Reece goes away for Christmas. Again.

[Dewi_cool]

  cariad mawr

[ericstoner]

Take it slowly Maureen,you Stacey and Darren,will be truely surprised at Reece's capacity to recover quickly.
Remember he's in good hands.
Just be there for him, like you've always been.

[Dingdell]

Thank god. This thread just made me cry at the office. Fingers crossed Maureen, he's a fighter. xx

[taximan007]

This is the thread that puts my current situation into complete perspective.

I wish young Reece all the very best in his recovery, my thoughts are with you all.

[The_nun]

Still in ICU. This afternoon after a few tests they decided to remove the ventilator and just put him on oxygen /nebuliser mask . He has coped well and is breathing all on his own. Acknowledge us a bit today, reached out his hands and nodded head yes or no to questions, but asleep most of the time, although he does know we are present. He is very very bloated, his face does not look much like our little Reece apart from his extra long eyelashes still on show even though his eyes are very puffy too. He still has his epidural in plus many many other drips and lines going into various veins all over him, from his neck right down to both feet. Some of the things we saw that he had to go through today would make the biggest of men cry, we were offered to leave but no way could we allow him to go through it on his own.

We have now returned home leaving Stacey there as tomorrow night I sleep then Saturday Darren sleeps. Only 1 allowed. The hossy is well over crowded, there is very little bed space and even less sleeping facilities for parents / families. Not the best of hospitals I have to admit but we need to have this surgeon as he really is the best for Reece. I can not fault the ICU team they are great but it is not nice at all to see what these kids endure on this ward.

One very moving moment was after he had the ventilator removed and all the tape, I asked him, are you happy Reece, which may sound silly at this point to you lot but it is statement we use with Reece a lot after he has endured discomfort, Well under the mask he made a smile, and when you see a child do that without opening their eyes , trust me it's a good feeling.

Anyway, long way to go and can not wait for his pain to be over with. Thanks again for the support, we need it.


Regards, Reece's family. xxx

[Claw75]

Thanks for the update Maureen - glad to hear Reece is recovering well.  Love you to you all xxx

[kinboshi]

Thinking about you and the little fella Mo. 

[Bainn]

As always, our prayers and thoughts go to Reece and you all.

Bainn & Harmony.

[snoopy1239]

Best wishes to you from myself and Dana. 

[tikay]

x

[bobby1]

Thanks Maureen.

[boldie]

Thinking about you and the little fella Mo. 

[Poppet7]

Thinking of you x

[tikay]

I spoke at length with Maureen yesterday, & Reece is doing splendidly.

Firstly, his DVD player. Maureen popped across to see Kev in Manchester over the weekend. She told Kev his old DVD player was now working again, so he does not need a new one. The money already raised or pledged for it can be added to the residue of the cash Julian gave, & used for a family holiday when Reece is better. The family will need this more than Reece, truth to tell, as they've endured incredible stress.

However, when Maureen returned to the Hossie yesterday (Monday), Reece had thrown up alll over the old DVD player, so we are not sure if it will work again. Either way, if a new DVD player is required, the blondes have donated more than enough to sort one, & I told Maureen to go get one if it was needed, & we'll sort it.

Now, the Lad himself. I don't fully understand Reece's condition, but the rest of this is not for the squeamish, I'll try & relay it as I understood it. Look away now if you don't do squeam.

He has had most of his tubes & pipes removed. He still has a pipe in his nose, to drain matter, & still has to wear nappies, as he has no bowel control, & never has had.

While Maureen was there, she noted copious amounts of blood in his nose tube. His nappy also had bloodstains.

She called the consultant, who's not actualy "on call", & he came straight to the hossie. He seemed fairly relaxed about the blood, "not a problem" he thinks.

The next - & most vital step, is to get Reece to eat by mouth. (He remains nil-by-mouth). He's not even sipped fluids since last Wednesday, it's all intravenous. He has never - ever - been able to eat food by mouth, so it's going to be quite a challenging step to teach a 3 year-old to eat by mouth. Then there's his entire digestive system & stomach, intestines, bowel, etc, which has to learn to cope with solids. So that's crucial.

But the step before that is for him to pass a stool. & until he does, the eating by mouth training cannot begin. It's much more complex than I ever understood it to be.

Maureen & the Family are a bit up & down, the stress levels are dreadful. But they are getting there, slowly. He has severe bowel problems, but his heart is evidently big and strong.

Going back to the start of the problems, 3 years ago, it's a miracle he's made it this far, but, scores of operations (hundreds?) & he's still here, & bit by bit, getting better.

No matter how hard the task, it has to be done one step at a time. Climbing Everest is the same. But it can be achieved.

Best wishes to Reece from all at blonde. He won't let us down.

[cia260895]