It started as a normal Sunday, with a few modifications. Instead of going straight to Starbucks, I let her sleep and went to pick up a few items from the grocery store. Then I prepared ham and eggs with home fries for breakfast.
Then it was off to solve the Jumble and hang out at the Armory Square Starbuck's until it was time to take the lad to his hockey game.
I prepared the over easy eggs and toast that he asked for before we left. Who knew that would be the only thing he would eat for the day. There was just about enough time for him to eat before we had to leave for the game.
We have been taking the our son to hockey games since he was 6 or 7 years old. In 3 months he will be 19. In three months he will have the outward appearance of a healthy young person once again.
It was the second period. His team was down two goals to none. It happened right in front of us, away from the boards, just inside the blue line. He has been coached to crouch down and get low when he checks. Otherwise he risks drawing 2 minutes for a hit to the head. That is what happens when a youth hockey player is 6'-6-1/2" tall. He has executed these hits for a few years since sprouting in adolescence to his current height.
This time it was different. We watched as he crouched low and made a clean hit on the kid from the opposing team with the puck. But instead of coming out of the hit and skating away toward a loose puck, he went down in pain. He lay there on the ice as the coaches approached to see what was wrong. We have witnessed this scene many times. Most times the player is helped to his feet and skates away as the players from both teams strike the ice with their sticks to acknowledge the player is ok.
The coaches helped him to his feet this time too. But as he skated toward the bench we noticed something was off. He was struggling to maintain his balance.
He sat on the bench for less than a minute then headed for the locker room with the help of one of his coaches. I headed for the locker room too to find out what was wrong. After telling the coach that I would stay with him, I watched as he got out of his gear and got dressed. He was still having trouble maintaining his balance. When I asked if he was ok he said he was, but he said his neck hurt. He said he didn't want to go to the hospital. He said he didn't want to have to wear one of those neck brace things.
We put the equipment in the car then headed back to watch the rest of the game. His team lost 3-2 and we took him home to shower before getting him medical treatment to find out what was going on with his balance and what was causing the neck pain.
The game was over a little past 3:30 pm and we made it to Crouse Hospital Prompt Care around 4:30 pm. I stayed in the waiting room when they called his name and my wife and Carolyn, his girl friend went in with him to the examination room. At some point I looked up to see my wife walking in from the door to the outside. I asked her how she did that.
That's when I first heard that my son's condition was a bit more serious than a little neck pain that some anti-inflammatory meds and rest would take care of.
X-rays they took showed something so they had taken him across the street to the hospital thru the tunnel for a cat scan. We headed over and met him in the emergency room where we would spend the rest of the night and half the morning.
When they were in the examination room, they put a cervical collar on him to immobilize his neck and head and his girlfriend took a picture of him with her phone. She sent it to Evan, one of his closest friends who called me to find out where he was. He told me he was coming over. After we had been in the emergency room for a half hour or so my phone rang and i met his friend at the entrance to the hospital.
And we waited. We waited for word from the doctor about what the cat scan revealed. A few hours later, the doctor stopped in to inform us that he was scheduling an MRI. The cat scan had revealed two fractured vertebrae, a problem that needed further investigation. At that time we were told that there were two probable forms of treatment for this type of injury. One was to wear a cervical collar for an extended period of time and the other was surgery. We were hoping that he would not need surgery.
Within a half hour we followed the technician who had been called in from home to the room where they recorded numerous images of the injury. We all stayed in the adjoining room while Matt was slid inside the MRI as the technician sat at her computer that operated the machine. From time to time she would talk into a microphone to ask how he was holding up. He was fascinated by all the sounds emanating from the confines of the device and made it thru the lengthy procedure.
After that it was back to the emergency room to wait some more.
We waited for the neurosurgeon to finish the emergency surgery at the adjacent hospital so he could review the images of Matt's neck and advise us.
Soon it was past midnight and still we waited. It was near 2 in the morning before the doctor arrived. He ran Matt thru a series of physical tests to evaluate before breaking the news.
His name was Dr. Li and he spoke with a heavy asian accent. He explained to us that there were fractures to 2 vertebrae in his neck. They number the vertebrae and his fractures were on the right side of number 3 & 4. In addition they were also out of alignment. There was some damage to the discs between 3 & 4 and 4 & 5. The only option was to go in to surgically correct the problem and bring the vertebrae back in alignment.
The procedure was deemed to be emergency surgery and he was scheduled to go under the knife the next day at 3 pm. He said he could show us the images. We followed him down the corridor to a room with a couple computers. He talked on the phone while bringing up the views of Matt's neck.
We were processing and trying to find a way out of the surgery but the reality was sinking in. I felt myself beginning to lose my grip. My wife said I looked pale.
After asking as many questions as we could think of, we headed back to tell Matt what had to be done. He had a rough time accepting this reality but we assured him we would be there to help him thru this. He kept saying that he just wanted to go home.
By 3 am he was admitted and lie in a bed on the 6th floor, room 6018. I left to get some sleep and my wife stayed with Carolyn and Evan. In 12 hours, our son was to go under the knife. The ER nurse had pulled us aside to assure us that this surgery was very common and we shouldn't worry. Until this was over, all we could do was our best to follow that advice. This whole episode was very scary.
