Sunday Afternoon

What a week Mighty MikeyD had. On Thursday we all went to CHOP with MikeyD his first appointment was for an Echo Cardiogram and his second was for an EKG which all went well. MikeyD's third appointment was with Dr.Vetter she was very happy to see MikeyD's progress and said everything looks good. when we were down with Dr.Vetter in the Cardiac center we met Martha who was the nurse that discharged MikeyD the day we left she is also nurse Sarah's sister she was amazed at how good MikeyD looked. Unfortunately we missed Sarah she was off. His fourth appointment was with Hematology to see when he can get off the needles for the Lovenox which is a medicine that is used to help prevent blood clots he has to get the shots every day. After the appointment with the Hematology doctors it was determined that MikeyD will be getting the shots for another 30 days and after that he will be free from the needles one more medicine out of the way. After that we took MikeyD up to the Critical cardiac ICU to see his old room and visit with some of the doctors and nurses who took such great care of him. He did not remember his room at all. We wheeled MikeyD in his wheelchair up to the nurses station and Dr.Naim was standing there she is one of the doctors who helped save MikeyD's life.

She is in the picture above with MikeyD.  Dr.Naim is the Critical care doctor who started working on MikeyD that night when he landed on the roof in the helicopter. When he looked at her he said Hi Dr.Naim she had never heard MikeyD's voice before and she said Hi MikeyD she walked over to him in the wheelchair and he stood up and gave her a big hug. Dr Naim was so happy that she had tears  in her eyes and said thank you so much for bringing MikeyD to see us all he just made my day. we met with a lot more of the nurses and some of the other doctors who took care of MikeyD   to many to list each one and  some of the  others had tears in their eyes as well. Everyone was amazed to hear him speak and see him walk for a little bit and all were so happy to see how much he has fought back and beat the odds. Who says miracles don't happen this miracle continues. We cannot thank everyone at CHOP enough for all the care and support they have given MikeyD you  have all become like an extended  family to us.

On Friday MikeyD spent a full day at the Children’s Hospital going through Speech,PT , OT and Cognitive evaluations to start his next step in this recovery process. Yesterday was Ciara’s birthday  Moya took them all to lunch and they met Mike Dunn he almost fell over when he seen MikeyD the last time he seen MikeyD was in CHOP and he could not even move his hands or arms I only wish Peggy was with him she was home not feeling well and he was picking up soup for her.  The other night MikeyD had his cousins over and they were all out playing in the yard as he watched them out the window he said mom I want to be able to go out and play with my friends and cousins again one day. You could tell he was sad. Moya said keep fighting and working hard the way you are now and one day you will be able to play outside and run around with your friends and cousins. We truly believe that MikeyD will learn to read, write and spell again one day. We really do believe that his miracle recovery will continue due the  determination  that he has and all the prayers and support he has from all of you.

We want to thank each and every one of you for all your prayers and support of MikeyD and our family.

We also want to wish all of you a Happy, Healthy new year !

Keep the faith.

We believe in miracles and we believe that this miracle will continue !!!

Wednesday Night

MikeyD had a great Christmas.

He wants us to thank you all for your Christmas wishes and Kind words of support.

MikeyD  went to mass for Christmas  in his new wheelchair.

Today MikeyD went to Children's Hospital for PT evaluations.

MikeyD is going back to CHOP in Philly tomorrow  for a full day of follow up testing with Cardiology, Neurology and Hematology. We will post more tonight with some pictures.

we hope all of you had a great Christmas.

Thursday Night

Christmas Miracle !!!

