PAIN OF SURGERY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ive had my opperation today and all i can say is im in a hell of a lot of pain. i managed to count to 13 before i fell asleep with the anastetic!!! me my mum my dad my girlfriend sam and my sis went up to great ormond for the opperation. at the end of it i couldnt tilt my head up and i was in quite a bit of pain... i will b bak at skool hopefully on monday...ill post up a picture soon because i managed to have a surgeon take photos of me in theatre..

No MoRe TrAcKy ScAr!!!

tomorrow, Wednesday 28th Feb i will be going to Great ormond street hospital to have surgery on my neck....as you guys have probably seen, i have got a circular shaped scar on my throat where i had a tracheostomy in. i found that my scar is not very attractive and id rather it not be there. so with a talk with a doctor in Great ormond street i was told i could have the scar removed.

HOW WILL THEY REMOVE MY SCAR??
basically what they will do is sedate me under general Anaesthetic (where i am asleep fully) and cut a circle around my scar and remove that peice of tissue, i will be left with a hole in my neck by now... then they will take the top and the bottom of the circle and stitch them together so that i will be left with a small horizontal scar that would hopefully fade in the future...i will try my best to record the proceedure but i got a feeling they will not let me...wish me luck!!

MoThErLy LoVe

heres a picture of me in my first week of being on a life support machine with my mother cuddling me. the two red pipes you can see dissapearing into my neck are the ECMO tubes, they are pumping oxygenated blood into my body. as you could imagine, this period of time was scare for all who saw me in this state, especially my mum. she had to have the news given to her that i only had 10% chance to live. she stayed with me day in day out everyday of my stay in hospital for all 7 weeks just so she could be by my side to comfort me. she told me it was the hardest thing to do just looking at me with machines and wires and tubes all over my body and the sound the machines kept making. it also upset her that she had to wear a facial mask when she came near me just incase what i had was contageous...my mum was so brave through the 7 weeks.

Progress report

i have made more progress this week. i went for a ultrasound checkup on friday and they basically put jelly on my neck and used the same machinery that is used when lookin for a baby in the womb, the nurse told me they basically needed to check my arteries in my neck to make sure that they healed propperly after i was rished to surgery as my artary began to leak whilst i was in hospital in critical care, to my amazment she also had heard about me last year in hospital!!! she gave me the all clear and said it looks perfect.o yea and i also filmed that day and got some good shots..

i may feature in CHILD IN A MILLION on channel 5

after a few weeks of coming out of hospital i was invited to a hospital party which involved many patients such as myself who were in intensive care or on an ECMO machine... we had the news that channel 5 was comming to do some filming for a show called Child in a million. when the camerawoman came in the room she instantly saw me and apeoached me askin if im Anthony, i was pretty shoked an i was like yea and she goes OMG ive heard so much then she pointed the camera in my face and started askin me some questions... the documentary has 6 parts to it and each week 2 children are followed throughout their life in hospital...look out for me on one of the shows when they show a party it might be the last show

i also found out that whilst i was unconcious news reporters and TV stations were interested in my illness they wanted to make a documentary about me and my progress in hospital but my family declined all of these offers as they did not want me in papers and magazines and people intruding my life because i was soooo ill and they just wanted me to get better....WOWZA

suggestions and ideas

ive got a few ideas that i thought about over the past week on how i oculd improve my documentary. one idea was trying to round up all of the music i would use and i thought of some very interesting songs.

