit fed up with shortbread biscuits by now too!).

I've not been able to speak to Dad for very long today as my  
conversation with him this morning was cut short when a nurse arrived  
to attend to him, but his pain has subsided considerably today, which  
is of course very welcome news, although I think he is still  
struggling with quite bad nausea.  I'm not sure if this is due to the  
medication he is currently taking, or residues of anaesthesia still in  
his system - perhaps a combination of both!

I'm afraid I don't have much more news than this today, but may have  
more tomorrow, perhaps.

Love
Nat
xxx



Hi everyone
 
The first post-operation reports from Dad himself are that he had a very difficult night after the operation and yesterday he was in excruciating pain, which he described as the worst pain he’s ever experienced.  One can’t help but wonder if he has, in fact, been in comparable agony immediately after the accident but of that, he fortunately has no memory.
 
The bone graft operation which Steve performed entailed taking a 5cm wide piece of bone from Dad’s pelvis, cutting it into strips and inserting it into Dad’s leg, along with a metal plate and 4 screws to provide additional support.  During the accident, Dad lost a significant area of bone from his leg.  It was a compound fracture with many breaks from his shin downwards.  The hospital in Tours had previously told us that this complex break, with missing bone along with many fragmented pieces of bone, was in a particularly tricky location because it was near his ankle, which meant his long term prospects of how this would affect his leg’s stability and balance were questionable.  Dad has fortunately, thankfully, been in superlatively good hands, having Steve as his surgeon, giving him the best opportunity for the best recovery possible. 
 
Dad now, sadly, has to ride out the pain and count the days until the cast comes off, with some very intensive physiotherapy ahead to regain his mobility as quickly as is realistically possible.  He is being encouraged to try to stand and move around his bed a little with the use of a zimmer frame, but he is still extremely weak and his muscles have wasted away so much that this is very hard for him to begin to do.  This is not helped by the fact that he is still struggling to eat anything other than tiny quantities, so he has very limited energy intake at the moment too.
 
No doubt, things will start to improve gradually but in the meantime, Dad has to endure the pain and discomfort from this latest procedure.  The pain he had yesterday has subsided a little today so each new day should see the pain dwindling.
 
We’ll let you know when we have more news.
P.S.  We’ve just heard that Dad won’t be back in the UK for at least 6 weeks.  He will begin his rehabilitation in a specialist centre somewhere Paris in order to allow him to return to the hospital he’s currently in so that they can do post-op check-ups themselves on his leg on two separate occasions, before Dad returns to the UK.  This is disappointing in the sense that Dad will still be so far away, but it’s much better that it is the operating hospital who assesses Dad’s leg’s progress in two and six weeks’ time.
 
 
Love
Nat
xxx

Hi everyone
 
We know everyone will be anxiously waiting to hear how Dad’s operation went yesterday. 
 
The operation didn’t take place until very late in the day, due to other patients’ emergencies taking priority.  From what I know, the operation went well, with bone being taken from Dad’s pelvis to replace the bone which was lost from his leg during the accident.  As predicted by Steve, Dad’s surgeon, Dad is in a great deal of debilitating pain and discomfort, for which he is having morphine.  It is expected to be several days before the pain really starts to subside, so we’re hoping that he’ll spend as much of that time as possible asleep.
 
We’ll of course keep you posted when there’s more news.
 
Love
Nat
xxx
 

Hi everyone

 
Dad did not have the operation today because he has an infection which needs to be under control before undergoing surgery.  The operation will go ahead tomorrow (Tuesday) instead.
 
He has had a challenging day today emotionally and was particularly overwhelmed when he received a parcel of goodies, very kindly sent by some friends in America. 
 
Because his operation was originally scheduled for today, there were no visitors planned, but there are a couple of very kind nurses and a doctor who looked after him whilst he was in the Intensive Care unit, who have been visiting him regularly and who came to see him today too, a gesture which he also founds very touching.  Preparations have also been underway for the operation, so this has helped to fill his day, although he was disappointed that due to these he missed a visit from Steve Hansen, his surgeon.  Once tomorrow’s operation is behind him, Dad will be counting the days to having the cast removed and being able to really get his physio underway with full steam ahead!  Needless to say that he will then start to feel far more positive as he sees the results of this and his physical strength returns.  Simultaneously, I’m sure his emotional fragility will melt away and he will start to feel far more upbeat.  Although he tries to stay positive, it’s frustrating beyond measure for him to be so immobile but his darkest days ARE behind him and he will also be happier when he is ready to be transferred to a UK hospital, nearer to family and friends (and a local M&S food hall perhaps too!).
 
Things are improving a little on the food front – he did actually have some hospital soup, which he quite liked!!!!
 
That’s all for now, really as none of us are there to report personally, but please do keep your messages coming as I’m now able to email them all to him on a regular basis.
 
Love
Nat
xxxx
 
 

Just a quick Blog from yesterday and todays visit.
I arrived a 2pm yesterday afternoon, Dad looks quite well however he is still very weak, we had an interesting time trying to get him from Bed to Chair and vise versa, even managed to put my own back out trying to lift him!!


Anyway, I arrived with a bit of Chinese, rice, pork, chicken etc, he had some but only small portions for Dad as he really is not very hungry as his stomach has shrunk so much over the past 3 Months.
Spent the afternoon chatting and then both has a quick snooze before Natalie phoned and woke us both up.
Popped and found some Roast chicken and rice, dad only had a very small taste again, as he was feeling quite squeesey and nauseas. I stayed until around 9 pm and then returned to my humble accommodation.
Returned today at 2PM with some little delights, quiche lorraine and a little salmon st Jacque and carrot salad followed by sorbet. Still no appetite, Dad ate small bits but still felt sick. I paid to get the TV on and were both pleased to watch a football match, Man U V Everton and then we watched the Rugby at the Stade de France, just up the road from here, shame we could not both go!! Popped out again as Dad needed Creme Caramel, mints and water. I also bought him a small Baguette and ham toms and fromage. Not easy to buy Ham around here, being the Muslim part of Paris! However good old Lidl came up with the goods.
Got back made a small sandwich, however before we even got started, Dad was very sick, too much acid and he needed to get it all up. Once we cleaned up the mess, he felt a little better and eat a little more bread and a creme caramel.
Now watching programme about Ferraris.
That's all folks
.Max and Barrie

Hi everyone

The first part of today's update was dictated by Dad and the second is my  more detailed overview of how Dad is.

"I've moved from Intensive Care to the 3rd floor where the atmosphere is much more relaxed, however the staff levels are also a lot smaller so if you want anything done, it's a half hour wait at best. They do try but they have too much to do.

I'm thrilled to have a visit from my daughter, Natalie, who is writing this blog for me. The next big op is on the 27th, so if that goes well we might be getting somewhere!

Greetings to all and thanks for your messages.

Barrie"

Today's visit was, by chance, so perfectly synchronised with Dad finally leaving Intensive Care which meant that rather than me being able to see him for only two hours or less, I was incredibly fortunate to be his first visitor to be able to stay from 1pm to 7pm (I wasn't able to stay later because of the Eurostar's current timetable disruption!)

Dad was already sitting in the armchair when I arrived and stayed there for the longest time so far, to about 4.30pm.  Although I saw Dad just a couple of weeks ago, I have to say I was still really taken aback by how thin and drawn he has become. It's hard to conceive how someone as physically strong as Dad could suddenly become so seemingly vulnerable and frail. Until recently the considerable swelling which Dad suffered from his oedemas masked this very deceptively.    

Dad continues to have regular bouts of being overcome with emotion but fortunately he doesn't try to suppress this as he completely understands that this is a process he must just go along with at the moment in order to mentally heal and to avoid long term psychological problems.

Despite all this, we soaked up each other's company, with Dad having many stories to tell about a diversity of subjects and, intermittently, Dad listened keenly to 10 pages of your latest messages that I'd printed from the blog pages! He really is so touched by the astounding level of support from you all, so thank you so very much.   

Poor Dad certainly isn't embracing the concept of hospital food, but this may be because his tastebuds are distorting flavours because it's so long since he's eaten properly.  Having said that, another M&S raspberry jelly went down well, along with some of their shortbread biscuits and a few grapes!   

Whist Dad is doing really well with his recovery, he is inevitably finding it unimaginably frustrating that his complete lack of strength and mobility have stripped him of the simplest level of independence.  This though, is bound to be a powerful driving force for him throughout his physical rehabilitation via  physiotherapy.  He hopes to be able start this as soon as it is practical after next week's orthopaedic reconstructive surgery to his leg.

All in all, it was really lovely to have an intensive block of time with Dad today and I felt very close to him. None of us forget how lucky we are to still have him with us and it's something that stays in the forefront of our minds, in particular during visits. I am really looking forward to Dad's further and ongoing progress, but just wish we had a magic wand to make it all happen without the emotional and physical battles that still lie ahead for him! There is no doubt in my mind that Dad will be just fine, generally, in time. He's doing brilliantly and I'm very, very proud of him!

It was a long visit with a lot of insight into Dad's current situation, so I'm afraid I've gassed on a bit. I hope someone out there is still awake!!!!!

Thanks once again to you all for the mountain of support and especially too, to René who so kindly regularly gives his time and fills in the gaps by visiting Dad when we can't be there.

Dad is now looking forward to Max's visit on Friday.

