After meeting up with my niece, her husband and my great-niece outside the Royal Brompton hospital, we all went up to visit Dad. They had travelled up on the train from Essex. He was asleep when we arrived, and also in a lot of pain around the site of the keyhole surgery where the new bigger drain tube comes out of his side. A nurse soon sorted out some morphine, which mercifully took effect quite quickly. It was a lovely surprise for Dad to see my niece and family, and raised his spirits considerably. He was able to speak to Mum for a while on his mobile again too.

He says his breathing is quite a bit better today, and the fluid being drained into a big container looks a clear, bright red. Much more like the fluid I've seen coming out of Dad's fellow patients, and not a trace of the horrible murky stuff that has been draining from his lung lining up until now. I am taking this as a positive sign. Also, Dad saw one of the team of doctors this morning, who told him he should be going back to Colchester General in "a couple of days". We still dare not hope too much, but that would be wonderful if it happened.

The bronze statue in my blipfoto for today is of the Hungarian composer Béla Bartók. It stands just outside South Kensington tube station, and is by the Hungarian artist and sculptor Imre Varga. Bartok knew South Kensington well, and used to stay at No. 7 Sydney Place when doing concerts in London.

I'm literally falling asleep as I type this - I'm way too tired to write more.