prayersformatt




			NOTE: I hadn't logged into the page for a long time and geocities deleted it. So i tried to put as much back on here the way it was, as i could. I didn't have a back up. :( Some typos present from scanning!

	WOODBURY Man critically hurt in 1-94 collision A 25-year-old River Falls, Wis., man was critically injured Thursday afternoon after his car was rear-ended on Interstate 94 in Woodbury, the State Patrol said. Matthew James McCoy was westbound in a Pontiac Bonneville about 1:45 p.m. near Radio Drive in Woodbury when his vehicle was struck in the rear by a Chevrolet Cavalier driven by Justin John Anderson, 19, of River Falls, the State Patrol reported. McCoy's car rolled over and crossed the median into the eastbound lanes. McCoy was taken to Regions Hospital, where he was listed in critical condition. The Cavalier struck the guardrail. Anderson suffered minor injuries and was not hospitalized. The State Patrol said the chain of events began as both vehicles were westbound in the left lane and Anderson began merging into the center lane to pass McCoy's vehicle. At that moment, an unidentified vehicle from the right lane also merged into the center lane. When Anderson swerved left to avoid the other car merging into the center lane, his Cavalier struck the rear of McCoy's Bonneville, causing both cars to veer out of control, the State Patrol said. Eastbound traffic was rerouted for about one hour as crews tended to the drivers and cleared the area, causing significant traffic delays. -- Megan Boldt

Updates:

August 2005 - An article about Matt was published in the Star Tribune. Talks about the accident and some of his life now.(Click on the word article to read it)

2/4/04- Just got an email back from Matt's sister and found out he got his metal halo off last friday!!!

1/2/04- We had fun tonight, and Matt did great. We ate at perkins and joked around. We walked around at Target, and went to the theater and saw a movie (he seemed to see it and follow it pretty good), then back to the parents and we all talked some more. Though he yawned a lot towards the end he seemed interested in wanting to talk for a while.

btw matt told me he feels his vision slowly widening out and slowly slowy getting slightly sharper. I'm not a big blob anymore, yay!

12/30/03-1 was happy to learn that when I visited Matt today that he had been typing on his forums even though he can't really see it We all had a great time tonight. I showed his mom and sister a few things on his computer. We ordered Chinese food and had tea and talked. Matt had his halo tightened by the guy his parents call Bob "The Builder", so matt has a bit of headache now but hopefully it will help. His sister Joanna and I wanted to take him to another movie so we hope to go see the third lord of die rings movie on friday. I haven't seen it either and this way it's nice and big so he can see it and enjoy it.

12/22/03- (Matt was released from the hospital the week of thanksgiving.) I visited Matt and he has improved so much i was amazed. He is walking around, following convos, picking on people, eating normal food. He has three bedrooms to himself at his parents now upstairs, he crawls up and down but i would too if i had a big hallow on that can throw ya off balance. A few of his friends from California came to visit him, they set up matt's computer, matt still can't see very good so he can't read anything on the comp but he can now voice chat with his friends. I got to witness him talking to all his friends again for the first time, it was great.

11/24/03- Matt's room was moved again, he was in a room called stepping stone that had a carpeted floor and a real bed. Matt was sleeping when i got there so I didn't wake him. A nurse came in to do some blood work though and poked him three different times and couldn't get blood from him. Matt is supposed to be going home on Wednesday if it all goes to plan.

11/15/03- When I showed up i discovered matt's bed had been lowered to the floor. Found out from the nurse he gets hormone patches cause I guess he has a damaged thyroid gland. Matt told me he couldn't see very well and I was kind of a blob. He told me it was from his medicine but the nurse said it was just from his accident. He is on some medicine to help him concentrate though (Seraquin ?) and help with the ups and downs. Matt told me a friend of his came to visit him and was able to tell me it was the one he had told me about before that lived nearby. He seemed to have liked the visit. Matt told me he shaved himself. He also had another kind of panic moment where he didn't seem to know what was going on.

11/17/03- no new news, he slept.

11/10/03 - Not much is different with matt since last week. He was sleeping when I got there, and the nurse told me i could wake him up, 1 didnt have to though the chair being cleared off did. He smiled at me his tired smile and rolled over to face me. I talked to him for a bit. He seemed to remember a few more of his friends that he didn't last week. His memory and speaking ability seem slightly improved although most of his answers to any questions were usually "1 don't know", and responses were usually "oh". He asked me a couple questions but it was just like how are you kind of thing. The guy in the next bed over kept turning up the volume on his tv so it was blaring out the headphones and matt kept getting annoyed and was rolling over trying to reach for the guys tv to turn it down, the other guy would look but not move. He also has a head injury, so the nurse kept coming in and turning it down later and the guy would turn it up again later.

