Picnic in the park

Roger and Margaret have visited Dave this evening and they have just phoned from their picnic spot in the car park at Frenchay! He knows how to choose the best places. He reports that Dave was moving his arms and hands and having a bit of a scratch. The tracheostomy has been taken out today and he looks much better without it. A small step forward. His beard is now beginning to grow, but the man in the bed next to him who had a beard yesterday, is now clean shaven! Watch out Roger, there is obviously someone in that ward who is razor happy.

Hope your alarm clock works well in the morning - ours does. Relaxing with that first cup of tea, remembering when we were on the road early in the morning on our way to work. You see, we still think of you. This retirement life is very busy, I'm not sure how we found time to go to work.

Sorry Dave, not much to say about you tonight!

Feeding time

We met two of Dave's friends when we visited this afternoon, Chris Caulder (not sure of the spelling sorry Chris!) from Sherborne and John Saunders from Yeovil who had travelled up together. Chris has visited a couple of times before and was really pleased that Dave squeezed his hand in recognition, previously he had only seen him with his eyes open.

After they finished their visit we went back in to see Dave and then it was time for his feed! It doesn't look very appetising - a beige coloured liquid which is injected into a tube that goes into his nose. Lesley and Paul, our daughter and her husband visited yesterday evening for the first time and she was thrilled because Uncle David recognised them and squeezed her hand. They had been to dinner with us earlier and she thought he looked starving hungry and would have enjoyed the roast dinner we'd had.

We went off for a coffee (actually a similar colour to Dave's food!) and then popped back to see him for a while. He looked really peaceful and comfortable today and was breathing on his own without the support of the tracheostomy, that's the first time since last Thursday which is good.

On the road again.

I visited Dave this afternoon along with son Chris and his lovely wife Gemma(she`s paying me to put that)! We found Dave pretty sleepy but he opened his eye and recognised Chris and Gem`s voices.The nice card from his westland workmates was read to him by Gemma. His eyebrows seemed to be going up and down when he heard different names mentioned.Thanks to all of you at westlands for that and pleased the blog is proving successful for you.The nurse came to do her obs,dave did`nt appear to be in the mood,he was`nt going to stick his tongue out at her nor was he going to squeeze her hand, until she told him she would untie his hand, to let him have a bit of freedom whil`st we were there.I then told him she was definitely worth a sqeeze,this made the nurse laugh,he then sqeezed her hand.He was also occasionally moving his legs and arms which is good to see.We told him that Paul and Lesley were visiting this evening which seemed to get a glimmer of approval. I hope their visit goes well.
Those of you that work will be pleased to know that my alarm clock comes back into action this week! No names mentioned but some people are now retired,lucky things!!
Time for bed zzzzzzzzzzz.

Stubble's growing

Dave and I visited this evening and found Dave asleep when we arrived. However, he opened his good eye after about 5 minutes and I read him the comment from Nicky and Peter which had been written on Wednesday. Sorry I missed it that day, so good job you mentioned it yesterday! It was very warm in the ward and Dave was fidgeting around quite a bit trying to get comfortable. According to the nurse he had not been in the chair today or had time off his tracheostomy but he seemed reasonably alert.

Thanks to Roger and Margaret's request yesterday, they are allowing his beard to grow back so that makes him look more like himself. He might have had a shock otherwise seeing himself clean shaven after so many years with a beard!

Hi De Hi !!

We have returned home and it is my duty to give my sister a break from the blog journalism bit.Margaret and I visited Dave this afternoon, soon realising that following the up days this was a down day,but we have to remember the doctors told us to expect this sort of thing.He was unable to tolerate sitting out today and had not had any time off his tracheostomy. The nurse said he was very sleepy, but we did think that he looked comfortable and relaxed.
Can`t believe it`s four weeks ago I had the terrible message that dave had been airlifted to Frenchay.As for our holiday it`s been good, much easier for visiting and nice to see Val and Dave. As you can imagine there is an awful lot to talk about!
We`ve also had one of the best weather weeks for camping this year.
We also met Jilly and Paul,I`m sure we will meet more of all of you, in the coming months and once again thankyou for your comments and cards etc.

Afternoon visit

Since yesterday Dave has been in Ward 3, which is the male high dependency ward just up the corridor from where he was before. Roger, Margaret, Dave and I visited together today and the physio told us that they are working on weaning Dave off his trachy so that he can start to breathe on his own safely, with a view to removing it. So far he seems to be doing quite well with that.

