News from Penny

I thought I would like to try and bring many of you up to date as to where we are on this journey. I know Charles is putting together a blog entry; he came out for 3 days recently.

Paul is making very steady and encouraging progress. Dr Elier and his neurosurgeury team at Feldkirch are very pleased with the progress to date. The skull replacement, a 2 hour operation, was for the young Dr Markus Donat, a very satisfactory procedure. He had seven broken pieces of the skull, 4 of which he skillfully put back together, like a jigsaw puzzle he told me. On seeing the CT scans the day after the operation, Dr Elier and Dr Donat were pleased. They both wished me to see it. They showed me the comparison from 7 weeks ago, and I could see why they were so delighted.

The next big hurdle Paul needs to overcome is swallowing. Some of you may already know that this is a huge challenge for head/brain trauma patients. Naturally, we all take this so terribly for granted. This is a very slow process, and Paul is beginning to take a few small spoonfuls of pureed food. He is keen to feed himself, with his right hand. All of this is exhausting for him, but he is making every effort he can. He is still being fed through a tube into his stomach.

When a friend arrived yesterday, he just looked at him and said ''I'm knackered''. Philippe and I took him into the gardens, put a hat on him, and placed in him the warm sun and breeze, and he went to sleep.

Paul is able to speak, when he wants to. He is not always able to communicate verbally. Again, this is a very tiring process for him. The hardware is still trying to reconnect.

Charlotte and Will have both been so to see their Dad. I am very proud of their incredible courage and bravery. It is truly shocking for both of them to see their Dad so critically injured.. Coming to terms with the enormity of their Father's accident is brutal. There are no other words to describe the impact on our family.

This journey/recovery is not a straight line. There are many unknowns, and as a family, we will not probably know for at least another year or so, may be more. All I do know, and I feel very strongly about this, that this accident is life changing for us.

As Charles so aptly writes in his blog entries, ours is the burden of time. He is right.

I remain measured and deeply cautious as I tread along this tough road. I try not to predict the future. My role is to remain steady and strong for Charlotte and Will, have the ability to make the right choices for Paul and keep The Show on the road. As I have said before, I could not do this without the enormous love, strength and support from all of you who are doing everything you can to support us. I am deeply grateful. Your visits, phone calls, text messages, e-mails, all give me the strength I need to cope.

Dr Elier is hoping to move him out of the high dependency environment by the end of next week and into the next level of his recovery journey. The next steps/decisions of where we go from here will unfold. Charles and I are working on it. Paul deserves the best. We are very fortunate to have received such outstanding medical care out in Austria.

I return to London on the 6th May for a week, and will be back in Austria on the 13th May. I am working around Will's school dates. I will be in the UK for Will's half term. Charlotte is holding the fort at Elm House. Both she and Will are doing well, they are organised and very self sufficient. Will has his GCSE's coming up.

This comes with my love and best wishes to you all, and thank you for all your concern and interest in Paul.

PENNY 2 MAY 2009