Love
Nat
xxx

Tuesday 21 October - this is an important date as Barrie is out of intensive care after more than three months
He is now in the orthopedic ward on 3rd floor in room 324
Visiting hours are much easier between 1pm and 8pm

His general health has improved a lot, he still has urologic issues to be taken care of and of course next will be the leg operation on 27 October when the surgeon Steve Hansen will do a bone graft and put plates to strenghen the lower leg

Natalie will be in Paris on 22nd, so more detailed news to come
Maite

Monday october 20  This morning open operation going from bladder to external bag!!! Hand swen by Dr Th Lazard.I am moving to the 4th floor this PM then next week 3rd floor with private room. Greetings from Barrie dictated to my pal René Ligonnet Love to all .

Rene Ligonet at visiting time


For some unknown reasons I was alllowed to sleep til 10.30 this morning with the brilliant sunllight completly hidden behind the solid rollerblind
I thought the clock had stopped
Once cleaned up, I was hoisted with hydraulic lift into my morning chair from where I dictate this message

Sitting alone in the room, I started to analyse the state of my physical condition
I arrived at the shock decision I was very very weak as I had to take a knife to open a plastic top bottle of water

Two ladies from the physio department came to help me with my breathing technique .... 60 years of asthma has taught me most of what I need to know and they were surprised to find my lungs pretty clear (a month ago in Tours I had a serious asthma attack which even the hospital had difficulties in clearing)
The love of my life is typing this for you and will be transmitting asap
Love to all
Barrie

PS for Malcolm
As much as I would like to come to Xmas lunch in my old 80's suit, the chances are slim but if you want to book 2 places provisionall, you can do so
BTW I have not seen a computer since 14 July
------------------

17 october from intensive care in Paris
Today I had my first go at getting out of bed without hydrolic lift, just 3 nurses and a zimmer frame, it was bloody hard
I can't believe that in 3 months, my good leg has withered so much, it would not support my new super light body, 75kgs
Free from all attachments from the medical machines (at last) I hope to get moved to a different floor shortly
Special greetings to Stan and Jean-Pierre who I understand read this blog daily
Many thanks to John McDonald for his touching message
Thoughts of being only 75kgs once the plaster is off means that my 10 years old Savile Row suit might fit
So if you see some overdress smarty pants in the BRDC lounge, it might just be me
Greetings to all
Barrie
------------------

I spoke to Barrie today (and Max spoke to him too) and he sounded OK although I had woken him up.
He told me that they are thinking of moving him out of intensive care now he is better.
The beds are at a premium in intensive care and he may soon be in the orthopedic department (on 3rd floor)
Barrie continues to have regular visits from his friend Rene and his wife Ha at lunchtime and a few more visitors in the evening
I will be in Paris from Friday, so more detailed reports will be available at the weekend.
Until then, thank you all for your support and keep sending messages
Maite.     
------------------

Since Saturday which was a bad day for Barrie, he has been much better and today he was in quite cheery mood even though he still had a fever which started on Sunday.
The doctors are doing tests to find out the cause.

I had a chat today with Dr Lazare who is very pleased with Barrie
They have now removed the tubes for the dialysis, so slowly he has less and less tubes attached to him and is looking less like a cosmonaute....

I am returning to London Monday night but will be back in Paris on Friday lunchtime.
Our friend Rene will visit Barrie tomorrow and on Wednesday Alexis will pay a visit
So hopefully he will not be too lonely

Maite
------------------

Dictated by Barrie
After a peaceful night, I woke with a massive asthma attack which took the charming young nurse Elise Cassini over 2 hours to get under control, leaving me tired but breathing
Sorry there is no more exciting news from France sunny capital
I am now marking time till 27th when my surgeon will complete the final procedure
Greetings to all
Barrie.
------------------

Hi
Sorry I didn't write last night but Alexis Barichella came with me to the last visit and he then took me for a meal, so came back late
He will go an see Barrie on Wednesday night and will go also the following week
Barrie was better yesterday, not so down as the previous day. I think he was quite shocked by all his emotions and told the doctor about it in the evening who said it was quite normal and that it would help to release some of the pressure he felt inside.
Last night Barrie has a slight fever but not sure why. They were going to investigate
He still has a hard time eating the hospital food but my ice cream goes down well as well as nice muscat grape and pear.
I will go and visit early this evening so that I can be at Gare du Nord at 19,45
Will do report for blog this evening on train
XX
MT.

Really bad day yesterday Saturday 11, I had 2 bouts of uncontrollable emotions, one brought about by asthmatic problems and seeing my darling, the second provoked by an extremely touching email by my daughter Natalie.
The doctors said it was quite normal reaction to all my traumas
To top all of that fully asleep at 11am the one awkard nurse decided to wake me to change all the sheets by switching the light on, then did exactly the same at 4am
Fortunately nurses like her are few and far between
Love to all from Barrie

Saturday was not a good day for Barrie.
He was very down which is quite unlike him but quite understandable under the circumstances.
On top of that, his breathing was not very good which means he gets stressed and the stess makes his breathing worst, so a real vicious circle.
I told him how well he has been doing and that he should not be discouraged.
Easy to say for me but for him progress is too slow and he would like to be able to get up and do his exercises.

I realise he is bound to have days like that but it is very upsetting.
I hope tomorrow will be a better day and that watching the GP will have cheered him up a little bit.
Maite

Well guys,
All is calm, Barrie eat some lunch, no too much, this is my fault as I found him a Sorbet, this he has been asking for since he regained conciseness!! So lunch visit all went very well, we had a bit of a laugh and there were no mysterious stories today. He was sitting upright in his chair again, however this does becomes a little uncomfortable after a few hours, so then we request to get him back to bed.
Having returned tonight, he had retaken the horizontal position and seemed fine again. He eat some soup, however main course was not very nice, he tried a bit, had a few veg and pushed the rest to one side, there was no way I would have eaten it!! Luckily for him I found another Sorbet delight, Raspberry and coconut, needless to say, he eat the lot!!
I left him in good form and he is now looking forward to seeing MT tomorrow.
Hopefully Paul has had the pics and will stick them up on the Blog.
Signing off,
Max
Much the same news for this evening, to

At last he gets this sorbet! This helped him swallow a cocktail of tablets
Now he is a happy bunny!!
Max
------------------

Dear all,
Just left another good visit, Barrie a little tired today but in good form, they gave him a little sedative last night to help him sleep, he much prefered to be sleeping all night rather than staring at the ceiling and watching the clock tick!
Took him a nice fresh melon, raspberries and figs , all from the local market. He eat a bit of each and liked very much. He had a cup of tea, no milk and then we had a look at the menu and put in our order for tonight to see how he does with some real food. So we have ordered, Soup of the day, steak hache, veg and compote for desert, not that he needs any more deserts, he has loads of fruit and M&S goodies left.
So all in all no problems, his mind fully ok, no wondering off anywhere. We had good chat about the usual, cars , Paris etc. Spoke to Steve, who had some positive thinks to say. Even that possible may be able to come home a few weeks after next Op, which has now been confirmed to be the 27th OCT, on the Eurostar!!!!
That would be amazing !!
Steve is making enquires today, ref Hospitals in London and will let us know in due course, anyway one step at a time, we have plenty of time to arrange the transfer and UK hospital. Dad has asked me to come and pick him up in our New Audi !!
That's it for now.
I am now on the bus off to Port St Ouen, see If I can find that Art Deco dining room table, not sure how i will get it back!!
Max
------------------

Sorry everybody, I sent this email last night, however nobody seems to have received it, please let me know that it has arrived safely, see below.

Hi Gang, having arrived at the hospital, feeling more than a little apprehensive, I was met by Steve Hansen and we had a chance to chat for 10 mins before seeing Dad. He was really please with his progress and explained that his kidneys had started to work again and hopefully this would be the last of the dialysis machine!! Fingers Crossed.
I was then pleasantly surprised to see Dad sitting upright in his bedside chair and I good form! We chatted quite normally about various things and I managed to stay until 3.15.
Dad managed to eat not only a Raspberry Jelly but also a Creme Caramel, I was very jealous, as they both looked so good!!
After an hour or so he was becoming a little uncomfortable and wanted to get back into his bed, so we arranged for this too be done. Whilst drinking some water in his bed, he managed to have a minor coughing fit and blew his Valve off in his throat! That instantly left him speechless. Simple Fix though, just plugged the valve back in and he could speak straight away again, this could be very useful later on!!
Dad was on the case the whole of the 2 hour visit, not once did he wander off to Never never land and I left feeling in a far better state to when I arrived.
He has now sent me away with a shopping list! Melon and sorbet for dinner tonight.
Let's see how he does with that.
That's all for now.
Max

Sorry about the delay in doing this – it was started ages ago, but too many interruptions today!  Here’s the latest update…..
 
Hi everyone
 
I visited Dad in Paris yesterday, with great excitement about being able to chat with him for the first time since the accident.  Initially, Dad wasn’t making any noise when he spoke but then I realised that the device which allows him to speak isn’t a permanent fixture and I needed to ask the nurses to fit it for him so that his words formed sounds.  It really was music to my ears to be able to hear Dad talk.  Under the circumstances, he was in amazingly good spirits, although he is inevitably getting pretty fed up with his situation. 
 
I asked Dad if he fancied anything to eat and the nurses moved him into the armchair so he was in a better, more upright, position for this.  Dad has been eating very, very, little, so I brought with me a few goodies, including some organic apple and strawberry purées which come packaged in a soft pouch so they’re easy for Dad to hold, eat and control for himself how much he sucks out of the pouch.  I also brought a Marks & Spencer raspberry jelly, which I was hoping he’d find refreshing and reasonably easy to digest.  Fortunately, he did and polished off the whole pot, so I think this is probably the largest amount of “real food” he’s eaten so far!  With hindsight and with Dad still being a little bit shaky, I concluded that jelly perhaps wasn’t the most practical food to expect poor Dad to be able to keep on the spoon without a bit of help!!!!  Not wanting to rob him of small opportunities to do things for himself independently, I left him, in the main, to do a splendid job of eating this himself!
 