He did seem a bit tired today, probably after his exciting day yesterday! Thank you Jilly and Paul for taking the trouble to come so far, and bringing your laptop with photos. Nice that you have been able to leave a couple of photos that will help to give the physio and nurses something to talk to Dave about.

We have noticed over the last few days that Dave does get very tired and we are finding that short visits are probably all that he can cope with at the moment. Thank you to Dave and Sheila and Jill and Harry for your cards.

Out of bed

Dave and I went to see Dave yesterday afternoon and then went to visit Roger and Margaret on the campsite at Bath and had a meal at the restaurant there. We were a bit late back home so hence I'm only doing the update now! We had a really nice evening together. Dave (and I) are very lucky to have a brother and sister-in-law who are prepared to forgo their original holiday plans and spend a week nearer to the hospital. By the way you may have heard that there was a fire and explosions at the new Bath shopping centre late yesterday afternoon - nothing to do with us! It was nice to speak Jilly too and I hope she and Paul navigate their way to Frenchay without too much trouble.

Dave had been hoisted out of bed and put into a special chair at about 2.30 pm to give him a change from lying in bed. He had his good eye open for most of our visit and we showed him some more of the cards we have received. They have now been left in his room so that the physiotherapist and nurses have something to talk to him about when they are working with him. We are going to take in a few photos during the next few days to pin up on the walls. Thank you to Pete and Pat from Suffolk for the card and kind words, Roger and Margaret read it to him on their previous visit - snail mail works extremely well.

There did not seem to be much change from before, except Dave now has his right arm restrained because he had been trying to pull out his trachy which is not a good idea at this stage! Jilly and Paul are visiting this afternoon, and Roger and Margaret will be going in this evening so I'll let you know later how Dave is today.

Caution

Roger and Margaret have been in to see Dave this evening after spending the day at Westonbirt. There has been no change since yesterday and Roger, very sensibly, has reminded me that I mustn't get too excited by Dave's arm moving. After all as far as the doctors are concerned there is still no response to the tests they do - he is still seriously ill, although stable. Dave has obviously lost weight and his face, especially without his beard, does look quite gaunt and sad. He must be very bewildered.

Roger passed on your message Jilly about your visit on Wednesday and I will read the whole blog to him when we go in tomorrow afternoon.

Progress

After what has been days with no change, our visit this afternoon has left us feeling really upbeat. Dave was reaching up with his right hand to scratch the back of his head and his nose, rubbing his forehead and his eyes, both of which were open today. Although the movements are quite gentle it is amazing to see such positive actions. When the nurse came to do his obs at 4 pm, she pressed his left shoulder and asked him to push her away - up came his right arm to do just that. At 2pm she had had no reaction! Mind you we did laugh when the nurse was shining the torch in his right eye and obviously seeming puzzled that there was no reaction. We politely reminded her that he has a glass eye! I think she felt a little stupid.

Rob had left a card for him yesterday so I showed it to him and he put his hand out to hold it with his thumb and forefinger. He also seemed very interested in the photo of Mwanza, Tanzania you had sent us Faith. His head was turning to whichever one of us was talking too and although there is still nothing happening on the left side I am sure that will come eventually.

Roger and Margaret are going in to see Dave in a minute so I hope he keeps it up for them too. Perhaps he has finally thrown that six.

Visit of friend

Roger and Margaret are having a week's holiday and have today come up to a campsite near Bath to stay for a couple of days, giving them a chance to visit a few places up around this way and not be quite so far away from the hospital.

They visited Dave this evening - he is still opening his good eye and moving his right arm but otherwise there is no change. Whilst they were there one of Dave's friends, Rob Cook, came in having travelled up from Yeovil. Thank you Rob.

Ward 1

At last Dave has been moved to Ward 1, which is a high dependency ward. He has a chest infection and is being treated with antibiotics. It appears to be a female ward! but he is in a side room at the moment. There is a window with a view of the sky, trees and grass, quite pleasant seeing as it has been such a beautiful day.

When we visited this afternoon he again had his good eye open and was moving his right arm, and like Roger and Margaret felt yesterday, it seemed as if he was looking at us when we were chatting to him and I am positive he moved his fingers when I was holding his hand. Probably reading too much into what are involuntary movements, because as the doctor and nurse said today, there has still been no response to their tests.

