Pádraig would (probably) not mind me saying that he is the person in our family with the biggest hunger and thirst. Well, he is the tallest person and he needs it. Come dinner time, there was always a real run on the food. Because he was really hungry!

The Chefarzt has agreed: we can now lift Pádraig out of his bed, into the wheelchair, and back into bed all by ourselves! This is really very good news because not only will it decouple him sitting out and staff being available to help, it will also give much more time to the therapists to do even more exciting things with Pádraig, like sitting him up on the side of his bed (as he cannot do this himself, he needs lots of help and support to do it), or standing up in the tilt table. Today already, they did really great work with him: moving his arms, hands, and fingers; and helping him to comb his hair. Imagine what a feeling that must be to lift your hand, your arm, above your head and comb yourself! Again, Pádraig cannot do this by himself, but needs someone to lift up his arm and hand; but the feeling of all of this going on must be phenomenal!

Pádraig is also continuing to eat. Someone told us to try Froop, something like a yoghurt with fruit jelly/flavour. And guess what? It was a huge success. He would have emptied the full tub, but we thought we’ll take it easy… We are already thinking of preparing a little menu plan with a really soft cereal in the morning (like ReadyBrek), something nice at lunch time, and a more savoury dinner. At the moment, he is mostly on the hospital food supplies, which aren’t that bad… Again, today we were again overwhelmed by the attention and the kindness of the staff who brought in not just food for Pádraig to eat, but also a few biscuits and fresh water for Pat and myself. It was so nice!

I also realised one really incredible, and yet so obvious implication of being fed through a PEG where the amounts are set to a certain level that is being maintained day and night. Basically, when you are on a PEG you are ‘eating’ non-stop – meaning that you actually don’t ever feel hunger or thirst! Imagine, never having felt hunger or thirst for a year – but having a constant feeling of “neutrality” in relation to two of the most basic instincts we have. – Here’s a thought: one day, the tube feeding will have to stop, maybe for an hour first, to return this feeling to Pádraig. Can’t wait.

Today’s Music Tip
Rosenstolz, Wir sind am Leben.
What’s hot
Hunger and Thirst
What’s cold
Not feeling hunger or thirst
The German word/phrase/verse of the day
Essen und Trinken hält Leib und Seele zusammen.