I’m out  of hospital and this feels marvelous!  All my wishes are for Tom to soon move out of Milpark on the next stage of his long journey. This is a quick entry to let family and friends know that I am OK and slowly beginning to walk again.  All those who have struggled to keep up with my fast pace in the past, will find a new slowness, in fact at the moment a sort of 99-year-old type shuffle for a few steps and then the wheelchair! In spite of being horribly difficult, its also a useful learning for me, both the hospital and now my forced immobility.  What had not been obvious at first was a fracture in my pelvis and this, though much less dramatic than either the shoulder or wrist, is by far the most difficult injury for me.

Its all very minor when I think of Tom.

In particular and as usual I wish to record the brilliant support  I have received since this accident. Thank you and thank you….!  Sally was magnificient backed by Lizzie Moon. Then Robert ,who leapt aboard a plane from London (very unlikely behaviour!) Chris Moon, Lelong, Vivienne who travelled to see me for a very different weekend than we had planned, Grant and Trevlyn, Kevin and James my loving and stalwart nephews ready for anything, Barbara M., Nick and Kerry kind and steady and helping in a myriad ways, my beloved children in the UK supporting me by phone, and friends all over, Mona, Barbara V., Jacquie, Sarah, Fatima and Bharat, Elizabeth ….. and many others and I am fading and forgetting,  but thank you all for your love and backing.

Not least, I’ d like to back-up Nick’s post on not visiting Tom for now and make a request.  My sense is that rest is crucial at present. This is a critical time for him in staying off the vent. For now, instead of visiting perhaps, if you wish,  post him a message on this website.  He likes this a lot. Or perhaps write a poem….or draw a picture.  When visitors come, Tom rises to this and there is a cost to him. A nurse took Tom’s  Dad aside and said when vistors are there he is bright, but when they leave he is “too tired”.

Jane

Thanks to Grant and Trevlyn Molyneux for sorting out a wheelchair for Jane! We’re hopeful she’ll be out Tuesday or Wednesday and this will be a tremendous help for her.

Help, as always, close at hand.

I’ve just spoken to Jane who has summarised her situation with the words “things are difficult, but looking up.”

She’s still a little nauseous, though this seems to be subsiding, with her main inconvenience being the difficulty she’s having moving her lower body out of bed. She’s been seeing the physio though who she really likes and who has been very helpful. The doctor also told me yesterday that he felt her relative immobility was probably normal considering the extent of her fall, and would subside with the swelling.

Medically then, she is recovering largely as expected, though obviously it is enormously frustrating for her to not be up and about.

Robert arrived last night late, and is about to see her this morning, so that will be a great comfort. She will probably be in Morningside for another couple of days – the weekend at least.

As if to remind us of the occasional superfluous errands of medical science, Jane told me that a physician had checked out her heart and declared it to be “perfect”. We could have told him that.