Now he is on this ward it will be possible for friends to visit if they wish, bearing in mind that he is very vulnerable to infection. As I said it is High Dependency and there is a limit to 2 people at a time, but Roger, Margaret, Dave and I are sure you can all help us make a difference and hopefully trigger some memories and help Dave wake up. I am sure you appreciate that he is still very ill and it may be necessary for the Ward Sister to refuse any visitors if he not up to it, but I am sure he is looking forward to hearing from friends as a change from his nagging sister! Roger doesn't nag.

Visiting times are 2.30 - 4.30 pm and 6.30 - 8.00 pm. Hopefully our paths will cross with some of your visits. The hospital is Frenchay Hospital which is on the north side of Bristol.

Rendezvous!

This was a visit with a difference,Margaret is staying in Bath at the moment attending a meeting to do with her work.So having spoken to Val a rendezvous point was arranged for Margaret and I
,this being the Somerfield car park in Keynsham!!After a couple of phone calls we spotted each other across the car park(it was a big parking area).
The car was left,the van was switched to auto pilot and of we went up the ring road.
Dave was still in ITU due to the re-occurence of an infection. Although it appears likely that he will be moved at some point soon.Not much to report I`m afraid,Margaret and I found plenty to talk about, Dave`s good eye was open quite a bit,I`d like to think he was hearing what we were saying, but I`m not sure.
Thanks to Peter and Sylvia for the nice card that we read him and also Ron`s message that we passed on.
I`ve just spotted the time,so till next time goodnight.

Not moving just yet

Having telephoned ITU before visiting this evening, we were expecting to see Dave on the high dependency ward and set off down the long corridor past the IT Unit. However he had not arrived and was still in ITU.

The nurse had, not long before our arrival, noticed that Dave had a high temperature and another infection is suspected. Samples of his blood, cerebral spinal fluid and sputum have been taken so they can establish where it is. Meanwhile he was being put back on antiobiotics and will remain on the Unit for the time being. Dave (my husband) thinks he may have caught a cold from having his beard shaved off!

Thanks Jilly for your blog (and Maggie's bit). Rog and I are wondering what surprises are in store for us regarding our brother - he's always seemed so quiet! Now we are hearing about possible paternity suits, accidents with bedside tables and bunks. This is getting exciting.

Thanks also for the card and photo from Mandy & John of Escape Adventures and Dave, Elysia and Joseph, the Tanzania trip leaders. Dave had been so looking forward to his trip but it sounds as if Maggie will have plenty of photos for him to see.

Moving on ?

Val and I visited Dave this afternoon, looking out for nurses brandishing beard trimmers ( I don't want to lose mine yet)! We were able to have a chat with the Doctor who said that as Dave is now breathing for himself and does not require as much life support equipment, now is the time to move him on to a high dependency neurological ward, probably tomorrow, but we must not be surprised if he has a setback and subsequently returns to ITU. There is considerable concern over the fact that he is not yet responding as they would like, but all we can do is wait patiently. The Doctor stressed that Dave is extremely vulnerable to infection at the moment. When he has settled in to the new ward, perhaps the visiting situation will be able to be reviewed. We would like to thank you all for being patient on this one, we realise that it must be frustrating, but it is in everyone's best interest. Thanks to Trevor Frid for his kind letter and card, which we read to Dave along with Jilly's last comment from the blog.

Well Done

Nice blog Jilly,glad you have got the hang of this and pleased you had a good ride to Lulworth.Keep on enjoying your cycling.

Wot no beard?

As Roger said yesterday, the nurse had given Dave a beard trim - today when we went in he was clean shaven! I almost didn't recogise him! Apart from his moustache days, he seems to have always had a beard. Obviously it is much easier for hygiene reasons and as the nurse said 'it will soon grow back'.

Maybe some subtle change today in the way he was looking at me - he had his eye open for quite a while. Otherwise the nurse said he had not responded to the pain tests they use. He needs to hurry up and throw a six so he can start up the ladder - he always used to be pretty good at throwing them if I remember rightly.

Roger and I will be seeing a doctor tomorrow for a further update.

Read the last few messages to him today, thank you.

Weekend update

Today, there has been some progress in that Dave has been weaned off the ventilator and put onto some (it sounded like) Drago Bellows, because he can breathe for himself- but still needs some assistance to make sure that his lungs inflate properly, especially at the bottom.His turban has also been removed and replaced with a dressing, which again is labelled 'no bone flap' and the pressure monitor has been taken away because his pressures have remained stable for a few days. These are all steps in the right direction, but unfortunately he is still keeping us waiting as far as waking up goes. As the staff nurse said yesterday - sometimes patients can take up to a week and during their recovery may take several steps back, so we must be patient and remember that it is still early days.Faye, his nurse for today, has given him a beard trim, because it was all getting a bit long and in the way - she was a bit wary to start with, but soon got into the swing of it and said that she had quite enjoyed it come the end. She has made a very good job of it too, it's not easy when your customer is lying down and has tubes coming out of his throat and nose, just where you need to go with the trimmers!

