Update on Eric, 22nd April 2006

Eric was quite unwell this morning. His heart rate was too fast and he had trouble breathing. His blood pressure was very low. Doctors gave him 6 units of blood and slowly his blood pressure went up and his heart rate slowed down. Doctors thought that this may be due to an internal bleed, but despite an endoscopy, ultra-sound scan and a CT scan, no evidence of a bleed was found. It's possible that heavy use of pain killers with aspirin may have caused some bleeding in his stomach. He had also been taking a diuretic and a pill for his high blood pressure. All these pills were discontinued, so we hope to see a good improvement on Sunday.

By the end of Saturday, Eric was stable, though exhausted. Lindsay, Eric’s son Lyulph and daughter Victoria stayed at the hospital for much of the day, as well as Lyulph’s wife Sue, who is an experienced nurse. Sue was a great help as she knew the right questions to ask the doctors. More news tomorrow.
Posted by Lindsay, 23.4.06 12.25am