Tracheostomy surgery went well

Last Friday Matt had a tracheostomy and the surgery went well. This procedure allows matt to continue to work on his breathing but more importantly allows him to be transferred to the Shepherd Center Rehabilitation center in Atlanta to begin his recovery. The Shepherd Center is regarded as one of the finest rehabilitation centers in the country and have a tremendous recovery history for spinal cord patients. In addition they focus on adolescents and there will be other teenagers who have suffered spinal cord injuries there, so he will be working along side other kids his age. This will be so important for Matt, to see kids his own age and interact with his peers during his recovery. They specialize in full rehabilitation, so will work on both his physical and mental recovery and also work with Sue and me to help us prepare for caring for Matt when he comes home.

Matt will be in Atlanta for at least 2 months and as you can imagine, he is anxious about moving to the center. It is a great unknown to a 15 year old and it is also 1500 miles away from his friends and family. We will be with him for the first week of his stay and my wife will relocate to Atlanta to be with him every step of the way. We know he will be in good hands at Shepherd and look forward to the next phase in his long journey.

The last 9 days have been filled with more Physical Therapy, breathing therapy and many visitors. In addition to the steady stream of family and friends, Matt was visited by Jerry York, head coach of Boston College hockey, Jack Parker, head coach of Boston University hockey and his three captains, two of the members of the Boston rock band The Drop Kick Murphy’s and Boston Bruins legend Ray Bourque. As you can tell from the picture, quite a thrill for a young hockey player (and truth be told a sports minded Dad!). Matt’s most uplifting visitor was from a young man named John Gilpatrick. John was a Suffolk University hockey player who suffered a C6 vertebra injury during a hockey game in 1996 and was paralyzed from the neck down. It took John 5 years but he is fully recovered and is now walking and playing golf. And while we don’t know what Matt’s outcome will be, the inspiration and hope we take from John, that miracles do happen and that anything is possible, reinforces or hope, our faith and belief that Matt will one day walk again.

It goes without saying, but I will say it anyway, that I, along with my wife Sue, my daughter Kelley and most of all Matt, are forever grateful for your continued support, thoughts and prayers for Matt. The outpouring of support from friends, family, the Town of Norwood and the hockey community continues to amaze and humble us. While we sometimes wonder if we deserve all of this, we are firm in our belief that Matt most certainly does!

My best to all of you and please keep Matt in your prayers!

Michael and Sue