Busy Three Weeks

The last three weeks have been very busy for Matt. He continues to work with his therapists on getting stronger and he has shown some good progress. He is eating more and getting stronger and we continue to focus on getting as many calories into him every day. Their goal is to get him taking in 1500 calories a day and we are up to around 800-900 per day. It is important to “feed the engine” as this will give him more energy and allow him to get the most out of his therapy sessions. His therapy team has now detected muscle movement in both his left and right biceps, his left wrist and just this past Wednesday picked up more muscle activity in his deltoids. These small steps are very encouraging. This along with him feeling better and getting stronger has led to the Shepherd Center team to push back his discharge date into May, a good sign.

Matt has had many visitors over the last few weeks. A group of his friends came down from Boston and spent the weekend with him. On St. Patrick’s Day Marty Reasoner, a hockey player for the Atlanta Thrashers (and former Boston College player) came to visit Matt, along with Thrash, the Thrasher’s mascot. The team invited Matt to their game against the Boston Bruins. (more on that shortly). Friday the 19th of March was a beautiful day in Atlanta and Matt was able to go outside for a few hours. It was a beautiful day and Matt was thrilled to let the sun beat down on him. It was so great to see him smile and for the first time since his accident, really happy! That weekend his girlfriend visited him and it was great for his spirits.

On Monday, Patrice Bergeron (see picture) from the Boston Bruins came by and spent almost an hour with Matt. He brought a gift bag with many items and even brought his gold medal from the Olympics, quite a thrill. Bergeron is the personification of class and the time spent with Matt was very special. We attended the game on Tuesday night and had a wonderful time. Matt invited 2 other patients from his floor and along with several staff and his parents, were hosted by the Thrashers in a sky box to watch the Bruins win! Our thanks to both the Thrashers and Bruins for their efforts.

This week Matt has additional visitors, both family and friends and has more energy than I have seen since the accident. He continues to amaze with his strength and no matter how bad he feels some days he participates in all therapy sessions! We hope that the month of April brings more success!

Thanks to all of you for your continued support and interest in Matt and please continue to keep him in your thoughts and prayers! Michael