January 21st, 2011 by Conor

to conor and michelle,

i don’t know either of you, and i do not know danny, but i have been reading your blog based on a friend’s facebook post to the link. i cannot tell you how unbelievably impressed i am with your ability to reflect, share, and encourage others. you two seem simply amazing, and you are the most important thing for danny right now. he seems like he is a wonderful person based on what everyone has written, and he is definitely in my thoughts and will be.

i just saw the link this morning, and i actually was almost late to class because i couldn’t stop reading it. i just started nursing school this semester, but i graduated from the university of vermont in 2009, so i have a passion for skiiers and riders, as well as helmet safety! it sucks so much to have this happen, but i think it’s great that everyone will take away the lesson of how important it is to wear a helmut (plus, they are super warm!)

i have worked in a hospital for a few years, and i spent a lot of time in the ICU with patients, so i can picture exactly where you are and what tubes are being pulled when you describe it. it’s interesting (i won’t say fun) to read the medical aspect of your blog, but i also am truly amazed by your compassion, strength, patience, and honesty. you two (and i’m sure danny’s parents and friends/family) are going to pull him through this one day at a time for a long time. the fact that you both are so involved in really remarkable, and i know danny knows how important that is.

also, michelle, way to go on getting to cuddle with him! that is such an important thing for him, but really for you. i can’t imagine how you and conor are feeling, but i’m glad you guys have each other. and of course the nurses! the graveyard shift was the one i worked, and it is a really special one. my votes: nurse, and the one in blue scrubs on the left (haha).

you guys don’t need to post this on the site, but i wanted to let you know that i’m proud to “know” you all, and i’m so grateful to read your blog to put things into perspective, help raise awareness, learn some new things, and to keep up with danny’s progress. just know that a student at duke nursing school who loves to ski (sorry) with a helmet on (!!!) is thinking about all of you and your journey in montana. you two are really incredible, and i just hope that every patient i take care of has a support system like danny has. if you ever end up at duke, post it, and i’ll say hi!

take care, good luck, and do make sure to take time for yourselves 🙂 and get shredder danny!
michelle and conor are the bomb, also – just remember that!

thanks for taking the time to read, and i look forward to reading more about danny’s awesome progress. hang in there.
warmly,
kit

January 21st, 2011 by Conor

I’ve been following the website closely, trying to keep up to date on Danny’s progress. I have enjoyed reading the stories of memories in highschool which seems so so long ago to me. Though our paths have not crossed in probably 8 years I can vividly remember some qualities of Danny I know will get him through much of his recovery.

I can remember the first time I went to Danny’s house way back when…. he gave the grand tour including his room, along with “the room where he kept his clothes”. I kid you not, Danny’s closet was more organized than any of my girl friends’ closets. I believe I stared blankly at the color coordination of his t-shirts and jean washes for what seemed 2 minutes and then looked over at him, most likely with an eyebrow raised. I cannot remember exactly what I said to tease him about all of this, but most likely the rebuttle was humerous and in the defense of liking to be neat. So I would imagine that along the road of recovery, Danny’s need to be “just so” will play out well for him 🙂

I also remember Danny’s first car that he shared with Conor (the best car ever- jeep cherokee sport!) Though it was my perfect car, Danny was determined from day one of having his license to own a 2 door chevy blazer. It’s all he ever talked about if cars came into the conversation. I could never understand the desire to own a 2 door SUV, but Danny would explain that the 2 door looked “sweeter” than the 4 door (I do have to agree on that one). And whadda-ya-know. He got his wish. And it was a sweet 2 door blazer with the “DCT” plate. Keep working hard Danny! It will all fall into place.

I also have to thank Danny for teaching me some very important worldly information. Along with the 2 door blazer discussions, the topic of “rims” came up. Clearly, being an 18 year old girl from central NH, I had no idea what the difference was between hubcaps and rims. Danny just WOULD NOT have that. I believe that my thought was if the tires looked dingy and cheap, they were hubcaps and if they were shiny and fancy they were rims. Danny quickly taught me that yes in deed walmart can sell faux chrome hubcap spinners and to NEVER EVER confuse them with true rims. HAHA! I still laugh to this day if I see cheap chrome spinners.

