Prayers needed...and ANSWERED!
March 15th, 2010Right know he's unconscious in the hospital with what his brother says are "serious head injuries".
Prayers are quite welcome right now.
Thanks.
Here's a pic of Matt from last summer with his son Andrew and newborn daughter Erica.
Bob
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While he "may" suffer permanent personality changes as a result of his injury, it may help you to read about a person this has happened to before. The person discussed in the link did change; but his health remained.
Here is the link:
http://www.deakin.edu.au/hbs/psychology/gagepage/Pgstory.php
I hope this doesn't cause any upset! I just feel that it sometimes helps to read about others in a situation like this.
Please keep in mind that my prayers are for Matt to be exactly the same as he was before the accident.
Pat
That's wonderful news. Prayers continue to go up for a speedy and complete recovery for Matt. The power of prayer is an AWESOME thing. All the best to you, Floss, and the rest of the family.
He went home Saturday.
He still needs a caretaker 24/7 until his leg strength comes back, etc. (amazing to me how much atrophy the muscles suffer in just a couple months of non-use!), but wife Holly and mom Floss will tend to that most of the time. I don't know how long that will take.
His brain is also still recovering, but he's wanting to get back to work, if only in a supervisory role for now. (He owns a contracting company with a few employees, and is always backlogged with work to do.)
Thank you all one last time for your prayers, and THANK YOU GOD!!!!!
And on that note........
This is my last post in this thread!!!
Bob
I have started praying for Matt and will continue to do so until he is healed. I will also mention this to those within my church so they can begin to pray as well.
Floss & Bob, may God comfort you and your family.
Gabe
When Floss and I talked late this afternoon, she mentioned that Matt hadn't had any tests done this morning. So, the question is: Why did the medical staff decide to tell the family this morning that Matt's condition is more serious than what they said yesterday? Based upon what evidence?
I just talked to her.
The results of today's MRI won't be available until tomorrow, but Floss tells me this:
The medical staff had initially said that 72 hours must pass before a prognosis would be meaningful. It hasn't been 72 hours yet.
Twice, Floss has held Matt's hand and whispered into his ear that she loves him. Matt raised his head.
The pressure in his brain reached (some value of) 20, and that if it went higher, that would be very bad. It has since abated.
Some other types of stimulation have been given, and there WAS response, but the results are said to be generally inconclusive.
Can't raise hopes much on that, but it's better news than it was.
Keep those prayers flowing, please! You can never imagine how much it means to us.
With apologies to Al Michaels,
Do you believe in miracles?
Bob
Bob
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Yes.
Continued prayers to Matt and his family and you. It was good to hear some encouraging news.
Rob
This is so sad to hear, and I see from the pictures you posted that Matt has a beautiful and loving family.
I'm praying for you, for Matt, and your entire family.
Take care,
Shawna Helt
Gabe
Rean
Anyway,
Matt did apparently beat the infection. His heart rate and BP have come down, and his fever is gone. Other than that, though, there hasn't been much improvement.
I will do my best to keep you all informed.
Bob
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Wow.....I just was bored, so I surfed on into this thread and began reading it from the beginning. It immediately brought tears to me. What an incredible ordeal. And it just goes to show you that prayers absolutely do work It sure seems like the part of the brain that makes Matt .."Matt" is ok. To me.....this is the most important thing that all could hope for. Now....onward with the grueling and time-consuming therapy. Godspeed to all involved. I'll surely be following this for updates. Joel
Angie
and my prayers go out to you, Floss, her son and everyone
that know him, that he gets well soon and be okay
Mike
Floss and I have been here at the hospital most of the time since I arrived (3 hours late...TYVM, United Airlines) Saturday night. This is the first time I've spent more than 5 minutes online since then.
Matt continues to show some slow improvement day-to-day.
Floss says she is hoping he will come out of the coma in a week or so.
He has been responding to pinches on the arm by trying to move his arm away from the pain. He has responded to Floss talking to him by moving his eyes inside the closed eyelids, and by moving his head somewhat toward her voice.
His cranial pressure has dropped so much that the doctors are talking of removing the drainage tube today. (It never exceeded 20, which was said to be crucial, and is now around 5 or 6.) MRI's/catscans say there has been no brain stem (not "spinal cord", as I earlier mistakenly called it) damage. He has had his sedative discontinued this morning, to see if he might respond positively to that. He was taken out of bed and sat in a chair this morning, too.
I guess that's about all for now.
Thanks once again, everyone!!!!!!!!!!1
Bob
So far they are working. Matt is comatose, and there's no telling how long he will remain comatose, but he at least made it through the night. He will get another catscan this afternoon to determine swelling. His collarbone is also broken. I didn't even know he had a bike. Well, Floss says he just bought the "crotch rocket" about a week ago. He was wearing a helmet, fortunately.
Bob
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That is great news! We hope and pray for further improvement.
Angie
Sean
Outstanding news---
Time to begin mixing the prayers between supplication and thanksgiving...
Thanks for keeping us updated, Bob.
dave
I guess the good news is that 24 hours have passed now, and he's still alive.
Thanks so much again, everyone. I will keep you posted.
Bob
Jo, Mom is doing about as expected. She said she did get about 1/2 hour to an hour of sleep, though.