I asked matt if he was getting into trouble this week, and he said either "yes" or "kinda" and he smiled. So he knows he's getting in trouble i guess, lol. He was pretty tired, He held my hand while he rested a bit and then a light bothered him that was turned on and he turned over. His parents and aunt came back from eating and I didn't find out much from them. They think not much had changed since i been there last. Matt was just slowly remembering more in therapy and eating still. They said therapy wears him out though. They did tell me though that Matt says everything that happened before the accident was a long long time ago. You ask him about things and when and all he can say was that it was a long time ago, recent or old stuff before the accident. They tried to get matt to go in the lobby but he didn't want to, so they let him sleep. Matt also has his hand that was broken before in an actual cast now. Before it was just in wraps and braced, now it's an actual cast. His parents had signed it, and I asked matt if he would like me to sign it and he said sure. So when he was waking up a bit shortly before i was leaving I signed it and he thanked me. I told him when i'd probably be back and he said ok. Then he motioned for me to HUG him. (That suprised me cause last week, he would only hug his mom when asked by them if he would hug any of us. This time he was the one who to hug by his own idea.)

11/4/03- Not too much had changed with matt, some more improvements. He was playing a solitare game his aunt gave him when i arrived. His trachea tube is out now, his bandage was the only thing keeping him talking. His voice is kinda raspy and quiet. He didn't have a nap that day so he was kinda quiet and crabby. He ate food today the first day they did that. He had a tuna suprise meal I guess, and apple sauce for desert. He drinks thickened apple juice. He tried to walk a couple times but loses balance when he stands, he walks with help. His mom thinks he has virtigo (dizziness when standing?). I guess a pliminary vision test they did during therapy showed he has no peripheral vision in his left eye from about the middle outward. It was also believed if you approached him from that side in where the field of view should have been it kinda throws him off. Not sure if it makes him dizzy or what but says just a minute if you ask him anything at that point and has to regain his composure again.

During theapy they have been having him identify objects and name things that he has, I guess he named off his cd's. They asked him a bunch of questions and he remembers some things and not others. They also had him going up stairs, and he was able to do that (they hold onto him though so he doesn't fall). We took him for a partial walk in the wing and then he was tied, we sat at a table where he kept falling asleep, his mom tried telling him jokes again and he only smiled at one. after a while of sitting out there he was finally put to bed, I stayed for a bit after his parents left and his sister came so I was able to fill to fill her in. She told me some stuff that he had said to her, ect. When we were leaving she expressed her wish of Matt's computer Friends to visit him.

11/2/03- when i arrived Matt was eating ice cream. I said hi to him and he actually spoke hi back to me. Yes he is speaking now, he doesn't talk very much as it's still harder for him. It's also harder to hear him. He has been drinking juice too. The bands are off his mouth, they didn't know if they were going to be left off or not. I was also told his trachea tube will be coming out soon, I guess the nurse was wrong in telling me the 8-10 week thing. The doctors think matt can go home around Thanksgiving.

Rest is events of the night and his talking, etc:
Matt is able to wear his own clothes now, gotta be more comfortable than that robe. After he finished his ice cream we wheeled him into a room with a rv so he could watch the packer - viking game. When in there he wheeled himself right up to a chair and kept reaching to it. He doesn't always tell us what he wants so we kinda guessed he wanted to sit in it. so we undid his belt on the chair and stuff and helped him walk to the chair. He sat there for a bit and they turned on the game but he couldn't see there. He impulsively after a bit of silting there tried to stand up, his dad had rushed over and prevented him from falling. He seemed to be going for the mini couch across the room, so we sal him there and got him pillows to prop his head, after a while he tried to lay himself down, couch small, and halo big he managed as best he could, he alternated between sitting and laying, at one point he tried to get his leggings off but the fuzzy sock was on top stopping it. so he kinda motioned for help. 1 asked if he wanted the other one and he didn't respond and just sat there a bit. then started motioning for help but couldn't tell me what he wanted help with. Then he just starting telling me to guess. I'd name off things and he wouldn't react, so i sat down again, he sat there quiet for a while, then he said "sharon..." i responded and asked him if he needed help, he said yes. So the other legging was finally done.

