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A message from Katie:
Today; 22/08/02 Niki is quite stable but still unable to breath on his own. They have upped his sedation so that he is now unable to communicate because he would not behave. He wants to be in full control of the whole ICU (Intensive Care Unit) but the nurses have figured him out and are telling him what to do for once.
The Austin Hospital are intending to send Niki for an MRI today to determine
what is happening with his spine and if his condition is good enough they
will operate on Saturday.
Thank you
Message dated 21/08/02
Thank you for the fantastic site that you have
established and please don't hesitate to pass on Niki`s Address because
every message is and will be read to Niki, including those ones already on
your site. I just printed them out.
Thanks heaps for all the support and love at this very trying time.
Last night four specialist teams from the Austin Hospital took Niki in for emergency surgery to save his life. They were able to save his left lung which they were virtually going in to remove. They also drained a hematoma which had formed between his spine, aorta (main artery to body) and left bronchas (left wind pipe) which was putting pressure on all these parts and threatening his life.
The Doctors are amazed at how he has come through and how strong he remained through the surgery and how much stronger he is getting. Another operation has been planned for Saturday where the Doctors intentions are to stabilise Niki's chest cavity area so that he can breathe normally for the rest of his life.
Niki is now classed as a paraplegic. This is a very hard hitting statement but he reassured me two days ago that he would have the trickest go-cart out ever!!! I can assure you from this comment and many others like it that Niki's mind is 100% and then some. Niki is now unable to talk because of the breathing apparatus down his throat so is communicating via a whiteboard (now pit-boarding for himself) and a letter board. Unfortunately because of the inability to communicate when he wants to, he gets frustrated and flaps his arms because of this the full-time nurses for just Niki keep uping his sedation in order to settle him down. His sedation is something the nurses have full control over and the effects are immediate.