Sorry

We didn't put anything on here yesterday because there was still no real change. It could take a week or so for him to wake up apparently. More news later we hope following our visits during the day.

2 weeks on

There isn't a lot to report today other than to say that Dave is slowly being weaned off the sedation and is still receiving some support with his breathing.

Some more cards had come in the post today, so we read them together with the comments from the blog, thanks to everyone for those. Sounds as if he is going to be busy when he is better, pushing some of you up hills. Amazing isn't I must have missed out on that gene - I usually get off my bike and walk up even the merest slope.

Birthday Boy

Big brother reaches 60,good grief who would believe that the way he goes up hill!!
As Val said, not quite the way to spend it.The meals on hold Dave.
We visited today armed with all the cards and messages and read them to Dave,thanks to all of you for those,we do appreciate all your support.
In the early hours of this morning Dave had further surgery,which involved returning to the earlier op site to collect a sample for testing,due to an infection.This will be cultured and could take 72 hours to get a result.From this they hopefully will be able to find the correct antibiotic to use.Mean while he is on life support so we are back to the position we have been in before,but once again the surgeons are doing their utmost.They will slowly start to reduce sedation as before so it will be a while before we know how Dave is doing.
This experience I liken to the game Snakes and Ladders we used to play together,I`d get almost to the end then that horrible long ladder would take you nearly back to the beginning but the challenge was to climb up again, so here we go!!
By the way, Dave is now wearing a lovely white turban with red writing on which says NO BONE FLAP this is a piece of bone that has been removed to be replaced at a much later stage. Once again thankyou everybody.

Next procedure

Dave did not have a lumbar puncture yesterday evening after all and has remained on sedation and fully ventilated today. The results of a recent brain scan show that there is an infection in the area of the craniotomy he had last week so he is due to go down to theatre again sometime this evening/night so that the surgeons can reopen the original wound and remove the circle of bone that was cut last week. A culture will then be grown so that the infection can be treated. The piece of bone will not be replaced at this stage.

No doubt we will know more in the morning when we ring up for an update.

Dave's 60th birthday tomorrow - I am quite sure he was not intending to spend it in a hospital bed!

Day 12

When Roger and I visited this afternoon the doctor spoke to us about the current situation with Dave. He had been down for another scan this morning which meant he had been slightly sedated again and was on the ventilator to help with his breathing. He has a temperature so they believe he may have an infection in the cerebral fluid round his brain and just after we left they were going to do a lumbar puncture to draw off some of the fluid so that they can grow a culture. They are also concerned that he may have an infection elsewhere. He was going to be put on antibiotics this evening and sedated again. So several steps backwards.

When they do their pain tests there is no response from Dave and we asked if he was in a coma. The doctor says he is in a very deep one so we both came away with heavy hearts. As the doctor said it is Day 12 and the earlier the patient wakes up the better.

However we are hoping for a miracle and having read your comment Paul, although the situation seems to be bleak at the moment we mustn't lose hope. We would all love to see Dave back on his bike again.

Old mates

As I promised,here is the news regarding Jeff Bowler. He managed to get hold of me last evening.It turns out he like Ray archer used to ride tandem with Dave, in fact I should say they raced on tandems,but not all at once if you see what I mean!!!
It seems that they had only in the last couple of years made contact with one another again.Jeff said they had enjoyed a meal together, when David was in that neck of the woods staying at a youth hostel.
David did actually work with Jeff for a while when he was in his building bike frames mode.You can see from this not only does he know how to ride a bike he can also build one from scratch, he knows bikes inside out.
Visited Dave with Val today, leaving the blog update to Val this evening,she`s older than me, so I don`t argue!

No real change

Dave's sedation was turned off yesterday at 2 pm and since then his pressures have remained stable and he has not needed to go back on it at the moment. When Dave and I visited this evening the ventilator was supporting his breathing, although the nurse said he has been breathing without it for quite a while today.

However, he is still asleep and at the moment he is not responding to their tests. It looks like it is going to be a long haul.

