Tom breathed on his own today!  He did it!  And he did it for longer than the planned hour!

When I asked him to describe the process he said it was incredibly scary and difficult and the nurses were just about to reconnect the tube to the ventilator but he just kept on mouthing “wait, wait, wait”.   After an hour of breathing independantly the Doctor recommended that he continue on his own as the required oxygen levels were constant.  He breathed on his own for over 5 hours.  They reconnected him to the ventilator for the night and will repeat the same process again tomorrow.  

It’s taken Tom exactly 4 weeks to conquer this massive mountain and he did it with such determination.  I thank you all for amount of energy that was put into this day, the amount of deep breaths we all took with Tom in our hearts would surely have lifted a fleet of hot air balloons off the ground and high into the sky.  This process will continue until the Doctor is sure he can manage on his own so please keep breathing for Tom over the next few days, sure breaths in and deep breaths out.  

As this is a really critical point in Tom’s recovery please could I ask that you contact Nick (0732549399) or Jane (0761302615)  to see if you can visit.  It’s important for Tom to have someone at each visiting hour but the risk of infection is still high and he gets tired. 

This was a BIG day.

Hi,

With thanks again to Wendy for bringing Leo’s story to our attention, I sent him a mail yesterday afternoon and he responded by calling me last night.

What a seriously inspiring and knowledgeable guy! He has spent over two years researching and participating in the international effort to find a way to overcome spinal cord injuries. He is passionate and resourceful and left me after a 40 minute chat with more than my fair share of hope. Who knows actually if its more hope than we should have? Time will tell…

The upshot is that he has offered to help with advice and direction for Tom as he enters the rehabilitation phase, subject to us doing some more research of our own. This is such a long and complicated road but to speak to someone who’s travelling it already is amazingly reassuring. The key thing obviously is for Tom and his family to decide whether Leo’s route is his best option. They need to meet and they need to feel there’s no pressure.

So we’ll keep in touch with him, and his fiancee Katherine, and whatever the outcome, Leo’s infectious positivity is bound to benefit Tom’s mind, if not his body.

He told me about (and this morning Julia also sent me the link) a Facebook page with his story and pictures. Have a read here…

I have seen Tom’s beautiful, gentle, respectful soul again when I look into his eyes.  I hadn’t seen it for so long – but when I visited him on Saturday morning and ever since, he’s there, in those soft brown eyes. It makes me fall in love again every time I see him. He’s calm, he’s awake, he’s lucid, he’s scared.    Although he has no voice, we talk and talk.  I can lip read nearly all his words so our conversation flows.  It is so hard to leave each visiting hour and I find the longest and hardest is the evening one.  I stay up late afterwards fearing to fall asleep and then waken to thoughts of him and have to wait till 11am to see him again, wondering how his night was and if he managed to sleep peacefully. 

They have reduced his dependancy on the ventilator and if I could ask anything of you, its to channel all your incredible energy to him over the next few days.  Take a deep breath in, think of his lungs and fill them with strength and warmth to give him confidence that he can do this.  He will feel you.  He knows you are all thinking of him.

Isaac his nurse, the local hairdresser, gave him a No.1 haircut.  He is so smug as I’m not such a fan of the tennis ball look and always discourage him at home.    He has also started growing a moustache!  This thank goodness this is the fault of a blunt razor.  I rushed out yesterday and bought a new one so will have a word to Isaac today!

Its a month today that Tom was admitted to Milpark Hospital, a month.  Has it gone quickly?  Has it gone slowly?  Is it really real?  Is this really happening?  We will keep you posted as always.