Wednesday

Okay I said it would be iffy when this was updated when we got home. Dave is still the same as when we left him. The doctors did another EEG and the results were the same as the first one. His Uncle Jeff made it in from TX on Tuesday to see him. He is still getting many visitors which is good.
On a happy note he did celebrate his 31st birthday on Sunday. He again had many visitors and many gifts. One of the nurses that has been working with gave him a bottle of Kaluah and a bag of Oreos. We all know how much Dave liked his Oreos. Yogi started the happy birthday song which I am personally disappointed I missed, but dad said it was a very good rendition like only Yogi could do. He also received a box of thin mints from the girl scout cookies collection. I am sure he would really enjoy them instead of the liquid milk shake he is getting now. That is all I know for now without being there directly. Again thank you all for caring for Dave and all the family it is greatly appreciated.

Wednesday night

Sorry to all that we haven't posted anything for a while. It has been a week with many meetings with doctors and family. Today was an eventful day because David received his purple heart. It was an experience that I will not soon forget if I ever do. I am so very proud of my brother and all the military people that put their lives on the line for our freedoms every day. All military people are heros in my book and I will not forget what each and everyone does for me, my family, and all the other families out there. Matt and I go home tomorrow knowing that David is in the best hands he can be in. With that being said the blog might lag a little behind so as of right now he is still in critical condition, he is still comatose, but he is resting peacefully.

To all the people who are following this know that all the prayers, thoughts, and gratitude that we have received since the crash have been greatly appreciated through this trying time. And if you see a service member walking down the road or in the mall take the time to thank them for what they do. It goes a long way for them to know we care.

Saturday evening

Hi, Its Melissa.

I just wanted to tell everyone that before I left Saturday evening and I was saying my goodnights to Dave, I was holding his left hand and telling him how proud I was of him/how strong of a man he is/how loved he is..... All of a sudden he curled his fingers around my hand and lifted it up off the bed ever so slightly, not only once but twice (boy, did it make me squeal with joy!!!!) I truly believe he heard me talking to him and I left the hospital last night with peace in my heart.

Thank you for your continued prayers of recovery, support and love....we're passing it on onto Dave!

Friday Night

Tonight we went for a little tour of DC. We went to dinner for wounded warriors that are able to leave the hospital and those not able to at least their families. It was refreshing to see some success stories and to hear the other men say yeah we know those helicopter and crews like your brothers they save lives everyday. we visited Lincoln, vietnam memorial, and Korean memorial. It was a positive step for us just to get out of the hospital. Brooke and Warren came to visit tonight with David so he had visitors tonight as it was late when we came home from the tour.

Friday Morning

Well this morning there wasn't any major change. I didn't get there till early afternoon when Loebsack and Latham came to visit David. We talked about Iowa and the different places we lived and they brought an afghan with the Capitol Building on it and the flag that was flown over the Capital Building in honor of David. When they left dad proceeded to tell us that he was moving his head in a backward action as if he were trying to do something or say something we don't know. He also moved his right eye which is the most damaged which is new for us too. He is still taking the baby steps, but as we all hope we want him to open his eyes and talk to us, but for now we will take the baby steps.

We all as a family including Melissa are going out tonight for dinner near the same building that this flag was flown. It has been a hard trying week with some good baby steps. It will be a nice relaxing time and hopefully we will keep getting the positive baby steps in the weeks to come.

Thursday Night

Hi Everyone, this is Melissa.
Today has been an uplifting day and we will take it!! Dave was taken off his deep sedation at 8am this morning and the Neurosurgeon came around 9:30 for a thorough neurological exam. I stayed in the room to witness the results myself, this is what I saw.
Dave currently has one eye (right) that is a lot worse than the other, that eye took the harder hit.

During exam, his better eye (left) had some minimal dialiation when light was shined in, something that did not happen several days ago. His bad eye still has no reaction to light.

Doc then did an exam where he jerks the head back and forth in a quick motion to see if the eyes will float with the movement. His worse eye had no movement, but his better eye did have some slow movement, showing it was tracking.
Then there was a test where ice cold water was shot into his ear and we had no reaction with either ear.

