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.