May 02, 2013

Mark still in ICU, but looking a bit better

Have just been to see Mark, he's still in ICU, still in a lot of pain, but he describes it as operation pain not the pain he has been experiencing. He's heavily drugged still, but his blood pressure is better and fluids are better so his overall colour is better.  Because of the drugs it's difficult for him to tell me much because he's drifting off all the time, but this is what he has been able to explain .....

When Mr Flint was taking out the fixture he found one of the screws had been rounded off so the Allen Key supplied for the job wouldn't fit so in the words of the ICU nurse, Mr Flint had to employ his DIY skills to get it out. But get it out he did.

Once all the fixture was removed they cut the back of some (Mark doesn't know how many) of his vertebrae to see what was happening at cord level. What was happening was that the spinal column was squashed into a V shape by the vertebrae being compressed by the fixture and had nowhere to expand, Mark seems to think that was the case all the way up the fixture but he's not really sure about that. So it seems the operation in Greece wasn't quite as good as everyone thought.

Once they were at spinal cord level they removed a number of lesions, but at this stage not sure where or how many. But it seems Mr Flint feels the op was a success.

I feel three things very strongly now while I'm writing this ....... first I want to punch that consultant at Pinderfields who was adamant it was all in Marks head ..... second, why has it taken so long for someone to take any notice ..... three relieved on behalf of Mark that they've got to the bottom of it and the outcome so far looks promising.

They will be moving him to the ward later this afternoon so more then.


1 comment:

Hazey Days said...

Mo,
I think I stopped breathing reading the updates, so heaven knows how you must have felt. Give Mark our regards. We'll call in a few days when things are a little less pressured. Dave and Carole x