                                           A true Christmas Miracle !!!
Mighty MikeyD received three early Christmas presents today. one is a custom fit wheelchair that is faster than any of the other wheelchairs he has had before the other was a real nice shower chair,  and last but not least was sent to the hospital from the Kelly's which he has not seen yet and  Moya is putting under the Christmas tree. Believe it or not he is happy and grateful for both presents that he ha seen. Mighty MikeyD the Fighter  really loves his new wheelchair he was racing around the hospital tonight in his new wheelchair like never before. The good news is he is fighting to come back to us every day. MikeyD is so determined to beat the odds I have never seen anyone this determined since my brother Seamus. One of MikeyD's nurses Sarah from CHOP posted again today and I am sure that even she is amazed at how hard he is fighting to come back to us. Sarah seen MikeyD in his darkest days when he arrived on the roof  of the hospital in the helicopter that tragic Friday night. When he arrived they said it is highly unlikely that he will live until Monday. He beat those odds. Once  he beat that fight the neurology team came in after that with more bad news telling us that the only thing hurting Mighty MikeyD now  is the amount of down time he had been down  due to the poor response time from that 911 call . Because of the amount of time that he was down with no response  he had no  blood or oxygen to the brain  he would never do this or that again. MikeyD the fighter proved them wrong as well. they were correct he did suffer a traumatic brain injury from being down so long he has since  fought back beyond the belief of all the medical professionals. I need to mention that had it not been for the fact that Bob Mc Cann and Rob De Stefano were not  there and had not started CPR right away Mighty MikeyD would not be here with us this Christmas. With that said  his  own determination and all your prayers have proven that miracles do exist. a lot of doctors and nurses follow this blog and can post at any time they all know and tell me it is a miracle. I spoke with another doctor on Wednesday that told me that meeting Mighty MikeyD and my family was a life changing experience. The good news  after this long battle is that Mighty Mikeyd is coming home to us for Christmas even though it will only be for a few days before he starts another intense battle with a new program as an outpatient which will include cognitive rehabilitation , speech therapy. occupational therapy, Physical therapy and some sort of schooling he is proving to us all how hard he is fighting to come back to us. I want to ask all of you one small  favor over this Christmas weekend even though I know how busy everyone is   please post here and or on care pages over the next few days and wish mighty MikeyD a Merry Christmas so we can sit down at home with him on Christmas morning and read your Christmas wishes to him.. I know that  Julia and Ciara will love reading them to him one by one and  Moya and I will  find comfort in it as well just like we have from all your past post and support. From all the Doherty family to all of your family we wish you and yours a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy Healthy New Year !!!
for those who cannot post here this is the lonk for the care page.
http://www.carepages.com/carepages/MikeyD 

Keep the faith.. We believe in Miracles.

please keep praying and posting.

Christmas Triduum Prayer.

O Divine Jesus, the Heavenly message at your birth was "peace on earth and  goodwill to all" bring your peace , your joy , your happiness, into our home this Christmas, bless all the members of our family and friends reading this, those at home and those who  will be absent this Christmas. Inflame our hearts with your love . Keep us close to you and each other now and throughout the year ahead.

Amen !!!

Sunday Night

With Christmas fast approaching us most kids are counting the days to Christmas morning. MikeyD and my family are counting the days to get MikeyD out of the hospital and home again with us so we can be one family again instead of two different units. Since you cannot come home and stay overnight as an inpatient we are trying to get MikeyD home for Christmas. Moya and I have a meeting with the doctors and all the therapist tomorrow to see if we can get MikeyD home before Christmas eve and then have him start five days a week as an outpatient for all his therapies right after Christmas. We will have to give MikeyD his needles and all his other medication at home . Moya has started giving him the needles in the hospital already she is brave I do not have the heart to give him the needles yet I am going to try and give him one tomorrow.

Julia and Ciara have been out spending all their money on buying Christmas presents for their little brother he will be spoiled for sure. When I asked Julia and Ciara a few weeks ago what they wanted for Christmas they both said they do not want anything for themselves they just want their brother home. This has been a difficult time for everyone in our family it seems even more difficult with the Christmas right around the corner. MikeyD is starting to walk more with his braces as long as someone is holding him or standing behind him to keep his balance. We need to watch him even closer now as he tries to get out of the wheelchair and start walking on his own. We took him home for a few hours on the day pass and had him sit in the recliner and he tried to get up a few times on his own and start walking. MikeyD keeps fighting the fight he tries not to use his wheelchair as much as possible despite the fact that he still needs it.I walked him around the hospital the other night and you could see in his face how proud he was to be walking I held the back of his shirt behind his back and he walked up to the nurses’  station with a big smile on his face the nurses started clapping and cheering him on. One of the girls in rec therapy seen him walking and she started crying she couldn't believe it she reads the blog all the time as well. Here’s to everyone hoping that MikeyD will be home with his family for Christmas !

 Keep the faith. We believe in Miracles !!!

Please keep praying and posting.

Unfailing Prayer to St. Anthony

"Blessed be God in His angels and in His saints."