Matt's wife, Holly, says that she and Matt had discussed this possibility (living will, per se), and Matt had told Holly that he would not want to be kept alive with life support in this condition.
There will be an MRI this afternoon to confirm the diagnosis, and, if confirmed, the family plans to tell the doctors to remove Matt from life support tonight.
I'm flying there tomorrow.
Thanks again for your prayers and encouragement.
Bob
Here's another picture of Matt with wife Holly and son Andrew from Christmas 2000:
[attachmentid=48]
That said, another very important prognostic sign is what his respiratory function is (in other words, does he still require a ventilator even if it's just at night?). Respiratory drive is probably one of the single biggest predictors of recovery in general. Needing to remain on a ventilator will continue to put him at risk for recurrent respiratory infections and those could prove life threatening.
I am at your family's disposal to chat (with the knowledge that a lot of my answers will be tempered by not having actually seen him medically). But sometimes it helps just to know what some of the weird medical things we doctors do or why such-and-such a response is good or sometimes neutral. My phone is 904-343-4325.
You're all in my thoughts and prayers.
Warmly,
Jason
Matt has been out of the "regular" hospital, and in the "rehab hospital", for a couple weeks or so now. I am back in PA visiting until Thursday. We visited Matt early last week before Floss caught strep throat, so we stayed away for a few days while the penicillin did its stuff.
He continues to show remarkable improvement every single day.
Yesterday morning, the phone rang here at the house, and Floss answered. Matt was on the phone, and said "Happy Mothers' Day!" This was, perhaps, the best Mothers' Day present she has ever received.
There is a lot of joy and smiles in PA these days.
We went to see him late in the afternoon (after spending a couple hours cleaning up paint that I spilled all over the sidewalk and back porch...hahahaha!....yeesh) and here's the deal:
Matt now pretty much understands everything said to him and can process that information and reply to it, but the replying part is, so far, a struggle. We had a hunting show on TV, for example, and I asked if he'd like to watch something else. He said "yes", so we surfed cannels until we found a travel channel showing scenery. After a couple minutes, I stated that it looked like NM. He said "You would know that better than me." (but it's usually pretty tough to understand what he says unless you think about it for a couple seconds or ask him to repeat) Later, we put on the Suns/Clippers game. He asked me who I wanted to see win, and said he was rooting for the Clippers. I asked him if he knows where he is, and he said "In the hospital". I said "yeah, but in what city?" He replied "Sunbury", which is wrong, so I told him he's in Danville, not Sunbury....but no matter. His feeding tube has been removed, and he is eating solid food (sort of...everything must be pureed, like mashed potatoes, applesauce, that sort of thing).
He asked to talk to his brother Bret, so we called him, and they talked for several minutes. He wants Bret to come visit him today, so Floss and I will be making sure Bret gets a ride there today. He asked about Holly and the kids, and we reassured him that his family is well. (They visit frequently, too, but weren't there at the time)
I could go on and on, but you get the point. Matt's back.
There's talk that he may be ready to go home in 4-6 weeks.
He can't stand on his own yet, and there's plenty of therapy ahead (speech, occupational, physical), but he's getting a couple hours of all that every day.
This will probably be my last update until I report that he's home.
Thank you God.
Bob
Angie
Anyway, I just wanted to say that I am praying for Matt's recovery. God does work miracles through prayer!!!
Bob
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Thanks Bob for the update. I am so glad to hear Matt is on the mend!
Rean
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In my experience, this is an excellent sign---in the late 70s a fellow bandmate received a serious blow to the head and was in a coma in a Birmingham hospital for several weeks. But he began to show the exact same symptoms as Matt is reported to exhibit here. Happy to say this excellent pianist recovered completely, and while he has no recollection of what happened or caused his trauma, he was able to rebuild his skills and mind in fairly short order to the point that he is still working out of Nashville, thirty years later.
May this (or better) be Matt's blessing...
Matt continues to show slow improvement! The latest is that he has been moving his eyes to watch people walk around his room. He has also been scratching itches, etc.
Bob
We shall give thanks for these steps to Matt's total healing and continue to pray for that healing to be complete.
He went home Saturday.
This is my last post in this thread!!!
Bob
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Thank you, Bob--for all the updates. What joy to see pray-ers and prayers do their stuff.
Thank you, God.
dave
Yesterday Floss took Matt's almost-3 year old niece in with her to visit him. Matt, BTW, is out of ICU and has had the "trach" removed from his neck, as he has been breathing on his own for some time now.
When they walked in, Matt looked at them and smiled at them. Floss said to Hannah: "Give Uncle Matt one of your coins from your purse, Hannah!" Hannah pulled a coin from her purse, held it out in her hand towards Matt, and Matt reached over and took the coin from Hannah. This was repeated a couple more times. I think Floss said Matt also gave her a hug at one point.
Maybe he'll be speaking soon!
Bob
Matt developed an infection in his bloodstream a few days ago, and his blood pressure went up to about 150/90, his heart rate to about 130, and had a fever of about 102. The nurse put a cooling blanket on him Sunday, and that controlled his fever. As of yesterday morning, his BP and heart rate went down a bit, and I had a plane ticket for returning home yesterday, so I did.
As of this morning, though, his vitals were back to where they were Sunday. He needs to shake this infection.
Bob
I'd like to agree with Brian's prayer as I don't think it can be put any better.
You are all in our continued prayers here.
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