Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

Get Your Red Cross for full access to the site!!

[airric]

Yesterday on August 28th 2011, Tyler Hoog and some friends were involved in an accident.   Right now the details I received are from a facebook update...

Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Hope-for-Hoog/278634945486568

The surgery went "as well as could be expected". Screws were put in C2-C6, fair amount of bleeding in the spinal sac around the spinal cord (indicative of a severe injury).Ty will be ICU for 5-7 days, regular room until medically stable, then to an inpatient spinal rehab center for "months."

I was with these guys until the last trail and unsure what happened.   I'm going to start off on a donation fund with 200 dollars.  If you can contribute please do..   This affects all of us and MY thoughts and prayers are with the HOOG family that has been a part of the JKCrawlers crew since its conception.   GET WELL TY!!! 


Paypal is set up:    tylerhoogfund@jkcrawlers.com

Once at paypal you navigate to send money...   make sure its to a friend or family member and make it a gift or donation.    Put Tyler in the subject.   

[R0ck]

My thoughts and prayers are with you Hoog family for a speedy and full recovery for Tyler.


In the coming weeks if Craig Hospital is an option for Tyler's spinal rehab, he would be in very good hands there.

[fishyguy]

 I wish you guys the best and a speedy recovery. If you need anything hoog just let me know.

[airric]

******UPDATE******

We're with Tyler now.  The great news is that everything upstairs seems to be good for now.  He has a breathing tube in his mouth so he cannot talk or lip speak at the moment. Good signs are that he is agitated by it and fighting them to take it out.  That's good spirit.  Better sign is that because he can't talk with the tube in, he, Kim and I have already worked out a system of blinks & nods to answer questions and spell words & sentences.  He's spelling things out more quickly with each "conversation" and he recalls the code from one discussion to the next, so cognitive function is good and I can "hear" him in the way he structures his sentences.  Obviously we are not talking about things other than what he needs to be comfortable, but it's good to connect with him and knows Kim and I are here with him.  He's still too sedated and foggy to get a sense for his emotional state, other than I get the sense he's battling.

We met with the neurological doctor and the rehab doctors today.  He has some feeling in the C4 area and can shrug his shoulders.  This is reason for cautious optimism in that C4 controls the diaphragm.  That coupled, with the fact that he was breathing on his own when he got here, has us hopeful that he will be able to get of the ventilator sooner rather than later.  They were going to run a "weaning" test this morning, but he got excitable when he saw Kim and me and I think was hoping we could get the tube out. They sedated him and when the doctors came on rounds, he was too out of it to do much testing.  They changed his meds a bit and were able to do some testing a little later.  Still no movement or feeling below the shoulders, but it's still early.  With the med change, they're hoping to be able to try "weaning" this afternoon to see if his breathing numbers are strong enough to remove the tube. Beyond that, not a lot of new information.  Because he's tall, and because of the injury, there is concern about possible blood clots, so they're keeping an eye on that and will probably start anti-coagulants later this week.  Protocol is 72 hours. They're concerned that an artery in the neck may have been injured in the accident so they are considering another MRI to make sure it's not affecting the brain.  I'm less concerned about that given the communications we've been having.

Expectation is still 5-7 days in ICU. He can't leave ICU until he's off the ventilator.  Once he's off, he can go to regular room.  Plan is still Craig Rehab Hospital, which by all accounts is the best country.  Kim and I are going to tour it this week.  Average stay for Ty's type of injury is 100 days.

I know many of you are anxious to see him and we are incredibly grateful for that. We ask that you give us a couple of days and check with us first, as we are hopeful that he will make some progress in the next couple of days and will that he will be better able to appreciate and draw strength from your visit and your loving support. This is going to be a marathon, not a sprint and Tyler (as well Kim, Thomas and I) are deeply appreciative of your genuine desire to be there for us.  I promise we will be drawing on all of you for that.

[airric]

Thank you guys for the donations, please keep them coming..   Please dig deep and give what you can.   They will be enduring many months of this.    I cannot express the sorrow I feel for Tyler, he is family to me..   

[cojk]

sending prayers for a speedy recovery.

