and there's more...............

Hello everyone
sorry we have been a bit remiss this past couple of days but there has been little to report due to Patrick being put back into the coma as I think was said in the previous post.

We have been able to give Patrick cuddles and he has been washed every day by Gemma. She get's to give him proper washes and is able to moisturise his little body. It is also and excuse to give him lots and lots of kisses and he is powerless to resist!

Little things mean so much as we have already said elsewhere on here but yesterday (Thursday) he actually had a hand free of canulars or wires and we took it in turns holding his hand as he slept. It was lovely.

We found out yesterday morning that his blood pressure had dropped a little over the previous night but that was expected and he was given additional medication to remedy that. Having just spoken to the ICU Ward staff again this morning, it happened again last night. So it must be a night time thing for him it seems.

Talking of medication, his thiopentone was also upped as he apparently started breathing for himself again, little monkey! With the amount of medication he is on, he should be very deep in the coma but he does seem to prove them wrong. Funnily enough, we had pointed out that his eyes were flickering quite a bit during the day but had been told 'not to worry' but it seems Mummy and Daddy know best! We know our baby!

We have been told that they are to carry out another lumbar puncture before he wakes. This is because they want to test his neuro transmitters(?). This is a rare test to do and is carried out by the Institute of Neurology in London. Apparently they have to put the sample in a special bottle, sent from London and then immediately frozen and sent post haste to London. If nothing else, this test has further confirmed to us that they are trying everything possible and reassures us of the commitment of the neuro team. (Not that we need reassuring to be honest because they are wonderful.)

We are hoping that he will be getting another EEG today as he is due to come off the thiopentone so he can start to wake slowly over the next day or so. This time the EEG is to be started BEFORE the medication is stopped because the Neurologist (Fiona) wants to see what is going on in advance. Keep your fingers crossed that the new combination of medicines has done the trick and calmed his brain. Naturally we will start to keep the daily entries up to date now as we hope to have more to report each day when he is awake.

Not a lot else to say just now but I hope to be writing an essay later if we have lots of happy stuff to report. The smallest things make us happy so I apologise in advance if we go on a bit later. Actually, no I don't tee hee!

Thanks for all the continued support and prayers, positive thinking etc. It all means a lot to us and helps us to get through it every day.

Much love from
Gemma, Martin, Ashley, Billy, Isaac and a special thanks from Patrick
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