My hombre came home

Right now he is sleeping in his chair, snoring. He got home around 6:30. His bed was supposed to be delivered at 9, but we just got a call saying it wouldn't arrive until 11-12. Apparently, every body and their dog got out of the hospital today and required a bed. It was so good just to have him home, joking with his brother, eating dinner with us (albeit in his chair in the living room), petting the dog.

The hard part is over now, the rest will be easier. He is out of the hospital; kidneys are back completely; Mom can know take care of him here, instead of staying at the hospital 5-10. As my uncle says "It's all good".

Matt is completely off dialysis, got his cast off this afternoon, and should be coming home soon. As in, possibly tomorrow soon. The thing that made him the happiest was his haircut. Also, his roommate got moved out (although another one got moved in this morning I think) so he had to room all to himself and has the window bed.

All 3 of his brothers are now in town, which is pretty weird because they all sound, talk, and look almost the same. So every time I hear one of them, or see them from behind, I get confused.

UPDATE: Matt gets to come home this afternoon! As soon as the bed, and wheelchair are delivered (sometime today I believe) he gets to come home. Yay!!

When I went and saw Dad yesterday, he was a lot better. He said he went to physical therapy, which had reduced him to a puddle. He also said he could sit up on the edge of the bed with Mom's help, which is a big step forward.

During the 2 hours we were there, he gave us about 3 mini lectures. Turning anything into a lecture is his special skill, and I had no idea how much I missed it.

When we were talking to him, he said that he blamed himself so much for the accident, because he had always been so perfect. So I went ahead and told him that being perfect is bad for his ego, which was a statement that he fully agreed with me on. He also asked about all our friends, what were they doing, which was cute. Another cute thing he does is how he interacts with Mom. He would ask when she was going to be there, and when she got there he relaxed. The romantic in me goes "Aww...."

This morning I got a note from Mom saying that he called at 12:30 to let her know that he peed 3 milliliters. If you were as throughly confused about that as I was, you only pee when your kidneys are working. So, his kidneys are coming back!!

I went and saw Dad today at the rehab hospital, and he is doing exponentially better.

He could sit up without almost fainting (something he did yesterday), and was cracking jokes. He is also pretty squirmy - his leg kept falling off the bed, but he is getting strong enough to put it back up. Everybody thought he was waving because he swings his right arm up and down, making it stronger.

After about a half an hour, he got tired, but during the time we were there he was coherent as he ever is. He still lets his sentences dangle, but I think that is more and more his normal state, and less of the drugs and sleep deprivation. It was so good to see that he knew who I was, and able to talk normally. These past couple of weeks he hasn't done that, and it was great to see him back to his usual self.

I also get these pictures of his arms.


His left wrist





His right wrist. I will get to work on making that prettier.





Note an editors note, but...

I can spell pretty good, but I have a mental block with physical. I get it confused with psychical, which is different. I apologize for that, so just bear with me. My editor has taken an extended leave of absence.

Later this afternoon Matt gets moved to the rehab hospital. All of the tubes are out of his throat, so he can eat real food. He is still on dialysis, but is kicking serious booty at psychical therapy. Today the hospital called to tell Margaret that they were moving him later today, and he asked to talk to her. "Sweetdoll, when are you coming down here?". He doesn't like being there alone, and I think Mom is the only one who makes him feel better. Its both sweet and sad at the same time. Thats all the news that is news.

Matt is doing a lot better, physically and mentally.

He still occasionally fades in and out of reality, but he is so ornery he just looks away, not wanting to admit he has no idea what your talking about, that he really just wants some chocolate syrup. I think, however, he is having more moments in reality then out. For instance, he was joking with the nurses about how he needed to start cleaning the guns before the boys start chasing his daughter. In real life, he says that maybe once or twice a day, so I think he is remembering his fatherly duties (ha. ha. ha.) and hanging out more and more in reality.

Today he got his trachea closed up with a red button, so he is now breathing through his nose and mouth. I don't know if the tube part of the trachea is still in, but I know he is pretty happy to talk. They also put a cast on his right leg, which I can decorate...er...sign....

That is about all that has happened recently, that I am aware of. Next time I visit him, or hear something, I will update.


CORRECTION: It was his right arm, not leg. Sorry.

Matt is now conscious, and understands you when you speak to him. We have been taking a CD player for him to listen to, which he enjoys. I talked to him on the phone last night, and Mom said he could understand me. He still can't talk because of the trachea, but he can mouth words. It's the day we've been waiting for - we can talk to him, but he can't talk back. ;-) He is still on dialysis.