[airric]

thank you... again please help..

www.paypal.com

tylerhoogfund@jkcrawlers.com

[airric]

All,

Apologies for the lateness of the update.  Not much new to report medically.  Tyler had another MRI today but we have not heard the doctor's interpretation of the results. He is spending more time awake, although it is still only for minutes at a time.  We continue to communicate via blinks and nods, which gets very tiring for him.  The need for the MRI interrupted the breathing tube weaning, which will now occur tomorrow.

During our stay tonight, Tyler woke up and wanted to talk.  He asked us if his feet were moving.  They were not, but we are very encouraged to know he's trying.  As per my last update, he has great spirit, which is good, as he will need it.  It's a little disconcerting to know that he is thinking about this at a time when we cannot fully communicate with him and we hope that by tomorrow afternoon, the removal of the tube will ease the communication process so he can more easily express the range of emotion that we know he is feeling. That said, we are encouraged that his state of mind is such that he wants to try and more importantly, that he was not discouraged that he can't...yet.  The nurse was in the room at the time and used it as an opportunity to test sensation & other movement in other areas.  Ty couldn't move his right bicep, but he did get solid shoulder movement and some mild deltoid contraction, which is encouraging, as the injury is less than 30 hours old and the surgery took place than 24 hours ago.  As always, we are cautious not to read to much into any one success or failure, but we are hopeful that the small success will evolve into larger ones.  Right now it is all about small victories and we had a couple of those today. Significance to be determined.

Perhaps the most helpful part of the day was an hour & a half conversation with the info director of the Christopher Reeves Foundation. She provided us with a wealth of information on what to expect, as well as on other rehab facilities that might be a good fit for Ty based on their extensive work with teen spinal cord injuries and their rehab protocols. In all likelihood, I will be flying out tomorrow or Wednesday to tour the two out-of-state facilities so we can make a determination by the end of the week.

That is about all we have to report at the moment.  More updates to come.  In the meantime, Kim and I cannot adequately express how overwhelmed we are by the outpouring of support.

From the High School making "Hope for Hoog" site and bracelets to sell at the opening football game (in the colors of Orioles, his favorite MLB team), to baseball players from other schools asking for Skyline hats to wear at the game, to the members of the jeep club taking donations, to the 300 some cards that arrived today and the countless  well wishes received via texts, email, twitter and FB, if ever there was young man with an entire community rallying behind him, it's Tyler.  Thank you for that and I hope you will let those who ask know that Tyler is holding up well and battling just as one would expect.

With love and gratitude,

Michael & Kim

[airric]

Hi all,

Shorter update today as I have to get to the airport in a couple of hours.  I said in yesterday's update that it's all about small victories.  On that front, it's been a good day. They started weaning this morning and Tyler breathed on his own for over two hours.  That's a good sign.  They also ran some tests to determine whether electrical impulses are getting from his hands and feet, throughout the injury to the brain.  There was no sign of connectivity from his feet, but there were signs from his hands.  From the right hand, doctors say it was inconclusive, but there appeared to be something. With respect to the left hand, the results were more conclusive (not definitive) that impulses from that hand were reaching his brain. Additionally, his ability to feel stimuli, extended maybe an inch or two further down than it did yesterday.  All great progress for less than 48 hours. There is still a lot of shock to and swelling in the spinal cord, so as those subsides, we hope for more progress.  Small victories all, but stringing together a series of small victories is how wars are won.

Yesterday's MRI indicated damage to an artery in the neck that puts him at higher risk for blood clots, so they will start the anti-coagulant regimen today.

The best news of the day is that they're going to replace the breathing tube with a trachea.  This will enable him to communicate more easily, which as most of you know, is big deal for Ty as saying "he's a talker" would be a massive understatement.

Most importantly he continues to show great signs of the type of spirit he will need going into rehab.  He told the doctor today....."Sir, I can breathe by myself.  Take the tube out." And, he scolded me today when I wasn't getting his words as quickly as he wanted me to, telling me...."stop guessing and pay attention!!"  His eyes supplied the emphasis. He's strong and determined and he's showing it.

For the last 45 minutes, two of his friends have been in the room, and as exhausting as blinking and spelling is for him right now, he has been talking to them the entire time.  They've shared with him everything what's going on at school and in the community, and he's checking on certain friends and telling them he feels (mostly bitching about the tube).  It's incredible to see the interaction. With some obvious exceptions, it's like sitting in our family room on a normal day watching them congregate and banter.  Very encouraging.

