The story so far

Thanks to all who suggested I set up this page for Chris. I hope that through this, you will all be able to share in his progress and keep the positive energy flowing his way.

The story to this point: as most of you know, Chris took a fall on the slopes at Breckenridge on Sunday. According to Harlen, who was skiing right behind him, he caught a downhill edge on the last run of the day and pretty much did a massive face plant. (For you non-skiers, he landed forward on his head.) Unlike most of the face plants in Chris's skiing career, this one he couldn't just shake off. He suffered a severe head injury which caused massive bleeding (a subdural hematoma).

Thanks to the incredibly well-trained ski patrol at Breck, Chris was brought down the mountain and med-flighted to St. Anthony's hospital in Denver, one of the best Level 1 Trauma hospitals in the country. He had brain surgery immediately to remove the massive clot and stop all the bleeding, which was extensive. Chris's sister Ann and I caught the first plane out of Boston on Monday. When we got here, the doctors and nurses were not holding out much hope - he was in a coma and on a respirator, and they couldn't tell us when (or even if) he would come out of it.

On Tuesday, when the docs did morning rounds, they were actually able to get Chris to open his eyes a bit when they shouted at him and respond to commands to wiggle his fingers and toes on both sides. Ann was in tears. (We've discovered that she cries at the good stuff, and I cry at the bad stuff, so we're a pretty good team.) He continued at about the same level all, day, not opening his eyes on his own, but able to muster up the energy when someone asked him to loudly. Still, no one could tell how much more progress he might make, since he was pretty deeply out of it.

Wednesday - Chris began to respond more quickly to commands, and actually to be able to shake his head to indicate yes or no. He was "responding appropriately", meaning it wasn't just random movements, he was really communicating. And, for the first time, we experienced the thrill of him opening his eyes on his own, without being asked, when Ann and I were in the room talking to him. Of course, the fates would not allow us to think all was well - a culture came back positive for pneumonia. He was immediately put on IV antibiotics. He also was sent down for another MRI, and the sedation from that pretty much knocked him out for most of the day.

Thursday - Chris is continuing to show his indomitable will and incredible strength. There was a lot of discussion during morning rounds as to whether he would be able to come off the ventilator. Some docs were in favor, since he was breathing completely on his own and his lungs sounded good and clear. Others were opposed, saying it was still risky since he wasn't awake most of the day; they were concerned he wouldn't be able to clear his throat or prevent his own tongue from falling back. They gave him a breathing test to check lung strength and Chris passed with flying colors. The yeahs won out, and the ventilator tube was taken out around noon.

The docs are absolutely astounded at the progress he's made in such a short time. One of them said he never would have believed it, since Chris's prognosis was so grim on Monday. Chris isn't saying much yet, but I am holding the phone up to him when his friends call, and he's managing a rough "Hi." (As Terry and Harlen would say, in Wookie.)

Friday - Chris is continuing to make progress every day. He slept well through the night without the ventilaotor (just a CPAP, which he uses at home). They sat him up in a chair for a while (yay!). He still can't really talk, except for except maybe the word "water", but he's still pretty weak. We've been heartened that, so far, he hasn't shown any deficits except for that - he's moving everything and understanding everything. We hold the phone up to his ear when people call, and he responds really well. I think he's sick of hearing just me and Ann talking to him all day. The nursing staff let him keep the awesome ballons DSUSA sent, but they won't let flowers or anything else in the room.

They gave him a swallow test to see if they could take the feeding tube out, but he's not ready for that. They'll let us give him ice chips, though, which he savors as if they were drops of Yquem. He's also running a fever, probably from the pneumonia, which worries me. I thought the antibiotics he is on would knock that out, but the temp remains...

Today, Saturday morning - Right now, Chris's sister Ann is working on getting him on a medical transport back home as soon as he is able to do rehab. We think he would do much better for getting back to his baseline if he worked with his own docs, and we think it would lift his spirits to be able to get visits from his friends. We're not sure yet if Blue Cross will approve it, so keep your fingers crossed.