January 23rd, 2011 by Conor

I just did this drawing based off of a photo of Danny. Please, feel free to share or I can post it on DITB on Facebook as an Admin. I never name stuff that I draw, but I guess you could call this one: “Portrait of a Champion.” I like the sound of that. Take it easy.
-Nate Perley

January 23rd, 2011 by Conor

Beer Staff Night at the Toumarkines

Let me start by saying that I am completely obsessed with checking this site. Phone, computer, other peoples computers…..always. I guess in an odd way it was tough for me to write something before knowing Danny was going to be ok. I cant totally say why I felt this way, or if it was right or wrong, but for being selfish in just reading everyday, I apologize. All I could think and talk to people about was that I prayed he was going to be the same old Danny. After following progress, I cant even describe how happy I am that his personality and sense of humor are still same ol’ same ol’. Everything else will come…hard work and dedication, yes….We know this wont be a problem for DCT.

When Danny was 16 I remember meeting him at Cranmore. I had been riding for for roughly 6 years at the time and was awestruck but this skinny little kid absolutely tearing up the south slope during a night sesh. I knew of him prior, but never met. Danny was decked out from head to toe in the best/newest gear as usual. I actually remember him wearing some jacket with fur around the hood and thinking that it was semi homo, but I guess if anyone could make it look good, it was Danny. Leaving the mountain he proceeds to get into his car, which at the time was a red blazer with beefed out tires and a thule rack up top. He puts his window down with some solid music blaring and throws up the horns to say “take it easy.” As Im walking back to my car Im thinking to myself, “this kid is like 12 and way fucking cooler than I am….awesome.”

After that time, Id run into him from time to time on the mountain and he was always a joy to watch ride/ride with. We werent too close away from the hill…mostly bc of the age gap at the time Im guessing… but some years passed, as did college, and I would make random island or basement party trips with Soroka to hang out with DCT, Conor, Belcher, etc. A couple more years later, I moved home from the cape and we began to hang out a lot more….Riding, golf, just whatever….It was something I always looked forward to….I mean, who doesnt enjoy having a ball and laughing their ass off all day?

As said in some previous entries, Danny is always one to push you…in a friend way of course, but he likes to push you to do things you dont think you can do for whatever reason. Last winter he got me to hit some random gap jump over the edge of the pipe at attitash. I cant say it ended well but in a way, I was glad I hit it (ask Corey Madden about that digger if you know him. He was on the lift). Always getting me to get off my ass and go do something fun, that is what I have appreciated the most about Danny…. I cant say I have any one “fondest” memory, but I will say that all the good times and laughs will always be remembered and still looked forward to. I will continue to spend some of my time in the Spring trying to convince him to come home as early as possible, and will continue to be let down when he says to me “prob a couple more weeks dude”

Fun day we had last summer…Taken in the basement of 1080 snowboard shop while working on a sticker project with danny. I called him over and he found it necessary to snap a pic…

Danny and Conor, that trip we made out last year was absolutely one of the most fun trips Ive ever been on. Just a few highlights:
– “Casually” drinking a keg in 2 days (then of course going to buy another one to actually party with)
– Carrying home a family of wooden bears from Tahoe City after an amazing night at the bars.
– absolutely shitting all over bobby on video for missing out on the most epic powder day of the trip (sorry bob)
– Conor unexpectedly catching me on camera bitching about how bad my feet killed from being on my toe edge for like 37 minutes straight
– Cooking out on a bluebird day at Squaw in a bunch of ridiculous outfits.
– Guinard buying like 16 shots of warm Captain Moes at some bar in South Lake when the last thing any of us wanted to look at was booze…..nevermind warm shots.
– Trying to sneak away from the party, passing out on dannys room floor, then having him find me, proceed to grab like 8 people to observe and shit on me, and catch it on cam.
– Dance contest win at cabo wabo to go along with $2 shots and coronas.
– WALLYYYY!!!!

This list could go on and on…..But thank you both again. Never once did you bitch or complain about a thing….its not always the easiest thing to cater to 5 guys for a week.

Danny, I look forward to your speedy recovery. Once that is all out of the way, we will high five until our hands bruise per usual. I cant wait to be out on links with you again man, even if you beat me and yell out random obscenities on the green whilst draining a 30 ft putt.