Before I knew it, the first visit was over but the first thing we did on the evening visit was to launch an attack on the next item on the menu which was an M&S crème caramel!  It was very encouraging to see Dad beginning to eat - under my bad influence, all sweet things!  This visit was spent mostly lip-reading because although Dad did still have the speech device attached to his throat, it wasn’t working.  About two-thirds of the way through the visit, an attending nurse noticed that it had detached from a tube to which it needed to be connected, which is why Dad hadn’t been making any sound when he tried to talk (I’m sure there are a few people who are probably now frantically trying to find a supplier of these devices (minus the essential tube) for me!).  So we had about 5-10 minutes of relief with spoken conversation (whenever Dad could fit a word in edgeways, of course) before Dad’s breathing became so laboured that the nurses had to replace the device with the ventilator.  So we were back to lip-reading again!!!  I was also able to give Dad a bit of a moisturising session and hand massage and noticed a massive difference in the size of his now thin hands, compared how swollen they were from the odoemae on my last visit just before he left Tours for Paris.
 
All in all, for me personally, it was a really worthwhile trip, even if I could only be there for the day.  Dad was in a really “soft and gentle” kind of mood and seemingly less fed up, for the second visit.  Although he became increasingly tired, it was lovely to have had both of the visiting hours with him being awake and communicative the whole time.
 
It’s anticipated that Dad may come off the ventilator towards the end of this week.  Steve Hansen is going to perform Dad’s second leg operation when he returns from holiday and hopefully Dad will then be able to be moved out of Intensive Care and onto Steve’s orthopaedic ward.  In addition to marking Dad’s progress and a new stage in his recovery, this will also mean more generous visiting hours. 
 
Max has arrived in Paris today, staying until Thursday and then Marie-Thérèse will be there on Friday for the weekend.
 
Love
Nat
xxx
 
 
 
 
 

Dear all,
Barrie dictating paul the Chef typing. this is the first outgoing message i have been able to send you since the accident it is with your good wishes and encouragement and support of my wife family and friends-Thank you all that was why I was able to pull back from the brink I would like to extend special thanks to the cobra club for the help in my rescue we will have to meet at silverstone sometime next year.
I expect I have another 3-4 months before i am completely out iof the woods so thumbs up for now Barrie from Paris

Arrived this morning and made my way to the hospital and met up with Steve Hansen. he told me that he intended to put the plate into Barries leg by next week before he goes on holiday,and then will complete with the skin graft on his return. I am sure there may be a bone graft in the mix also but not that sure.

Barrie was a little drowsy as he had had some kind of injection he was sure he was about to be moved for a operation but I think it was just the drugs playing with his mind a little. Today he is on dialysis currently every four days the plan seems to be to get the dialysis to every five days then six etc .and gradually the kidneys will kick in and things will return to normal.

he was otherwise in good form and the plan is while i am here is for Barrie to write his own blog entry that may be tonight but I think most likely to be tomorrow while he is not on dialysis and sitting in his chair!
Barrie was starting to get quite lively before I left a definite sparkle in the eye so looking forward to the next visit.
Paul more later......

I am very happy to report that Barrie was able to sit down in an armchair yesterday for the first time
So the 1st of October is a date to remember !
He is now encouraged to sit everyday for about one hour and when I called this morning he was sitting down and the doctor took the phone to him so that I actually managed to speak to him
This was great. He was in the middle of a small asthma attack but still managed to speak for a few minutes

He is back on dialysis this evening

I am hoping for more good news every day

Thanks again to everyone for all your messages of support

All the best to all
Maite
------------------

Barrie had the first operation on his leg today and it went well
The surgeon Steve Hansen cleaned the fractures and removed some dead bone
It now needs to heal for about 10 days to 3 weeks and if everything is OK, he will then do a bone graft and put a plate to consolidate the leg
Barrie will then have a plaster cast for 6 weeks

Hopefully his kidneys should start to work soon but in the meantime he will need more dialysis

I visited Barrie this evening and to my surprise he was fully awake and he could talk thanks to the special valve fitted on his tracheotomy
This was wonderful to be able to have a proper conversation after a week of frustration !

I hope he will continue to do well and get better and get used to eating proper food and that for my next visit I will be able to bring the creme caramel he has been requesting (La Laitiere ! This is advertising for you...)

Maite
------------------

The last two days Barrie has been prepared for the operation tomorrow which means he has been on dialysis for the last 48 hours

Yesterday he was very awake on both visits and we managed to communicate a little bit with the help of the board

Today, on the first visit, he was awake but complained of being tired as he did not sleep too well last night
He started to watch the GP just before I left but the nurse told me tonight he fell asleep not long into the GP

Tonight, he was sleeping soundly when I arrived and I did not want to wake him
He slept for the whole hour I was there, just opening his eyes once or twice but going back to sleep nearly immediately
He obviously needed his sleep

I will phone the hospital in the morning before his operation and I will go and see Barrie tomorrow night before returning to the UK on Tuesday

Maite

I am really happy to report that Barrie has got the sparkle back in his eyes
Today he was breathing without the help of the ventilator and was getting on quite well
The nurse made him try the special valve for talking but he did not like it and said it was stopping him from breathing
He will have to try again later on

He now enjoys watching a bit of TV
(Even if french TV is not great!)

As he is due to have the operation on his leg on Momday, obviously this will set him back a bit but I hope he will recover quickly and then he should be on the way to steady recovery

He told me he is looking forward to have visitors when he is better

We will all let you know in due course

Maite
------------------

Barrie was beeing quite responsive today and we went through the same frustrations as yesterday trying to communicate
The conclusion is that I am useless at lip reading and Barrie's writing at the moment is terrible
I could tell he was better because he managed to get annoyed with me on several occasions
Earlier today I was telling him to do his arm exercises and I had not noticed his wrists were tied up to the bed
I thought he could not do them because he was feeling too weak when I suddenley realised he could not !
And again tonight he got annoyed because I could not understand his question about the DVLA and I am still unsure what he wanted to say !

And finally the reason I think he is a bit better is that for the first time he has asked to switch on the TV
So all being well he might be able to watch the GP on Sunday

Maite

My first visit to the Paris hospital was not very good. I found Barrie looking very tired and with very sad eyes which seem to say, where the hell am I and please get me out of here. Maybe I misread his face but I came out of the visit feeling sick inside.
Today's visit was better and I had the good news that they had managed to fit a new bladder catheter. They will check tomorrow by xray that it has indeed been properly inserted. So fingers crossed
I managed to discover some of the questions asked by Barrie thanks to the white board. He wanted to know where was the car and where was his wallet ! It is strange that he is worried about car and wallet at this time !
I can also report that Barrie's skin is now extremely soft thanks to all the loving care given by Natalie. This Aveeno lotion has worked really well on his dry skin.
Barrie also has a window now in his room and he can see the sky and windows of people living across the way. He seems to enjoy it, much better than looking at the ceiling.
He is due to have the operation on his leg either Friday or Monday and the orthopedic surgeon confirmed that for the time being he doesn't need operation on his spine. So one less worry.

More tomorrow
Maite

Barrie was beeing quite responsive today and we went through the same frustrations as yesterday trying to communicate
The conclusion is that I am useless at lip reading and Barrie's writing at the moment is terrible
I could tell he was better because he managed to get annoyed with me on several occasions
Earlier today I was telling him to do his arm exercises and I had not noticed his wrists were tied up to the bed
I thought he could not do them because he was feeling too weak when I suddenley realised he could not !
And again tonight he got annoyed because I could not understand his question about the DVLA and I am still unsure what he wanted to say !

And finally the reason I think he is a bit better is that for the first time he has asked to switch on the TV
So all being well he might be able to watch the GP on Sunday

Maite

I was told today that Barrie is waking up slowly so hopefully by Tuesday when I get to Paris, he will be fully awake

He is going to have a serie of scans and tests this week in order for the hospital to decide what to do next
Nothing else to report except that he was confortable today and that the hospital explained to him what had happened and where he was now as poor Barrie would not have known where he was

I hope it was not too traumatic for him
More news on Tuesday
Maite

Dear All
Barrie was transferred by helicopter today, a 65 minutes flight from Tours to Paris, and he is now at Hopital de la Croix Saint Simon in Paris 20.
He is still in the department "reanimation" (intensive care) which means that visits are restricted.
Barrie is still asleep but because he is not given any more sedative, he should wake up pretty soon and he will then have to come off the ventilator.
This hospital has got very good bone specialists and they will be dealing with his fractures in due course.
The next stage is to get him fit enough so he can be moved out of intensive care into a medical department where he will be able to have visitors.
Let's hope he will be making good progress.
We are all very grateful for the great job done by Tours hospital during those last two months and we certainly are very aware that they saved Barrie's life on several occasions, so a big thank you to the whole team.
I will be going to Paris next Tuesday and cant wait to see Barrie.
Maite

I was given the opportunity to see Dad for a few minutes this morning in the hope that he might be a little more awake for me to say goodbye. He was still very, very sleepy and although his eyes were open slightly, I doubt he knew I was there.

At least these are days which are passing more easily for him, thanks to the sedative.  It's possible that he might be awake and off the ventilator before Max and Paul reach the end of their visit later in the week. I think he probably will have at least regained consciousness fully by the time they arrive, all being well.  

