Reflection

This weekend I plan to do nothing. Well, nothing except for washing and cleaning everything that came within sniffing distance of The Brompton and being Harrison's personal PA. He's chosen to spend the day relaxing in his bed watching his favourite programmes; Top Gear Grand Tour, Formula E motorsport and table tennis from Alexandra Palace. I don't think that Bernard and I will have any problem completing our Fitbit step count with running up and downstairs to check on Harrison! 

Morning medication 

Breakfast is served! 

What a difference 9 1/2 years makes. This was Harrison at the same point after his previous surgery. As you can see, it was a much bigger procedure to replace the pulmonary artery and the valve. He ended up with a week in intensive care, a further three weeks in the High Dependency Unit and isolation after contracting Swine Flu! At this time, the procedure that Harrison had on Thursday was only just emerging. 

You can clearly see the immense benefits to the patient, their family and the NHS when it's possible to perform procedures percutaneously. A rough estimate for the bed only (procedures, medications, equipment, doctors and food not included) was around £38,000 for the 2009 operation and £800 for this week. Thanks to the ongoing research and development the outcome for Harrison on Thursday is the result of all that hard work. There are a lot of problems in the NHS but without the expertise and commitment of Dr Rigby, Mr Shore and their teams Harrison wouldn't be able to look forward to such an exciting 21st birthday year of activities.

Since I started writing this post this morning, he's now happily (and very quietly!) sitting on the sofa. He's the only thing still needing to be washed......! 😂