So Danny, you have taught me so much thus far! I have no doubt that you will continue to teach all of us around you, all the while making us laugh as you do so well. Be well!!

January 21st, 2011 by Conor

Love you, Conor–here is stuff for words. Love, love, love what you have been doing and I am just sorry you are doing it. Here goes:

I realized I was harboring for far too long this Wizard of Oz fantasy of Danny’s recovery from his injury. You know, Danny would wake up and be surrounded by the loyal cast of characters and he would recount the whacky dream he had. Tin Man, Lion, and Scarecrow—you’d all be there! (And no, I had not done any casting in this realm!) I just kept replaying the last five minutes of that movie in my head.

I love the dispatches of hope & progress, but know that the Wizard of Oz moment will not happen in that way. Danny will, however, be surrounded by a very fine cast – those who have been in Montana and this extended community.

This morning I was listening to the new CD from The Decemberists, and the first track resonated with Danny’s—and our— new challenge. Here’s an excerpt:

Here we come to a turning of the season
Witness to the arc towards the sun
A neighbor’s blessed burden within reason
Becomes a burden borne of all and one

And nobody knows, nobody knows
Let the yoke fall from our shoulders
Don’t carry it all, don’t carry it all
We are all our hands and holders
Beneath this bold and brilliant sun

Love & hugs,

Julie

January 21st, 2011 by MIchelle

Wow, what a night last night. Just made it in and finished cleaning up Danny’s room. He’s fast asleep and sounds like he has been for most of the day. We watched a little bit of The Simpsons before he closed his eyes. I talked with him a bit and he doesn’t remember much, if anything at all, about yesterday. I asked him if he remembers cuddling and he doesn’t, but was quick to pat the bed and ask for more. Everyday we walk him through the same conversations as the day prior and he slowly starts to get his bearings again before he forgets everything. He’s got some really bad headaches which are being treated with pain meds every three hours, but they don’t ever really go away. On a pain scale of 1-10 they are rated a 10 nearly every time he’s asked. Yesterday he was refusing the meds, but today he seems more compliant. It’s good to see him sleep, I think he just has some catching up to do since he opened his eyes for the first time since the craniotomy. The doctor just came in to check up on him. Sounds like Danny will now have someone is his room 24 hours a day other than one of the four of us. Good thing because he’s anxious and ready to get out of bed!

Unfortunately, real flowers aren’t allowed in the ICU, but my friend Matt stopped by the other day for a surprise visit and left us with these beautiful flowers. They have been kept in the waiting area for everyone to enjoy.

Because real flowers aren’t allowed, this solar powered flower has been kept on the windowsill. Danny laughed when I showed him the fake flower. It’s perfect for ICU. Also, these little creatures have brought many smiles. Fuz is the snowboarding moose on the left and Dunlop is the sock monkey on the right (named by Conor). What should we name little blue monster in the middle?

A box of instruments was also sent. Here is Danny customized tambourine. I thought about breaking out all of the instruments at once, but decided against it thinking I would probably get a headache if not Danny. We’ll put these to good use in the future.

The Creative Cursing book made me laugh super hard. Danny and Conor laughed too, but it really never got old for me.

Who knew that there was even such a thing as the Cereal Lover’s Survival Kit? If there’s one person that is in need of this kit it is Danny. If you’ve read his interview on ShreddyTimes.com then you know that if Danny were trapped on an island for the rest of his life and he could only have one thing it would be cereals. “You name it, I’m down. Hopefully it wouldn’t be just one kind…”

January 21st, 2011 by Conor

I was nearly asleep when the phone rang. Cindy asked that someone come in to keep an eye on Dannny because he was too much to watch on his own. It was either we come in or she was going to pin him down with restraints. After my wild 36 hours of being way off the graveyard schedule I couldn’t have been any more tired, so Michelle went in. It sounds like shortly before she got there he had actually somehow managed to fall out of the bed and onto the floor. I’m not really sure of the specifics because I wasn’t there and the details are foggy because they are being relayed to me from Michelle, and she is now asleep. When Michelle got there, there was a 10 minute hold on access to the room because they were trying to get Danny situated from his fall. Cindy informed Michelle that since we had left he had pretty much been trying to escape. When Michelle got in there she was asking Danny about the fall and what happened and all he kept doing was taping the bed next to him. Michelle apparent’y asked him if he wasted to cuddle and he nodded. I guess that was all he wanted. Michelle tried not to fight the laughter as she asked Cindy if it was ok to cuddle with the Danny. Cindy replied by saying something like “If that’s whats gonna keep him in bed and happy then do it.”

