Friday to Sunday - Progress Report

Ben's been doing extremely well over the last three days. His strength has improved considerably as well as his ability to breath on his own. It's significant progress.

Friday night I witnessed him walking (with the help of the walking frame) for the first time, off the ventilator and just with pure oxygen. It was a brisk walk around the ward, a considerable distance if you compare it to what he was doing previously. He actually did it with relative ease, an amazing and inspirational effort.

Janyne was able to speak to him on Thursday. They do a procedure in which they deflate the sweedish nose on the tracki letting air flow past his voice box and allowing him to speak. Janyne commented how wonderful it was to hear him speak after having to read his lips for so long.. haha, something in which he says we only do right 50% of the time.

They spoke again on Friday (if I recall correctly) and they were lucky to have a 20min conversation. They talked about the operation, what he had remembered, his thoughts and feelings throughout the recovery, etc. It must have been great for him to get it all off his chest. Admist that there were lots of hello's and thank you's to the Nurses and Doctors who have helped him thus far.

His daily progress is amazing, he's looking back to his normal self. When I say "normal" I mean he looks as well as he did 5yrs prior to the transplant.. it's fantastic to see him with such life and colour in his face again! He's obviously, and by his own admission, feeling a hell of a lot better about things.

His strength continues to improve considerably as well. Just yesterday (Sunday) he walked the whole distance to the Cafe unassisted (except for the walker). It's a distance I'd say of over 100m.. something I was excited to hear about. He also enjoyed his first coffee post-transplant as well. Oh no, I'll be in trouble for saying "coffee" without commenting that it was only half a coffee, something he was scalding us for not mentioning each time we told someone!

The big question of course is "When will he be out of ICU?". The answer to that question is "When he's ready!". When that'll be, no one can tell. What we can say is he is making dramatic steps on the road to recovery and whilst it has taken a while, it's probably better for him in the long run. I'd personally rather see him do the hard yards now so he can benefit by not going back into ICU anytime soon, although a risk that is always evident regardless.

It's been an amazing road thus far and it's really exciting to see him doing well. I've filled him in with everyones comments and best wishes to which he was thankful for. He's writing something today so I can post it on here for all of you to see.. so stay tuned!

Just a quick note.. today he's alternating every 2hrs between the TP and the Ventilator with his other vitals being excellent! So keep your fingers crossed that he'll be up to a ward soon!