• craig david-Walking away, i thought id use this at the end and have all different shots of me walking away from the camera into the distance to connote that im walking away from what happend to me and starting fresh
• died in your arms tonight, the original and the jay-z remix i will use the original towards the begining/middle of my doc then have the remix fast passed version at the end just like in bowling for columbine did with the song "what a wonderful world.
• i got some classical music also but i dont know the name of it but its the sort that is emotional and gives that cold chill feeling, i would use this to make the audience engage more with what is going on
• other sounds being used is sirens and hospital beeps when the time is right in the documentary.

if anybody has any suggestions they think can help me please feel free to leave a comment..taaa

Test Screening Feedback

1.
Media Language (A-E)------B
Conventions (A-E)-------B
Creativity (A-E) ----------B
Attention to Detail (A-E) ------C
Technical Proficiency (A-E) --------C


2. positive

(cinematography?)
(mise en scene?) good set out, very realistic, well spaced
(lighting?) natural look, no artificial lighting so very positive
(sound?) just the voice of the surgeon
(conventions? matching audience?)very grippin, good and detailed

3. critisism

(cinematography?) ??
(mise en scene?) shaking camera
(lighting?) could be brightened up a bit
(sound?) cant hear ant much in the interview
(conventions? matching audience?) none
(miscellaneous) could have used a tripod

FoUnd iT!!

PUB: Rien que d'y penser ça fait rêver
Uploaded by Timon_la_mangouste

ThIs WeEkS PrOgReSs

so what have i done this week? i called up Great Ormond Street and left a message for Liz Smith, the woman who is incharge of the ECMO team but she still hasnt replied to me so i guess ill have to wait tomorro and try ring her again to organise an interview because time is running out for me. ive done some minor filming in the snow because i thought that the snow scenes would add a nice touch to my production. i also did some filming in my room and filmed all the get well cards i recieved. my main focus for this week is to get my interviews out of the way so that i can relax a bit more and finish off with some other filming such as my self interview.
im still trying to get some archive footage of the disneyland advert but i cant seem to find any of them ANYWHERE, leave a comment for me if you know how i can get one plz, Taa

BlOg CoMmEnTs

1. What do you think of our blog?

What do you particularly like about it? What's especially impressive?

What could be improved? What's missing or could be added?

2. Based on what you've read on the blog (and maybe seen in test screenings in class) what suggestions do you have regarding what we could do to make our Practical Production really successful?

What other things could we include in the production?

How should we go about filming any remaining scenes or editing the footage during post-production (+ suggestions for music, etc.)?

iNfLuEnZa

this is a documentary about influenza, this is the same illness that i had but a different type, the way in which this documentary is structured is by having pictures instead of moving images with a voiceover being spoken over the slideshow of the pictures of people dieing and ill. the documentary is full of facts and figures and dates of different events that happend during the period of the massive outbreak of the influenza bug. i also noticed there is a background soundtrack that is being played behind the voiceover, this is to add sympathy and to lock the viewer in due to the fact that the music has a classical but cliff-hanger theme to it. this is a good documentary to analyse seeing as i also need to add pictures to my own and have a voice over. i learnt from this documentary that if i added a soft music to the background of my documentary, it instantly locks the viewers on and makes them focus more.

ExTrAOrDiNaRy PeOpLe

This is the incredible story of Jeanna Giese, a 15-year-old girl from Wisconsin who became the first person ever to survive rabies, one of the most frightening and deadly diseases known to mankind.

this documentary focuses on what is called a miracle, a 15 year old girl survives RaBiEs...a disease so deadly that no one has ever survived it, the documentary focuses on all the medical terms that the young girl had to go through with to survive. this will be useful for my documentary seeing as both me and this girl had illnesses bad that virtually nobody has ever survived it.

the girl had to be put into a coma for a week that was so strong that she was on the edge of death this was so the rabies could not affect her because rabies works by confusing the brain and muddling it up to a point that it starts to shut down parts of the body but if the doctors was able to stop the brain from being as active, her body could create antibodies that could fight off the disease.

the documentary shows many interviews with doctors, family and even interviews with the survivor of the illness. it shows the girl living day to day life in her neighbourhood playing with a dog (this is ironic due to the fact that dogs are animals that carry rabies) but at the end of the documentary it shows how the girl is living a happy life now and how she is a stronger person now that she has overcome her illness.