Be easy bro,
-Schoen

January 23rd, 2011 by MIchelle

I’ve decided to write this post to clear a few things up. First off, I would like to say that I am not a fan of PDA (public display of affection). Danny isn’t either. I am not a googly eyed girlfriend that gets all mushy, especially not in public. I have my moments, but no one except Danny sees those and writing on this blog about those moments is something that I always question a few times before posting them. Typically, we would never cuddle with a random in the room watching our every move let alone with parents around. I’ve gotten past those things and agreed to the public cuddle when asked for by Danny. Whatever he wants right?

However, I will say that these cuddle sessions aren’t exactly the most comfortable. There are times when the IV and rubber tubes/lines manage to stay in place enough so that I’m not strangled or so that my head is at least on a soft surface rather than laying on a plastic box. There must be ten different wires and tubes that I have to, ever so cautiously, wiggle my way around to get into a comfortable position for Danny. Once I’m there and Danny is still, I try my hardest not to move until he wakes. I sit there, with my head pressed against the plastic sidewall of his bed, and stare at the random “babysitter” in the room trying not to make eye contact as to not create an awkward situation already more awkward.

When Danny finally moves, he will most likely pull a wire off his chest or jokingly wrap the humidifier tube around my neck and the random “babysitter” will then get up and hover over us until things are back into place. The humidifier is another thing in itself. When we are in said comfortable for Danny position I feel a humid mist on the back of my neck. I hear a gurgle which is a mix of flem from his lungs and the humidifier. Sometimes, if Danny coughs, a little spit might fly out of his tracheostomy and into my hair. I try not to think about that.

In a twin sized bed, there is hardly enough room for two and especially under these circumstances. I love that Danny wants to be close and all, but when my feet are falling off the bed I have to balance, flexing my abs to keep me in place, so that I don’t fall off feet first. When I finally get some shut eye I am usually fast asleep, but I have bad dreams of the nurse coming in to draw blood and accidentally grabbing my arm instead of Danny’s. Getting blood drawn must be one of the worst ways to be woken up.

All of this aside, I am happy to be there in whatever way Danny wants me there. If I were Danny and my two options were between cuddling or having restraints put on to hold me in place, I would chose cuddling too. I have never had the opportunity to cuddle in the ICU and the thought of that makes me laugh. Although this cuddling experience has been heart warming, I hope I never have this opportunity again.

-Michelle

January 23rd, 2011 by MIchelle

Since Conor and I left this morning, the Doctor stopped in to talk about the surgery that is now scheduled for 7:00 AM tomorrow morning. As I’ve mentioned before, the surgery that Danny will undergo will be to take the bone flap that is now under his skin in his stomach and put it back into place in Danny’s skull. The procedure will take 3-4 hours. The bone flap will be secured into place using titanium plates and screws. There is a section of the skull, near the ear, where the initial cut is not clean. This will be secured using a plaster (I am not using the medical term, it is a plaster like substance) that veins can actually grow into and through. The plaster  will form like bone. This surgery is not one that is rushed. There is no concern about danny’s brain swelling and therefore it is a longer surgery because they can take there time as opposed to the craniotomy when the doctor is worried about relieving that pressure as soon as possible.

This is the only surgery that Danny has been aware of. We’ve told him that the difficult surgeries have already been done and not to worry, but he is still concerned, as he should be. They tried to give him a shower today, but he refused because he was having trouble with his breathing again. I think that the breathing might be related to the stress of now knowing what he is about to go through. I could be wrong, but I would be scared too.

The Doctor said Danny might be up and walking a few days post operation. With the bone flap back into place there is much less concern about him hitting his head in the area where the skin is covering his brain. This is when the physical therapy and other therapies will really start to pick up.

It’s really exciting to know that Danny will be able to get out of bed and start moving around more. I am still in awe of the condition that he is in considering we had no idea how he would come out of the first two operations. Danny could have had to relearn how to do everything from swallowing to holding a pen. The fact that he is typing, conversing, and playing catch like all of this never happened is absolutely amazing. Nurse Cindy was really impressed with how quickly he was recovering. I am in awe and so incredibly happy.

That’s all for now, but we’ll keep you guys in the loop with how everything goes tomorrow. Thanks again for the continued support! Although Danny doesn’t really understand everything right now, soon enough he will be blown away by all the positivity coming his way.

-Michelle

January 23rd, 2011 by Conor

Conor pretty much covered all the bases with his post about tonight. It was quite the eventful night with a lot of interaction. One thing that I thought was worth adding to his post was a comment he made after being treated for the asthma. The lung specialist was reading what Danny was typing on my computer and after they had assessed the situation Danny typed “the sock monkey will help.” He has become attached to his teddy bear and the new addition, that his mom brought back from NH, is the sock monkey. We now have two little sock monkeys (thanks Maaah and Megamo). Danny definitely hasn’t lost his sense of humor.

