Better news on Helen's Birthday today!

It's Helen's Birthday today and the boys and Phoebe have just been helping mum unwrap some of her presents in bed! We don't quite feel complete without Lydia, but we've just phoned the hospital in Bristol for an update. She had a good night last night. She was taken off her ventilator yesterday lunch time and was put on the c-pap machine (which she would have been very familiar with)! She then came off this at midnight last night, so she's now breathing fully on her own, which is great news. They are now slowly taking out the remaining tubes and drips, with a view to taking her back to the cardiac ward later this morning. The plastic surgeon came and reviewed her arm last night and thought he could hear some faint pulses in her arm. He thinks the radial artery is compensating for the ulna (excuse spelling) being broken! They will be monitoring this to see what the effect has been/will be longer term. The tip of her ring finger is still quite purple, which they think was caused by a clot when her artery was broken, and they are hoping this will disperse with the blood thinning drug she is still on. The nasty black patch of skin left on her wrist they are hoping will form into a scab and come off, but they will monitor closely in case it needs some form of surgery. In terms of her heart surgery, they will be scanning her again over the next day or so to see how things are going, both with the repair to her aorta, and also the affect surgery had had on her "hole in the heart" (VSD). Anyway, I'd better go and make the Birthday breakfast, report more as it happens. Thanks again for your ongoing thoughts and prayers, they are still very much appreciated.