Michael was in a single car accident on I66 at exit 66 at 3:20 AM October 21, 2007. He veered off the road and hit an exit sign, launching him into the air. The front wheels hit the guardrail and caused the vehicle to do a complete flip, landing on the front two wheels, head-on, into a tree. Mike suffered major head trauma and a massive laceration on the right side of his head, resulting in severe brain injury. Due to the many areas of head trauma, his brain is swelling to dangerous levels. To prevent further brain damage from swelling, the Neurosurgeon removed a section of his skull on the left side of his head Sunday. There is a four inch laceration located in the occipital area of the back of his head and an injury in the T1-T4 areas of his back. They report no internal injuries or broken bones.

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11-11-07@ 9:30 PM - A better day. No fever, less traffic and lots of rest seemed to make a big difference. The only medication given to Mike today was a pain med. A minor procedure to reduce the size of Mike’s trach caused a little pain and an increase in coughing but otherwise a restful day. The further reduction in trach size will encourage Mike to use mouth and nose 100% for breathing. We could already notice an increase in mouth breathing. It almost seemed like he was gasping for air but the nurse explained his efforts will become less labored as he adjusts to the new size. 11-11-07 @7:30/AM – Mike has been working hard for his Physical Therapist, Speech Pathologist, Speech Therapist, nurses and doctors. Although he has performed well, there is still no consistency to commands. He remains in a coma with some swelling on the brain. Mike’s physical heath is strong and stable but through the night spiked a 102.5 temperature. They stopped all sedation medication Friday night and will now give it to him as needed. Without the sedation meds, visitors and nurses observed a return of some storming yesterday afternoon and by evening the storming was quite strong. A decision was made to administer sedation medication to calm him down.

There may have been too many visitors and too much stimulation during that first 24-hour period without meds. The nursing staff reminded us of the importance of only two visitors in at a time, to speak calmly and slowly, not to have too much physical contact and to allow time for rest between visits.
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11-8-07 @9:00/PM – Mike’s heart monitor and catheter were removed today as his physical health continues to improve. During his physical therapy session, the Physical Therapist opened Mike’s hand and told Mike to catch the ball that she was about to drop and he did. She then asked him to release it and he did. They sat Mike on the edge of the bed for a few minutes and then stood him straight up to allow his feet and legs to bear the weight of his body. These are all great steps in the right direction.
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11-7-07 @9:30/PM – First full day in the new unit, a busy day for Mike. His Physical Therapists, Speech Pathologist and Pet Therapists were in to observe and work with him. The speech pathologist requested a smaller trach tube for Mike - that procedure was done midday. If I remember correctly, this helps to promote more breathing from his nose and mouth. We noticed after the change that Mike was able to open his mouth more frequently, rubbing his tongue over his teeth and moving with speech like movements. Mike’s vital signs are stable and he continues to move around and open his eyes but without consistency to commands. Mike is still in a coma but as one of the Therapists described to us, brain healing is like working through a 3-story building. He is currently in the basement healing his way to the third floor. It appears that Mike can hear us, sometimes sees us and is able to make some associations.

Emily was released from the hospital yesterday afternoon and is doing better but she is still very weak.
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11-7-07 @11:30/AM – Mike had a great day yesterday. He continues to smile, opening his eyes, move his hand, arms and legs but without consistent responses to commands. Mike was moved out of the Neuro ICU to the Neuro Observation unit. In combination with this move, they are restricting sedation meds to one nighttime dose and Adderal in the morning to stimulate awakeness. This is another step in the right direction. All of his vital signs have remained stable.

On a second note, Emily, his little sister, was hospitalized at Prince William yesterday afternoon for what appears to be a kidney, bladder and urinary infection. She is doing fine now and we hope to have her home by this afternoon.

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11-5-07 @2:45/PM – Mike is having a responsive day. He has offered several smiles, eye openings, hand, arms and leg movements. Mikes doctors requested animal assisted care. Depending on availability, a dog will be brought in anywhere from a couple times a week to once a day. Today it was the German Shepard. She got on the bed & laid on mikes legs. The trainer then placed Mikes hand on the dog and asked Mike to pet her. Mike responded 2 out of 3 times. She was hoping for 3 out of 3 but said with this being Mikes first time, she said it was actually more than she expected. Mike’s blood pressure, heart rate, fever and breathing on his own remain the same.

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11-4-07 @4:34/PM – A more active afternoon…Mike responds with intention. His Mother was leaning very close to his face so her voice went straight to his ear. She kissed him on the cheek and said she would just keep kissing him until he woke up. Mike moved his head toward her voice and seemed to pucker his lips. His sister Emily ran her nails on the under side of his feet and Mike reacted, twitching his feet and moving his legs. With a new hand sized ball to squeeze, his Father watched as Mike raised his arm while gripping the ball with his fingers. AND…the Redskins won.

11-4-07 @2:50/PM – Mike is having a quiet day. We are seeing very few responses but hold on to those baby steps that we have seen over the last several days. He remains stable with no set backs - his blood pressure is 119/54, heart rate is between 96 and 110, temperature is 98.6 to 101.3 and the Glasgow Coma Scale remains at a 5.
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11-3-07 - No changes - Mike is healing peacefully.
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11-2-07 @4:30 PM – Mike is having a quiet day. His heart rate, blood pressure, breathing on his own, and fever appear to be stable. They continue to treat him for a staff infection in his lungs with antibiotics. The morning nurse was able to get Mike to move his hand and finger on command but not with any consistency. We were able to get several smiles out of him as well. The Physical Therapists was in today and was able to work his legs and arms. They also removed all the staples from his head.
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11-1-07 @10:00/PM – Mike had a pretty active day today. They completed the blood clot filter procedure and he was moved from Trauma ICU, to his new room on the 3^rd floor IMC. His heart rate, blood pressure, breathing on his own, and fever appear to be stable. They continue to treat him for a staff infection in his lungs with antibiotics. We saw eye and hand movements tonight but with the busy day he had, there were no real responses to verbal commands. —————————————————-
11-1-07 @9:00/AM – Today is a GREAT day. Mike responded to some commands, they asked him to show them his thumb and two fingers and he did. He also tried to open one eye. His heart rate, blood pressure, breathing on his own and fever are the same as yesterday. They continue to treat him for a staff infection with antibiotics. He is on his way now to do the blood clot filter procedure. He will then be moved from the Trauma ICU to the 3^rd Floor IMC, Room 17 Bed 1.
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10-31-07 @ 9:15/AM – Mike had a relaxing night. He continues to breathe on his own without assistance from the ventilator – his blood pressure, heart rate and Glasgow Coma Scale remain the same. Mike continues to fight a fever as the nurses try to reduce it with the cooling pad and Tylenol. Some of the culture results show that he has a Staff infection in his lungs. Yesterday, new cultures were taken to further investigate the infection. The plan for today is to insert a Pike IV, which gives them better access to his blood stream and to talk about the possibility of inserting a filter in the Vena Cavas to filter off potential blood clots.
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10-30-07 @3:40/PM – Mike is doing well today. He is breathing on his own - his blood pressure and heart rate are stable - fever is still up and down - and they have inserted the feeding tube. They have started him on some antibiotics to fight what appears to be some kind of infection in his lungs.
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