So with a heavy heart, I find myself once again having to say goodbye to Dad, until my next visit. It's just a shame I couldn't have been here when he was awake, when he  would have benefited the most from having some company.  Still, at least he'll wake up with softer skin!!!!

With a bit of luck, by the time I'm able to visit him again, I may be able to have my first two-way conversation with him since the day before the accident.

I can't wait!

Love
Nat
xxx

It has come to light that I was given the wrong information when I arrived on Friday about Dad's heart stopping.  It has now been explained to me that in fact,  Dad's heart slowed down to half the normal rate, at which point it was anticipated that it might drop lower still or potentially stop, so they then gave him adrenaline but at no point, heart massage or rescuscitation.

The doctor I spoke to about this today said that this communication problem happened because the medical staff who told me this are at varying levels of knowledge and she doesn't know why I was told that Dad's heart stopped as this simply wasn't the case.  What a massive relief!

Nevertheless, she reiterated the extreme gravity of the accident -  Dad's serious injuries; the many, many, complications that the injuries have caused; and how exceptionally lucky we are that Dad is alive. In light of this, she said that there are going to be many highs and lows in his recovery and that his recovery just can't be rushed.

As far as today's visit was concerned, Dad was asleep most of the time again but woke a couple of times, for a couple of minutes.  He knew I was there but was too sleepy to care really. Over the course of this week, they're going to wake him up and hopefully they can then, soon after, get him off the ventilator.

Then, hopefully, onwards and upwards!!!!!!

Will keep you posted on how the next visit goes.

Love
Nat
xxx

Hi everyone

This evening, there really isn't much to report at all, I'm afraid.

Dad slept virtually all of the visit. At one point, he did seem to wake up for 2 or 3 minutes and looked very, very, intently, straight at me with his eyes exceptionally wide open. I'm genuinely not sure if he was just really surprised to see me or if he was actually scared of me. I tried to reassure him as he may have been hallucinating immediately before he opened his eyes and perhaps it suddenly seemed feasible that I might well feature in his nightmare somehow!  (Max will probably say that that sounds perfectly reasonable and  understandable!!!!!!!).

Anyway, other than that one episode, Dad slept soundly.

When I arrived, Dad was quite warm so he had only a loin cloth of a folded sheet on him, which in fact was a perfect opportunity to find all his really dry patches of skin and give them a deep moisturising. I did two laps of this and will now have to ask Steve to raid the children's medicine supplies and send some more cream out because in two days, the large bottle is half gone!  Thirsty skin!!!!  I covered him up after so he wouldn't get cold, being smothered in cream.

Anyway, Dad slept through all this, so at least if it isn't a pleasant experience for him, I'm not making him suffer more!

Perhaps tomorrow, with a further reduction of sedative, I won't seem quite so menacing and he might be a little more awake.

I have managed to have a quick peek on the website and would like to say a very heartfelt thank you to you all for all your kind thoughts and words of support. It is very much appreciated.

Also, I've been meaning to say for ages........special thanks from us all to Paul the Chef, who makes this means of communication with you all possible, via this blog. (Paul, make sure you include that - no going modest on me!!!!). Not only does this allow us to keep everyone updated in the easiest way, but it also forms a diary for Dad to read and look back on when all this is behind him.

I'll stop being all sentimental now before we have to start offering free sick buckets with every blog!!!!!

À demain, as they say here!

Love
Nat
xxx    

Dad is making slow but sure steps back to recovery. He was awake enough today to be able to open his eyes fully but is still too weak and sleepy to move his head in response to a question.

I had explained to him yesterday why he was back on the ventilator as it must be a shock and very confusing for him to wake up to find himself back on it. I told him about it again today as I think it's probably unlikely he even remembers my visit yesterday, let alone what I said!  He was listening attentively to everything I was saying to him and I think he (thankfully) probably doesn't remember anything about his experience of this week's scare.

I tried putting the Grand Prix on for him, but by that time he was just too sleepy to watch it. He won't mind having missed it if Lewis Hamilton didn't win!

The cream is working like magic and what were dry patches this time yesterday look really well hydrated today. Nevertheless, I gave Dad a gentle rub/massage in all the places I put the cream yesterday and found a couple more areas that were desperate for moisture, to concentrate on today. Its very hard to try to gauge where the boundaries are for him of what is too light pressure (and annoyingly tickling) and what is too firm (and possibly hurting tender bruises) that perhaps aren't superficially visible.   

Dad was asleep for most of the second half of the visit and looked reasonably peaceful in his sleep.

He may well be awake for a large part of this evening's visit if he will have rested well this afternoon.

Next update this evening.

Love
Nat
xxx

Hi everyone

Dad has not had the sedative reduced any further today since my earlier visit, but he was awake enough to be aware I was there for the whole visit.

I was really pleased to see that the cream I used earlier has already significantly improved Dad skin so I spent the whole visit finding little patches that I could safely rub some cream into! There aren't too many though because I'm being very careful to not go near any broken skin or too near any tubes or monitoring pads. I stopped short of seasoning him and wrapping him in foil!   It was nice to be able to give his hands and a small part of his arm a gentle massage throughout the visit.

It's impossible to know whether or not he would prefer to be left alone but I hope it is actually a tiny comfort amidst his catalogue of problems.

Amazingly, there was a very basic and small degree of communication. At one point (without the stimulant of any freezing cold cream!) Dad opened his eyes right up and I know he was able to see me - this was the highlight of my trip so far and I left the hospital content and grateful for that alone!  However, there were also just a few tiny facial expressions that Dad made momentarily, whilst I was talking to him, that, to me, constituted  communication. At those moments, knowing his expressions so well, that was equivalent to him talking!  He can't move his head because he's too sleepy so we can't communicate the way we did when I was last here, but that will come very soon.   

All in all, a very positive visit under the circumstances. It's funny how the tiniest details are so amplified in these situations.

More news tomorrow. All positive again with a bit of luck!

Love
Nat
xxx

Hi everyone 

Guillaume is the nurse who is looking after Dad today. I get the impression there was a good rapport built between the two of them during the time when Dad was able to talk!  Dad had obviously been chatting to him a lot before he had to go back on the ventilator! 

Guillaume spoke a little too fast for me to understand everything but he confirmed what Marie-Thérèse told me earlier about Dad no longer receiving adrenaline for his blood pressure and said his blood pressure was good. I asked about Dad's bed sores on his head and heel and these are being treated with what I understood to be something which somehow removes the dead skin. (I wonder if it's maggots!  Probably not, but if so, yuk!  Maïté what's the French word for maggots?). Guillaume hadn't had a chance to see how the sores were doing but hopefully he'll be able to let me know this evening.  

Although Dad's sedative is being reduced, it is gradual so he's far from being described as conscious. His eyes open very slightly when I talk to him so he does know I'm there but he can't really see me and I doubt he'll remember. 

Poor little lamb, he did open his eyes wider when I started to rub some cream in his hands, but that's because, with the gloves, on I forgot how cold it is straight out of the bottle! Poor Dad is probably going to come round with apparently having hallucinated that he was a turkey being buttered up ready for an oven roasting, or something similar!

After checking with the nurses, they said it was OK to use the cream, which is the children's one from home and which works wonders on Jade's and Sam's eczema. Dad's skin is so, so, dry and thirsty in places, so I think even by the time I go back this evening, there will be a noticeable improvement. I'll give him another basting on every visit!  His hands were quite hot so I think it was probably pleasantly cooling for him too.  It's nice to try to give him a bit of a hand rub/massage with the cream but I have to be careful as there are various tubes and pulse monitors near or on his hands. Also, he will quickly get very cold if I use the cream in too many places. 

So, now you've patiently read through another of my essays, I suppose I should confess that, actually, there's nothing really to report other than the fact that Dad's stable and moving slowly in the right direction again!

I've (very unusually) obviously just got too much time on my hands between visits! 

More later!

Love
Nat
xxx 

Hi everybody

I'm sorry I couldn't do the 1st visit's update earlier.

Dad is sedated and sleeping constantly with just the occasional squeezing of his hand/fingers or twitching of his toes! Perhaps he's dreaming about going for a walk somewhere picturesque and tranquil - I hope so!.  

The news that I have to report today is the worst we've had so far, but I have to  stress that this "news" is actually two days old now, although today was the first we'd heard of it!  Most importantly, Dad is stable.

As reported last night, Dad is now back on a ventilator. The reason for this is that he had lots of fluid building up around his lungs which was making it increasingly difficult for him to breathe.  The situation then arose that they had to do dialysis very quickly to get rid of the fluid, as it then  became an emergency because it was getting too hard for him to breathe.  His body was unable to tolerate the fast, but critically necessary, dialysis and his blood pressure plummeted. Simultaneously, his heart rate dropped in tandem to the degree that his heart actually stopped. They obviously, thankfully, did manage to resuscitate poor Dad successfully but until I was told when I arrived today, we knew nothing about this.   

In addition, a procedure had been carried out the same day to remove an infected tube and apparently what can sometimes happen is that bacteria can escape and get into the bloodstream and cause toxic shock syndrome which would also cause the sudden drop in blood pressure and related heart problems.

I'm not sure how much of a part the bacterial issue played - it may have been a combination of the two factors.

With such frightening and worrying news, I think it's important to focus on some positives to soften the blow a little.....

Whilst the hospital can't predict how long Dad will take to get back on track, their inclination is to believe it will be days, rather than weeks. They want to keep him asleep over the weekend to help his body recover and then they might start to reduce the sedative on Monday.