With that, I'm off to Atlanta and Baltimore to learn more about two of the rehab options.  I've spoken with the clinical directors at both and look forward to learning more so Ty, Kim and I can decide which direction fits best for him.

More to come tomorrow,

With love and gratitude,

Michael, Kim, Tyler & Thomas

[airric]

Thank you Patrick!!     Were setting up a benefit fundraiser this thursday 6:45 if you can make it to help us plan it.    It will be held in September..

[Whitney]

I will be there Thursday FOR SURE!!! 

[LeftHandRubi]

Eric, I would but I'll be out of town as usual.  Let me know what you guys figure out/plan. Thanks for the posts.  Pat

[airric]

I will be there Thursday FOR SURE!!!

Awesome...


Pat... We will keep you posted for sure..

[KM2JK]

looks like were going to gather at my place thursday around 6:45 to arrange the benefit. if you need any contact info or address please send a pm my way. 
Keep the thoughts prayers coming for out friend Tyler. he will be in my families prayers for a long time to come.

[airric]

Apologies for another late night update, but just landed in Atlanta and had a chance to check in with Kim to see how Ty is doing.  No new medical update, but a great report nonetheless.  Apologies if this is a little long and seemingly disjointed, but it's late, I'm tired, I'm summarizing and it requires little narrative to set up why we're encouraged by Ty's progress.

Thomas and the two friends who were in the accident with Tyler visited him in the hospital today.  Tyler told both friends he was glad they weren't hurt.  As you know, while the accident was a fluke, Ty was driving and he's been very concerned about his friends' well being.  I think it did him good to get that off his chest.

In addition to getting to converse with his friends and resolve an issue that has obviously been weighing on him, my aunt, whom Tyler loves dearly, came to stay with him at the hospital tonight.  Kim said he smiled when he saw her.  This is the first smile since right before he went into the OR when we told him his friends were ok and were heading home. I wish I could have been there to see it.

Finally, our younger son, Thomas was understandably upset seeing his brother in his current condition and asked Kim what the doctors have said about Ty.  Kim said...come outside and I'll tell you. Ty shook his head and told Kim he wanted to hear it too.  As I've said in past emails, I know Ty has an understanding of what's going on, but we have been waiting for the breathing tube to come out so we could have a full conversation and allow him the chance to respond and share his feelings and concerns. However, since he asked, Kim shared with him all of what we've learned to date.

She explained that he still can't feel or move anything below his shoulders, but that he was breathing on his own this morning for more than two hours.  She explained that the electrical impulse tests this morning indicated that the pathways to his legs work down to his feet but are not traveling back to his brain.  She explained that similar tests on his right hand were inconclusive... information may be making it through the injury, it may not be.  And, she explained that they're relatively sure that some information from the left hand is making it's way back to his brain, but that they don't know how much.  She went on to explain to Thomas that it is still early and that we'll learn more in the days to come, but regardless, Tyler has a lot of hard work ahead to try to get his body to repair itself and to try to help some of those pathways reconnect to the greatest extent possible.  She ended by letting Thomas know that Ty would need a lot of rest to take on the task ahead.

Through all of this, Tyler listened and remained composed.  No tears.  At the end, he closed his eyes for a moment, finished processing what he'd heard (which Im certain simply confirmed what he already knew), then asked Kim to have the nurse give him something to help him sleep so he could start getting his rest.

From 2000 miles away, my view (shared by Kim) is that Ty, bolstered by the knowledge that his friends are safe, accepts what's happened but does not accept that where he is today is where he will be months from now.  He understands the severity of the damage his body has sustained and is steeling himself for what lies ahead.  Granted, I doubt he fully understands how difficult rehab will be or how frustrating it will be at times, but he understands the magnitude of the challenge ahead and is ready (or at least preparing) to face it.

This, to us, is perhaps more significant than any of the medical data we've received thus far, as his desire and determination to heal and improve will be a critical (perhaps the most critical) factor in determining his level of recovery. Knowing that he is already gathering his reserves and building his resolve is incredibly encouraging. I suspect he's been doing that for a while now. I expect the removal of the breathing tube tomorrow morning will further lift his spirits, as I know he will view it as a victory....he hates that damn tube more than anything else right now.

Michael