It was now Tuesday 12th February, when I arrived at Durham hospital I was told Chris was to be transferred later that day to Bishop Auckland hospital for rehabilitation. I was rather surprised as he had seemed so unwell the evening before but pleased to think he must be on the road to recovery. However, when I went into his room I was extremely shocked to see how unwell he looked, he was dressed in a hospital gown and his skin was as white as the bed sheets.
I was walking back to the desk to ask what was wrong with him when I met the Sister who came back with me to Chris' room, she said she had just come on duty so would go and find out! I was later told Chris had been sick earlier which was why he was wearing a gown, I remember saying he would need to be changed into pyjamas before he went in an ambulance.
Lunch arrived and he didn't want anything, all he wanted to do was sleep, his blood pressure was sky high but no one came to check on him. A couple of times I tried to rouse him from his sleep but he was sound, I thought he is at least getting some rest.
The ambulance arrived to take him to Bishop and I was asked to leave the room whilst they got Chris ready to go. I waited outside with the 2 ambulance men, they were trying to get away to beat the traffic.
Next thing the alarm was flashing outside the room, nurses and doctors were running in all directions, the ambulance men were told "he's not going" apparently he had been sick again.
I was taken to the relatives room and told Chris was unconscious and that they were taking Chris for a CT scan. John and Ceri arrived, and we waited for news.
The ward doctor arrived and took us to the sisters office he told us there was a serious problem, the pressure in Chris brain had built up to a dangerous level and that he was now in a life threatening situation. We had a choice, they could take Chris to the Newcastle RVI hospital for brain surgery to release the pressure, this would mean the damaged part of his brain would be removed, but this could mean he would be permanently damaged, or we could do nothing and let nature take its course. We were asked what would Chris want, would he want to be permanently disabled and perhaps unable to communicate?
We were given 5 minutes to decide as time was of the essence.
The doctor then asked if we wanted to see the CT scan to understand fully what was happening, this was extremely useful as it showed how the pressure had built up since the initial stoke, he showed us what they would try and remove but how within the brain, damaged and good brain looks the same hence the risks.
There was no real choice of course we were going to grasp every chance for Chris.
The Durham ITU team arrived to prepare Chris for the trip to Newcastle, he would be put on a ventilator and transferred under blue lights with a police escort.
In the middle of all this my brother Tony arrived with my Mum, Ceri left to go home to organise their dog Stella, her father was on his way to collect Senna, as fortunately Ceri was thinking ahead, and was preparing for me to stay at their house.
Tony drove John and me to Newcastle, it was snowing.
We arrived at Newcastle A&E and were expected, the receptionist took us to a private room and brought in 2 steaming mugs of tea!
The surgeon joined us in the room and once again asked if we wanted to go ahead with the operation, outlining the risks. We said yes, she asked if Chris would cope with being paralysed on his right side and unable to communicate, I said he would hate it (wouldn't anyone).
We were taken to the ITU waiting room as this would be where Chris would be taken after surgery.
The surgeon returned and asked us again, she said they were taking legal advice as I had said Chris would not be happy being paralysed........ John got angry and said if they were taking legal advice so were we..........
The next time the surgeon returned she was with a senior ITU consultant, I feared the worse and thought they were going to tell me Chris had died or they would not operate. But no the consultant said she thought they needed to get on with it!
John and I then settled down to wait, we were told it would be a number of hours and that they would let us know as soon as they could. The matron Angela from ITU came and introduced herself.
John rang Ceri to tell her where we were, he told her to say she was his wife when she got to the hospital so she would be allowed into our waiting room .....such a romantic if that was a proposal.
At about 1am the surgeon came into the room and told us the operation was over and that Chris was in ITU and about half an hour later Louise arrived, to say she was the ITU nurse who would be looking after Chris and would we like to see him. I did but John didn't at that time.
Chris was heavily sedated, on a breathing machine and his head heavily bandaged, there seemed to be pipes and wires all over him, but he was alive and in very safe hands.
Thank goodness for Ceri, she was an absolute hero and took charge of both John and me, driving us back to their house, and insisting on tea and something to eat!
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