Given the gravity of today's news, the main thing to keep in the forefront of our minds is that throughout this awful ordeal, Dad has repeatedly defied the gods and pulled through some very difficult and worrying phases.  It was a miracle that he even survived the impact, then the incredibly serious internal bleeding and now this. Somebody is definitely, definitely, watching over him and the list of people to thank for saving his life has grown (no more though, Dad, please!)  It is indescribably heart-breaking seeing him back on the ventilator and sedated again, but at least these few days will have passed more comfortably and painlessly for him.  

Dad had made the most amazing progress when those recent hospital photos were taken and I see no reason why he won't have fought his way back to that in a flash, knowing him.  Everyone's positive thoughts will go a long way to getting the outcome we're all waiting to see.

More essays tomorrow!!!!!    

Love and thanks to you all.
Natalie

Today’s update unfortunately doesn’t bring the hoped for news of improvement for Dad.  Yesterday, his blood pressure suddenly plummeted and there was no option but to quickly get him back on the ventilator and put him back to sleep.  The hospital has today carried out a series of tests to try to establish the cause of this worrying setback.  Until we know more, we can only hope that he will be off the ventilator again soon and retracing his steps back to the good progress he was making when the recent, promising, photos were taken.
 
I’ll be flying out to see him tomorrow and knowing how anxious everyone will be, I will try to provide an update as soon as I come out from the first visit.
 
Finally, many thanks to all the BRDC members who signed and sent the huge card and thank you very much too, to Harry Stiller who so kindly organised it and made it happen!  Dad did receive it before he went back on the ventilator and it really did make his day!!!!
 
Fingers crossed that tomorrow will be a better day for Dad.
 
Natalie
 
 
 
 

Barrie has an urinary infection and is under antibiotics and partly because of this, he has not been welll for the last 7 days.

He is not breathing welll, has many asthma attacks, has allergic reaction and also is in quite a lot of pain.
He will finish his course of antibiotics in a couple of days so we hope he will improve after this.
When he is back on track, he will need to start to eat proper food and reactivate his tastebuds as he seems to have lost his fondness for anything sweet.                       

Hoping for better days to come and Barrie back on the road to recovery.

The last week has been a difficult week for Barrie.

He is experiencing bad pains, his trial with eating has been unsuccessful and he is now back on being fed artificially.
He is also back on antibiotics so the combination of drugs make him feel rotten and very weak.

We had been warned that there will be ups and downs but it is still difficult to accept

The urologic problem needs to be addressed in the near future and will probably mean an operation

We are hoping for a better start of the week

Barrie is not quite as well as he was last week.

No more smiling face as in the pictures,
He is quite uncomfortable lying on his bed and he keeps wanting to move his legs which is difficult as he feels very weak.
He also has lots of stomach cramps now he is starting to take light food

He is fed up with all the pains he is having but understands he has to fight in order to get better. I am sure his winning spirit will pull him through

He will be having another dialysis tonight and hopefully should feel better tomorrow.

He is still not ready to be moved to Paris hospital, maybe another 10 days at least.

Barrie has been stable the last two days.                    
After his last scan, the urologists decided to wait and not do any operations on bladder for the time being.
He is getting used to proper food again but he hasn't got much of an appetite as he is still being fed artificially.
We will be speaking to doctors in Tours on Thursday in order to establish the next course of action.
He is waiting eagerly for the next visitors and we hope he stays in good spirit until then.

A truly good day He was in fine form cracking jokes, and fully aware of his predicament and what he needs to do to resolve the situation.
an extremely positive attitude and a fighting spirit something instilled in people that race, it seems to be standing him in good stead.
Ill just keep it brief and as you can see from the pictures Barries Happy mood!

MT just left visit, been there since 2.30 , they are all very relaxed there not about how long we stay, the chef is still there now!!
All really good, no dialysis machine today, so that makes it easier for him to move his head around, he was in good form and Paul and I had a good laugh with him, so that was really nice.  We did a couple of photos of dad and paul and then even one with me in it that we will post on the blog site as soon as we can. Paul bought an orange and some grapes, dad managed to eat a nice juicy segment without honking up on us which was great and I was waiting for him to use one of his favourite expressions 'please can you peel me a grape' but however, grapes were off the menu tonight. I left dad for the last time with paul as I must unfortunately return to london tomorrow and will not be back until the 19 august.  I o not even know if dad will still be in Tours then, as it is probable that by that time he could be in  Paris for the second for the second part of his journey home.

I have left 20 euros in his drawer for ice lollies and lemon tea an our new friend Ben, father of an adjacent patient, will pop in every day and see if dad needs anything. Ben is truly a lovely chap an will keep dad company best he can whilst there are no other family/ friends at hand. That's all for now, there will be no more news now until Thursday.

Max

Hi Gang, (part 1 )
Just got here, Dad awake and fine, no sooner had I arrived he asked for an ice lolly!! I spoke to Dr, he said fine! So took off all my mask gloves etc and popped down to the shop and the only thing they had that did not have milk in was a strawberry, orange and lemon twister! The kids would have loved it! So did he!!
He eat the whole thing very quickly, licking his lips along the way.
Next thing he wanted a cup of lemon tea!!
Ok, I got all my gear off again and went back to the cafe on the ground floor and got him a tea.
Just waiting for nurse to finish his shave an will take it in to him, not sure if I should bother getting all gear on again just in case he decides he wants something else!!

(Part 2)
Unfortunately after I returned into the room the nurses were messing around and hooking up the dialysis machine this took some time and dad started to become very short of breath and wheezy, this I think was coincidental and not related to neither ice cream or the dialysis machine.  I had to get a nurse and arrange some ventolin.  He had this on for a good twenty minutes his chest eased up then he was fine again. I stayed with him until 5.30.  The chef arrived at 5.15 so I left him to it and went and had a chat with the doctor as ad had been for a scan today and I wanted to establish their findings.
Max

Hi Gang,
Today was another good visit, other than the fact that when I arrived at the hospital at 2.30 pm Dad was having an asthma attack! He was really wheezy and was struggling for breath, he was able to tell me that they had changed his Ventilator medication from yesterday and that he had an allergic reaction to it. This caused his airways to dilate and hence his attack! It was the second time today that they had administrated this new medication and both times he had the same reaction. I managed to eventually get the doctor and explain that he needed to stop this medications and get him on some ventolin, like NOW PLEASE! This seemed to do the job and within 5 mins we had the ventolin mask on and this stayed on for 20 mins, this did the job, after that he was breathing normally, no more panic attacks!
The rest of the visit was great, I managed to stay with Dad for 2 and half hours, it was great, I also stayed whilst he was having his pysio therapy and he is doing better and better every day, I explained the importance of keeping this going outside of class time, as he may as well be doing as much as he can, without overdoing of course, whilst he is laying there, "keep those muscles flexing dad, you will need them soon".
Anyway we had a good chat and a laugh about calling room service for 2 pints of larger and a packet of crisps! The visit went really well once we got the asthma sorted and I told Dad that Paul the chef would be coming tomorrow and hopefully will be cooking something nice dinner!!!
I left at 5 ish soaking wet as usual.
Looking forward to more fun and games tomorrow.
That's all for now folks
Max

Hi all,
I shall be visiting Barrie tomorrow and saturday, so for all those of you expecting some news, you will have to wait until sunday evening when I will be able to post along with some much awaited pictures.
Thank you for your patience.
Paul

Hi all,
MT and I both had a really good visit tonight and for me, who had not seen Barrie since the removal of his ventilator tube, this was be far the most encouraging visit yet!
Barrie was able to talk to us! No more lip reading, no more trying to decipher facial expressions and best of all, no more white board!! It is difficult to say if the white board was worth the few words we managed to spell out in previous visits, over the frustration and time endured trying to string a few letter together. So full on speech was like music to my ears. We all managed not only a good chat but also some humour thrown in for good measure.
Dad was fully aware that he has been having a few funny thoughts, such as being kidnapped and about going out for walks, his cat etc, he knows that these are just a combination of his subconscious thoughts and cocktail of drugs. He knows that these vivid dreams are not reality, this shows how on the ball he really is.
Dad did not complain about any of his pains, soars or of  being too uncomfortable, even if he was, he was just getting on with it.
We stayed for 90 mins and said au revoir until tomorrow.
All good, just now need to get kidneys functioning correctly, a few other things and then we can get on with the orthopaedic side of dads rehabilitation.
Hope he is on form tomorrow!!
Signing off, very tired
Max

Barrie is in good mood
He started to talk rubbish again but told him he had been dreaming and none of it was true and that he should forget it
After that he was making much more sense and we managed to have a proper chat for the first time

He will be having a scan on Friday but we will not know the outcome until after the weekend

He is coughing and spitting quite well
More later
MT

Barrie was quite alert and with it on both viisits

He is breathing quite well without the ventilator and receives  oxygen through his nose.             
His throat is very sore and everytime he tries to cough, he grimaces with pain
It will take a few day to ease and for his vocal cords to work again

He is now able whisper to me which makes communication a bit easier
Tonight he told me very seriously that since he has been in hospital, he has been kidnapped five times, this is morphine for you
and a few minutes later, after I had removed my protective outfit, ready to leave, he called me back and asked me how many kilos I had lost
I lied and said two
So he is certainly very much on the case

Doctors are pleased with his progress and he needs to progress even more in order to sort out his kidneys and bladder problems
He seems quite determined to get better as he can't  wait to come out of hospital
                                                      I hope he will continue to progress
Marie-Therese
------------------

Had the first visit
He is complaining that I don't speak loud enough as it is difficult to hear my voice behind the mask
I understood two questions
He wanted to know if it was a big hospital
He wanted me to bring him a tshirt and this is what he was asking yesterday when making the sign of a T

