January 25th, 2011 by Conor

It’s been almost a month since Danny got injured in Montana…Since Conor, Danny’s parents and Michelle dropped everything and went bedside…Since the Toumarkine Family grew into an international following of people who woke up distracted, waiting for news of the good, better, anything, about Danny and his condition. The timeline of emotions is subjective…for me it was disbelief that lead to a slow realization of what was really going on.

The detailed accounts of surgical procedures has been one of the hardest parts, reading about all of the changes happening to Danny’s body while he sat like a prisoner in his own body. As hard as these accounts have been, they are what let us know that Danny has been on the path to recovery. If it weren’t for my friends in the medical fields reassuring me that it is “procedure” to remove a piece of skull to relieve pressure and place it in his hip to keep the tissue alive, I wouldn’t know how to process the information.

As of yesterday, it had been 22 days, with 17 hours to go. Danny had sustained the injury, been relocated to the Benefis Hospital in Great Falls, Montana, and undergone 2 craniatomies…about the undergo the third and final procedure to put the flap of skull back in his head. The crew in Tahoe had been sitting anxiously during this time, waiting not only for news of Danny’s recovery, but news of when we could make the 17 hour drive through the high desert from Norcal to Normont(ana). Then it came, Conor gave the go ahead, with the impending final surgery and DCT’s improvement overall, we were cleared to pack up and go. We would be meeting up with Conor and Michelle (who had been there for the duration) and Tom Januzzi (Hometown NH legend steeped in White Mtn tradition) who had just flown in the night before, right before the third surgery, as well as Danny’s parents.

January 24, 2011

I jumped out of bed at 4 AM Local California Time, threw together my backpack of belongings and hoofed it to the Shreddy House down the street on Dollar Hill, Lake Tahoe. As I walked in the house Ian Mcleod (DCT and Conor’s roommate), and Tito Gainza (good friend of Ian’s and subsequently big fan and friend of Danny’s who had just flown from his home country of Argentina) were scrambling to get ready. We then loaded up Michelle (Parker’s) truck for the mission…See Danny, Be with friends family, and deliver the truck.

The whole array of emotions was present, but at 5 AM there was just an attitude of “Lets do This!” we all had freshly shaven heads for Danny (Don’t worry Tito and Moss, you look badass with buzz cuts) and had dually noted that we would be in a traveling gang for the day…for entertainment purposes (more to come on Gang antics)

Tito annihilated the first 6 hour portion of the drive, starting in Tahoe, breezing through the Balmy Reno vicinity all the way until Jackpot Nevada. This is where I took over, and got a speeding ticket not 20 minutes after taking to the wheel…Michelle’s truck can Brawl! anyway…minor offense. I drove through the fine state of Idaho, saw little to no potato action. what we did experience was the vast amount of towns ending with the word “Falls”…Idaho Falls, Twin Falls, American Falls then Great Falls.

As Anxious and concerned for Danny as we were, 17 hours in a truck with two other bro’s makes you go nuts. After we filled up in American Falls we hit our stride on highway 15 North. With the Mate (South American tea drink pronounced ma-tay) bowl heated up, Tito graced us with his best version of a western accent…which was verbal Gold. It mixed the worldliness of the Argentinian vernacular with the slack jawed cowboy twang of a dusty Shurrrrrif.

Ian took the reigns right as darkness hit…as well as the only slick conditions and a mountain pass. He killed it without killing us, so props Mcleod. When his 6 hour driving shift was nearing it’s end we could see the lights of Great Falls, which were actually impressive considering the terrain we had traveled through all day.

Then the Realness set in. We had waited 22 days and 17 hours to be here, read countless hospital updates and friend accounts about Danny’s character. There had been emotional breakdowns and triumphs on DCT’s behalf, as well as the strength of knowing what type of people were sitting by his side the whole time…yet we felt like we could use another 17 hours to mentally prepare to see Danny.

As of 1/24/2011 we have not seen him yet…we are hoping to pop into room 5109 any minute.

on a side note…Great falls Montana is weird. There are Buffalo statues everywhere and its not in the mountains, they’re in the distance, but not here. This is not home for any of us…especially Danny.