Weekend visit to Dave

Hi Everyone,
At last I`ve managed to get round to adding to the blog.Margaret and I visited Dave yesterday and again today. I wish I could report better news but he is still critical. At the moment they are doing what they call Medical Management which is trying to take him off the sedation, unfortunately every time they try, his pressures increase,consequently they have to sedate again, hopefully for the injury to heal.This may continue for a couple more days following which they will reassess the situation and decide whether more surgical intervention is required.
I have managed to make contact with Ray Archer in Derbyshire.He used to ride tandem with Dave back in the seventies.So word is spreading far and wide.I`m hoping to be in touch with a Jeff Bowler (Mercian Cycles)following my chat with Ray,I`ll keep you in touch with that.
Returning to the hospital, I must mention the staff, who are doing their utmost for Dave and us. It is truly remarkable what they can do and he is in the best place to receive the the care he needs.

Quiet day

Overnight Dave's pressures went up so he was put back on sedation. However he was taken off again this morning and so far the pressures have remained much lower. He is still on the ventilator.

There has been no real change during the day between our visits, slight movement of right arm and leg, but no eye movements today.

Slight improvement

Roger and I visited together today. Dave has been taken off the sedation today, his pressures are more stable and he was moving his right arm and leg a bit. He is however still fully ventilated at the moment.

When I read out your message Roger (Nash), and Roger (brother) told him who had been in contact with him since yesterday, Dave's eyes moved as if in recognition, at least that is what we thought! He even lifted his right arm as if to wave us goodbye when we left. Probably a coincidence but that's how it felt.

I'll pass your good wishes on tomorrow morning when we go in Fran and special thanks to Faith and Vic for the lovely card we received today. We've promised Dave that as soon as he opens his eyes he will be able to see the card you have sent him with the picture of Brixham.

Thank you to everyone for their support, Dave is lucky to have so many good friends. We know Dave has a long way to go yet but Roger and I feel much more positive than we did yesterday.

Setback

Unfortunately overnight the pressures in David's head continued to give cause for concern and his monitor was changed in case the other one was giving faulty readings. The readings continued to be high and so he was again sedated, given drugs to help and the mattress cooled to help bring the pressures down. Having gone in this morning hoping that he would be a little more alert than yesterday, this was a shock.

The consultant told us that the next step was to take David down to Theatre and insert a drain in his head, which would remain for approx. a week or so.

The operation took place this afternoon and when Roger rang at 4 pm, he had just come back to the Unit. He will now remain sedated overnight and we will see how he is tomorrow. Roger and Margaret are visiting him at the moment.

Tracheostomy

David has had a tracheostomy this afternoon so there are no longer any tubes in his mouth, which the doctor says will be more comfortable for him and will allow the ventilator to continue helping with his breathing, but via his lower throat. Because of the op he's been sedated again and we are hoping that when we see him tomorrow morning he will be a little more alert. As we were leaving he was beginning to come round slightly and was initiating some breathing himself and moving his head from side to side.

The best bit was being able to see his whole face without the tubes covering his mouth and beard.

He again opened his eyes this morning for the nurse and continues to move his right leg quite a bit and his right arm occasionally. Nothing yet on the left side. The pressures in his head are still causing them some concern.

A different nurse today, Rachel. The day shift seems to be from 7.15 am - 9.15 pm which is quite nice for continuity (from our point of view anyway).

Shall I wake up

Slight improvement today - Dave has come off sedation and is breathing on his own, although he is still connected to the ventilator. He is beginning to wake up and has made some movements with his right arm and leg. He has a chest infection which is being treated with antibiotics. The nurse says he has opened his eyes when she has shouted at him!

He keeps yawning and his nurse for today, Vicky, can't believe that after 5 days of sedation he is still tired!!

We're hoping that when we visit tomorrow, he will be a little more awake and responsive.

We understand that a few friends have tried telephoning, but at the moment the nurses are unable to give anyone other than close family, any information about David's condition. So its best to WATCH THIS SPACE or telephone Roger or myself. As soon as he is able to receive visitors we will let you know. Hope everyone understands.

Monday 1st Sept

Having come off his pushbike on Friday morning on his way to work, Dave's condition is still critical, although stable. He is still sedated and on a ventilator, although his doctors had hoped to begin waking him up today. Maybe tomorrow.

Hope this method of communication will be helpful to everyone.

Dave's friends are going to play an important part in his recovery.

Welcome

This blog has been created to allow the friends and family of David Pitman to keep up and comment on his recovery.