It is still difficult to communicate as I can't understand what he says but don't want him to strain repeating his questions
His throat sounds awful and will take a few days before it is better

Spoke to Dr Solenne and she said he is doing very well
Breathing good, blood pressure good
The only concerns still are his kidneys and he will need another dialysis in the next few days and also his bladder
We have agreed he cannot go to Paris until all this is solved
She thinks it will be a few weeks

He has to stay on his back
He is sort of sitting not at right angle but his head is quite high
My worry is that the legs are apart and I am worried about pelvis but Solenne said they had the OK from orthopedic surgeons

Again we cannot change anything but will mention it to Steve

Will send report after second visit

Hi
Nothing much to report but it is Sunday and always diificult to speak to a doctor
Nurse said he is now at 20 degrees and it is going OK
He has done lots of breezing by himself and the doctors will decide tomorrow if they remove ventilator
They could noit make the TV work in in room so it is a shame but he missed the GP

End of news
I am still trying to get organise for tomorrow but not very productive today

Love to all
MT

Hi gang,
No visit yesterday lunch time, as Barrie was having an operation at 2.30 pm to remove the external fixation to his pelvis. This operation was a little premature, as ideally it should have been left in place for 60 days and not 45 days. However there was a risk of infection and if infection gets into the bone, then that could be very dangerous.
They X ray ed Dad on Friday and surgeon was happy that pelvis was sufficiently mended to remove fixation.
Therefore no point in risking the growing possibility of a dangerous infection.
Mel came with me in the evening and we were not expecting too much, we though he would be well zonked out after operation, well we were wrong. Barrie was awake and amazingly with it. Good to see him in form and also without the metal construction in his pelvis.
He was moaning a bit about his new position in the bed, more upright with knees elevated, body in Z shape.
He wanted to be lowered and more flat,
We tweaked his bed and got him more comfortably positioned. We also had pain in his left heal from dressing of a bed soar, the fixation in his left leg is both complicated and heavy, hence the problem. Managed to get a gel back under his heal that helped a little.
I requested a mirror, so he could have a look at himself and also have a look around the room behind his head where all his electronic machines were. previously he could only hear them, bleeping and pulsing.
Spent a good hour and half in there and eventually he started to tire and requested his blanket and for the light to be turned off, so tucked him up, killed lights and did everything but read him a story, as he had already crashed.
I said good night and left.
I left as usual soaking wet, as cloaks, masks and my abnormal high body temperature does not help.
We were going straight out to dinner and no change of shirt, so had to jam soaked shirt in rear window of car and dry out driving down motorway!!
Worked a treat!!
Bye for now.
Max

Dear all,
Barrie's second visit today was much better than the 1st. He seemed to have less of a fever and was not as heavily drugged up as lunchtime.
Shame Rene was not there tonight instead of this afternoon!
Barrie was fully awake and was doing his pysio exercises that he had been taught by his therapist. In fact he was showing off a little!! Moving his arms up and down in repetition, as if he were training in the Gym. Wiggling his fingers and toes around and all sorts of other new tricks!
He and I were both really pleased with his pysio progress. During the visit he periodically started to exercise, we started with sets of 10, each arm at a time. Little breaks in between. If he pushed a little too hard, he would start to cough, not good, so we rested and started again a few mins later. He is completely determined to get up and running and fit again as soon as he can.
Great fighting spirit. He will of course succeed.
I stayed and chatted about F1 and our Olympic heros and explained that Radio in France would not work, however worked out that we can get World News and 5 Live sports via Pod cast into his I Pod, this should help to keep him company when he is alone and link him to the outside world.
As he can now move his arms and fingers up and in more control,  he is able to  point more accurately to letters on the white board, so communication is far easier, he was even able to tell me where he had his BRDC passes stashed!!
Good visit, Barrie on good form and I left feeling very happy.
Good night

Hi all,
Arrived at hospital and found a surprise guest in the waiting room! Rene Ligonet, for those of you who do not know Rene, we was Barrie's Co Pilot at Le Mans in 72.
Visit was not as encouraging as yesterday and in contrast to the past week, Barrie was very hot and almost to point of having a fever.
Nurses said that his body temperature was up slightly to 38.5. I was explained after that he may have an infection coming back in the pelvic fixation area.
They can not tell me anymore as they have sent samples off for analysing.
We must now wait and see what they come back with, before they decide to pit him back on any anti biotics and of course what type.
I spoke to his pysio, who said that his exercises were going well and he is able to now raise both arms and squeeze his fingers. She has also worked on legs but said his right knee was hurting, so she did not push too hard.
Breathing again on his own for a few hours, so they are still hoping to get tube out of his mouth early next week.
Kidneys are only functioning at 25%, so no change there.
He had some pain from a dressing on his left angle, probably heal, so they pumped some extra sedative into him, instead of him having and additional discomfort.
He was very please to see Rene, however after 30 mins into visit he wanted us to go , as he needed something attending to by the nurse.
We left him in peace. Rene and I had a quick coffee together and then dropped him off at the station. Too late to go home now, so will sit around the Hospital car park and await next visit.
Hopefully his fever will calm down by then.
Regards
Max

Hi gang,
I will have to try to make this brief, as am well knackered myself today.
Almost as tired as Dad!!
Lunch time visit was fine, Barrie was responsive and seemed pleased to see me however first thing he mentioned was as usual he was cold. He needed his 2nd blanket. I really think that if he had 10 blankets we would still feel cold! His body temperature is normal, it is just that he feels cold. Lack of movement and circulation is the cause, so I find the best course of action is to get hold of his shoulders and give them a good firm massage, no stroking the skin, just good firm hands. As my own body temperature runs about 5 degrees above normal, my hands soon warm him up. He likes this massage and even though I almost put my own back out doing it, I know this helps him and he normally nods off.
He has pysio twice per day now and he is again making small steps forward, the pysio moves his arms and hands and he gets them up as far as his shoulders. They are now slowly started to work the legs a little. They seemed pleased with his progress.
Ref Kidneys, I am sure that these will resume normal service over the next couple of weeks, Dr has confirmed that he is slowly now reducing the number of hours that he remains on the annoying dialysis machine.
He spent an hour this morning and hour and a half this afternoon breathing on his own. So that is great stuff, however as you can imagine, 2 lots of pysio and 2.5 hours of natural breathing has made him very tired, which is fine, the more he sleeps the better for him right now.
I tell him about his blog comments and try to have a bit of a laugh with him without making him choke!!
Dr says that next week, maybe even on Monday they may be taking out this awful tube (respitator) that is stuck down his throat, it will be the biggest step forward for him and I know that he can not wait for that day to come! Bless him and God help us! Barrie could be talking with a week!! Bye Bye white board!!
All in all both visits were the same, in and out of sleep whilst getting shoulder massage, Melanie accompanied me tonight and he was pleased to see her.
I managed to speak to the lovely Dr Anne Charlotte before I left tonight and without repeating ever thing she said, all in all Barrie has made some good improvements and they are very happy with his progress. Basically he is on the road to recovery, still a long road but the right road. Not quite as fast a road as he would normally choose but I am sure he will get there eventually!!
That's your lot!!
Signing off,
Max

Hi all,
Just to keep you all in the loop, Barrie was alert but also very tired today on both visits.
The Pysio had got at him before both visits and these gentle exercises clearly knocks him out. Having had a long chat with the very nice French Pysio, she explained that she is trying to get some mobility back in his arms, hands and shoulders. He needs to start to slowly moving again as the poor chap has just been just laying there for well over a month now. She explained that he can not raise his arms yet above shoulder height and he moans about pain in his shoulders.
I have told him "No Pain No Gain" and that he needs to slowly extend himself during these important sessions. He nodded!!
Pysio can not yet attempt any lower body exercises until he has had another x-ray, to establish if exercising his legs is safe to do at this moment in time.
Anyway, this twice a day pysio is defiantly knocking him out. I have told him that the more he sleeps the quicker the time passes and not to try to keep awake when I am there on a visit. He therefore feels relaxed about nodding off and waking up again at leisure when I am around. This gives me a bit of time to chat the nurses up!!
I tried to take in my laptop and a couple of DVD's for him to watch, he seemed to like the idea of that, however my request was rejected bt the Nurses, I tried to ask a few different ones, however they all sang the same tune! "C'est par possible" oh well worth a try.
I then asked about getting him a radio, as he would love to get Radio 5 live or Talk Sport on the go, to my surprise the nurse agreed! All I now need is something that will actually pick up UK radio station.
Any radio buffs out there got any good ideas, please let me know.
Dad still indicating that he was a little about being cold, however other than that he is being very brave and not whinging about anything else, I ask him if there is anything I can do or if he needs the nurse however we both know that there is not much that anybody can really do for him right now and he realises that and indicates that to me.
We both know that 'time' and good care is the only thing that can help him.
Sometimes he looks over at his alphabet board and therefore has a question for me. Tonight we managed easily to spell out "HANSEN". He wanted to know when he would be off to see Steve Hansen the surgeon from Paris, so that was good news that he is already thinking about his next move. I told him, hopefully within the next month, this hopefully is the truth.

