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basehoundsam

Sorry to report Calvin19 has been injured Paragliding.

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UPDATE!!!

So Hecker has been doing great today and when he turned and looked at me I said Hey Hecker and he looked me in the eyes and said "Hi Nic"... he did that again later and was also able to tell me that we were watching one of our earlier movies, Vision. He also said a line of one of the songs with the movie. We got him to drink some juice using a straw and we've been feeding him ice chips. They're doing a swallowing test tomorrow and if all goes well, as expected, he'll be eating some real food. Thanks again for the support.
-Nic

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AWESOME NEWS!!!:)Thanks for the update, my prayers and thougts are with the friends and family.
Later
Blair

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hey guys, no real news to report. Hecker's doin' basically the same, but is able to eat some stuff now. He still isn't really awake or anything, but it's good that we're able to feed him.

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Matt, May you become stronger with every breath. Better than before, as soon as possible. Keep up the good work.


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Hey guys, the following is a e-mail update from Hecker's dad, Jim.

It is Wednesday morning. I have not talked to the hospital yet today. Matt seemed more "clear" yesterday. He still does not really know who anyone is
or where he is. The frontal brain injuries do that. He is restless and squirming around, trying to get his casts off. It must be very confusing to be him right now. His hands are dexterous and he seems to like playing with
a plastic ball. He is eating and drinking. That is good. I did see him smile at something either yesterday or the day before. He may be moved today from ICU to a step down unit. Then hopefully to a rehab facility. Craig hospital here in Denver is one of the best. We hope to get him in there. He will not have surgery on his leg and heal for at least another week. They want the soft tissue to heal more then it is easier to fix the bones. His arm and wrist are NOT broken, just a nasty bruise, that is good news. I can't tell you how much the prayers and well wishes have meant. I appreciate it so much.

I am going to play with the band on Friday eve for our 10th anniversary gig, at the little bear. I'm going to play my heart out and send some rock n roll good vibes to Matt.

More later
'till then
Jim

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Hi guys,

It's Alex. Hecker had an awsome day of actually sitting in a chair with his hands untied (he had to be in restraints this whole time, to keep him from pulling on the wrong tubes). He has been saying hi to his family and friends and capable of saying the right names. He also mentioned a "paragliding crash" today.

All in all he's doing much better mentally, but he still has a long way to go. Thanks everybody for all the support, you all rock.

Slider up,
Alex

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Hi guys,

It's Alex. Hecker had an awsome day of actually sitting in a chair with his hands untied (he had to be in restraints this whole time, to keep him from pulling on the wrong tubes). He has been saying hi to his family and friends and capable of saying the right names. He also mentioned a "paragliding crash" today.

All in all he's doing much better mentally, but he still has a long way to go. Thanks everybody for all the support, you all rock.

Slider up,
Alex



Excellent news! Through your posts, there has been a continuous trend towards recovery and plenty to hope for. Many, many thanks. We continue to send vibes and prayers. --md

I miss Lee.
And JP.
And Chris. And...

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Hey guys, Hecker continues to improve and they were able to transfer him out of the SICU and into a room where they have a really great tech watching him 24 hours a day, instead of just checking in on him every once in a while. They have him off IV medication and let him stay awake and kicking all day. He's doing great at recognizing people and responding to certain questions. He did a decent job of feeding himself with assistance and remains the same sarcastic Hecker we all love. The best head trama recovery place around is Craig and we're excited to have him transfered there on Monday.
Thanks all,
-Nic

Me to Hecker "Hecker, stop faking."
Hecker, "Shut up, Garcia!"