-Michelle

January 23rd, 2011 by Conor

I want to start off by saying sorry to Guy. Why? Well, until tonight, I thought that Guy was a really annoying waste of time and money. Tonight He was outdone. Guy makes Teal look good. Guy not only tried to conceal the usage of his phone but also occasionally got up in attempts to look busy and helpful. Guy also tactfully listened to one headphone in the ear on the far side of where I am sitting. Guy also at least looked over at Danny whenever he moved around. Teal makes no effort what-so-ever, and looks annoyed when anything beeps for fear that her perfectly choreographed level of Angry Birds might be in Jeopardy. Teal enjoys text messaging, hand held games, dinner breaks with her boyfriend and long walks in the ICU- shes a keeper! When I met Teal my expectations were not low. Guy had set the bar for job performance last night and I didn’t really think that he could be outdone.

But then I met the limp handshake/barely eyecontacting/lack of care/I wont stand up to meet you, Teal. Teal is not actually named Teal, however, similar to last night I don’t think her name is worthy of being published. I have no fear of publishing it I just don’t think she deserves the kind of media attention that Danny is the Bomb might bring her. The last thing we need are swarms of reporters waiting outside the hospital to meet this infamous Teal. She certainly means well enough I guess. She sits quietly in the corner and looks attentive every time a real person that cares comes into the room. I gave her the name teal because of her head to toe teal outfit with matching tacky purse. ALL TEAL. I think I just threw up in my mouth a little.

Other than my noticeable frustration that we still have a babysitter things have been pretty back and fourth. Danny is happy one minute and then kind of sad the next. In general, it is not as easy to get him to laugh tonight as it was last night. I think this is something I have to get used to thought. If I was him, it probably wouldn’t take much to get my mood to sway. The staff have had to draw blood three times while I have been here in just a few hours. His asthma is tight and ALL he wants is something to eat or drink. He is still days, if not a week away from being able to do either of those things.

— Breaking News, Teal just got out of her chair to pick up a fallen stuffed animal. She is now neck and neck with Guy.

I tried to have a chat with Danny again earlier but it just wasn’t the same as last night. I had to run my questions through Michelle, as she was cuddling with Danny in middle of the chat. She was also the keeper of the keyboard but I don’t think that had to do with a lack of success. Danny just wasn’t feeling it.

IN THE MIDDLE OF THIS POST EVERYTHING CHANGED!

Danny started to have some trouble with his asthma and that woke him up. He was uncomfortable, not in trouble, just really uncomfortable. He looked over at me and gestured as if he wanted to take a hit off an inhaler. I asked him how bad it was and he motioned both hands toward his chest. We told Cindy what was going on and asked if there was anything she might be able to do. Shortly after that the doctor came in to try to ask Danny a bunch of questions and Danny was having trouble answering in any articulate way with hand gestures. I suggested that he type anything that the doctor should maybe know. He began to explain to the doctor that the felt like something uncomfortable was in the site of where the trache is. The doctor suggested a couple of different things he wanted to do. When Danny moved the mouse around one of the other windows that was up on Michelles computer came into view. There was a picture of an odd clump of hair on the floor shaped in the letters “DCT” Danny looked very very confused. He was back on Facebook!

He scrolled through all the photos with a variety of fun and confused actions. I don’t know if he can really figure out why we shaved our heads for him or not. We showed him all the albums on the facebook page and then also led him over to the website. He was mostly drawn to pictures. Very few things caught his attention but there were a few things that I thought people might find entertaining.

He actually typed in the search bar “Looks like he has lost his damn mind.”

He was entirely confused as to how he had been tagged as Drew Donabedian and laughed when I showed him the call out below his pic.

He was particularly happy when he saw this picture. He scrolled the mouse around Toms head a bunch and wrote in the search bar. “I miss Tommy J. I wish he was here.” Well, surprise surprise Danny! He will be here tomorrow night. What a random coincidence that timing is. Danny still doesn’t know that Tom is Visiting.

After looking around for a little bit he actually signed into Facebook. Danny had amassed some decent stats over the last few weeks.

Dave Soroka was the one and only person to chat with Danny. I can’t imagine how surprised Dave was. There he is in the middle of nowhere on some boat chatting with Danny. How cool is the internet sometimes?