In the morining, after bringing Kathy home to shower, we returned to the hospital. As we were waiting for the elevator in the parking garage we noticed two people walking toward us. It was Ron, one of Matt's coaches and his wife Pam. We all got on the elevator and headed over to the hospital across the street.
We planned enough time so we could talk with the surgeon before the procedure. He arrived shortly after we did. He explained how the surgery was necessary and we double-checked that there were no other options. He said they had told him to be ready around 2:30, but after he left the room, we again waited.
In the meantime we all visited with Matt and helped keep his spirits up.
Carolyn, Drew, Evan and Brenda were there with the rest of us. (Pay no attention to the one with middle finger tourette syndrome; he means well.)
After being told several times that someone would be there to take Matt to the surgical suite on the first floor, it wasn't until after 4 p.m. that the gurney arrived to transfer him. Luis introduced himself and pushed Matt down the corridor.
They allowed 2 people to accompany him in pre-op. Kathy and I waited with Matt as a whole gang of people gathered around him, preparing him for surgery. A step by step description of how they would proceed was offered by a woman with a Jesus tatoo on her wrist. The man who would monitor Matt's nervous system throughout the surgery mentioned how he had a son a couple years younger than Matt who also played hockey. Two anesthesiologists explained what their role would be.
When it was time, we walked a few steps down the corridor with him until they turned and pushed him into surgery. We told him we would see him in a couple hours. Then we headed through the next set of doors, around the corner and down the hall to the waiting area. We expected to find Matt's friends and his coach but there was no one. So we went down to the cafeteria and had some dinner.
After dinner we made our way back up to the waiting area and sooon after that Ron and Pam walked in and sat down. They stayed with us the whole time Matt was in surgery. Kathy left several times to walk up to the third floor where Matthew's friends had gathered to wait. She would let them know any news as we were informed. Sometime after the surgery began, Stephanie arrived.
The 3 p.m. start time was moved to 4:30 then we found out it did not start until almost 5:30. A friendly nurse stopped by to advise us of the change and suggested we figure on 2 hours from that time.
It was a few minutes longer than that when Dr. Neckrysh walked in to explain how the procedure didn't go exactly as planned but still went well and that Matt was, at that time waking up in the operating room.
Instead of removing the discs between vertebrae 3 & 4 and 4 & 5, there was a complication and they had to remove on of the vertebrae and insert a plastic cage to fill in the space before screwing in the titanium plate to pull his bones back into alignment. At first he described this in medical terms and asked kathy if she understood what he was saying. Without hesitating, she said no, she didn't. Stephanie was there so she provided a pen and paper for the doctor to show us what he was talking about.
A short while later, we were allowed to stop into post-op to say hello to Matt. Seeing him awake was the best feeling. The room was busy so we had to leave right away. While we waited outside the room, they wheeled Matt out and into the elevator to get another cat scan. We were asked to meet him up in his room. They were moving him to 6016, a two-bed room without another patient, so his friends could stay with him that night.
After waiting perhaps another half hour or so we watched him being brought into his room. When they transferred him into his bed we were all asked to wait outside the room. After another ten minutes or so we all gathered around his bed and visited.
We told Matt that the doctor had done a John Madden to explain the change in the surgery and showed him the doctor's drawing in Stephanie’s pad. Matt took the pad and drew a row of x's inder a row of o's. Then he said, while drawing a line and an arrow, They should line up like this; that way this guy can sack the quarterback." We noticed that his voice was slightly deeper and slightly more nasal than it had been before and he sounded just a bit loopy as the anesthesia had not totally worn off. The doctor had explained to us the night before how sometimes the quality of the voice is affected by this surgery.
Evan, Carolyn, Kathy, Stephanie and I were there. (Once again, pay no attention to the middle finger-challenged individual. Perhaps he is merely attempting to point something out to the group. Perhaps not).
It was around 10 pm when Kathy and I left to get some sleep.
The next day, Kathy brought Matt home and we were all relieved. He has to wear the cervical collar for 3 months. When we asked the doctor if there would be any physical therapy, we were told the best therapy would be to resume normal life. Normal life . . .
We did not have to get him there as early as when he had to dress to play, but we could have left the house earlier than we did. As a result, we arrived at the State Fair Coliseum after the game had started. It was a few minutes into the first period. We found a spot amid the well-wishing parents who indicated how glad they were to see Matt getting around. We shared the story about what we went through from the injury through the emergency surgery as we watched the game.
When he played hockey, Matt had very physical style. He enjoyed playing the game as he felt it was intended to be. As a defenseman, Matt knew that checking could be as effective as knocking the puck away with your stick or stealing it and skating away. But a consequence of a more physical style of play was a greater chance of getting whistled for a penalty. As a result, Matt garnered more than his share of time in the penalty box during the eleven or so years he embraced the game.
The game this day was ugly and several "game" penalties were earned as Matt's teammates reacted to the numerous late hits after the whistle from the opposing team by getting more physical than the rules allow. It was a fitting though unintended tribute to the tall kid wearing his "00" jersey and standing near the penalty box for most of the game. 