So Michelle finally got the golden opportunity that she has been waiting for since she arrived on the 4th. She has been telling me since she showed up that all she wants to do is cuddle with Danny, and she finally got her opportunity. I don’t think she ever thought that it was going to happen while Danny was still in the ICU and I certainly know it wasn’t her goal in heading down there but it’s funny that it finally happened and I can confidently say it was the first medically prescribed cuddly I have ever heard of. The graveyard shift might be over for me but it’s back on for Michelle. I am considering changing “Bedside with Michelle” to “In bed with Michelle” and I couldn’t find it more appropriate that I changed my category to “Adventures with Danny’ even though it wasn’t my adventure I know this is a taste of what’s to come.

~Conor

January 21st, 2011 by Conor

Let me start by saying that the Graveyard Shift Thoughts can no longer exist. Why? Well the nursing staff would like to have the room cleared whenever they are trying to get Danny to sleep. I certainly can’t blame them. I know that I wouldn’t want someone in my room if I was trying to sleep. So I will begin to try to change my sleep cycles back to normal. I was so bummed that I didn’t get to see yesterday that I didn’t sleep at all last night. Instead I went in to see him first thing this morning and was there till the early afternoon. I finally crashed after a 24 hour run around 3 o’clock. I after the 3 hour nap I headed to the hospital until the newly modified night shift ended, which, was at about 11:30 or whenever Cindy gives us the boot! Side note: Shout out to Leah and Cindy. We love you!

Moving on. Danny is beginning to communicate but he can only talk if he has his voice activated plug thing in. I have yet to actually be in the room when he has the plug in. But I have been there for a few sessions where he wishes to write things down on paper. Tonight I thought I would share Danny’s writing.

1) Pants jeans

Danny wants his clothing back and he wants to get out of there. This is the second time that he has written down that he wants his clothes. I don’t think that he has any idea that he was admitted with his snowboarding gear on and that most of it has been absolutely shredded.

2) Who’s in the bathroom

He is convinced that there is someone in the bathroom. He pointed to the bathroom on two different occasions. He pointed as if to say “what is going on in there.” So as you can imagine this confusion was pretty easily solved when I opened the door, turned the lights on, and walked around the bathroom showing him that there was no one in there. He remained confused.

3) Danny’s signature

I asked Danny if he would sign his name. He signed it the same way he always does. That was a good sign.

4) Thanks for everything both of you!

An absolute highlight of the recovery process for me. Danny wrote this and then made eye contact with me and Michelle. It’s great to know that he already appreciates that we are there for him. It was pretty damn cool to see that he knew that and was already acknowledging it. You are very welcome Danny!

5) North Conway Hospital

I asked Danny if he knew where we were. Despite the fact that myself, Michelle and all the nurses have told him that we are in Montana at least 50 times Danny still thinks that he is in North Conway, New Hampshire. The question is how bad is his short term memory and how long will it remain bad for. Side note, I thought several days ago that Danny had solid memories of or day of riding up in Montana. I am no longer confident that he knows anything about even being in Montana. Time will tell.

6) Michelle asked him (in 5th grade format (mostly to be cute)) “Will you go on a date with me?” Yes, No, If your lucky!

Danny checked if your lucky and smiled at Michelle. It’s great to see that he seems to have a solid grasp on his sense of humor. That i something very positive that is going on.

Things are looking very good. He has his sense of humor, is regaining motor skills, he can write and interpret. We are excited about his progress and have some but not too many concerns about the long term. Danny is surrounded by such awesome friends and family that I am confident he will snap out of this with greater ease than most of the rest of us would. I am very happy with where he is at and excited about where he is headed. I just hope he can remain as positive as he possible when he begins to find out how this is going to change his life over the next year or two.

~Conor

ps. since I have been officially kicked off the graveyard shift I feel it would be lame to continue writing under that category. I am now writing under “Adventures with Danny.” If I know Danny like I think I do, I have a feeling we are about go on a whole lot of funny adventures during the weeks to come.