During the game we asked which team he was rooting for the packers or vikings, his response..."Fish". When asked what he meant, he would just gesture he didn't know. 1 asked if that was some reference to the vikings, again he didn't know. He said a few other things later on he didn't seem to know why he said either. He slept through most of the game, waking and sleeping. At half time since he had already been sleeping he was moved into his bed to watch the rest of it. His room has a 2 other people staying there too. Plus there were two sit in nurses in there and a guest besides. His parents left shortly after that. He seemed to watch the game for a while then pulled off his headphones, not seeming all that interested. He turned his whole body toward me and looked at me. I said hi, and he said hey and we preceeded to almost have a conversation with his time gaps. He reached for my hand, he said wassup, how are you, and when asked if he was better he said yes. then i asked him next time i come visit do you want me to read your notes from your friends, and i couldn't quite hear his reply, it sounded like wait. I asked him what then he said something along the lines of We have to get out of here! i told him it would be soon enough and he asked why. I told him that he was getting better. He then went quiet and proceeded to try to remove the tools that were taped to the front of the halo chest piece, we tried to stop him and he kept try ing, the nurse gave him a towel to play with, he did for a few minutes then was back at it. we tried to slop him again and he swore. I told him what the nurse had said, that they would have to tie his hands down if he didnt stop, he told me he didn't care, the nurse gave him balls to squeeze and he did and acted interested in them and then put them both in one hand and ripped the tape and tools off with the other, sneaky guy, the nurse wasn't happy, especially after he went for the closure on the feeding tube next and leaked it onto the padding of the halo, after a while he ran out of other things to play with watched the game and fell asleep.

10/28/03 (Tues)- When I arrived I had to find Matt's new room cause he was moved to a recovery room! The visit before this one on 10/25 that i didnt get to update before, I discovered he was wearing a metal halo (a thing around his chest with four bars going up by his head with a circle in the middle with screws drilled into his skull, which keeps him from moving his spine) which he has to wear for 3 months. Matt was in the lobby sarea with his parents when i got there, they had him buckled into a wheel chair sitting up. They were telling him jokes and stuff. I said hi to him and smiled and waved at me. his mom said that was the biggest smile all week. He had a new trachea tube that is much shorter, since he has to have one in for atleast 8-10 weeks for healing so he won't get an infection. His mouth was also still banded together front when he broke the wiring for his jaw, so he needs to have an extra airway. This new trachea tube is plugged though so he is actually breathing through his nose and mouth. I guess he has said one thing so far. and that was swear word. His parents are trying to get him to talk but his throat must hurt. He started rehabilitation so far he has speech therapy and occupational therapy. 1 don't know what he does in either, but i know in speech therapy they want to try and get him to drink some juice soon. Also i guess they let him take steps in between his bed and the wheelchair from time to time.

I was told the doctors think he could go home in a few weeks, the only thing he is really hooked up to anymore is his feeding tube, once his mouth is unbanded and he can eat and drink and meet his needs that will probably be the deciding factor in when, they also said he can start walking soon. When there we were telling matt jokes and he'd smile for some but it looked like he was getting sick of jokes. His mom said Matt I got a joke for you. and he rolled and closed his eyes kinda like an oh my gosh no She continued, and he flopped back in his wheelchair and rolled and closed his eyes again and even scooted back away from his mom. "She |said, hey he tried to get away from my joke", it was really funny though we were laughing, he scooted back flip to us later, but i think he was done with the jokes. :) He started getting tired and tried putting his legs back in the leg rests of the wheelchair. He was put in bed and the cleaning routine was done, and his parents left as he fell asleep. We woke up for a bit later as the lady he was sharing a room with was making all sorts of strange noises. I told him I was still there and took his hand and he squeezed it the way he used to squeeze my hand and seemed to quickly relax after that and fall asleep peacefully. I helped the nurse put his wrist guard back on that matt keeps pulling off. 1 left a bit after that. They also have a comp there so maybe he will get to do something with it for rehab.

10/25/03 - update missed but info for most of it is in the next one anyway.

10/20/03-1 left the hospital in awe and ama/.ement tonight. I wasn't quite sure how to feel. When I had gotten to the hospital matt was awake and staring off somewhere and looking around. His face is still really swollen. His jaw is wired shut and will be for atleast 2 weeks (maybe previously mentioned). I was told he can see things good now, and he isn't on morphine or sedatives anymore. I was also told earlier during the day they had him sitting in a chair in front of the tv for some hours too. Whether he was paying attention to it i don't know, the tv was on when i got there too but i doubt he could see it from the angle he was at. The pressure cuff was no long on but his hand was tied down. 1 held his non casted hand and looked into his eyes for a while. I talked to him and told him some stuff going on. at one point I said something funny or meaningful to us and he opened his mouth about as much as he could and seemed like he was smiling, and his eyes looked that way too. He also raised his eyebrow at me. So it really felt like it was a true response. He also held my hand several different ways and reached for it when it was near his a couple times too. He would squeeze it from time to time.

