In the ICU

This is an email from Paul's sister Mary (reprinted here with her permission), which sums it up perfectly:

Dear family,

Well everyone the first crucial 24hrs is now over and Paul has done extraordinarily well.

Firstly, the surgery was very successful. One of the team contacted us one hour into the surgery to inform us that there was no more disease than expected and that all was proceeding well, however they called back a few hours later to inform us that they had found a few more tumours. At that stage we didn't know where. It was a long wait until 6.30pm when Miang got a phone call to inform us that the surgery was almost over and that the surgeon was happy that he had cleared all tumours. The intra-operative chemo had gone as planned and Paul would be in ICU within the hour. By 8pm we were able to see him briefly in ICU and he looked remarkably good. He was on a ventilator and in an induced coma however his colour was good and all his vital signs were stable.

One of the ICU Dr's met with us briefly and said that the cancer clearance had been complete despite there being more than initially expected. The only organ they removed was the gall bladder, largely for convenience, not because it was diseased. They had briefed Paul that they would probably need to remove the spleen but this was not required. They removed the peritoneum as planned and the additional surgery that was required was to remove a couple of tumours from his small intestine. They did not need to form a colostomy so this is unexpected good news for Paul. It had been a long day for all concerned not least the fantastic surgical team.

Miang had been wonderful during the whole day. We kept ourselves busy, doing some grocery shopping, organising ongoing accommodation for Miang, walking along the beach etc, all the while clutching our mobile phones waiting for news.

This morning we were able to go in to ICU at 10am. We were amazed to see Paul awake and recognising us. He was unable to talk to us of course because he was still on the ventilator but he was very keen to communicate with us and indicated to us that he wanted pen and paper to write messages to us!! I was worried he might next indicate that he wanted his laptop so that he could start writing a new book or something!!! There is no keeping this man down!!

I would not however like to give the impression that he was having a picnic. ICU, ventilators, multiple lines and tubes is no fun and he was at times a little agitated and distressed. We left him for a while to rest and went to the waiting room outside ICU. The staff called us back in some time later and we found that they had removed the ventilator and he was able to talk to us. When we left at 1pm he was about to be connected to a Morphine pump with which he could administer his own Morphine as he required it. Prior to that he was on a continous administration of analgaesia controlled by the staff.

There is a possibility that Paul may even be well enough to move from the Intensive Care Unit to the High Dependancy Unit later today.

There is every indication that Paul's outcome is going to be favourable. Thank you all for your multiple messages of love and support. We are enormously grateful. At this stage it almost feels that the whole world is lifting us up and giving us strength. Just prior to going in for surgery Paul thought about the Chilean miners rescue and their story of survival. Their long ordeal and their journey through a dark tunnel to their final rescue and survival was an appropriate analogy and he went into surgery with a powerfully positive focus. As his sister I am yet again in awe and inspired by this incredible man.

Love and thanks to you all
Mary
xxx