The last test was for the Doc to agitate his upper chest with hand movement and we all noticed that Dave's left arm had lifted half up along his stomach and his fingers kinda clinched in, as if he was trying to grasp something (positive sign), also new for us to see as he has been flexing his arms outward previously (which was a negative reaction). When this vigorous motion was done on his right side, Daves hand ever so slightly moved.

After the exam, the Doc came to us and said Dave has progressed up the Glacow coma scale to a 5,6-ish, previously a 4!!!

Later this evening around 5:30, they were changing his head dressing and while Brooke was holding his left hand, she noticed that when they were lifting his head to re-wrap it, Dave was agitated and made a slight fist clinching her fingers and slighting drawing it up towards his chest.

These are the small baby steps we've all been praying for and hope they continue. Thank you for your continued prayers, thoughts and support! The outpour of support and love for Dave is being felt and is being appreciated more than you will ever know!!

Much Love!!

Thurs. morning

Well, we're finally moving in the right direction. What that direction is we don't know. What we do know is that David was taking off all of the medication. Within doing so, David was given an extensive test this morning. David did bite down on the suction tube, which he has done before. He also now has some grasping movements in his hands. His left side has more than the right but we'll take it. We like to think that in some way we're heading in the right direction. Please keep sending your prayers and thoughts.

Oh Crap!!!!

I know by the sounds of the title it doesn't sound good. On the other hand, it is very good. This morning was an uneventful day. We went up to see him and tell him good morning. In the process, David swallowed as if he was chewing on something. After he swallowed, he had drool running down his face ( on I know this may sound like to much information but it leads to this evening before dinner). The nurse was going to suction some of his salvia out and in the process, Dave proceeded to bite down on the tube. To us these are great signs as we know David and his personality.

Now for the evening and the meaning for the title. This evening before we left for something to eat, we met with the neurosurgeon who is working with David. Yesterday he told us that we would meet with him everyday just to say hi. Well after he was finished talking, dad asked him a few questions that dad noticed from the morning. The surgeon had no explanation for why David was turning his head or biting down. The doctor told us that he should not be doing anything to that extent. The doctor looked at the nurse and us as if we were nuts. The oh crap look the doctor had came after the nurse had confirmed that David has been doing those actions ( mainly because he kept telling us that they are just reflexes, well these weren't reflexes). So its always a great day to hang the hat when the neurosurgeon has no clue why he's doing those things. So for us today was a fantastic day and just another small step in the right direction. Please keep sending your prayers and thoughts.

Surgeons review Night

After the surgeon left we went to see Dave. He said that they did do an audio EEG and that there were spikes when there should have been which is good.Still don't know the extent of the damage but if there is one person who can fight their way out it is Dave. We are now doing the sit and wait till the brain's swelling goes down. It so surreal and hard but we will stay the course and do what is best for him. Mom, Matt, Brooke (cousin), and Debbie (Aunt) were in the room talking to Dave when Dad and I left. This is the hardest thing we have had to do in our life and I hope never to go through this again.

Afternoon- Out of OR

This is Dave's fiancé, Melissa. We just got word that he is out of the OR after about a 4 hour surgery. We cant see him yet for another 45 minutes, but we're told that he remained stable during the surgery. He had the pericardium removed from the most damaged part of his left frontal side of the head and replaced with a layer of the back of his leg muscle. He also has a drain in place to relieve any swelling that may occur. We are now awaiting the Doc's reviews of surgery and the 24 hour EEG monitor test to give us a better understanding of his prognosis. I cant tell you how overwhelming and amazing all the outpour of support, prayers, Gods miraculous stories and love sent our way has been! We have been telling Dave everyday of all the support from all over the country and world he is receiving. THANK YOU for your continued prayers for God's divine intervention in healing the man I love most in this world.

God Bless,

Melissa

Monday morning

Well can't write a whole lot this morning because Matt and I just woke up. We called and checked on david and he was still in surgery. I will write more when surgery is over and done. I do know that they were going to use some sort of gas for anesthsia.