Do Or DiE....The RiSkS FaCeD

• blood clots forming around my body...i had a drug called heperin to thin my blood so it can easily flow through tubes, but ar any moment i could get a blood clot that could go to my brain and kill me. i had 24 hour care and my blood was checkedalll the time throught the tubes with a torch to make sure everything was A-ok!
• MY FIRST FIT!!!!.....this was the point when something drastically went wrong, out of the blue whilst i was unconcious i started to fit, shakin and twitchin and foaming at the mouth, it took a while for me to calm down and when doctors finally did control me, they had to run a number of brain scans and CT scans to check my brain function....i had 2 options of what could happen, i could end up perfectly fine and pull through it, or i could of been left brain dead, brain damaged or parazlized lucky for me i was not left brain dead or damaged, i was just left with a slight memory loss, this means i cant remember as much as i could, for instance, if i get told something, i will easily forget it, or who told me it, and also its hard for me to remember simple things such as what i did 2 days ago, unless someone reminds me, then i can rememeber more....i guess beggers cant be choosers.

StUcK

right now im just online tryna find a good documentary that i can research, im lookin for "trauma" and "Childrens hospital" both are medical experience related so in a way they can help me with my documentary, if anyone knows any good documentaries that can help me please leave a comment, thanks

My InTrO

im planning to have the opening scene as a Disneyland commercial with all kids having fun and hugging Mickey Mouse. then straight after that im guna switch to a photo of me layin unconcious in hospital with the disneyland music still playin with a slow zoom on the photo...then end with somthing like "lets go disney" or "i love disney" this will make the viewers feel sympathy and it will give a shocking intro to the documentary

ToO cOlD fOr PnEuMoNiA.....ThE mYtH

What Is Pneumonia?
Pneumonia is an inflammation or infection of the lungs most commonly caused by a bacteria or virus. Pneumonia can also be caused by inhaling vomit or other foreign substances.

In all cases, the lungs' air sacs fill with pus , mucous, and other liquids and cannot function properly. This means oxygen cannot reach the blood and the cells of the body.

Types of pneumonia
Most pneumonias are caused by bacterial infections.
The most common infectious cause of pneumonia is the bacteria Streptococcus pneumoniae. (what I had)

so proof be told that pneumonia is not caught by cold weather because it is a bacterial infection and a cold is a viral infection
soo for all you silly humans who beleive that pneumonia is caused by cold weather.....you know know this is purely just a myth.....so next time you parents tell you to wrap up warm or url catch pneumonia.....tell em to ShAdAaP ;)

BrEaK iT dOwN!!!

MeDiCaL TeRmS...

NeBuLiSoR...

this is a sodium chloride(salt) mixed with sterile water passed through a gas mask over a mouth or a tracheostomy. i had to breath this in 5 mins a day to moisten my lungs and to loosen any gunk in my lungs so i coulf cough it out easier.

TrAcHeOsToMy...

this is a small curved tube that is placed under a persons Adams apple by the use of surgery. its use is to help a person breath, no air can pass through the nose or mouth when a tracheostomy is in place, only air can pass through the tracheostomy tube it is changed every week and it can be suctioned to remove any gunk that can block it.

CaNnUlAr...

a cannula is a piece of medical equipment i am very familiar with. it is where a needle is placed into a vein with a small tube sticking out, most people have these put in when they are giving blood. whilst i was in hospital i had about 20 of these due to the fact that as i was getting weaker, my veins began to shrink and get smaller and less visable to the human eye. cannulars are also used to place medicines into the human body as you can see in the top main picture on this page...i had MANY!!!

DoC PrOgReSs..

WhAt I HaVe CoMpLeTeD So FaR...

