Coach's Corner: Afternoon Rounds . . . A Little Late (by Chris)

I am sure most of you are checking regularly to get your updates. Matt let you know of all the progress up until about 1:00pm. This update will start with my wife Deb, SisterFargo. I dropped her off at the airport to catch a flight back to Minnesota to relieve Grandma and Grandpa Heckert from babysitting. She was scheduled to fly Nashville-Memphis-Minneapolis and arrive at 4:00pm. Once at the gate, they asked for volunteers to take a bump. Deb said, "Yes," as long as they could get her to Minneapolis today. [Hospital...Airport....God is working everywhere....] Deb was able to switch to the direct flight to Minneapolis that was boarding at the time, she received a $300.00 voucher and she arrived in Minneapolis 3 hours earlier than scheduled. Plus she had the entire row to herself to stretch out and get some sleep in the flight. Deb is now home safe with the kiddos.

Now on to Dad: Mom and I went up at about 1:00pm, but we had to wait outside the room for awhile. Matt told you earlier about that "special, stinky prayer request" and it appears that Dad was receiving another bath after that prayer was answered. We then spent the next 2.5 hours with Dad. During that time, his ICP stayed under 10 and we had a great time talking with Nurse RubySlippers. Mom got to spend the next hour rubbing Dad's feet with lotion, as I watched the IPC go down to 6.

Around 3:00pm, XRAYGirl and XRAYGuy come into Dad's TraumaCondo . . . they have to do a series of x-rays on his chest and scapula. After Mom helped calm Dad down from all the moving around, we got ready to leave. Like a flash of lightening, all of a sudden, Dr. Trauma2.0, Dr. BigVoice and Dr. NiceNeuro stopped by the hut for a little tea. (What am I saying? This is Nashville. . . It was sweet-tea.) Dr. Trauma2.0 explained that the progress with Dad has been good and that they are planning to remove the ICP monitor from his head so long as the ICP levels continue to stay low throughout the night. He also explained that they are going to start a more detailed assessment of his orthopedic needs...thus introduction of XRAYGirl and XRAYGuy. We should have a idea of the next steps to be taken to start fixing the broken bones by tomorrow.

Dr. BigVoice and Dr. NiceNeuro (collectively referred to hereinafter as "NEO-Guys") then step in to do an aggressive neurological exam. They poke at Dad and yell at him to open his eyes and move his hand/arm up to his chest -- and “HE DOES IT." Dad worked hard for that 10 seconds, but HE DID IT. For the first time, NEO-Guys smiled at Mom and said that Dad looks good . . . Mom started crying. [I guess you can't please us. . . we cry when you're grumpy. . .we cry when you're nice. . . go figure!?!?!?]

In the words of my Dad, “GOD IS GOOD ALL THE TIME...ALL THE TIME GOD IS GOOD."

At 9:00pm, I called Dad at his TraumaCondo, Unit #9. This will be the first night that all three of us (Mom, Matt and myself) will sleep at home . . . [not in the same bed, of course, you sicko!] NurseNewGuy (we have not met him yet) tells me that Dad is stable and his numbers are where they were throughout the day.

Dad, sleep well tonight and we will all see you in the morning.