Its amazing to read back through the caringbridge entries my parents made (with Sarahs help). I had planned to post or tweet them at the time but I thought better of it, plus I have no idea what happened in the first 2 weeks (my last blog post doesn’t even close to whats about to happen). So here’s what happened in week 3, while I was in hospital in the early days.
Good news today! The doctors do not think there will be further surgery because the angiogram was ‘clear’. We think this means the bleeding has stopped. They are planning to try to wake Ian up tomorrow.
Lots of messages and cards are coming in and we appreciate them all. At the moment, visiting is limited to close friends and family. We will let everyone know when he is able to receive more visitors.
I spent most of the afternoon and evening with Ian today. They have taken him off the medication that was keeping him asleep and his condition is fair. He’s opened his eyes and is able to communicate with me by nodding. He is still on the ventilator but he is starting to breathe naturally. They want to keep the ventilator in for the moment in case he isn’t responding properly.
He had tears in his eyes while I was reading all the get well messages to him. So far he will only open his eyes when I ask him to, but he will not do it for the nurses.
At the moment it is still just family allowed to visit as Ian gets very tired quickly. His dad and sister will be back with him tomorrow, and we hope to see some more improvement.
Ian’s dad, his sister and I have been to see Ian today.
Ian is off the ventilator and sedation drugs. He is breathing on his own with oxygen. He is still drowsy, but recognises everyone and is able to respond to instructions and understand us. He is opening his eyes a lot wider and for longer today.
His throat is probably very sore from the ventilator, so it is a bit hard to understand him. He can speak at a whisper, but we have told him to rest his voice for the moment.
Ian wanted to know what happened as he cannot remember falling ill; his sister has explained it to him. He then wanted to know what the doctors said so I’ve told him about having the bleed on his brain. He was listening and nodding to say he understood.
He is quite tired, but we are hopeful he is on the mend.
Yesterday Ian had to go back on the ventilator as there were concerns about his breathing. I did tell the doctors his breathing is a bit laboured normally and they should take that into account. They have also been sedating him again just to make sure he can relax and rest. Because it is very difficult to get the ventilator in, they want to leave it in until they are certain Ian is ready to breathe on his own.
I still feel very confident that Ian is going to make a full recovery. Today he smiled and squeezed my hand, and he laughed when we told him a joke. He knows where he is and recognises his family.
He is still quite tired and drowsy, but I am reading him your get well messages when he is awake enough to listen. Alvin and I had no idea how well known Ian is until we saw the messages coming from all over the world.
I am staying at Ian’s flat in Manchester and am pleased that I have figured out how to turn on his television!
Ian is making good progress today. He was asleep for about an hour after I arrived, but then woke up and stayed awake and responsive for all the time I was there.
I held up some of his cards and messages for him to read. Ian wrote on a piece of paper asking for an article about Google, and one had been sent to him so he got to read it (thanks to the sender!).
The doctors are hoping to to take him off the ventilator again tomorrow and see how his breathing is doing.
I was told a conference in Boston recorded a get well video for Ian. At the moment, devices to play it for him are not allowed in ICU, but I will tell him about it and know he will get to see it eventually.