1 Interveiw with a plastic surgeon in Great Ormond Street Hospital

Grave yard footage

Hospital footage (inside/out)

Ambulance footage

Chapter opening footage

Found potential soundtracks for the documentary

WhAt I nEeD tO cOmPlEtE...
Vox pops - " What is pneumonia?"..."How would you descbribe the outcome of my ordeal?" and how is pneumonia caught?" because most people think that the infection is due to coldness i can explain how they are wrong.
Interveiws with freinds, family members and hospital staff
Everyday footage (of me)

WhAt I WiLl CoMpLeTe In ThE nExT wEeK...
The everyday footage...goin to school...getting a trim etc. Exaggerating on the fact that anybody can get the illness even "normal" , healthy teenagers..

My ReSeArCh CoNdUcTeD...

EcMo Cd...

after my experience in hospital, one of the EcMo team leaders gave me a CD that gave me all the information i would need to know about EcMo. it told me information like, how the machine works, who it is for, and survival rates of people that were on the machine, it was shocking that i read that i had 40-60% of survival due to the facts that i was on the machine for 2weeks and along with my other illnesses that made me weaker my odds of survival were slim.

ExPeRiEnCe...

by being in hospital for 7 weeks, i gathered quite a good understanding and knowledge about my health and what i needed to make me better, i managed to understand what my lungs went through and how bad they were, what medicenes i needed and various treatments i needed everyday.

ReSeArCh I nEeD tO cOnDuCt...

the research that i need to gather will be such research as what exactly is pneumonia, staphylococcus aureus, strephacoccus and influenza B+?

i will gather my research through the use of internet sites such as google searches and by interviewing various doctors in Great Ormond Street Hospital.

ThE tEaM

Here is a picture of very familliar people to me, in the middle is my favourite nurse in the world, her name is LiZ she is the head of the ECMO team and she is the brains behind the bunch. here she is with another male nurse at work helping a poor little child get well again. The ECMO team love working in Great Ormond Street Hospital along with all the other staff and are very EnThUSiAsTiC with there work, i will try and arrange an interview with Liz for my production...duno who the old SaGgY BeG-FrIeNd WoMaN on the left is tho??

So WhAt ThE FuDgE Is EcMo?..

WhAt Is EcMo?..
ECMO is the name of a specific LiFe SuPpOrT mAcHiNe, the word ECMO stands for EXTRA CORPRAL MEMBRANE OXYGENATION. its main job is to pump oxygenated blood throught the human body. With a small insersion through the side of the neck through the main artery, a CaNuLaR is placed all the way down through the artery where it sits in the abdominal region, this is what the bood will pass through full with OxYgEn, so the lungs were stopped and this gave them time to HeAl.

WhO NeEdS EcMo?..
these machines are mainly designed for the use of YoUnG bAbIeS and ChIlDrEn but in my case, due to the fact that i had about a clenched fists capacity of non infected space in my left lung i desperatly needed this machine. soon after being admitted to hospital i managed to PoP a LuNg and PuNcTuRe ThE oThEr, meaning i could No LoNgEr BrEaThE by myself so this is another reason why i had this LiFe SuPpOrT mAcHiNe.

AnOtHeR iNtErEsTiNg FaCt
there are only 4 HoSpItAls in the whole of Great Britaint that have the ECMO machine, and whilst in Ealing hospital, i was rapidly deteriarating and getting WeAkEr AnD wEaKeR. Dr's told my parents there was NotHiNg ThEy CoUlD dO to help me and if i did not get any help by the net morning i would be DEAD. The only option was to try and find me this machine, with the last call made, GrEaT oRmOnD sTrEeT hOsPiTaL managed to have OnE mAcHiNe SpArE, so after 3 solid hours of preparing me to just MOVE FROM A HOSPITAL BED TO THE AMBULANCE OUTSIDE i was on my way to experiance one of the biggest MiRiCaL known to both Ealing and Great Ormond Street Hospital...

DoCuMeNtArY..EcMo..

An exploration of EcMo and Anthony's StRuGgLe to fight off 4 LiFe ThReAtEnInG illnesses brought on by what was meant to be a fun filled school trip to DiSnEyLaNd PaRiS...