Atlanta: Phase 2 Begins

Greetings from Atlanta! Greetings from Atlanta! We got the call late Monday morning: the air ambulance crew would pick us up around 5:30 pm. It had been touch and go on  through the morning on whether we’d get out on Monday, and we were trying not to get our hopes up - would we get the insurance clearance early enough so that a plane & crew could arranged? But once it was confirmed, various hospital staff who supported David from Day 1 stopped by to say goodbye, wish us good luck, and assure us that Shepherd was the place for David.

Two longtime friends from the Wheaton Volunteer Rescue Squad - Mike and Sako - picked up the two person in-flight medical crew from the Martin State Airport and the 4 of them came to get us from Shock Trauma. As the time got closer, the happy chaos picked up: Doug arrived, more visitors stopped in, his nurse conferred with the new medical crew to make sure David was ready to go. On our way out, David asked to swing by the ICU to say goodbye & thanks to that team - extremely grateful for Shock Trauma having saved his life - resuscitating, stabilizing, and preparing him for this rehab battle. With that, we headed down to the waiting Wheaton Rescue Squad ambulance, which transported the 6 of us to the little airport where our private jet (ok, air ambulance) sat in the hanger waiting for us. 

Once we landed around 9:00, a ground ambulance was waiting to take us to Shepherd. We headed to the ICU because his regular room won’t be available until Thursday (did I mention how grateful we were to get here on Monday for all the reasons?) where the nurses immediately took over and got him settled.

David’s first night at Shepherd was good! He finally had a good night’s sleep (first one since the accident!) and over the next 8 hours, he met with PT, OT, speech, psych, pulmonology, orthopedics, his 2 main doctors, got measured for his while-at-Shepherd wheelchair, and sat in said wheelchair in real clothes (also for the first time since the accident) as it was adjusted. The orthopedist admired via X-ray the work that the neuro team did on stabilizing his spine and also told us a fascinating story about the history of using rods/pins to stabilize fractures and how Shock Trauma rose to prominence in the 80s. Most of the staff - from techs through docs - has been here for more than a decade - one woman told us she’s been here for 36 years. They are committed professionals who know exactly what they are doing, rely on humor (and appreciate David’s too), and will keep pushing for the very best. 

David’s night nurse has been at Shepherd for 10 years - he and David traded a few Dad jokes. He shared that over the years, the patients he’s seen do the very best are those with a good head about what needs to be done & determination to do it, a good and grateful heart, and a good support system.

Thanks to all of you for filling our hearts with gratitude and creating the very best support system any family could ever have.