Hi all,
Just on the way back to the hospital for the second visit of the day. During my first visit barrie was awake and responsive throughout the visit, we managed to communicate reasonably well having asked him if he had any difficulties that needed attending to, his response was 'not really' other than the fact that he remained a little cold. Unlike last night I managed to get him another blanket, after that I asked him if he wanted to see some photos which I had on my i pod he was pleased to see some pictures we took at silverstone classic meeting and other pictures of the family. I think he was pleased to be looking at something different other than the hospital ceiling. During my visits I try to tell him not to try to talk as it is pointless and only made him choke. I tell him that there will be plenty of time for talking once he gets rid of the resperator, he understands and does his best to not to try to speak. For now like it or not he will have to lay there and listen he is only allowed to frown nod and open his eyes. Which is a whole lot better than two weeks ago. Every now and again I ask him if he wants to tell me something if he nodes then I have to get the alphabetical white board out, this is where the fun starts.  Before we start with the white board I tell him to chill out and if he does not get frustrated with me I will not get frustrated with him as this type of communication is a little slow and not always successful. Today we did ok and after a few minutes we managed to spell 'time' so I told him the time and asked him if he wanted to tell me anything else, he shook his head and I thought, thank god for that! Barrie is doing so well that he will be the respirator hopefully within the next few days, this will be a huge step forward and hopefully next week I will be able to bring him an ice cream! All in all pretty good visit everything moving in the right direction just need now a little luck and get his kidneys working again. Nearly there at the hospital now will try to report back later.

Typed out by yazz smith whilst max dictates and drives and spelling mistakes by yazz not mine!

got to hospital in plenty of time and made the white board up with big letters, did not quite have enough room for X Y Z but knew that they would not be required for any form of this type of early communication, oh dear what a mistake that proved to be!!!
Got in to visit on time and was not expecting too much, as have been disappointed on his progress in past visits. Anyway what a pleasant surprise Melanie and I had!! In complete contrast to last weekends visits, Daddy was alert on the case and completely himself with the exception of chatting!! I started by briefly asking him if he was in pain or had any discomforts that needed attending to, which he shock his head and portrayed that there was nothing that he would like to moan about that I could actually do anything about, so we quickly moved on and got on with the serious business of having a proper chat. We spoke about out journey, his car driving well, told him about the air con and brake pads that we had fixed and many other boys things, cars, bike etc. We taped up the big fluorescent colander that we made for him, showing days that people were visiting and told him that the Calendar finished in September as by then he would by on his way home, after of course, a quick couple of months in Paris!! I told him that he would have to consider himself a prisoner until then and we would be crossing off the days as if he were in jail awaiting his release date. He nodded and seemed quite relaxed about this temporary prospect of waiting a few more weeks before changing venue.
Anyway I explained to him that as easy as it was for me to say to him, that he must look at this position as being very!!
No head injury, spinal cord in tact and in addition to all this luck!! Still alive and with us! I then told him the sad sad story about the poor 18 year old next door to him who will never walk again. He seemed to agree that he had been lucky and things could have been a lot worst!! I was pleased that he saw the positive side to his unfortunate situation!
With his hands untied he wanted to ask me something and started pointing as his wrist, I asked him if he wanted to know the time, he shook his head, NO, how about the date??No! We could not work out what he wanted to say, he pointed at out white board and we tried to get him to point at the letters to spell out some words, this was not that easy, as his hand was not brilliantly co ordinated and a little shaky as could be expected after the huge amount of gear that ha pumped into him! Anyway we eventually go the R and then the O and then the L
ROL , we were tired and still were having problems working it out, then came the E
ROLE, now you know why we needed the letter that we left off the board!!! The X!!!! He wanted to know where his ROLEX was!!!! We all laughed and he rolled his eyes, as if to say in his sarcastic way, "at last, well done, yes you plonkers!! ROLEX!!!!!
This was the best moment that I have experienced since the accident!! I laugh with my DAD.
Anyway the rest of the visit was relaxed and ever thing was fine, I asked him if he wanted me to go through what had happened to him in the accident, he nodded, so I did explain everything in detail, I kept stopping at various stages, to see if he wanted me to keep explaining, he nodded and was keep to find out all the details, so I continued and told him straight what had happened to him! By the end he understood how lucky he was to have been alive!! All due to his heavy braking and reducing the speed of impact!!
There you have it, I stayed with him for hour and 40 mins, I left dripping wet with the heat.
Looking forward to visit today.

As today is my last day here of this trip, I had hoped the visits would go well.

Dad, medically, remained stable, with continuing good blood pressure and a spell off the dialysis machine again.

During the first visit though Dad was clearly in a lot of discomfort and distress and it tooksome time to work out what was wrong as Dad had been given a little sedative and was not really following the techniques we'd used during the week to communicate. This made it extremely difficult to find out the problem as I was getting very limited, if any, sponse or feedback to my questions.

Tonight, sadly,was much the same but with a new problem which took about an hour to work out. Dad was getting increasingly angry and frustrated that he couldn't talk or make himself understood. Although I asked him if he wanted me to stop asking him questions to establish the nature of the problem, he continued to try to tell me what was bothering him!

I gues he plus side is that he definitely hasn't lost that fighting spirit of his!!!

Well, this afternoon's 1st visit marked the one calendar month's anniversary of the accident,  with the best visit yet!  Dad and I 'chatted' for two whole hours!  Dad was completely attentive throughout this visit and it would be reasonable to describe it as two-way communication, given that  Dad was responding to all I was saying and, quite remarkably, without tiring! I felt extremely close to him and was very conscious of how exceptionally lucky I was to be in this position, in light of Dad's prospects a month ago.

From the medical perspective, he remains the same as yesterday.

I looked forward to spending the evening visit telling Dad exactly who had kindly been posting their good wishes to him on this website, after Mum had given me the list of names. Unfortunately though, at the beginning of the visit, it was clear that Dad was having some difficulty with one of his injuries and the nurse gave him some sedative which did give him relief but, of course, also made him need to sleep, which he did peacefully.  So no talking took place tonight other than to establish what Dad needed help with.

Under the circumstances, Dad seems to be coping amazingly well emotionally and mentally although the slow passage of time and lack of concept of time is hard for him. When Max comes on Sunday, he's had the great idea to bring a board for Dad to show him the day and date and who is visting him, and when so this will hopefully be a huge help.  

So many little details of Dad's personality and facial expressions, unique to him, manage to still shine through, which I find very comforting.  Tomorrow will be the last day I can visit Dad until I can get back to france again, which will be a very hard pill to swallow for me, but the main thing is that  Dad won't be alone as Max will be here, with Marie-Thérèse hot on his heels the following week!

What did Dad the world of good today was that Chris and Jill Craft came to see him and Chris somehow, in talking about cars, even managed to get Dad mimicking driving with an invisible steering wheel, which was great to see!!! It was definitely a good tonic for him to see Chris and Jill.

Dad continues to make good progress and the doctors are particularly pleased with his stable blood pressure which is a reflection of his general condition being very satisfactory. Dad's main problem today was that his skin felt very itchy and frustratingly, he isn't always able to reach to scratch.

Also, Dad has been started today on some medication to see if they can try to get his kidneys working on their own again.

I'm looking forward to tomorrow's visit but at the same time, am all too aware that my week here is drawing to a very unwelcome end. It will, as always, be very hard to leave.

Dad was very tired again tonight but his temperature had reverted to normal thankfully. He is continuing to make slow but sure progress which is great news.

I didn't really chat to Dad much at all today, partly because he was tired and partly because I wanted him to sleep whenever he wasn't coughing. It's not been easy at times to focus on the overall generally positive progress whilst seeing him having to cope with so many discomforts and frustrations.  I do regularly ask Dad if he is in any pain and so far, he has only ever said that he isn't, so that is clearly being managed very effectively.

Dad was having some very distressing episodes of coughing. I asked the nurses to clear his airways for him, which they did, but this is something they mustn't do too often or it will encourage the problem all the more.

Dad has been salivating excessively too today, but apparently this is a sign which reflects the positive fact that he is waking up properly.

It was a difficult visit tonight but it is important to try to remain focused on the fact that Dad is steadily improving, for which we must remain thankful and continue to take comfort in that.  It's important that we all stay positive throughout, despite any difficulties of the current moment.

At least there is comfort in the knowledge that every day gone by will be another day closer to Dad's recovery.

Speak to you tomorrow.

Love

There's not a great deal to report this afternoon as Dad was very tired,
although awake when I arrived. He had a few discomforts, such as being
thirsty and having a dry mouth, which is a common complaint and normal in
his stuation. He did not have the neck brace on any longer and apparently
this has gone permanently.

His blood pressure is now good and stable, without any medication so more
good progress there.  

The only less positive news is that he has a bit of an elevated temperature
but hopefully that isn't due to any new problems arising.

All in all, another good day. Dad was quite sleepy for the first visit although I didn't see this as bad thing as he may simply have been awake for a long time before visiting time started.

Today was the first day they've not given Dad any sedative since he's been back on it. L did get prematurely excited when I realised the dialysis machine was not being used but this was just a temporary thing and Dad is back on it now as he still has a considerable amount of odoemae remaining.

Dad definitely is understanding everything I say and is able to respond to virtually everything I ask him. The veryfirst thing I do is ask if he needs me to help with any problems he may have of discomfort or pain. If he indicates there is a problem, I ask him a series of questions to identify what is bothering and watch his facial expressions for his responses. This seems to work well although trying to spell things wasn't very easy or successful.

The doctors continue to be very pleased with Dad's progress, thankfully. I spent a lot of the spent a lot of the day talking to Dad about looking ahead to beyond this chapter in his life and the importance of him thinking positively.

Despite being conscious throughout  and coherent immediately after the accident, Dad doesn't remember it but does recall some parts of our previous visits. I told Dad generally how the accident happened  and gave him a general-only outline of where his fractures where, in the hope of answering what must be frustratingly burning questions for him, especially with him having no memory of what caused him to be in this poor state.

