There is happy news from the fabled city of the Apostle St James! Ing is on the mend. Every day. Nay, every hour is a small but marked improvement on the last!

Ing has improved in leaps and bounds. She still has some way to go, but it is certainly a long way from the intensive care unit that she was in for a few days after the operation!

She has had her nasal-gastric tube removed. This is a tube that runs up your nostril and into your stomach to continually remove its contents. Its function is to keep the stomach empty in order to allow the wound site to heal without interference from gastric fluids and bacteria. It makes for compelling viewing seeing what comes out of a human body from that end! But, a little strange when it is all you can see in a drowsy state late at night in a dark ward.

Imagine a permanent frog in your throat that just won´t go away. This is what Ing has endured. And trying to clear it can never really happen while the tube is still there. Ah, the blessed relief when that came out! Ahhh.......

Of the three drains in her abdomen, one has come out. I suspect that another one will come out today. And the third a few days later. It certainly makes going to the toilet a whole lot easier when you don´t have to carry more little bottles than necessary! More signs of improvment.

In every story, there is a low point. In this entry it was this: Ing was promised that she could have something to eat on Saturday. Since last week Saturday night, the poor girl has not had a single meal. Other than through an IV tube. And since she is sharing a room with two other ladies who have three meals a day, it is tantamont to a form of torture!

You can only imagine how good it must have looked and smelt as the dishes wafted by to her room mates. Especially since she has been hungry for something in her stomach for a few days now!

Come Saturday morning, with eyes a-twinkle and a stomach a-rumbling in heady anticipation and gleeful handrubbing, she was told that she could have somthing "manana"! No child has had a greater crashing disappointment than Ing´s when she had this news. Hopes dashed with disappointed anticipation on the rocks of a broken promise. Deflated balloons had more going for them than Ing when had this news.

But come Sunday morning, with Ing moving into new uncharted territory far past the lands of Raviness and Starving, she was given her first meal. And I am sure that her angels sang! Hospital consomme never tasted so good; water passing her lips was like the first rains on a dry desert; orange juice exploding in her mouth were like Guy Fawkes fireworks and her pleasure was to behold! Eyes were brighter than shining stars and smiles that would dwarf the Chesire Cat´s! If she could, she would have leapt out her chair and danced a wee little jig!

Thankfully, her days of dancing are not too far off. And we can celebrate a slightly belated St Patrick´s day. Hopefully soon.

How the simple things in this world sustain us all. A sip of water, a spoonful of soup, a bright smile or happy sparkling eyes. Everything else is, really, just gravy!

It is just now a matter of time for the diet to become more substantial. We have spent plenty of time talking and fantasizing about where we will eat when we get back to London. Or anywhere for that matter. Places are just locations for some awesome food that, for the last little while, have been Ing´s waking fantasies! And the best part, is that we will get to act out those fantasies! You should see my smile now!

Our timeframes are still unclear as there are still some hurdles to clear to full recovery. But Ing is mending all the time. Every message of love, support, encouragement; every message, email, thought and prayer have added to her positive outlook and her continually improvement. Like Tesco says, "Every little helps".

Where it was a weak smile and drug induced dowsy eyes, there is now cheeky banter(nothing new here then. The peace I have had is lost!), broad smiles and bright eyes! May her recovery continue in such postive fashion!

It is said that, "It is not what happens to you in life that is important. But rather how you take it." This being the case, Ing will be stronger than ever in mind, body and spirit. Nothing will put this girl down!

Above the clouds, there is always sun!