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There really isn't a whole lot of news on Hecker. He didn't sleep a whole lot last night so he was kinda out of it today since we were trying to keep him awake to prevent him from becoming too nocternal. We had him in a wheelchair for a while and he wanted to wheel himself all over the hospital (even though he doesn't know that's where he is yet). It gets really frustrating when all you want is for him to understand so we can stop fighting him to cooperate with certain things. Every once in a while he looks really frustrated like he knows something's wrong but he can't figure out what it is. He'll come out of it soon and I just wish every one of his friends could be there to provide the support and reassurance he needs. Also, in case anyone wanted to visit; they've been limiting visitors to only direct family and Alex and myself. So hopefully when he gets to Craig things will be different, but visiting hours are only 5-9 at night. Please contact either Alex or me if you're planning on coming down so we can make sure there will be time to get you in. Thanks again, you guys are awesome.
-Nic

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trying to keep him awake to prevent him from becoming too nocternal.



i dont think a BASE jumper can be too nocternal.:P Im glad to hear that heckers progress is improving. sending prayers and good vibes.

-nic

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Hecker was much more awake today, still doesn't know what's going on, but a lot more talkative. He kept provoking his dad and me into pushing him faster in the wheelchair and was saying some quite entertaining things. He had his sister and I laughing plenty today and a enjoyable visit was quite a relief. I've been recieving some very encouraging messages from friends and I'll continue to pass on the supportive words to Hecker. They keep reminding us that this is going to be a marathon and not a sprint, but we can't help but notice even the subtlest light turning on in that intricate brain of Hecker's. Thanks guys,
-Nic

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Nic,

Thanks for keeping us all up-to-date on Hecker. It's nice to be able to hear from someone about how he's doing so often. Let him know that if he wants a master to show him some wheelchair tricks, I'd be more than willing. ;):P

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Hecker continues to be goofy Hecker, but he was very intersted in Alex's and my phone so we let him make a few phone calls today. He wasn't making a whole lot of sense, as can be verified by Chris Pope and Adam Foster who were 2 of the few people he called before the nurse made us stop. He should be recieving surgery on his left heel on Wed. and his right leg and ankle still need to heal a little more before surgery is performed. I'm not expecting any significant changes in the near future, but I will let you guys know how his first surgery goes. Until Then,
-Nic

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I forgot to say his move to Craig was a success and he has a nice big room at the moment all to himself. Also, I must say... the nurse watching over him, very cute.

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Yeah, there's something a bit un-nerving to finally get a chance to talk to my bro and he wants to talk about my "man-package!" It was great to hear your voice again brother...even if you were talking about my junk.
Until then,
pope

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Hey guys, I should have done this a while ago and I forget that you guys aren’t seeing him everyday, so here’s a better update in response to questions I’ve received.

Hecker is more or less on a normal sleep schedule and is awake most of the day looking around and talking occasionally, this can range from a little to a lot and not all of it makes sense. When he decides that he’s tired, he’s tired. He’ll stop paying attention to people around him and just stare off or roll over and take a little nap. He feeds himself, but doesn’t really have that big of an appetite. As far as when he IS awake and active, he’s a ton of fun to be around and jokes and does funny things that he may not be aware of, but we at least find him humorous. Alex and I think the reason they stopped the phone calls was because it was getting later and he becomes more agitated than the nurses want him to be, but during the day, we’re hoping they won’t have a problem with it.

As far as being able to remember the accident, he’s telling people basically what he’s been told and we don’t think he really knows what happened. He’s done this with other things where he’ll give an answer, then say “I don’t know, that’s what they told me.” Even remembering people can be a challenge for him occasionally, or it could be an issue with him processing the memory and being able to say a name. It was around the third day that Hecker sat up and said “Hi Nic” and just yesterday he had some difficulty saying Alex’s and my name. So we’re not really sure what’s going on there.

The reported injuries are a tibia, fibula fracture to his right leg in addition to shattering off pieces of his talus bone of his right ankle when the tibia slammed into it. He also fractured his calcaneus bone or heel bone of his left foot. His left foot is expected to have surgery tomorrow where as the right leg and foot need to heal more and repair the soft tissue surrounding the breaks before they do surgery. He’ll definitely be sitting out for a while and will probably be calling on Russel to learn some wheelchair tricks.