It still bugs me every time he coughs cause it looks like he's convulsing and the machine noise starts. He had been looking at me before the next one and the look in his eyes made him look like he was in pain. I hate feeling like that, after he was done coughing i said something like i hope you aren't in pain or i asked if he was in pain, i'm not sure which, but he had been holding my hand after i hand told him he could squeeze it if he wanted to. and he took two of my fingers and gently squeezed them running from hand to finger tips. It seemed like that was a reassurance thing or something, either way it was neat and sweet. He didn't seem to want to sleep when i was there towards the end, he kept fighting it. I told him matt you don't have to stay awake for me, I'll be back soon you get your rest. He started to fall asleep as i was leaving.

10/18/03-Matt had his 10 hour face surgury yesterday (friday) and I wras told all went well but his face is really swollen from it. I don't think it looked that bad though, his mom said they have more work to do on his nose later. Before his surgury they put a trachea tube in, so he doesn't have that one going into his mouth down his throat anymore. His mouth is wired shut and I was told for a few weeks for his bones to heal, (he kept trying to open his mouth a couple times, while i was there.) When i got there the)' had a fan blowing on him and a towel to cover the lower region, he was thrashing his legs around though. They said he was still coming out of the sedative they had him on. he did not open his eyes or move his head around when i was there. 1 imagine they both hurl. He still responds though, the doe asked for two fingers and he showed him after a slight the nurse told me his eyes looked good last night as far as responding to light. He squeezed my hand and he moved both his arms at some point, they had to put a blood pressure cuff on the one arm though so he couldn't reach up and pull on his trachea tube. It was good to see him finally move the arm with the broken hand.

I asked him if he was able to move his head now, cause it had been really still, of course it didnt' move, so i told him show me two fingers for you can't, and show me one finger for i can but don't really want to. He showed me one finger after delay. He didn't really respond to other questions i asked, but when i was leaving i asked him to squeeze my hand and he did and he also did it in response to me telling him when i'd be back and blowing him a kiss.:)

10/14/03- Good News! Matt is not in a coma anymore!! Yesterday he woke up out of it more and get this...he even opened his eyes! His eyes only respond a little bit to light right now but he is still opening them even though he isn't looking around much or anything. When I was there tonight i saw him open them atleast 4 times after a while. His parents said they were bugging him all day so he was probably pretty tired. When I got there his mom immediately told me to come hold his hand.and when i did he latched on and squeezed my hand, he kept squee/ang and loosening, and did it tighter if he felt the hand loose. I was so excited, and i saw him moving facia! muscles and his body a bit, he moved feet and later on toes.

I guess they said he responds to command again and he was even moving his head around. His aunt said she saw him move it and told him not to move his neck and she figured he thought she said to move it and he started moving his head around and she told him to stop and he did. He is still out of it but this is a major improvement. He has his face surgury on friday morning. He doesn't cough much, and i guess his lung fluid has been clear. His vitals were all good today and he was nice and relaxed. His sister got quite the birthday present. Matt opened his eyes sometimes when they were picking on him or if someone said they were leaving, when his parents were leaving he opened his eyes, he only really opened his left eye but the other one was kind of matted down from the stuff they had put in his eyes. Also he was allowed to breathe on his own for 25 minutes today for a test, he seemed to do alright but they but him back on the oxygen cause his lungs are probably still sore, it is more on assist now though, he is on some good antibiotics, like the one they used for anthrax. Keep those prayers going, look what they did already. He is still He-man, and 1 told him so.

10/12/03- Most of his condition is the same. I guess last night he was having some troubles with the tube in his throat and had been coughing a lot making all his vitals go bad, "They put him on a paralyzer to stop all the coughing from causing further problems and changed his tube because they said sometimes having the same one in for a while can do that, Something about the fluids going around the tube. He was taken off the paralyzer tonight they are gonna see how he handles that. Matt also has a virus in his esophagus. His xray showed the fluids in his lungs were clearing up,but tonight we found out he has pnemonia. He has a 101 degree temp. He was changed in postion again, now he is laying like in a recliner watching tv and he has a cute little bear his cousin brought him. He has been even less responsive during nerve check, he doesn't respond to command at all now. and to pain he only responded with the non broken hand, no feet response at all. Also his eyes don't respond to light now. they are concerned about that, the eye doc should hopefully be in tomorrow. Face reconstruction date is unknown right now.

