Day 5 - Sunday May 1st 2005

It was my birthday today and Karen came up trumps ! :)

She looked great. She was still on this fantastic bed (£5000 pw hire !) that locks her in position so she can't move. Every 20 minutes it tilted her along the line of her body from 45 degrees left to 45 degrees right. This was for a number of reasons :-

• To stop her lungs from getting congested.
• To help prevent bed sores.
• To stop her skin from splitting where she has the massive bruising & swelling from the accident.
• And to keep her neck in alignment.

Mum and Dad were up for the weekend staying at a hotel in Sunderland. Mum has done a good clean of the house and got the washing up to date and while putting some of my underwear away, dad came across a Birthday Card that Karen had bought me in her knicker draw. It wasn't signed, but the words of the card were fantastic.

"To a special husband with love...
In you I have found a wonderful partner and friend to share my life....
and as long as we have love and each other....
I have everything I could ever need and much, much more"
Underneath were 5 hearts. (I always put 5 kisses on my cards to her, and she is the only person who gets 5)

Well, when Dad gave me the card in the visitors room and I had read it, I said "I am gonna cry now" and sure enough I shed a few tears. Dad said "I shed a tear or two when I read it" (trying to make me not feel such a numpty ! ;-). The card was so lovely. Karen couldn't speak and was heavily sedated, but she was speaking to me through this card.

We followed this up with other cards and Marie brough a birthday cake in and some bubbly and we toasted Karen and the great night she had had.

Karen's kidneys were failing and she was put on a dialysis machine which helped stem her rising temperature and reduce her swelling. We warned that the next few days she was at risk of infection and that was the next danger to overcome