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.

James and I were at the hospital this morning to see Jane and she is really ok. She’s obviously tired and a bit pale after the marathon op last night but when we saw her her biggest concern was to get a physio to come and see to her bruised leg so she could get up and out of bed!

The operation dealt with her wrist and shoulder on her left arm, and so whilst Jane is understandably frustrated by the implications of this accident, she is thankful that it wasn’t any worse (as it could easily have been), and she is eager to see Robert and get back to seeing Tom.

She will rest and nap, she assures us, and the doctors said she’ll probably be there between 3 and 5 days. She is hopeful that she’ll be discharged on Friday. She has her phone, but not her laptop.

Jane fell down the stairs of the flat she was staying in with Sally during the course of last night and is currently in Morningside Clinic in Sandton. She has a broken shoulder and wrist.

She went to theatre at around 9.30pm for an operation that, as far as I know, was to have put pins in both of the injured areas to help the bones to fuse properly. It was a long operation – over three hours. I have just spoken to her and she says they have “put me back together”. She says she is fine, though obviously very tired.

It is a cruel and horrible accident to have happened to someone so selfless and supportive in Tom’s time of need. Words fail.

Details will become more forthcoming in the next day or two, but Sally tended to Jane quickly after the fall and summoned an ambulance which took her to Morningside nearby (also a Netcare Hospital).

Lizzie and Chris Moon have been on hand to help with logistics, as has James, so Sal was able to go back to Zim in the knowledge that Jane is being well looked after and both patients are being cared for. Sal needs to be back with the girls for now.

Robert is coming tomorrow, arriving Thursday in Joburg, and will be with Jane for the rest of her stay in SA. We do not know at this stage how long she’ll be in hospital and will update you in due course. It is likely to be at least a couple of days.

Strength to Jane. Rest and heal. We’re also with you.