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A few more memories of Nicky
Leighton Park school included a nice obituary, written by Richard Thomas https://www.leightonpark.com/nicholas-gaunt/ Sailplane and Gliding also included a piece written by John Hart https://www.ygc.co.uk/in-memory-of-nick-gaunt which also has a link to an article Nicky wrote about a long flight he made in the Highlands of Scotland in convection (as opposed to wave). https://www.ygc.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/NickSkyeFlight-1.pdf
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Nick Gaunt Accident Blog
This is Nick’s blog, filled in by him and his family to keep everyone informed of his progress. Click on each heading to expand it. Hopefully, you will be able to add comments quite easily without registering and waiting for them to be approved. To comment you will need to enter your email address as…
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Thank you again
All of you have been so kind and thoughtful over the last two months: saying many positive things about dad, giving money to Wiltshire Air Ambulance and lots of practical support to mum. Thank you to everybody who managed to make it to the thanksgiving service, and I’m sorry we didn’t get chance to talk…
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Some pictures of Nicky
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Celebration of Nicky’s Life
3rd September 2022 at 2pm in Helmsley Church For a celebration of dad’s life, to emphasise the positive and joyful memories, and certainly not to be morose, or even unduly sad. Afterwards there will be an opportunity to eat sandwiches and cake and catch up with old friends at Harome Village Hall. Dad will have…
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Sad News
On Wednesday evening dad died. I’m sorry if you are discovering this now from the blog, it will be hard to take in and very upsetting, but hopefully we have managed to contact enough people to pass the message on more humanely. For the family here at the hospital in Bristol, we knew that dad’s…
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Struggling on
Thank you all so much for your good wishes and cards. The nurses and doctors have been bowled over too, frequently remarking on just how many there are. Today Nick had an MRI and a CT scan, and while he was being wheeled round the hospital the nurse took the opportunity to tidy up. On…
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Sunday Update
The antibiotics seem to be reducing the infection at a reasonable rate, but in the meantime dad’s lungs are struggling with reduced capacity from accumulated fluid. The fluid retention is being remedied with diuretics and he’s got some extra oxygen, but for the moment he’s finding breathing really hard work and the whole experience deeply…
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Antibiotics Fighting Back
The good news is that the antibiotics seem to be reducing the infection (as measured by various things in dad’s blood) and the flow through the catheter seems more healthy (colour and volume. You weren’t eating your tea were you?). Also the blood pressure and pulse rate seems to be much more stable, so the…
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Bit of an Infection
Starting to be sat up for a few minutes each day but I’ve contracted a slight chest and urinry tract infection last night, so now being dosed up with antibiotics! Nurses and doctors seem to think this is par for the course with both spinal injury and just being in hospital for protracted stay. Hopefully…
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Progress Report
Controlling blood pressure is still an issue but Nick has started taking some tablets that should do the same job as the drip without having to be quite so connected up to the intensive care monitors. However he will need to be weaned off the drip completely (he’s still getting a fraction of a ml…
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Breath Stacking Using Cheeks
Not being able to contract his stomach muscles means that Nick’s coughing is enfeebled and very frustrating. A standard bit of kit for physios treating spinal injury cases is a kind of compress/suction machine but the process reminded Nick of breath holding competitions he used to hold with his brother John, in which they found…
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Home from home
We have been unbelievably fortunate, in the face of rather stressful logistics, to be looked after by some amazingly kind people in Bristol. Liz, a relative of a friend happened to have a friend Clive with a house we could “look after” mid-sale. The house is set in leafy suburbs 15-minute drive from the hospital.…
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Prism Glasses
Southmead is doing incredibly well for me, the staff are Universally competent and nice. Okay right. I have had major operation for a compressed vertebra on the first night of my arrival, which was a four-hour op where they put lots of screws in. And that means that I’ve been in a sort of splint…
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10 days in Southmead hospital
Partly this is a post to check if the blog is set up and working. Nick is obviously still poorly but surprisingly positive and cheerful. From the medical perspective, keeping blood pressure stable is a priority issue and prerequisite for moving out of ICU to a post operation ward. From Nick’s point of view, not…