SILENCE SCREAMS LOUDEST

So for those of you that don’t know, my dad is currently in hospital.

He was admitted on Thursday night after passing out at the end of a sparring session. A scan showed that his brain was bleeding and he was immediately transferred to the Intensive Care Unit at another hospital. That night he went through brain surgery to remove the clotting and stop the bleeding.

He had an Acute Subdural Hematoma, which is basically bleeding on the outside of the brain. The blood clot was putting pressure on the brain,pushing the whole brain to one side and causing a the midline shift of the ventricals. He now has a bolt through his skull to measure the pressure which has stayed level, and the bleeding has pretty much stopped. Thankfully it wasn’t a slow bleed and had only been going on for about 24-48 hours, from which we deduced that the accident probably happened whilst he was cage fighting the day before. 

The night after the surgery, he was in and out of consciousness and recovering rapidly which shocked all the doctors and nurses. At the end of visiting hours, he could speak minimally, he could move his left arm and leg, nod, wink, blow us kisses and he was able to squeeze his right hand (which was a great relief, because he didn’t have any movement in his whole right side previously). 

I haven’t seen him since friday, but I’m spending the whole day at the hospital tomorrow. Apparently his right leg is still being disobedient but he’s awake and speaking and able to eat without throwing it up. Hurrah!

Everyone was very impressed with the 64 year old, cagefighting, martial artist, ex-SAS man with a plethora of children and people supporting him. I’ve really realised how important positive support is to people in recovery; he loves us being around, and constantly having someone to hold his hand. His rate of recovery is really miraculous, they should be moving him out of the ICU soon and who knows, maybe he’ll be back home in a week! Hang in there dad, we’re all rooting for you :]