10/9/03- Matt was taken off the second sedative (propyl something) today. I thought it was because he was doing better but i was told that sedative had a detrmental effect they wanted to avoid so they took him off. his blood pressure is high now so they have him on medicine to lower the blood pressure. The previous sedative had caused low blood pressure that was the reason they always had to increase it. Found out he has meningitis (inflamation of the brain). They had him tilted on his side today too. Now that he is off that sedative he is semi conscious but his own brain is putting him in a coma like state, he moves from time to time if the body needs, he squeezed my hand when the nurse auctioned his mouth (there was a lot of blood in there i guess, i couldn't bear to watch) but it is believed to be a reflex. Also found out he has a blood clot in his shoulder with the broken hand, and they can't give him blood winners because of the severity of his injuries. His heart is just fine it was said. Doctors said he hasn't been very responsive the past couple days, it's become less and less. They think there may have been some nerve damage.

Also the tube coming from his head that reads brain pressure and drains fluids hadn't been working properly for a while. It is believed his pressure and swelling is still the same. Tonight they removed that tube, and drilled a hole in his skull on the other side where the canal is that is drainable and put a tube in there. They said it drained some but not much, not sure if it is going to work. Before I left the neuro doc talked to us. Or f the things they were doing as I left was doing a scan on him to see if the tube is in the way of anything and 'there is more damage there. They said there was minimal risk for that procedure but it could cause further tfection on his brain but they collected a sample of the fluids there to see what bacteria is present so they cai ;e if they can treat it. They are keeping an eye to make sure he makes it through the night ok. The doc said e should know within the week if he is gonna make it, and within the next few weeks to month we should now what his condition is going to be like long term.

10/7/03 - Stomach tube had been placed today, and the procedure wnet just fine. Found out he had blood clots in his legs and so they were going to place a filter in that is placed upto the vena cava. The filter should stop the clots from going up his leg. The face restructure is resceduled for some time next week. When they at in the filter they also did another CT scan and found out he has blood clots in his lungs, he also has a tinctured lung. They were debating on giving him blood thinners to help get rid of it since of the risk rvolved, his dropping heart rate, and something to do with his brain injury /swelling. The back of the skull is actured too. They think he may have heart problems.

10/06/03: Most of the evening was spent in the waiting room I'm afraid to say. I did spend some time in then ith his sister but we had to be quiet. Around the lime I was to leave 1 got to go in there around the second ttempt at nerve check. She let off the sedation briefly and had to turn it back on because his brain pressure ras too high. We let him calm down for a while couldn't touch him or talk, and tried again. Wre got him to love his arm and fingers and he moved his legs a bit but couldn't seem to move his feet or toes or just didn't ranl to. We had to stop early again though because his brain pressure got too high. The nurse said she was ist gonna let him chill after that. So I didn't get to read him any prayers tonight. Earlier that morning, his ster told me, during the check he knew his right hand this time, i guess he responded to right hand two ngers. Very impressive for even a non swollen brain under tons of morphine.

MRI was not attempted today, does not seem to be an immediate concern now, Tomarrow he gets a stomach ibe put in. Thrusday he gets the bones in his face reconstructed, with metal plating i guess. 1 was told it wili e a 12-24 hour surgery. The state of his brain swelling is not known right now by his family, the icp ressure if that tells you anything varied from 10-20 while i was there, the bandage is off the top of his head ow but he still has the tube towards the back for fluids. The swelling in his face has gone down again, most ats are the same though. Doctors are proud so far, they think he is doing well for his condition. His parents re worried about his surgury though. Everyone just keep praying for our Matt and spreading the word. I showed his mom what some of you wrote and i think it touched her.

10/04/03: Matt didn't respond postively to doctors trying to put a tube in down to his stomach during prep for the MRI, so that is being delayed. His vitals went back to where they were after a while. During nerves check (whei icy temporarily shut off some of the sedation) we got some movement response out of him from our voices, e was read prayers and thoughts by me from his friends and he moved at some of the more influential loughts and prayers seemingly as a response. Brain swelling has not gone down.

10/03/03: Found out about Matt and the accident that happened on thrusday. Matt is in very bad shape, and very lucky to be alive this far. His parents said he was lucky to have made it through the night. He has broke ribs, broken hand, chipped top vertebrae that is probably also fractured, leaking spinal fluid, the bones in his upper face are broken, especially the bones around his eyes. His tear ducts were saved and stitched back up. is skull was broken/fractured, and severe head trama. The extent of the head trama is not known yet. but it is good the bones in his face broke to allow room for his brain to swell. He was kept cold to help heal faster, They kept him heavily sedated and not allowed to be conscious, to minimize brain activity to help his brain swelling go down faster. His legs had blood circulating devices on them as well, to help prevent blood clots. Loud noise raised his heart rate so they believe he can hear us.

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