January 25th, 2011 by Conor

Right after the last blog, we entered Danny’s Hospital room in the ICU at Great Falls…

I can’t explain the feeling of rounding the corner of the ICU waiting to lock eyes on Danny…but I can explain how it felt to see him…and it was Danny, not some person in a vegetative state.

His parents were already in the room. His head wrapped in a bandage turban with a five o’clock shadow. when we first walked into the room, he was sleeping. Then Conor sat next to him and said “Danny, there are some friends here to see you…” Danny rolled a little then opened the eye that wasn’t swollen from the last surgery. What he did next nearly made us do backflips in the hospital room…he lifted both arms as if to signify victory. His hand movements were completely Danny.

These are all events that do not surprise Conor, Michelle and Danny’s parents, because these are part of the strides that he has been making over the past few days. however, for us down in Tahoe, these are the things we’ve waited to SEE, not just read about. One particular thing that he keeps doing is tapping his hand or foot on the edge of his bed as if to signify that he has had enough…tapping out.

This seemed like big news, until a few hours later news came to Conor that Danny was sitting up on his own in a chair next to his hospital bed…when I walked in again I saw Danny sitting in his chair, turban still on, looking “like royalty” as Michelle said. He looked at ease and was tapping his hands incessantly. He then underwent some hand eye speech therapy tests, like connect the shapes and a few mazes (which where pretty hard from my point of view). When He finished these tests he took it upon himself to rise up on his own and attempt to get back into bed. As awesome as it was to see him stand up, it was a little premature…for another day Danny.

This was my experience on day one of a short visit…but this stuff is intense. What makes it all worth it is the look in DCT’s eye that not only suggests, but demands the understanding that he WILL be out of here soon.