Once again, today brought  good communication, under the circumstances, and I felt a tremendous closeness and  protectiveness to him despite being powerless to magic him back to good health! Amazingly, and to my delight, Dad was able to lift his forearm right up to wave me goodbye! Hopefully, his wasn't  his way of telling me I'd been talking too much, as I do!!!

More tomorrow! I'm dreading departure day which will come round far too soon and having to leave, even though I know Dad will have someone here with him now for most of the next month. I just don't want to go though.

We arrived in Tours yesterday in time for me to make the evening visit. Yesterday evening's and both of today's visits were so wonderfully  encouraging and seemed, thankfully, to really mark a significant turning point since this unimaginably awful ordeal began for Dad.  As soon as I went in to his room I could see Dad was fully awake and alert - far more than we've seen him on any other previous visits. It was clear he was happy and surprised to see me and even managed to try to smile despite having the ventillator tube in his mouth. It was so incredibly heartening to see and overwhelmingly moving. Dad is doing really well with steady progress. He is breathing by himself now but does still need the ventillator but this is largely due to still needing to be on dialysis. In the next day or so the doctors will start him on some medication which may help him to come off the dialysis. Dad was able to communicate with me that he had a few discomforts which I was able to relay to the nurses and they remedied for him. By the end of today's visit, Dad and I resolved to communicate with a pen and me calling out the alphabet with Dad responding to letters to literally spell out what he wanted to say. I can't describe how good it felt to have a two way line of communication open, albeit in a rather primative way!

The doctor also said an x-ray taken today of Dad's lungs showed they were very good now and the hospital said they were very happy with Dad's progress. All very, very, encouraging. Can't wait for tomorrow's  visit!

Have spoken to hospital (a nice male nurse) and he said he is a bit more aware of things around him, he can nod to questions.
But when they treat his wounds, the nurse said it was very painful for him.
He did not realise Barrie spoke french so told him he could because until now they were struggling with english
Otherwise he is breathing by himself but with help of the machine but they probably wont take him off the respirator for several days or even weeks
Urinary problem is still not quite sorted, he is still bleeding but he said it should get better soon
Thats all the news for today

 I have just spoken to the doctor and she said he is progressing but very slowly

The problem is his chest but at present he has not got an infection but lots of mucus which he cannot spit out
They remove it by suction and the machine helps him to breathe when necessary
He still has antibiotics because near the external fixator the skin is not in good shape and they want to avoid infection
He is getting more reactive everyday and now his eyes can follow you
She said that it will take several weeks before he can totally breathe by himself
so slow progress but he is getting a bit better everyday although she is talking about several weeks before all his body function to work properly

As Natalie had not been for a while she recognized that Barrie’s right eye has become less swollen and his whole body seems less puffed up, this has mostly been assisted by the Dialysis machine getting rid of lots of excess water that his body was retaining. He had jumped up an additional 30 kg from his normal weight, this is now reducing everyday and hopefully soon be back to normal.
He was again very tired due to his battle for breathing on his own, which he is slowly winning and each day more and more he is breathing more for himself, however it will be several weeks before he comes off the respirator completely. This ‘fight’ for breath he making him very tired.
Sleeping and not moving is probably the best thing right now ,as the longer he remains still his back and neck fractures are healing and hopefully by the time he wakes up properly he will at least have these fractures sorted out.
Natalie has not haven him his I pod and a set of speakers down there, so he will have his favorite Jazz/Blues whatever music to keep him company in between visits, hopefully this will not only comfort him but also help to bring him around sooner.
More to follow on today’s visits later.

Dear All,
Barrie was far more responsive tonight than the previous 2 Visits.
AS soon as we went on and started talking to him he opened both eyes and was listening to us talking to him, he managed to stay awake for around 20 minutes, which was really nice to know that when you were speaking, it seemed to us more like he was hearing us and responding. The only worrying thing during this time was that he was struggling with his breathing a bit, as he was either trying to talk or he had flem on his chest that he could not get rid of causing difficulty breathing. I did manage to speak to the duty dr, a man, who was very nice and asked him firstly how Dad can get rid of this awful flem, he explained that they have to use suction machine to clear it off his chest. Also asked if this flem, which sounded as if his chest was beginning to loosen up was because the antibiotics was beginning to take effect, his reply was "possibly"
He said that Dad has remained stable, however it is really important that the antibiotics start to work and get this infection under control. They have ha to change the antibiotics, as the infection can get used to them, so they are keeping a good eye on him. He seemed as if things were currently stable and under control. He also said that his Kidneys will start to get better soon and start working again, which is great as
During the whole visit, the stupid dialysis machine was bleeping ever 5 minutes, the nurse kept coming to adjust it but still it kept bleeping, so they eventually decided to change the machine, we therefore had to sadly say goodbye at 7.35 so they could get on with it.
We gave the nurses a nice box of chocolates and left.
I now will not see Barrie again until next Sunday and now pass batten to Natalie, who will be arriving tomorrow,
Signing off
Max and Melanie

Dear all,
Just come out of our 1st visit of the day, Barrie was really not very responsive again! He seemed to be in quite a deep sleep. I was a little concerned and managed to speak to a nurse during the early part of the visit.
She explained that he was breathing more on his own and that the respiratory was doing less and less, this could be the reason that he was so tired and not very responsive, I addition she explained that his antibiotics could also contribute to the non responsiveness. I asked her about the sedative medication and they again said that they are reducing the dosage, I am still not sure why he is not waking up! In my opinion, we seemed to be getting better last week until he had the operation last Friday. This seems to have set him back a little, anyway we are now a week on from that op and we must now look forward. The good news must be that he is breathing more on his own, it appears to be a bit of a struggle and this could be reason for being so wacked out. He has his neck brace off at the moment, which must be more comfortable for him. I had a look at his left lower leg to check out his external fixation, looks like something Chris Craft has put together, it is a wonderful piece of engineering, intricate but looks very sturdy.
I am now at the bus stop to get back into town, need to find him some decent disposable razors and some shower gel, as requested by the nice nurse, will also buy her a naughty box of French Chocolates.
That's all for now
Max

Visit was as usual, I am sure he subconsciously was aware that we had come to see him, he was not very responsive but did make a few movements and fingers were able to move a little. All in all a sad visit, as they all are. I was not really convinced that their were any signs of improvement tonight, however he may just have been very tired. As usual we kept comforting him by chatting and I think that some music will really do him some good, I told him that Natalie had I pod on the way and also reminded him that dancing would not be a good idea yet.
I waited for 40 mins after visit to speak to the lovely Anne Charlotte, who I really wanted to see to put our minds at rest, I only had a couple of mins with her as we would have missed the bus. In short Barry remains stable, there are no dangers at present, even though he remains on the antibiotics for his infection.
I will let you know more tomorrow, as can type no more , we are exhausted and have just managed to check in to our usual room.
Love to all

I have just spoken to hospital and he is progressing slowly. Not a lot of change since yesterday.
He is still sedated (because they dont want him to suffer whilst they are treating him) so not awake properly.
He can squeeze hand and his eyes are focusing a little bit better but not properly yet.
He is now breezing with just a little help from the respirator.
Max will be able to send us more news this evening.

We have just phoned the hospital and they said
 Barrie is still on dialysis to help eliminate his oedemas which are still important
 they are slowly waking him up and he is a bit more reactive and now can squeeze hand on demand
but he still does not look at people in the proper way
they are going to start today to decrease the help of the respirator in order to get him breezing by himself
and Max

Unfortunately we will have no further news on Barrie’s update today the 6th August 2008, as Marie-Therese will be travelling back from Tour today, as she has some matters that need attending with in the UK.
Unfortunately there will be nobody to visit Barrie until Friday 8th, when Max and his wife Melanie will be flying out in time  for the Friday evening visit.
The nurses have assured us that they will be talking to him and keeping him company when they can in our absence.
 We will hopefully will be in contact with the French Nurse/Doctor at the hospital later today or tomorrow, however the medical team in this unit are extremely busy and are sometimes difficult to speak to. We will update as soon as we hear some additional news, hopefully positive.
Many thanks Max

I do not think that todays events should be passed on in their original form.
a lot of distress has been caused Today as Barries reanimation has been fraught with difficulties, mostly for Barrie himself who is unable to comment but also for those close to him who are at his side currently.
He appears to be in Pain, but the doctors are not meeting his needs in regard to pain management as they need to back off all of the medication so that they ccan wake him up and have him breathing normally and under his own steam.
after that the pain management will be a separate issue.
We are hoping that this stage in `Barrie`s recovery will be brief as possible, and at some time in the near future he will be able to converse with his friends and loved ones,
The goal is to move him to Paris and bring him under the wing of Dr Steve Hanson who has been remarkable in his resolve to help Barrie through this difficult time using his superlative skills as an orthopedic surgeon to deal with Barries complex problems.
Thank you in Advance Steve

We have just seen Barrie and spoken to the doctor in charge today who said that he has deteriorated since the operation yesterday
He only had a mild anesthesia but the fact they moved his external fixators seem to have upset the general working of his body ie the kidneys and also it has unmasked the fact that his blood pressure was not very stable
He is now on dialysis machine until further notice and on adrenaline for his blood pressure
He also has an allergy to the antibiotic he was on for the past week and is now covered with red rashes
They have put him on a new antibiotic
They can't give diagnosis but are looking for possible further infection and have been doing all the necessary tests
There is nothing we can do but just pray and hope he will improve
Paul and I will go back to see him at 6.30
They can't tell me until Monday who will be the doctor in charge

Hi,
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