January 25th, 2011 by Conor

So I’ve officially spent my first “night” here in “Great Falls,” Montana. I say “night” because since I’ve been here now, (for what has seemed like 2 days), I’ve really only slept for about five hours in the middle of the afternoon, and its actually only been one full day. I put “Great Falls” in parenthesis too because now that I’ve actually seen where I am in the light of day, I’ve noticed that there aren’t any great water falls to look at, or even anything remotely great to be seen at all for that matter. I saw Danny last night and right after his surgery today, and that is what I’ve come out here to see anyways.

Finally getting here last night was unbelievable. After all the hassles and traveling it felt so good to get off of the plane and see Conor and David outside the airport waiting for me. I met them with a much deserved hug from everyone back in North Conway and we were immediately enroute to see Danny in the ICU. We got to the hospital and I thanked David for the ride. His Danny shift was over so he went back to the hotel for some sleep as Conor and I proceeded to check into the ICU where i would finally get a chance to meet Danny’s girlfriend Michelle and reunite with my good friend.

I was nervous to see Danny in the state that he was in. I had just been spending time with him less than a month ago laughing and joking like we always do and it was still surreal to me that all this was even happening. I couldn’t believe it when i had first heard the news and it was extremely difficult to deal with for the first couple of weeks. Not that it was any easier in the third week, but the emotional breakdowns had certainly slowed to a less than daily pace and a lot more composure had been established. If Danny was strong enough to get through this then I had no choice but to man up and help him to be strong.

When we got outside the ICU Conor picked up a telephone and asked for us to be let in. The receptionist buzzed us through and as I followed Conor into room 5109 my heart began racing. I fought hard to try and hold back my tears. I was right behind Conor as he told Danny he was back and informed him that “someone” was here to see him. As Conor moved to the side and Danny began to look up at me my excitement conquered my fear. As soon as Danny made eye contact with me he threw his arms up and gave me a solid fist pump. We exchanged some high fives because I was sure the hug that I wanted to give him would probably do him more harm than good.

After I greeted Danny I met Michelle in person finally, who is very nice but much smaller than I expected and certainly not all there when it comes to intelligence, (just kidding Michelle!). I then dropped my bags in the corner and as Conor would say was “very quick to take my shirt off.” I was excited to show Danny the get well wishes so many people had drawn and written on me and couldn’t wait to show him the pictures that went along with each message. As I proceeded to unveil the artwork I received several confused/scared looks from the nurses as well as Danny. Once everyone realized what was going on and “Jackson” the sit-in babysitter stopped drooling over me, Danny got a good look at all the messages and loved the pictures and troll doll accompanying the image drawn under my arm pit.

From what I had been reading in earlier updates last week about Danny I couldn’t believe the progress he had made. I knew he would be amassed in tubes and wires, but I was astounded by how clear his communication skills were. He couldn’t talk and you could tell that he wasn’t completely with us, but I’ve spent enough hungover days with Danny to know this type of situation. When you room with someone in college for a few years you see all sorts of different sides of them and tend to pick up a lot on their habits and gestures. It was fairly easy to see what Danny was trying to communicate just through his facial expressions and hand motions, but if that became lost in translation he would gesture for a keyboard to type things out to us.

Danny was exhausted but wanted to stay awake to hang out with me for a bit. He would type while I would talk and we held a conversation this way as I filled him in on news back home and gave him all his hellos and love from the people back east. We had some good laughs as Danny would try to persuade his nurse to take his catheter out by bribing her with compliments of how gentle she is about it. It was great to see Danny slowly coming back into his own. There were plenty of signs showing Danny would be back good as new eventually but it will be a long hard road for him to get to that point. I decided the room was very drab so i decided to throw up a few decorations to spruce the place up a bit. Danny enjoyed the liveliness and had to beg the nurse to let us stay longer via keyboard. You could tell he was exhausted and eventually the fun came to an end. Danny had surgery at 7:30am the next morning, so the nurse finally informed us at 4am that it was time to let Danny get some rest, (thanks so much Cindy for letting us stay up so long!)

Conor and I headed to the lobby and hung out while Michelle weaseled her way into Danny’s bed with him the rest of the night. We stayed up and kept the laughs going until the morning when we went to see Danny off to his final surgery. You could tell Danny was very nervous about the surgery. He tried using his exhaustion as an excuse to put it off but got shot down since he was being put to sleep anyways. This was the least difficult of Danny’s three surgeries, but of the three this was the only one he was “with it” enough to know what was going on. I don’t blame him for being a little nervous. I’d come up with any excuse not to have brain surgery either. We said our good lucks and watched him roll away.