January 21st, 2011 by MIchelle

It’s 12:43 AM and tonight will mark the second night spent away from Danny since I can remember getting here. There were other nights when sleep won, I lost, and I didn’t make it the whole night in room 5109, but intentionally walking out of the room and home to the hotel feels strange. I get that choked up feeling in my throat when I say goodnight to Danny. I fight back tears and can’t say more than a couple of words at a time without my voice cracking. I spend as much time as I can in that room with him even if it means skipping meals, showers, and not seeing more than a two block radius around the hospital. Lot’s of people keep saying that we should get out of the hospital for a change of scenery, but I’m perfectly fine in room 5109. I’ve seen enough outside the hospital to know that Great Falls isn’t really for me.

It was extra tough leaving Danny tonight. He was wide awake and I’m pretty sure he thought he was coming with us when we left. He thinks we’re in New Hampshire. We’ve told him quite a few times we’re in Montana. Short term memory is definitely something we’re going to have to work on. He smiled tonight while Conor and I were hanging out with him. We were trying pretty hard. I was laughing really hard. We had hillbilly teeth in and hung up some decor his grandma sent. Danny now has a plastic hawaiian grass skirt and flowers hanging from the entrance to his room. He also wrote THANKS FOR EVERYTHING…BOTH OF YOU! on a piece of paper. Made us stoked.

I want to stay awake a write right now. I feel like any second now some really profound thoughts are going to surface, but I’m going to try to get on a normal schedule. Maybe tomorrow. Good night world.

-Michelle

January 21st, 2011 by Conor

A note to Danny ,

Danny, I am so happy to hear that you are getting better every day. Your brother, Michelle, your friends, and your family have stepped up in a huge way. They have rallied the troops man. Working hard to keep everyone informed of your every step toward victory. Today I read Michelle post about your physical therapy session and was excited to learn that you were able to write, identify colors, and raise your arms, this is all sooo HUGE bro. I am proud of you and know you are fighting the hardest fight of your life right now. Keep your chin up and know people are praying for you and sending you all their love. You got a great family, awesome friends and a stud for a brother. Get well soon D.

For all those out there reading I first met Danny this past Summer in Lake Tahoe. It was just about 5:00am when Mike Wilson and dropped my boat in Lake Tahoe. It was too cold for us to get the Hula Networks sticker that Danny made to actually stick on my boat so we had to wait until the temp rose.

Once in the water Mike and I headed to meet the Shreddy Times crew onsite. I remember the cold air and looking at Mike saying “dude it’s pretty cold out” he responded with “yeah I’m not excited to go in the water at 5am”.

Twenty minutes later we pulled up to DL Bliss. The sun was just starting to raising as we pulled up and Conor greeted us with a loud shout from the cliffs “what’s up guys”. I looked up at and saw Conor, Will, Porter, and Danny all hanging from the rocks. They all had HUGE Smiles and stood in picture perfect position to insure they got the perfect shot of our arrival. Camera in hand with a huge smile on his face Danny greeted Mike and I saying “what’s up guys.. You ready Mike?” Mike responded with a simply “yeah I’m ready, just not to excited about getting in the water this early in the morning but I’m ready” Danny just laughed and said hey Joe can I climb onboard ? I responded with “yea for sure”

While Mike climbed the cliffs and made sure all was ready with the swing Danny and I practiced going back and forth to get our timing right for the shot. Immediately we got to talking and swapping stories about where we were from and so on. We were having fun both super pumped for what was about to go down. I liked Danny right from the start and loved his entrepreneur spirit. Both he and his brother ooze a creative talent and a true entrepreneur spirit that is truly special. That day I learned that Danny was polite, humble, and helpful.

For the next hour Danny and I worked hard to get the moving shots from the water as Conor and the Shreddy crew billy goated the cliffs to capture the perfect shot of Mike hucking himself into history. It was epic, and definitely goes down as one of my favorite days ever.

Thanks Danny for being part of it and I can’t wait until you are back on your feet

Get well Brother

Joe and the Hula Networks Crew

January 21st, 2011 by Conor

Yo guys, here is some pics of K-MART and MFM showing Danny some love from Salt Lake City.

OOPS HAHA!!!!!

January 21st, 2011 by Conor