Sunday Night

It has been a very trying day. After sitting down and talking with the docs the results were yes he has brain waves, but the docs say it is minimal. They took him off fentonyl and are doing an 24 hour EEG to see if the brain activity changes while he is off the potent drug which could absorb into the fatty tissues after a prolonged period of use. They are taking him into surgery tomorrow to change the protective covering over the brain and to check and make sure there is no more dead brain tissue. Although not knowing how to read an EEG, when talking to him before we left there some spikes on one of the lines when we said names like Melisa, Mom, Dad, Matt, and Craig so we are going to think that is a good sign at least for tonight.
Once again thanks for the continued support for my brother and the family. No one will truly understand how greatly appreciated they are. I know deep down inside that if anyone can make it through this it is David because he is the strongest person I know.

Afternoon

They did the EEG and the initial reports show there is brain activity. He has constantly been moving and trying to shift positions. Mom and dad are talking with the docs now so I am assuming they are going over the results. This is just another small step toward the bigger picture and that is a good thing.

More great signs

Today showed signs of great things to come. We arrived this morning to find out that David has continued to move his head and arm. Along with these basic reflexes, he also coughed. To us these are great things that have came out of a horrible experience. The doctors continue to say that these are just reflexes. We say they are signs that Dave is continuing fighting. We all know that David is a fighter. Today the neurosurgeons are trying to get an EEG done. Please continue to send your prayers and thoughts. They are helping him and us continue to fight.

Great Signs

This evening showed some promising signs. David has had numerous visitors through out the day. Our cousin and his wife came to visit him, along with a personal friend of Davids from when he was stationed in Japan. As we were about to leave for the night, David's close friend told us that he had moved his head and arm for no apparent reason ( there was not a doctor working on him). Today we've had ups but we've also had our downs. Leaving tonight was, to us, a huge step in the right direction.

More afternoon

Just got final results back from MRI and his brain stem is intact and he has reaction to stimulus. They took him off his ventilator and he was able to breathe for one min on his own then they put the vent back on to help regulate the co2 levels. Finally some good news for the day.

Afternoon

Well they took David off one of his medications to see how he would react and the outcome of that was not good at first. Dad and I went to get the car and when we returned to the hospital after his MRI they tried it again with a little bit more success. Prelimanary MRI results show there is some damage to the brain stem but not as much as first thought. At some point today they are going to be taking him off all of his meds to see how he will react. The family appreciates all the prayers and well wishes and hope to be bringing David back home to the midwest soon. He has shown signs of reacting to voices and touch which is keeping all our hopes up/

Nuerosurgeon

Talked to the neurosurgeon and found out that there is now swelling on the brain stem. He is on his way to get a MRI which will be able to tell us just how bad the injury is. He is still unconscience and his pupils are not responding to light. However he still has his defensive blink when a cotton swab touched his eye. We will now more in a couple hours. The Co-pilot is doing well and his Gunner will be ok with a few bumps and bruises.

At First Glance

Well we've finally made it to DC. It was a very anxious flight from Chicago to Reagan National. We all had anxious feeling traveling from the air port to the hospital not knowing what to expect when we saw David. Melissa was the first to see him. We are glad she was able to see him before us, seeing they will be married in Sept. For the rest of us, we know that he is in very good hands. We will be talking to a neurosurgeon tomorrow morning. Anxious to know what he/she has to say. Thank you everyone who has been praying for David and the rest of the Family. We dearly appreciate it.

US landing

Just got a call from his commander and he just landed in MD. All is well and he is back home (state side anyway) he is still in stable condition. We are getting ready to head to the air port and meet him tonight very nervous with all that is going on and I finally broke down. All of this is so surreal and very numbing. Thank you all very much for the support and well wishes you will never know how much we as a family appreciate it.

Family back home

We are getting ready for our flight at 6:55ish at night. Getting anxious not really knowing what to expect till we get there. I am just glad he is safe and in good hands now. We will be really relieved when he is on that plane heading home.

Day 1

David is suppose to be flying into Maryland around 3 p.m. eastern time. He will then be transported to Bethesda Naval Hospital where he will remain for the remainder of his recovery. Mom, Dad, Matt, Mel, and I will be meeting him there tomorrow afternoon. Thank you for all the prayers and well wishes we have received from friends and family. It is nice to know that people come together and help each other for a common cause.