Day 196 - Thursday 10th November - Coming Home Day

This is the big homecoming blog entry. It was written on Saturday afternoon, but has been inserted in the correct order.

This is a long blog entry and packing a lunch and a thermos for a break halfway through would be advisable.

It started for kp the night before when she said goodbye to a member of the night staff who had gotten very close to kp. There were lots of tears. She had an "ok" night's sleep. I thought she would have been up all night.

"Coming Home" Day was a very long day for me also. At 1.15am, I was picking Ronnie up from the Durham train station. At 7.30am, I was walking the dogs. At 9.55am I was outside Costco waiting for the doors to open to nip in and get some last minute buffet items that Tesco had missed off the list, and the all-important "Thanks for Everything" cake for the Ward 22 staff.



Mind you, if Tesco had delivered everything, I don't think I would have got it in the fridge :-


I still managed to get to the hospital for 10.30am, which I was pleased at.

We had a little chat before bathtime....

dp:- So, do you think you will get emotional when you leave hospital love ?
kp:- I know they have said everyone does, but I think I'll be alright.

We had the quickest bath ever today before Physio which was at 11am. The main man asked kp what she wanted to do today..........

kp:- Well, I have seen lots of stroke patients playing Dominoes in this room. Perhaps we could have a game of Dominoes ?

She was joking.

Instead of Dominoes, he worked on her left arm and shoulders which were a bit stiff.

To finish off, she did the long walk back to her room. At this point, it was time for her to say goodbye to the main man, a chap who has done SO much for Karen and as Karen said to me later

kp:- I don't think I would have come so far if it wasn't for X.

The main man congratulated kp on how well she had done and gave her a hug. At this point, kp became very emotional.



The tears didn't stop until we got off the ward. And between the main man and the car, there was everyone else to say goodbye to. We handed the cake over to the Ward Manager and thanked her for everything she had done (as we did to all the staff we saw).

It was quite emotional to watch as kp said goodbye to everyone. I took quite a few photos of kp with the staff, but am not posting these at the request of the staff.

kp wanted to walk out of the hospital, so I loaded up her wheelchair and she walked to the lift (stick in hand) :-



She was adamant she wanted to walk to the car, so I took the opportunity to take some more photos. Here is one of her walking out the hospital door...........



Here she is outside the hospital.............



kp carried on crying for 5 minutes in the car, but soon the conversation turned to how glad she was that she had made it etc....

kp:- I love you David.

Well, this came from nowhere and I wasn't expecting it.

dp:- Thanks love. I Love you too. I am so proud of you.

Marie, Ronnie and I had prepared the house for Karen. Marie had bought "Welcome Home" banners, Ronnie was on Helium Balloon duty, and I had done some big posters of "kp's time in hospital".

This poster was 7.5 feet by 3.5 feet :-


And this is a smaller collage (4ft by 3ft) :-


Here is the larger one in front of the TV with Louisa on the left :-



I rang the house 2 minutes before arrival so everyone could be outside to welcome her home (as arranged). Most of the family were there by 1pm and then various other parties arrived throughout the day.

Here is the family and some real and pretend friends (in-joke) ready for the Queen's arrival :-



Big thanks to Marie who took most of these photos, and to Ronnie who took the video footage (more later).

She's here, she's here.........


kp out of the car...........



Marge and kp


Marge, Abby and kp


Ronnie (Cameralady) + kp


Aunty Celia + kp


Aunty Celia, Kelly + kp


Louisa + kp


Pretend Friends Debs + Lydia + kp




Ronnie + kp


Ethan, Marie and kp


Linda Mac + kp


kp + family in kitchen


kp + family in kitchen


kp, my mum and dad and my godfather and godmother (John and Lorna Slinger)


Jane and John


The following photos were taken later in the evening and for a few of them the flash wasn't on, so they have had to be brightened later with subsequent loss of quality.

Julie (Work Colleague)


Jane Burns having everyone in stitches


Jane again


Ethan and Kp


Danielle, kp and Sue (sorry about the lines)


Ange


A crowd round kp


The day started with champagne. I had got 5 bottles of Moet in thinking that would be enough for a toast. It turned out that it was the drink of choice and I would have run out were it not for people knowing that it is kp's drink of choice and they brought bottles with them. So thanks for that !!

Karen and I had such a wonderful day on this day. It could NOT have been better. The atmosphere was unlike any party I have experienced before. Normally, I detest parties, but this was awesome ! Thanks to Marie who was an absolute powerhouse in the kitchen ensuring everyone was fed, thanks to Ronnie for the excellent video footage and thanks to everyone for coming and for the flowers that you brought or in some cases sent (because you couldn't be here). We appreciate ALL your support over the last 7 months !!!!

Here is a list of those who were here on the day (in no particular order) :-

From kp's family.......
kp
dp
Marie
Adele
Abbie
Ethan
Louisa
Michelle
Freddy
Marge
Celia
Kelly
Kelly's baby

Our friends.....
Ronnie
Jane B.
Tony B.
Alex
Sue
Danielle
Joan + hubby
Mandy
Margo
David
Michael
Sarah

From kp's work.......
Angela (also in the crash)
Kevin (also in the crash)
Debs
Lydia
Linda Mac
Julie
Tracey

From my side.........
My Mum and Dad
My Godfather and Godmother
My bezza Nigel
Caroline (ex work colleague)

I am sure there were more, but the day is a bit fuzzy due to Champagne having an alcoholic content.

I wrote a little bit of blog on the night, but fell asleep at the computer. I was in bed by 10pm. Ronnie put kp to bed at about 1am I think.

So, thanks Q.E. Ward 22 and Intensive Care and Ward 3 for ALL you did ! Thanks to everyone who texted kp with support, who wrote blog comments of support, who sent flowers, gifts etc etc... We are very grateful. A problem shared is a problem halved. Well, a problem shared in a blog is a lot less of a problem than carrying it on one's own. So, thanks to everyone !

The blog doesn't stop here. So many people associate "going home" (from hospital) as you are fine and well. kp is not, by any means, recovered. The recovery continues, the blog continues.

I'll end with the best bit............

I have edited together 2 films of the day (taken by Ronnie). For those short of time who want a taster of the homecoming day, there is a 5 minute video, for those who want the full day (18 min video), then there is a bigger download.

Click Here for the 5 minute video (It will take over an hour to download for dialup users, about 5-6 minutes for broadband users)

Click Here for the 18 minute video (It will take over 4 hours to download for dialup users, just under 20 minutes for broadband users)

For best viewing, download the clip first to your machine and then watch it, rather than watch it as it downloads it.

For those that would like it on dvd (at full quality), it is free of charge if you visit our house to see Karen :-)

Warning - You may need some tissues at hand for these clips. I did !