We went and checked out the rehab hospital that was recommended by his current hospital. We were led on a tour by a woman who I believe was the head nurse. It looked like a normal hospital to me, but it was equipped with psychical therapist's and other rehab people.

Matt is doing good, and was aware of his surroundings this morning, although he was very disorientated. He could squeeze the nurses hands, blink on command and saw Mom. She put thunderstorm music in his headphones, but that just confused him, so she took it out. I believe he will have no more surgeries, which is very good.

He responds best to a mans voice, probably because he is practically deaf (kidding. he is not completely deaf, he just sometimes can't hear the higher voices, like mine and little kids). I made him a copy of his favorite quote to put on his bulletin board, so he has something to look at. Next I am going to make a "The Force Is Strong In This One" sign for his room.

This is his favorite quote. In case it is to grainy, it says "Words are, of course, the most powerful drug used by mankind - Rudyard Kipling"

Matt is holding steady, and will hopefully be out of the ICU soon.

The surgeon could not put screws (which are NOT the same as bolts) in his wrist because there are so many fractures, so he put a bone graft. His wrist might have some stiffness, but his fingers will be fine.

We hope to get him off the ventilation soon, and judging by his reaction to what his brother said, it will be soon. His youngest brother came down to help us out this past week, and since Dad can hear what everybody says, he told Dad he was in a contest with the guy in the next room to get off the ventilator, and the other guy was winning. Almost immediately his numbers went up and he was taking deep breaths on his own. The man hates to lose.

I think the person taking it the hardest is our dog, Snarky. She loves it when everybody is home (so she can boss them around), and right now everybody is a little stressed and she can feel that. Also, she misses Matt (she likes to sit in his chair with him), and she is very anxious, always following us everywhere we go.

Even though our normal daily flow has been disrupted, life still goes on, albeit sometimes in a dream like fashion. I got spacers (which hurt like nobody's business), Mom goes to the grocery store and my brother goes to school. The mail comes, the dishes still need to be done and the paper continues to be delivered.

Surgery

This morning Matt had surgery to repair his wrist, and that went well. He will be off the ventilator by tomorrow, which is great news. Also, the surgeon said that he broke is wrist into about 30 pieces. I Photoshopped some pictures to show what bones he broke, so here they are by special request. That is all the news we have as of yet, although I think tomorrow will be a big day. If he gets of the ventilator, they might wake him up so he can talk to us. Ya!








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On Monday, April 21 2008, (while my mom was in Florida), my dad was driving to work when he was hit on his motorcycle. At 8:30 I received a call from the hospital, asking for my moms number. Thinking nothing of it, I gave them the number and continued with my cereal. 5 minutes later, the phone rang again. It was Mom, and she said she was fine, but Dad was in a motorcycle accident and had been taken to Trauma ICU.

I told my brother (who cussed. Twice. Totally out of character), and went down to the hospital an hour later. My uncle and 3 friends came to support us (which was more welcome and nessacery then I previously believed). They told us to wait in the Emergency waiting room while they found his nurse. After 10 minutes, they told us to go up to Trauma ICU waiting room.

20 minutes elapsed before we got into the Trauma ICU unit, where we found out the full extent of his injuries. I thought he had only broken a leg, but in full Matt style, he was pretty dang thorough.

He broke his tibia, femur, hip, multiple ribs and shattered his left wrist. He also bruised a lung. He did not, thank God, have any brain or spinal injuries.

When we saw him, they had him on oxygen and various drugs, but you could tell he was in pain. Nothing (as any kid would agree) is scarier than seeing your parent in pain. Especially when you always harbored the idea that they were tougher than anything anybody could throw at them.

Currently, he is on a ventilator and dialysis. He is also sedated (NOT A COMA), and will be until the doctors believe he can come off the ventilator. The ventilator is because he cannot breathe deep enough, because of the pain, to keep his lungs healthy. Due to the trauma of the accident, his kidneys started to shut down. They did not fail. The dialysis is merely preventative, giving his kidneys a break to sort everything out. Because he broke so many bones, a lot of toxins and other bad thing were released into his blood, which started to overload the kidneys.

He goes in for surgery on Monday, to repair his wrist.

As soon as we get some new information, we will update this. Thank you for everything, it is truly appreciated.