Since we had 4 hours to kill Conor wanted to burn off some of the Tummy Taxi food he’d been eating for the past three weeks and work out. I wasn’t tired yet for some reason and agreed a little exercise would be nice. I also got to finally see those pictures of me being drawn on in the website and decided for everyone’s sake a little cardio wouldn’t kill me. So while Danny’s skull got put back together again, Michelle, Conor, and I headed off to the gym.

When we got back from the gym we met up with Ellen and David in the waiting room. I killed some time by picking David’s brain, (no pun intended), about his beard maintenance and tried to keep from falling asleep in my chair by attempting to afro mine out and twist a curl in my mustache. Thank goodness the doctor came out fairly soon because everyone was getting a little slap happy from being so over tired.

The doctor came out boasting of a successful operation, genuinely proud of the work he had just displayed in the operating room. It’s a good feeling when the your friend’s brain surgeon comes out with a smile expecting high fives on a job well done. He informed us that the surgeries were over with and that we should all be celebrating. I was very happy Danny was through with the dangerous aspect of this process, but not ready to celebrate knowing the tough road that lied ahead for Danny in rehabilitation.

After meeting with the Doc we made our way back to room 5109 to greet Danny with a warm welcome. We had been told that once Danny was done with this operation that he would finally be able to get out of bed and move around. This would be great news for Danny since he has been trying to get out of that bed for the past few days now. As they rolled Danny back into his room we could all see the white gauze wrapped around his head from down the hall. You could tell he was in excruciating pain as he kept trying to rip the gauze off of his head. As much pain as Danny was in he needed to realize that the surgeries were now over and that the wrapping he was desperately trying to claw off of his head was a necessary material in that healing process. The last thing Danny would want is an infection in the wound they just closed up in his head.

After we stayed with Danny for a little while longer Conor and I felt it best to give him some rest and go get some sleep ourselves. I had only gotten about 2 hours of sleep in the past 2 days so my bed was definitely sounding pretty inciting for sure. I was super happy that Danny made it out of his final surgery successfully, but now that he was in his room recuperating I was even happier to finally get a chance to catch a few Z’s myself. Until “tomorrow” I apologize for the novel…I get caught up in these posts! Killing it DCT!

– TommyJ

January 25th, 2011 by MIchelle

Just walked out of room 5109 after a short visit with Danny. He’s resting, eyes shut, but responding the the nurses when they ask him questions. His right eye is more swollen than we’ve seen yet. The nurse was thinking this might be because of the bandages on his head. Danny had a cat scan this morning and as soon as Doctor Gorsuch checks that out we might get the go ahead to take off the bandages. At some point today they want to sit Danny up and see what he can do with the possibility of standing. Hope Danny starts to feel better quickly as he’s obviously in a ton of pain right now. We’ll keep you up to date with what happens this afternoon.

-Michelle

January 25th, 2011 by MIchelle

It’s 1:31 AM. I came back to the hotel around ten tonight as we aren’t allowed in the room anymore after eleven. Danny needs his rest to get back on a normal sleeping schedule as his days will be filled with action from here on out. I think tomorrow might be his first day of walking. No promises, but if everything goes well and he’s up for it then it’s on.

A couple of hours ago Ian, Tito, and Chris arrived from Tahoe. Tito had just flown in on Saturday from Argentina. They all rallied up here on the 18 hour drive and brought my truck and Danny’s pillow. I bet Danny will be stoked to have his pillow with his custom case made by his Maah. I can’t wait to see his face tomorrow when he see’s everyone. It’s been really fun to watch him interact with Tom. This should be a good boost of moral. Josh I wish you could be here now, but it meant just as much while you were up here.

Catching up with Ian, Tito, and Chris has been a good break from everything. They told us about their drive going through Twin Falls, Idaho Falls, and then ending up here in Great Falls. I haven’t seen any great falls here yet. We came to the conclusion that it must be called Great Falls because of the quick fluctuation in temperature.

Just the other day the temperature dropped 36 degrees in one hour. It was a real shocker walking out of the hospital without mittens and a Tubular on to keep me warm.

I’m excited to see what tomorrow brings. I don’t have any expectations, as I try not to, so that I don’t get disappointed when they aren’t met. Really can’t wait to see Danny’s reactions! Hope he’s sleeping well. I’m off to bed. By myself.

