Updates

Hi All

Joshua has had a good couple of days and nights. He has a young student physio named Will, who comes and visits him daily and has him up and about. Yesterday (Thursday, I think) he took three walks around the ward - during the second of which the much-awaited fart eventuated! This is a good sign and apparently what all doctors and nurses wait for with baited breath after bowel surgery as it indicates the bowl has woken up again after the paralysis it goes into after being handled.

Today has been an even better day with all his tubes coming out except for one cannula that remains for rehydration until he is fully getting everything he needs orally.

To be specific they removed:
* two direct lines into the wound for local anaesthetic
* the catheter
* the naso-gastric tube
* the drain from the wound site
* the left-hand cannula

He was very glad to get these out! (especially the one in his nose, which had been giving him a sore throat, and was quite uncomfortable).

He was also able to demonstrate a 'working bladder' - another sign the medics like to see after surgery. He is now on a diet that includes liquids of all colours 😀 We are just trying to encourage to keep drinking - something he is not great at at the best of times!

So all in all, a pretty good day.

The doctor also confirmed today that she hopes to be able to 'sign him off' on Monday, in preparation for travelling down to Brisbane on Wednesday. We are hoping and praying that they will allow him to come home on Tuesday, so we get at least one day of 'normal'(-ish) before heading off on our new adventures in the big smoke...

Many thanks to all of you who have been praying and supporting us in all other ways. We do appreciate it.

Now I am pretty much up to date on here, I will try and keep that way so this can be our main means of updating everyone as we go.