Came in this morning and the boy was gone – sounds like the title of a southern song. (Or the first line of a totally new song? 🙂 Today, it wasn’t just the title of a song though, it was reality. A bit like the tomb on Easter Sunday, his room was empty, no sign of him, just some sheets left behind. Where had he gone? What had happened?

Turned out that doctors had decided he needed another CT. Last night’s emergency CT did only provide a slightly blurred image of one particular part of his brain apparently, so they re-took it to be sure to be sure that everything was fine. Thankfully, everything was fine. (Later, I checked  and found that the radiation doses received from CT scans are 100 to 1,000 times higher than conventional X-rays. He head must glow in the dark at this rate being exposed to these x-factors!)

In the morning, we had a long talk with one of the senior doctors looking after Pádraig. She confirmed that there were valid arguments in favour and against starting medication to treat Pádraig against epilepsy. We decided not to go ahead with the medication, giving him a chance to deal with whatever was coming his way himself as long as this was not dangerous. The (junior) doctor continued to observe him during the day, carrying out various checks and tests.

Strangely enough, the therapists working with him today found him to be quite alert and responsive, answering yes/no questions and moving his feet, and his tongue following requests to do so. He also seemed to successfully have dealt with his oncoming infection: his heart beat and temperature went down back to normal.

What happened yesterday and today was quite disturbing. We were reminded of the fact that there are many things that could happen to Pádraig at any time. Although, if you think about it, in that sense he is no different than any of us. Over the past weeks and months, he had got better, bit by bit, which made us feel perhaps too ‘comfortable’… Yesterday and today, we were also reminded that there are really good doctors around him who know him quite well, who don’t panic at the first sign of something ‘new’ and let him try to figure things out himself. There is no immediate danger for him (that was excluded with the various tests and CT scans they did) and I think it might be better to let him go his own way (as long as it is safe) than trying out medicines he has not used so far, shining lights into his eyes, and pinching him to see how he reacts. We know he reacts. Because he moves when we ask him to move. Because he can ‘answer’ yes and no. Simple as that.

Last night an amazing extraordinary meeting took place. Here is what came out of it.

Ahoy, Friends,

We had a fantastic meeting last night. Thanks a million to all who came. For those of you who couldn’t make it, don’t worry – there’s still lots to do and you’re all very welcome to come along. Look below to catch up on all the deets. A good start is half the battle! (…dodge translation of Irish proverb)

Few things to remember

1: Irish words. Maitiú is working on this, but if anyone has any ideas throw them his way. These should be finalised by tomorrow hopefully. The bits that are in need of doing are the sections where Maitiú is humming on the demo.

2: Practice – Woo! Our first practice will be at 8 in the Conradh this coming Tuesday 24th. The chords will be going up on the FB page later today, so be on the lookout, and use those as a guide to help you get to grips with the song!

3: Dates to keep free. Síobhra is organising a warm up party on 1st July that will charge money and hopefully help raise funds to cover the cost of the studio and CDs. The recording will be happening on the ensuing days 2nd and 3rd July, all day both days. NB – we decided the 3rd and 4th last night but this actually doesn’t suit a couple of people. Is everyone fine with this change?

4: Video – Claire – can you ask Matt Taylor if he / his colleagues able to shoot the video for us . Otherwise, we do have the offer of Raidio na Life cameras. Would someone like Sibéall be able to do the camera work / have the expertise? – Maybe Caoimhe or Matt could check?

5: Artwork – we decided to have a competition to see who would do the artwork for the cover. Could be a bitta craic alright.

6: Throw the poems and other creative titbits in with the track – Ciara / Marcus!

That’s it for now! Listen to the Demo, and get practicing! Onwards and upwards! Waheey!!!! #Eurovision ’15

It was amazing to see the reaction on Twitter to this: Eurovision, the Shay Byrne show on RTE 1, Kieran Hanrahan of Ceili House on RTE 1, and a whole range of broadcasters, radio shows, and print media re-tweeted. Got this feeling that this is going to be big!!!

Finally, three incredible stories about the ongoing fundraising efforts: