Paul Continues to be Stable

Penny flew to Zurich on Monday afternoon and then headed straight out to Feldkirch. She has spent a lot of time with Paul over the last twenty four hours and, indeed, with the medical team caring for him. The doctors had sought to avoid a tracheotomy procedure, but yesterday they elected to go ahead with it. I understand that this procedure will remove the constant discomfort and irritation of the ventilator. It also may help them better manage the infection in his lungs. This procedure has been a success. The surgeons are pleased.

The doctors are continuing to wean him of the drugs inducing his coma. We are nearing the end of that process. They want to see him regain consciousness. There are some indicators that are encouraging. His eyelids flutter from time to time, his left leg is moving and there is slight movement of the fingers on his right and left hand. The physiotherapists have started to treat him.

However, this very slow progress reminds us that the recovery we all hope for will be a lengthy one. The doctors feel that in the next ten days they may start to see signs that will give them a sense of the pace of his recovery, and this will enable them to assess better the extent of what are very severe head injuries. Medicine is an iterative process, and when some approaches do not work, they are abandoned in favor of others. We must expect this.

The best way I can express where I sense we find ourselves is that “The sun rises in the morning and the sun sets in the evening". We now have to deal with the burden of time, and we must hope that each new day helps Paul emerge from what has been a very difficult and critical fortnight. The doctor’s first focus was “life”, but I sense we have passed beyond that stage into another equally challenging one, and one of many along what will be a long journey, with some good days and some bad days.

Peter Briggs, one of Paul’s longstanding friends, spent time over this last weekend with him, and this “English” contact is, I understand, so important as the doctors want to see Paul’s brain re-engage. The sense of the familiar is vital to recovery. These visits are much appreciated by Penny and our hope, over the many weeks ahead, is that his many friends will also be able to give Paul this same one-on-one support.

Graham, her brother, will spend this weekend with Penny, and I know that Paul’s brother Mark and his wife plan to head out again soon. I also fly out from London on Thursday morning to see Penny in Feldkirch. I will see Paul and plan to spend time with him, and over the weekend, I hope to be able to share with you more news of my trip to Austria.

As ever, Charles