There and back again.

This was a view of the Mersey Tunnel on our way back from the hospital.

Went to visit my friend in hospital. He's still connected to his drips and lines for morphine, antibiotics, food, catheter, drains for his chest.

Apparently his lung is still collapsed which happened as a result of it being attacked by stomach acid from the outside after leaking from his oesophagus.

It would re-inflate if he was able to exercise but he can't. He can get to the chair by the side of his bed with assistance and that's all for now.

The surgeon came to see him while we were there and said they'll try him on a bit of ice cream and drinking water from today.

He said he is very much aware that it is harder to breathe. The staff told me that they'll see how he gets on before releasing him and it looks like it could be another week, easily.

I don't want him to return home until he is totally fit because he lives alone and there would only be so much I could do and I'd have to leave him for periods of time and I'd be worrying until I saw him again. So for purely selfish reasons I'm glad he is where he can be monitored right round the clock.

He's not happy with the hospital over here because when he returned the second time, hours after having his dislocated shoulder re-set, he was treated like someone who had just returned because they needed a painkiller. Whereas he had perforated his oesophagus being sick from the pain caused by the dislocated shoulder.

It was only when another doctor realised that when my friend had a drink of water to aid the calming of the stomach after being sick and my friend being in more pain as a result that he shot into action and my friend was transferred to a hospital specialising in heart and lung problems.