Day 2 back in ICU but this time Justin is not fighting to save his old life, he's striving forward to hopefully embrace the new one that he's currently fighting so hard for.
I can't tell you how relieved I am, we all are, that he is now in the Nusi but my heart goes out to all of the patients and their families that we left behind on ward 108. Many of them were fighting the very same battles that we were, some had been in there weeks, maybe even longer. Their families and loved ones weren't sleeping on padded quilts and fluffed up pillows. They didn't have computers, Facebook accounts and 1000's of friends to draw strength from and it's unlikely that they would ever have the option to move their patients to the Nusi Wockhart private hospital. Mums, dads, brothers, sisters aunts and uncles kept their 24 hour round the clock vigils, they slept under a sarong on the hard hospital floor, they never once complained about the conditions, and the love they had for their charges was no less important than the love we have for Justin.
I may have made light hearted jokes about the "bag lady", but I'll always be grateful to her son and daughter who helped us when we had no idea what to do with the food cups or how we were supposed to clean the throat suction tube. Then there was "mister shouty" across to the left. He spent much of the time in obvious discomfort, struggling to keep still and would spend the entire time discarding his bed sheets, only for his mum to patiently place them back over him again. She did this the whole time we were there, she never left his side once. Last but not least there was "mr whoopy" behind us. Whenever he coughed, his throat tube would whistle like one of those party blowout whistles, it made us giggle every time it went off but then we'd be punished for laughing as Justin would cough and we would have to suck out the secretion from his own throat tube, which was the worst part of the whole experience.
They and the rest of the other 40 odd patients are probably still there, some will walk out of ward 108 and make a full recovery whilst others may never leave the ward alive. My hat goes off to their families, who are made of stronger stuff than me that's for sure, and my hearts goes out to the bag lady, mr shouty, mr whoopy and all on ward 108, I now feel your pain and that of your families, I wish you all a speedy recovery. Looking across the ward, everyone had their own story to tell but all share one thing in common and that includes Justin. Their lives were saved by the incredible Doctors there and for that I will always be truly grateful.
I only got to see Justin the once this morning, we arrived just after his physio therapy session, he was tired but looked fresh in the face. The staff had shaved him and spruced him up a little, and somehow managed to make him look even younger than he already does. In fact, as we were leaving the Goa Medical College, the doctor asked me to confirm his age for the discharge sheet. 42 I replied, he looked at me in disbelief, then asked me how old I was. 40 I replied. "So he's your OLDER brother then" he quipped. I thought bloody cheek, he's been asleep for 2 weeks sucking on pure oxygen, we'd all look that young if that was us. It's not the first time I have been confused for being the oldest, I'm used to it now.
Justin will remain in ICU for a couple of days while they monitor him, he has a slight fever for which he's being treated, this is standard practice when moving this type of patient to their facility. I didn't go to the evening visit as I had to collect Anita and Talo from the airport but according to mum, dad and Janie, he looked comfortable. His eyes were open for some of the time and he seemed to be reacting a little such as a slight squeeze of the hand and movement of the lips. All good signs of progress in my book.
When I first heard of the accident, a horrible thought crossed my mind. I never imagined that I would ever have to tell my kids about my beloved brother, their fun uncle Justin, who they never knew. Well that day will never come, Talo loves Justin and I can't wait till the day when Justin can hold him again and tell him he loves him back.
I can't tell you how relieved I am, we all are, that he is now in the Nusi but my heart goes out to all of the patients and their families that we left behind on ward 108. Many of them were fighting the very same battles that we were, some had been in there weeks, maybe even longer. Their families and loved ones weren't sleeping on padded quilts and fluffed up pillows. They didn't have computers, Facebook accounts and 1000's of friends to draw strength from and it's unlikely that they would ever have the option to move their patients to the Nusi Wockhart private hospital. Mums, dads, brothers, sisters aunts and uncles kept their 24 hour round the clock vigils, they slept under a sarong on the hard hospital floor, they never once complained about the conditions, and the love they had for their charges was no less important than the love we have for Justin.
I may have made light hearted jokes about the "bag lady", but I'll always be grateful to her son and daughter who helped us when we had no idea what to do with the food cups or how we were supposed to clean the throat suction tube. Then there was "mister shouty" across to the left. He spent much of the time in obvious discomfort, struggling to keep still and would spend the entire time discarding his bed sheets, only for his mum to patiently place them back over him again. She did this the whole time we were there, she never left his side once. Last but not least there was "mr whoopy" behind us. Whenever he coughed, his throat tube would whistle like one of those party blowout whistles, it made us giggle every time it went off but then we'd be punished for laughing as Justin would cough and we would have to suck out the secretion from his own throat tube, which was the worst part of the whole experience.
They and the rest of the other 40 odd patients are probably still there, some will walk out of ward 108 and make a full recovery whilst others may never leave the ward alive. My hat goes off to their families, who are made of stronger stuff than me that's for sure, and my hearts goes out to the bag lady, mr shouty, mr whoopy and all on ward 108, I now feel your pain and that of your families, I wish you all a speedy recovery. Looking across the ward, everyone had their own story to tell but all share one thing in common and that includes Justin. Their lives were saved by the incredible Doctors there and for that I will always be truly grateful.
I only got to see Justin the once this morning, we arrived just after his physio therapy session, he was tired but looked fresh in the face. The staff had shaved him and spruced him up a little, and somehow managed to make him look even younger than he already does. In fact, as we were leaving the Goa Medical College, the doctor asked me to confirm his age for the discharge sheet. 42 I replied, he looked at me in disbelief, then asked me how old I was. 40 I replied. "So he's your OLDER brother then" he quipped. I thought bloody cheek, he's been asleep for 2 weeks sucking on pure oxygen, we'd all look that young if that was us. It's not the first time I have been confused for being the oldest, I'm used to it now.
Justin will remain in ICU for a couple of days while they monitor him, he has a slight fever for which he's being treated, this is standard practice when moving this type of patient to their facility. I didn't go to the evening visit as I had to collect Anita and Talo from the airport but according to mum, dad and Janie, he looked comfortable. His eyes were open for some of the time and he seemed to be reacting a little such as a slight squeeze of the hand and movement of the lips. All good signs of progress in my book.
When I first heard of the accident, a horrible thought crossed my mind. I never imagined that I would ever have to tell my kids about my beloved brother, their fun uncle Justin, who they never knew. Well that day will never come, Talo loves Justin and I can't wait till the day when Justin can hold him again and tell him he loves him back.
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