In Denver Health they had a 24 hours sitter and they continue to monitor him by cameras now at Craig Hospital next door to Swedish. Reasoning behind this is he still isn’t able to fully grasp that he’s in a hospital and tries to get out of bed occasionally or move around, putting his legs in compromising situations when they’re incapable of any load bearing. His left leg is rolled up with a sort of temporary cast on and the right leg, I don’t know if I ever said this, received surgery the first night and has an external fixator consisting of rods, pins and clamps holding his tibia and fibula in place, meaning he has four big rods coming out of his leg that he bumps every once in a while. He still has the catheter in down below and I’m sure you believe me when I say he doesn’t like it one bit, but he doesn’t seem to mess with it as much anymore. I heard something about that being taken out in the next couple days.

I hope this helps and I’m sorry I didn’t do it sooner, but if you guys have any question please don’t hesitate to e-mail me and I’ll do my best at getting back to you or letting everyone know depending on the question.

Until then,
-Nic

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Wow, my conversation wasn't quite as... riveting as yours sounds, but it was so good to hear Matt's voice (coherently, if even semi) and talk to him. I mentioned as many people as I could on the phone that were sending well wishes, and he was excited at the mention of names. It made me smile for a long time. Thanks Matt.

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Hi Nic

is he on drugs at all ?

how does he handle the pain of his legs?

if his on drugs that will play with his brain a heap.

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Hey, I'm still workin' on finding out about what drugs he's on, they switch 'em when he transfered doctors, but he is on something. Until then, here's a letter from his dad, Jim.

Matt is in Craig hospital, and at times seems like his old self. He is communicating although some of the words and sentences do not make a lot of sense. There is some jumbled stuff in there. From where we were a week ago, this is spectacular. He has his sense of humor. He thought he was in Wisconsin yesterday. I guess we had not given him the bigger picture. We told him he was in the hospital but not what state the hospital was in. He had a 3 hr surgery on his left heal and is still in the recovery room as I write this. He will be kind of out of it the rest of the evening. They already have him doing 3 hrs of therapy each day. Physical, ocuupational and speech. Maybe they can teach him how to spell.

I can tell you how fortunate I feel. He is in a great place and probably will be here for 6-8 weeks. He needs to get more of a handle on what happened and what is happenning. Julie thinks he knew he was having surgery but not quite why and how come. The docs here have said he cannot have any additional blows to the head for at least 18 months. They could be fatal. I think I mentioned before, they tell us this will be a marathon. He will be wheel chair bound for about 3 months. That probably works because I'm sure it will hurt like mad to stand.

Each day is better! I still can't tell you how much I appreciate the prayers and well wishes. You guys are something else. I love you guys.

'till then'
Jim

P.S. I threw a pic of Hecker on this post. It was taken today before surgery. I think he looks a little sketchy until you zoom in.

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Yeah, Matt's still there. I can see it in his eyes.

Thank you for your updates. Hang in there, Matt needs people like you around him. Anyone should feel lucky to have a friend like you.

Please let us know if Matt (or you) needs anything.

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Thanks for the pic. Matt actually looks much better than I had imagined from your daily descriptions.


Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

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Having never been catheterised and looking at the size of that tube running down his leg, it's no wonder he's been trying to pull it out! :-S

Get well soon Matt...
Skydiving Fatalities - Cease not to learn 'til thou cease to live

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Having never been catheterised and looking at the size of that tube running down his leg, it's no wonder he's been trying to pull it out! :-S

Get well soon Matt...



[shudder]can...we...not...talk...about...that...please?[/shudder]

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Hey guys, I'm glad I was able to get that picture up to show you how great he was doing yesterday--before the surgery. Any surgery is a serious thing and seeing Hecker today reminded me of that. He's really hurting and they're doing their best to lower the pain and keep him out of it. When he does come around, you really just want them to put him back under because of how bad it's hurting him... plus we're still having to remind him that his pain is the result of a surgery and why he had it. It's all part of the big picture and is a step toward being fully healed, so Hecker just needs to hang in there and heal fast.
Until then,
-Nic

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