Night Danny.

-Michelle

January 24th, 2011 by Conor

Danny made it!

We are all so excited that the surgery went well. In fact, the surgeon said that he actually said he had fun doing the surgery! This is the kind of thing you want to hear from your surgeon. He is so confident in what he does and he enjoys it so much that he actually has fun doing it. His face was priceless when he came out of surgery for the post operative report. He just looked so sweet and sincere in the way that he delivered the news. He was excited with where Danny is in the recovery process and actually encourage us to celebrate this day.

I only saw Danny very briefly after surgery. He was in a TON of pain so I wasn’t about to stick around. I figured I could tick him off with just about anything I did so I thought it might be a little easier for him to deal with it by sleeping and hanging with mom and dad. I will be in much more tomorrow and the next day as he starts to come out of everything.

Very excited for even more arrivals. 5109 is about to become a party! Ian Mcleod, Chris Rogers, and Tito Gainza are making the 17 hour car ride to come up and see Danny and the rest of the gang. It’s going to be awesome to see them all. I haven’t seen Ian and Chris in a month and a half, and I haven’t seen Tito since the end of last winter. Danny is good friends with all these guys and between them and Tom he isn’t going to be able to resist a solid, steady smile. All four of these guys are here at such an awesome time in the recovery process.

My apologies for the quick entry, and I might try to write more later on, but with the doctors encouraging report from the operating room and the fact that we are finally through all the surgeries, I might have to just relax and enjoy the night catching up with great friends.

Also, we have officially been kicked off the graveyard shift. I couldn’t be happier, this just means that it is time for Danny to get all the rest he can at night so he can get back on his feet as quickly as possible. It’s going to be so great to have him back!

Hoping for amazing things to come!

Love ya Danny!
~Conor

January 24th, 2011 by Conor

Keep em coming! Danny hasn’t really been into words yet at all. HE is ALL ABOUT the pictures though. If you got something special up your sleeve get it done.

Send them to:
603-496-6621 or
donations@dannyisthebomb.com

January 24th, 2011 by MIchelle

When Doctor Gorsuch walked into the waiting room with a smile on his face as he briefed us in how the surgery went, I let out a huge breath of air. This breath felt like I had been holding it since January 3rd. I felt relaxed for the first time since I got here. That weight on my shoulders slowly melted off and evaporated for a temporary feeling of relief. We walked back up to Danny’s room in the ICU and waited for his return. When the bed rolled in and Danny was situated in the room that tenseness came back. Seeing someone your care about in pain and discomfort isn’t easy, but I was still really excited about the success of the procedure.

Danny was in a ton of pain. His head was hot all wrapped up in a bandages. The nurses ended up giving him a morphine button to push every 6 minutes and Ellen sat by his side to remind him to push the button or do it herself. Finally the pain leveled off and Danny was able to relax and fall asleep.

Meanwhile, Conor, Tom, and I were fast asleep at the hotel. After being up for over 24 hours and knowing that the surgery went well, sleep came easy. I managed to read the first ten pages of In An Instant before passing out. This book was written by Lee and Bob Woodruff about Bob Woodruff, the ABC NEWS Anchor that suffered TBI while reporting from Iraq when an explosive device went off near the tank he was riding in. It took me back to January 3rd. I’ll leave you with an excerpt from the first chapter.

“You can’t know how you would behave in a crisis until it drops out of the sky and knocks you down like a bandit: stealing your future, robbing you of your dreams, and mocking anything that resembles certainty. Sudden tragic events and even slow-burning disasters teach us more about ourselves than most of us care to know.” -Lee Woodruff

-Michelle

January 24th, 2011 by Conor

As I sit in another hotel lobby preparing for another trip in the truck I can’t help but wish I was going somewhere else. I’m headed back home to Colorado for x games and you’d think I’d be really excited. I’m not. All of this driving has frustrated me cause all I really want for my birthday would be to spend five minutes with my boy DCT. So stoked Tom made it. I haven’t met you Tom but I’ve heard your name from Danny many times. Pumped on all you have done for him and continue to do. I wake up early for demo days, but this morning I was unable to sleep in. I woke up thinking about Danny right away. Pretty sure I was dreaming about some of our fun times fireside behind the demo center this summer. I know you’re coming back to us Danny because of your strong spirit. Once again, thank you Connor and Michelle for putting a smile on my face everytime I feel like crying. I hope when Danny wakes up today his shred sticks are there to make him smile. One last thanks to everyone that is visiting and contributing to this space. It’s awesome to know that so many people out there think and care about Danny like I do. We’ll be in tahoe in two weeks and I hope while I’m there to hear of DCT triumphant return home. Love you Danny!