The respiratory therapist came in to take a swab out from his lungs to bring into the lab. This caught him way way off guard. He started violently coughing and that pretty much ended the computer fun. It was a great session with Danny and I am not relaying many of the details of what happened, but sometimes we have to just keep these little laughs and details to ourselves. There is only so much that we can relay to the outside world, sometimes we have to spend the time where it really counts, and that’s with Danny.

Teal didn’t find any of these remarkable moments to be one bit interesting. She didn’t so much as show one bit of interest towards what was going on. I found her presence frustrating because she didn’t care. I am tired of having a babysitter and wish we didn’t have to have one in the first place. I hope her phone dies and she is forced to actually consider doing her job.

Another night down. Another night of weaseling back onto the graveyard shift. Can’t wait for visitors! This is out last night with just me and Danny and Michelle for awhile to come. Tom Jannuzzi arrives tomorrow and then 3 friends from Tahoe get here on Monday. Can’t wait to see you all. It has been nice to have Danny to ourselves but it will be even better to see his face with all the surprises that are headed his way- in the middle of which will be the 3rd and final brain surgery.

So I leave you with this wonderful poll because I honestly am having trouble with this one myself.
[polldaddy poll=4433538]

January 23rd, 2011 by Conor

As always, send in your love and support to 603-496-6621 or donations@dannyisthebomb.com

Thank you all and keep em coming. I haven’t showed Danny the site yet but I am anxious to show him and can’t wait for him to see all the awesome things you all have sent in. KEEP ‘EM COMING!

January 22nd, 2011 by Conor

During the evening there is an hour and a half long shift change and we are forced out to the lobby during that time. We were sitting there when Michelle was crusin’ around Facebook and randomly noticed that Mayo had shaved his head. My first thought… Rad. Very Rad. How do we get more? So I started to chat him about how he should try to get Moss and Ian to do it. I didn’t get any response from him and then all of a sudden we noticed that there was a picture of Moss and Tito with shaved heads! Tito just arrived to Tahoe last night from Argentina and I hadn’t even thought of him as a possibility on the shaved head campaign. That left only one housemate on the head shave… Ian. Didn’t know which way that was going to go (for all I know he led the charge), but I had no reason to believe how he could have talked his way out of that one – I just had yet to see a picture. And then I got the group shot! The whole house did it! With newly acquired members and all. I was so stoked. Michelle was stoked. Then a picture message from Will Porter (Michelle’s roomate, our friend)! A DCT hair sculpture. No way… Will too! Seemed impossible, but then again he was no rookie to the shaved head, and it would be a pretty bold move to send it from his phone and not have done the deed himself. Then I got the epic Bozo the clown looking shot of Will in mid shave.

What a great group of friends we have. Mayo, Ian, Moss, Tito and Will… Love you all. You are amazing people and I am both happy and lucky to be able to call each and every one of you my friends. I can’t imagine seeing Danny’s face when he sees those pictures!

~Conor

January 22nd, 2011 by Conor

C-men and D2 –

I’m sorry it has taken me so long to write to you. This is probably the 20th time I’ve sat down at my computer to write to you guys, but I am still finding myself at a loss for words. Maybe it’s because I’m not that good of a writer or maybe it’s because I’m terrible at expressing my feelings, but both reasons are lame and I apologize for the delay. I have been following the progress you guys are making out there and I can’t thank you enough for keeping the site updated. Every time I read the stories and look through the pictures, both tears and a smile come to my face. You guys had a huge impact on my life and I will always cherish some of the most memorable times we had together. I think one of the hardest things for me is how Danny I grew apart a bit and reading stories or seeing photos that I was a part of on the site. One example is the limo in Vegas. When I read that story and saw the photo of Danny I started dying laughing because all I can remember is the homeless dude singing Frank Sinatra’s, “New York” on the strip while we drank 40oz of Old English as fast as we possibly could. I had so many good memories with you guys and I think what connected me and Danny the most is our similar sense of humors and appreciation for small things. Here is a short list of quotes and things that basically defined me and Danny’s friendship…there’s some in here for you too Conor:

