I’ve had such a lovely day and am in such a happy mood tonight, the world is so fab right now!
Today I spent the whole day with Oli as I haven’t seen him for a couple of days and I had lots to catch up on. Oli seems really good and there’s not much to report to although it may mean boring reading, it actually means things are going well.
The morning was a blur of drugs, floor washing, Oli washing, Oli eating – pretty run of the mill stuff but this afternoon the physio’s decided it was time for Oli to see the outside world and show him that life is carrying on. It was a bit of a task to get him into a wheelchair with wires and oxygen and drain and drip stand – we definitely held up the corridor for more than a couple of people! It was so great to get him out and about and show him that the Christmas decorations have been put up in reception and where we sat waiting to go into ITU. Perhaps more excitingly than any of that, we found a vending machine that has Oreos in it, I promptly bought 3 packets in case they decide to stop selling them! On the way back we got to the magic white spot which is on the floor just inside the double doors of the ward. This spot is where everyone takes their first steps and sees how they cope with walking after being in bed for a while. Oli walked 40 metres back to his room and completely shocked himself when his legs felt wobbly but he wasn’t even out of breath! It was quite funny to see him sit down in the chair and watch the emotion completely overwhelm him, it was almost possible to see his brain trying to take in what he had just done. He didn’t stop the exercise there, as soon as he was sat down in the chair in his room, he asked for the foot pedals to be brought over and he did two sets of 3 minutes, one after the other! The determination he has is phenomenal, truly astounding.
The afternoon was much like this morning, completely busy and barely 10 minutes without it being time for something to start or stop. The chyle drain has stopped, we think, but it was being left in overnight just to make certain and may come out tomorrow. Tonight Oli is on dialysis again but only because he is retaining so much fluid and it is starting to make him feel so uncomfortable that the dialysis should give the body a helping hand at balancing out the fluids. Oli was also told this evening that after the weekend it is likely that the staples from the transplnt wound will be taken out. I don’t know how he feels about it as I didn’t get a chance to ask but I know that I feel like having the staples removed makes it that much more real as it means he has healed well and is getting better. It’s an odd feeling, happy but odd.
I love visiting Oli, it’s great just to be in his company and sit and chat or sit and chill. It’s really great to know that it’s ok to be in a room with each other and not feel the need to talk all the time. It’ll be so great when you can all come and visit him (not at once as his room is quite small) and see the change in him and see how alive he looks now, you’ll notice it straight away.
Thank you so much for your kind messages, it really helped my confidence yesterday knowing that you guys were thinking of me. I have completely fallen in love with UCL and although I’ve tried really hard not to set my heart on studying there as soon as I saw it I really felt it was the place for me. I’m not sure how it went, the interviewers were very experienced and didn’t give even the slightest hint or smile that you had said the right thing. They’ve promised that we will hear by Christmas. I am happy that I gave the best answers I could have and now it is up to them. I’ll let you know if it’s good news when I receive their letter.