The Hero Part 3

While he had been comatose his mother had finally told his siblings what had happened to him as the school holidays occured during the second month since his admission. They hadn`t wanted to return to school after the holidays but Elizabeth told them that they couldn`t do anything and would be better if they busy and that it would make James proud if they passed their exams, so they returned to school. The school had been notified about had happened to James and were kept updated so the his brothers would know how his recovery was going.

It was three months after the attack that James finally returned to the world, his mother was at home when he finally regained consciousness in the early hours of the morning. He took in his surroundings and succumbed to a natural sleep, the duty nurse immediately notified the duty doctor who soon arrived to check on James. After a quick check the doctor gave instructions to let James sleep himself out.

It was two more days before he finally woke up much to the relief of all concerned, they thought he might have been having a relapse. Elizabeth who was now present at his bedside smiled at the child and asked what he remembered, he remembered everything up to the explosion and nothing thereafter which was to be expected.

He was informed of what had happened to him, his injuries and what his recovery would be like, there was no more of the intensive surgery needed, all that had been performed while he was still comatose. James was in a state of disbelief when they told him that he'` been in a coma for three months and how badly he had been, he was also told that he would be on the road to recovery for a long time and would always bear the signs of the attack.

During the last two days the most of the machines that had monitored his condition were gradually switched off and removed from his room, he was still hooked up to drips and couldn`t move much. The restraints he was told would eventually be removed after all his injuries healed, they did however unfasten his arms but told him his leg restraints must stay in place for another couple of weeks.

Over the next few days James slept a lot which was to be expected, he was now starting to take in food by mouth although only small quantities to begin with as his digestive would have to get used to solid food gradually but after a few days his appetite was normal for a child his age. He still wasn't free from pain although he only felt pain when physiotherapists worked with him to gain movement and strength in his upper body, but his muscles had been idle for over three months.

He was due for another MRI scan again to check on his spine, although no damage had been found to the Spinal Cord a few of the Vertabrae in the lumbar and sacral areas of the spine had been damaged, they needed to check that the Cord hadn`t been pinched or trapped during the healing process. As both legs were still in casts and his feet bandaged they couldn`t check properly for sensation in the lower extremities were the bone structure had been severely damaged and rebuilt with considerable difficulty.

All in all given the nature of his injuries James seemed to be adjusting to everything well almost everything, he found he was having to wear a nappy and would have to be toilet trained all over again, this was causing him some embarressment when the nurses changed him added to the fact he was wearing night dresses.

His mother explained that he couldn`t wear Pyjamas because of his dressings and hospital gowns left a lot to be desired and she thought that Plain nightdresses were a better choice in the circumstances, once he thought about it he realised his mother had made the right choice.

As the days went by the doctors thought he was now able to have visitors but only a couple a day and everyday people came visiting him and making a fuss of him. Now while James didn`t mind the visits he hated all the fussing about but didn`t say anything that might upset someone.

Days went by and finally the dressing and casts on his legs were removed, test were carried out and reflex actions were found to normal, now began the long road to mobility although at best he would always walk with a limp. He was measured and fitted out for a wheelchair so he could be taken down to physio, it would be weeks before he would be able to walk at all.

Elizabeth was shocked to see how wasted his legs were once the casts and dressings were removed, even her experience as a nurse had'nt prepared her for one off her own children looking so wasted. The doctors had wanted to carry out a CT scan to get better definition on the abdominal anomoly but Elizabeth was persistant in her refusal, the amount of radiation recieved after a CT scan was equivalent to standing approx 2,5 miles from a world war 2 atomic bomb at the time of impact and could cause cancers, doctors of course knew this and were usually reluctant to use CT scans on children.

MRI scans only showed the anomaly as cloudy mass and it left them with only one choice, a Laparoscopy, a small incision and a camera inserted to try and get a better idea on what is happening in the abdomen. and they felt that the childs body had been cut up enough with the effects of the explosion and occuring surgery, but were left with little choice and sheduled the procedure to be performed in two days time.