Zahlinski

_

January 24th, 2011 by Conor

The surgery was a success! Danny is now recovering back in room 5109. The doctor used 5 plates and a bunch of titanium screws to put the bone flap back in Danny’s head. Danny is rocking a huge white bandage again to cover up the staples and surgical site. The doctor estimates that Danny will be in the ICU for the next 48 hours or so. If the CAT scans suggest that his swelling is going down and his recovery is on an upward trend, they will move him to the Progressive Care Unit (PCU). At the end of the Doctors report he finished by telling us that it is time to celebrate. He had a huge smile on his face and a look of relief . We have made it through the hard part medically. The rest is on Danny! Cheers from Montana!

~Conor

January 24th, 2011 by Conor

My worst fears came to fruition earlier when my mom approach me in the lobby and told me that Teal was working again tonight. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. There must be some other place in this hospital system that she could fit in. I resisted the temptation to go to HR and try to find a new job for her. I pictured her cleaning bathrooms, making photocopies, oh maybe even answering phones. Anywhere, but back in my life!

I’m not sure if it was just a mean joke on me, or if she got kicked out early again, but by the time I made it into the room Teal was not there. YES!!! There is at least an ICU god! Tonight we have “Jackson.” Jackson sets the standard for ICU babysitting. He pays attention to Danny and does his job well- the kind of guy you could imagine taking good care of your kids. I am happy that one of us is here though. There is a sort of creepiness to his demeanor which brought on his name. Jackson was named after pop sensation Michael Jackson (allegedpedophile- ). Jackson is the kind of guy that you sleep with one eye opened around. He looks eager to help Danny in any way he can.

All joking aside he is a nice enough guy who is just trying to do his job. At this point it’s just not as fun when Danny isn’t awake and I am trying to entertain myself.

It’s tough because Tom got here just a little while ago. We were all hanging out for a little bit and then Danny got really tired. All I wanna do is sit around and laugh and have a beer like we usually do. Danny and Tom and I ALWAYS have fun. It’s cool that he came out to be here for Danny and all of us, but it’s hard because it isn’t a usual session of chilling and laughing until we can’t breath. I’m sure those moments will happen plenty while he is here, it just different without Danny’s direct involvement.

Danny is right here in the mix though and has been smiling quite a bit since Tom showed up. He was very happy to see Tom. He raised both hands over his head as if he had just won some major snowboard competition. I think there might have been a fist pump in there too. He had a big smile on his face that was a mixture of elated and confused. It was awesome! Tom had barely even made it in the room before he began to strip down. I wasn’t sure if there was more to this friendship that I didn’t know about. Michelle looked confused but was hoping for the best. Tom wasted no time showing off his body. No, he wasn’t a recent P90X grad looking to show off his guns, he had sold messages on his body as a fundraiser for Danny.

It was awesome watching Dannys face as Tom led him on a grand tour around his tatood body. Jackson looked pretty happy in the corner when Tom pulled down his pants to show Danny one of his greatest pieces. Our friend Zac had drawn a bunny on Tom’s lower back that extended to the top of his butt. I later saw the pictures of how that picture had been created and I couldn’t help but think that Zac might be a great match for Jackson.

Danny started to get a little bit tired so Tom and I settled in on a game of Words and in between turns, I began to write. At some point in the silence Tom asked me why the room wasn’t decorated. I pointed him in the direction of some of the things that hadn’t made it on the wall yet. Within 5 minutes he had made quick work of the room. Danny watched in awe with a level of stoke that you wouldn’t normally see from this kind of activity. Usually he makes these kinds of faces when he is doing something outside or for the first time. NOT TONIGHT. Hanging up unicorn and fantasy themed plastic flags across the room did the trick.

We got kicked out of the room at 4 so that Danny could get some sleep. Somehow Michelle managed to talk the nurses into a night alone with Danny. I am beginning to think that she is paying Cindy off! Surgery in an 45 minutes. Gonna be a long morning to come. Many updates to come!

Good luck Danny!
Love ya Dood!
~Conor