SNAAAAAKE!

Sister is right, it's not a rollercoaster, its a game of snakes and ladders. In the first 5 weeks we went up some ladders and down some snakes, but overall the ladders were longer and we slowly made our way up the board.  Then three weeks ago the dice turned on us and we started to see more snakes.  This led to a decision to bring forward the cranioplasty to Monday to try and halt the worsening hydrocephalus and get Jake's rehab back on track; a scary but hopeful time.

All seemed to have gone to plan and although it was difficult to find ourselves back in ITU, Jake started to show some progress... and then we hit a really big snake; on Tuesday night Jake developed a new bleed under his new cranioplasty.  Cue a rush back to surgery and his shiny new cranioplasty had two holes drilled into it to relieve the pressure.  They brought him back to ITU expecting him to pick up quite quickly but unfortunately he remained 'flat' as they call it.  After more CT scans, test and x-rays they discovered that his right lung was literally full; that'll be pneumonia then!  This all took place over 4 hours and culminated in Jake being intubated, again; I am continually amazed by how strong he is and that his poor body continues to cope.

Fortunately he was on the ventilator for less than 2 days this time, they have managed to clear his chest and he has started to slowly wake up, opening his eyes, making noises and moving his hands.  Hang on, this all sounds very familiar?  Oh yes, that's right, we're back where we started!  Gutted.

Hopefully our stay in ITU will be shorter than last time (it wasn't where I had planned to spend Christmas day!), the medical team are certainly less bleak this time around and, as Sister in Law said, he does seem to be getting a good return on his National Insurance investment!

So, whilst you are tucking into your dinner tomorrow, please raise a glass (or three) for Jake's recovery and a very different Christmas 2012.

Have a wonderful Christmas, make the most of the time you have with your loved ones and don't worry about over indulging; life is WAY too short to worry about such things at this time of year, so enjoy, I insist!