Santa came early this year.

Actually, there must be a few Santas out there – sending cards and packages all the way to Hamburg!

One delivered an incredible package with a year’s supply of sweat shirts and t-shirts all really nicely and professionally prepared for wear in a hospital. Really easy in and out, with the back open, but held together at the back with velcro and a tie. It’s so well done, I thought this is something that could be offered as a really great product to people in hospital who are sick and tired of hospital gowns, but can’t yet quite manage to pull t-shirts or sweat shirts over their head and over both of their arms.

Another package arrived with the ugliest reindeer I’ve ever seen on a card and on it, it just mentions a K.K.!? Together with that card (judge for yourself, it just proves that you cannot argue about taste:), there were some nice little pressies together with the coolest pair of sunglasses on the block, ready for the white glare on North Pole’s ice cap.

When we were leaving tonight, Pádraig had been ‘capped’ for around seven hours, not breathing through the tracheostomy at all, but breathing in and out through his mouth and nose – all that while he was eating, ‘drinking’ (using a spoon), cycling, and being transferred between bed and wheelchair. All that time, he was relaxed with all the ‘vital signs’ in great shape. We took the cap off before we left as a precautionary thing – but if someone had staid with him for the night, just to be sure, he would have had no problem staying on it.

So, in our mind – this tracheostomy should be removed, at least that should be tried, and we’ll be working towards that!