* Wyoming trip – I will never EVER forget picking up those girls hitchhiking. It was the first time in my life I ever heard the term bro bra used and was so intrigued to figure out what it meant. Conor’s small talk will forever be engraved in my head, asking if the hitchhiker’s Honda Civic was, “reliable” or not. I think he also asked about the moon roof? Correct me if I’m wrong. I can remember Danny and I just wanting no part of the situation while Conor did his best to make the car ride go by as fast as it could.
o Town meeting – one of the drunkest/funnest times in my life. Lighting off fireworks in the bar, throwing them at people talking shit, and somehow jumping in a cab and getting away scott free. This was the theme of everything I did with you guys.
o Shooting Roman Candles at oncoming tractor trailers on the highway…HAHAHAHA oh my god that was unbelievable. All you could hear from that video was all of us laughing uncontrollably (if that isn’t a word it is now).
o The riding in WY itself. That trip definitely changed my perspective on snowboarding for life. I’d never ridden terrain like that before and it opened my eyes to a whole new world.
* Cabewing – Danny harrassed me forever to come up and do this thing called, “cabrewing” and I had no idea what the hell it was. When I finally had a chance to give it a go, it made for some of the best memories of my life. I met so many awesome people and I can’t remember a majority of them, but I believe that means it was a good trip down the river.
* Jock Jams – Me introducing two of my good friends to Danny for the first time. They didn’t know what to think as they watched two, 21 year old men dance to Jock Jams, shotgun as many beers as humanly possible and proceed to slap each other in the face because it was “fun”.
* Yahoo – Danny you know what I’m talking about on this one.
* SNHU – This is where it all started. I just remember this dude walking in my room because he saw my snowboard and asked me if I wanted to go sometime. That turned into 2-3 times a week riding at Loon, sitting on the side of the trail dry heaving from the night before, doing it all over again that night while trying to say whatever you possibly could to any girl that walked by, to my first trips out West where I met the infamous brother Conor.
o Danny and I would always ease drop on each other’s conversations with girls to see who had the more ridiculous pick up lines. I can’t go into detail of what we said, but lets just say they were priceless. Haha oh man just thinking about it still makes me laugh.
o Enrique Iglasias’ Hero – probably one of the best drinking activities ever. If you experienced this, you know what I’m talking about.
* George’s @ Vail – Is that the name of the place? 15 of us screaming at the top of our lungs running through the Village at Vail around 6pm, while parents grabbed their kids in absolute horror wondering what the hell was going on.
* Adventures in Boston – countless good times in the city.
* When Danny can, let him watch this – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8LKDRb-lK9s

I could go on and on with the memories we have had because there are so many. Besides the funny/party times, Danny and I also shared a lot of close talks. We could talk about anything – life, girls, traveling, clothes, music, shoes, people walking on the street, girls, what we wanted to do when we grew up….anything. I still consider Danny one of my best friends eventhough our friendship drifted apart a bit. This whole thing has just made me realize how much our friendship has meant to my life. I could go months without talking to you man and we would always pick up right where we left off. Not a day goes by where I don’t think about you, the times we’ve had, and the more times we are going to have together. I know you are going to get through this and I can’t wait to just sit and talk with you again. If you need anything and I mean anything please let me know. Stay strong out there man and I can’t wait to see you when you get back.

I tried to keep it as short as possible because I know you have a lot emails coming in. You don’t have to post this if you don’t want…I know it’s kinda all over the place and not that formal, but I just needed to write this to Danny to let him know how much our friendship means to me. I attached some photos…you can post them or just keep them for viewing (probably the only photos in the world of Danny getting Irie). Thanks for all your hard work on the site Conor. Can’t wait to see you as well when you get home. Talk to you soon.

Matt

January 22nd, 2011 by Conor

Sooooo….For starters, I am so proud with your progress since the injury. Everyone at my work, Verizon, knows the situation your in right now and asks everyday how you’re doing. We constantly have dannyisthebob.com up on the IPads at work so everyone can read the updates.

I have already posted something when the site was first built and sent some pics to hopefully put a smile on your face but I feel like it’s time for a little follow up since (hopefully) you will be reading this in a couple days! This is the longest I have gone without talking to you Danny, it is sad that I cant just pick up the phone or hop on Skype and say what’s up. I am SO happy to see that you are doing better though, that is what matters most. Conor ,your family, and Michelle have done a FANTASTIC job of keeping us all up to date with as much info as they can and I Thank them for that. I have already told Conor and Michelle this , but I wouldn’t put anyone else there beside you while you heal up and make sure that you are taken care of by the best. I do want you to know that I wanted to come there but I think it would of been too overwhelming for everyone there, and that’s okay. I just want DCT to be back so I can get the usual COLSSSS text messages, haha. Since I got paid yesterday, now I can order some Danny Is The Bomb schwag. I can’t wait to wear it! Zula (my puppy you used to Skype with) says Hello and keep up the great work!

Miss you DCT!
<3 COLS