Wednesday 19th November 2014

Hello everyone. It has been a while since you’ve had a Gerard update.. just haven’t had a chance until now. So here it is. Gerard is still in the Austin and will be for a couple (?) more weeks. As yet we are still not sure when he will move to Royal Talbot in Kew to continue his rehab. Both Gerard and I will be heading over there next Wednesday for a tour and to meet the team, which should be exciting and scary as we will be negotiating a maxi cab for the first time! We’ll be taking 2 staff members with us, so hopefully we won’t get into too much trouble! Gerard has been getting out of the ward and has now been to all of the cafes in the Austin and visited the one at the Olivia Newton John Centre for the second time today. No milkshakes there though, but is has a nice area outside to sit. He went with Jess The OT and Charlotte the Physio who are sensational and enjoy getting him out and about a bit. Last Wednesday we left the hospital and I “drove” the chair down to Cellini’s in Heidelberg where we had lunch. It was 2 weeks in the planning and we had to take Paul the nurse, Charlotte the Physio and a back up ventilator, back up humidifier and a bag of other stuff just in case! We didn’t need any of the back up supplies and Gerard really enjoyed his cannelloni and iced coffee and being in the café. I only crashed the wheelchair once on the way down so it was a great couple of hours out in the sunshine, café and out of the “safe” hospital environment. I have started tracheostomy training and am learning how to bag Gerard (Keep air into his lungs if the ventilator fails) and also do a trachy suction. Neither of which I fancy, but if it means we can get Gerard out of hospital, I’ll do it. Gerard is still in good spirits and has a good positive attitude. The staff all like him and like working with him. He is working with the voice activated software on the tablet that they have sent across for Talbot for him to use while he waits to go over there. He is mastering Skype and email and is getting quite quick with it. He is keen to be involved with our business, so we have “work” meetings for a short time just about every time I visit. So I guess the holding pattern has been to establish the routine- breakfast, up, showered etc, back to bed, physio, into the chair for most of the day for podcasts and computer and visitor, back to bed to rest his head/neck and then up for dinner. Hence the reason that even though visiting hours are from 11, Gerard is often still quite busy until 12.30 when lunch arrives, so there is really not much point in visiting before then. He loves seeing everyone so thanks to everyone who has stopped by and to those using the doodle calendar. He has no restrictions on visitors and it is great if we can spread ourselves so that not everyone turns up on the same day as he loves it and gets really tired if it is a constant stream. The calendar is also great as I can let you know if he is not going to be there if I know that you are coming—saves a trip and parking the car! Gerard will be going for another diaphragmatic pacing test- a different one to last time- which involves the Operating Theatre and general anaesthetic, which I guess will mean he will be gone from the ward for a good period of time. As yet we don’t have a date, although we do know it will happen before he is transferred to Royal Talbot. I would like to say a huge thank you to EVERYONE for their support. It has been an extremely emotional, busy and draining few months. We are pleased with Gerard’s “progress” and how well he is doing. To everyone who have put food in our fridge and pantry (I can’t thank you enough for that!), had us over for dinner, pulled out a weed or put mulch in our garden, sent messages, donated goods/services/money for the auction and fundraising evening, sent thoughts/prayers and for everything else, we are eternally grateful. We know that we are not the only people going through a drama (the spinal ward/ICU are full of them and there are many others closer to home that we have heard about) We REALLY, REALLY appreciate the support we have from our family, friends (including Di, Belinda, Deb and Jo who are organising the 29th) and the entire Warrandyte and Luther College Community. It is just overwhelmingly fantastic. We continue to look forward and not back (we don’t like much of what is behind us) and work towards the next steps in Gerard’s rehab. Our positive attitude is just a reflection of Gerard’s. He is truly amazing and is dealing with all of this in such a practical and positive way. Looking forward to the end of Year 11 exams on Friday (JJJJ) and to catching up with you soon. Thanks again for everything. Sue