Vicky Update - Saturday 27th August 2011
Hi folks. This blog is normally used by me to upload info about my various musical endeavours but for now I have decided to add periodic updates on how Vicky is doing. If you are reading this it'll be from invite via my Facebook wall.
The reason for this is of course I don't mind hearing from folks who want updates about Vicky (and please don't stop) but i'm finding I'm spending a huge amount of time answering phone calls and text messages when I generally can't give YOU the info you really want to hear, especially by text, which is a bit of detail. So hopefully my updates on here will be of more use to you than me replying to you and saying, 'yeah she's comfy today...' etc.
*Please keep all of this info private on-line, in other words, don't quote me publicly about details of her condition on Facebook or Twitter on walls and things like that, as I don't want that. Of course pass on to others by phone or private email who are genuinely concerned and want to know how she's doing.
Please keep Facebook for general good wishes, song dedications etc, appreciate it thanks.
Ok, heres a brief overview of whats happened the last month to bring it up to date and then a few words on how she is right now and what's foreseen in the future.
On the evening of Sunday 31st July from a sprained ankle Vicky suffered blood clots on the lungs, experienced severe respiratory problems as a result and went through 3/4 cardiac arrests. The amazing staff at South Tyneside A&E managed to save her life somehow. At 10.30pm that night they came to tell Val & I the above and had no idea how she had survived, they said she really shouldn't have and that she may not survive the night.
At 11.30pm that night I also had to sit Charlotte and Gabrielle down and tell them all this.
She was then transferred to ITU and they began working on her. I'm not going to go through everything that happened in there, as there was so much, but she spent the first 11-12 days without waking due to sedative. When she woke they were able to work on various things such as kidney problems where she was hooked up to a dialysis machine for maybe 10 days or so until the point where most of the life support machines could be taken away as they stabilised her bit by bit.
The last of those machines was the ventilator 5 days ago and she has been breathing entirely on her own since then through the tracheotemy tube (in the neck) she had fitted 3 weeks ago. The ventilator still sits on standby in case she needs it again as she could at any time.
As such she was then able to leave ITU into a Ward yesterday.
At this point I have to highlight the STUNNING work put in by the staff in the ITU at South Tyneside Hospital. As a generally cynical bugger, I have been stopped in my tracks at the level of expertise and almost more importantly, personal care those people showed when looking after Vicky. Just thinking about the care they gave her while she was in there brings a tear to the eye. You see programs on TV about how good these type of people are but I've now had to experience it first hand and it's simply AMAZING. I will be making my feelings known in length to the people there in due course. These are the people who should be earning £60,000 a week, not self important egos like Joey Barton! Sorry, I digresse..
So she has moved to specialist stroke Ward 8 as it has become clear in the last 2 days that she also suffered a stroke on 31st July in addition to everything else and initial scans in the last few days (ECG and CT) have sadly revealed a level of brain damage consistent with a stroke and 4 cardiac arrests. The exact level and detail of the brain damage will only be revealed after an MRI scan which is due in the near future.
So at present she is settling into Ward 8 where they will be beginning work on her rehabilitation. At the moment, and since she woke up nearly 3 weeks ago the only movement she has been able to achieve has been in her left hand and arm, a little facial movement and very slight twitches elsewhere. She hasn't talked although she has a speaking device fitted to the trachy. What we don't know is if she can't or won't talk. What I know, and I know her better than anyone, is that she's really depressed about what's happening. I can see it in her eyes. I'm working on that every day to try and encourage her.
So we've been told that the road to recovery is definately going to be a long one. Of course no-one can state a length of time or even a level of recovery (i.e. how much she's actually going to recover) as it's way to early for that. The foreseeable future will find the staff at Ward 8 giving her as much physio as they can and for the likes of us we need to show encouragement and support as best we can.
Please note at this point that she is not out of the woods and on a plain sailing route to recovery. She's still receiving 'critical care' and there are still many dangers around her current condition.
Visiting - Important
For this reason the hospital still wish to keep a lid on the level of visitors Vicky receives as she gets extremely tired from just about anything, even having too many people in the room. She needs a huge amount of quiet rest inbetween physio periods.
So therefore, even though official visiting times are 2pm-4pm and 7pm-8pm as per normal Wards in STH, I must ask you to be patient about getting to see Vicky.
They are still wanting to restrict visitors to 2/3 at a time. Bearing in mind one of those will almost always be me and very often Charlotte, Gabrielle and Val we are very restricted in what we can do at the moment.
Of course I know that there are so many of you lovely people who want to see her and you will be able to, just please be patient while I can get it gradually sorted out. Everything is pointed to what's best for Vicky on any given day/hour/minute.
If I can manage to get 3/4 in at one time I will, believe me I'm going to be working on the staff to that end, because I believe Vicky needs to see people and you need to see her, but unfortunately it's got to be managed sensibly. Please ask me or Val if you want to visit and we'll work it out in time. You wouldn't believe how many people want to visit her and help in any way they can.
So that's where we're at just now. Hopefully this will answer a lot of your questions for now. I will attempt to update you with anything of significance as regularly as I can on this page.
I also want to take this opportunity to thank you for the amazing level of concern and love (and patience) you've all expressed over the last four weeks for Vicky. I'm sure that when she hopefully comes out the other side she'll be overwhelmed by it all. None of us know what the future holds but whatever it is, whoever you are reading this, relative, friend, workmate etc, I can GUARANTEE you that I will be beside her and with her through every single step, come what may, because she's the light of my life, the rose of my heart, my wife, my best friend, my soulmate and quite literally my other half. Vicky and I became literally one person when we were married.
That's all for now folks, so thanks again.
With regards, Andy x