O Holy St. Anthony, gentlest of Saints, you love for God and Charity for His creatures, made you worthy, when on earth, to possess miraculous powers. Miracles waited on your word, which you were ever ready to speak for those in trouble or anxiety. Encouraged by this thought, I implore of you to obtain for me A Full Recovery for MikeyD that he will be able to run and play with his friends again one day like he use to. The answer to my prayer may require a miracle, even so, you are the Saint of Miracles.

O gentle and loving St. Anthony, whose heart was ever full of human sympathy, whisper my petition into the ears of the Sweet Infant Jesus, who loved to be folded in your arms; and the gratitude of my heart will ever be yours. Amen.

Thursday Night

Mighty MikeyD finally got the permanent cast off and has the removable casts that can come on and off for this week, He has his new braces and they are working with him to get use to the braces so he is wearing the removable casts half the time and the braces for the other half.We are trying our best right now to get MikeyD home for Christmas, Although he is doing great physically he still has a long way to go hopefully he will regain his balance and learn how to walk all over again now without the cast and the help of the braces we may get that miracle sooner than later.The hard part now will be learning  all over again things that he use to know little things like what day of the week it is and what the next day is. Learning to tell time again on top of a lot of other things kind of like starting all over again. MikeyD will need some intense cognitive rehabilitation in the new year. The next phase of this Journey for MikeyD and the rest of our family is to get him out of the hospiatl and into a five day outpatient program which will include PT,OT Speech, and cognitive rehabilitation.  Right now MikeyD is making the best of where he is at this monent he cruises around the hospital in his wheel chair non-stop he will not sit still all the nurses love him he cruises from the front nurses station to the back nurses station pulls up and talks to them he even winks at some of them and then takes off again. MikeyD is becoming very restless ans does not want to sit still at all. This week since he has the removable  casts he started having some physical Therapy in the pool you can see him in the pool in the picture above. He loved the pool so much he did not want to come out he had two therapists in the pool with him one was helping him with balance and the other was throwing him the basketball he was even shooting some hoops in the pool.

Just in case anyone was planning on coming to visit MikeyD this weekend he will not be there on Saturday or Sunday he has an outside appointment on Saturday and we will be taking him out on a day pass a this Sunday. It really made MikeyD’s day when Regina Price posted We are all here rooting you on....THOUSANDS of us, yes THOUSANDS!!!   And then right after that Scott Capro  posted Mikey D never stops amazing me... Keep going buddy! It is ironic that this time last year MikeyD and Chris were shooting 3’s against St. Jerome’s

MikeyD still really needs your prayers.

Keep the faith We believe in miracles.

Please keep prying and Posting.

Do not forget if you have children playing basketball please get them an ECG , Echocardiogram and Blood chemistries test (to check electrolytes, especially sodium, potassium, and bicarbonate levels) for Christmas another player from Utah ST Danny Berger went into cardiac arrest on the court last Wednesday night story on the link below. Hopefully everyone will turn up with no problem but if anyone does show anything please contact me and I will contact Dr. Vetter and make sure you are taken care of by the best she really is the best!

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/basketball/ncaa/wires/12/05/2060.ap.bkc.basketball.player.collapse.5th.ld.writethru.0859/index.htm 

Saturday Night another Miracle

Mighty MikeyD is doing it again more greats news and another  Miracle.

MikeyD started taking some steps this week and is now able to walk even with the casts on his legs if you help balance him.

He has a pair of shoes on his casts and  with assistance if you stand behind  or on the side and hold him to help him keep his balance  he can walk.

Last week when Anthony and Barbara came to visit him he was able to take a few small steps. Last night Ciara  came to visit MikeyD she walked alongside him and walked him around the floor. Today when Sean came to see him he was able  to push  Sean down the hall in his wheelchair. Another sign that all your prayers are working please keep praying. I spoke to the physical therapist today about the casts next week he will be getting a pair of removable casts that you can take off and on  this will be the last of the cast.

The week after he will be wearing the braces and they will be working with getting MikeyD on the road to walking on his own again.We were asking about taking MikeyD home for Christmas day and

now because of the amazing recovery that MikeyD is making in the past two weeks we are allowed to take him out of the hospital for a few hours tomorrow on a day pass it will be great for him after being in the hospital these last few months to get out in the fresh air we will now be able to take him out every Sunday for a few hours. This morning when I was standing over his bed getting ready to feed him his breakfast he looked at me and said Dad how long have I been in the hospital for four years now  I said no and before I could tell him how long he said five years I tried to explain that it was going on four months. I felt so bad for him as I tried to explain the time line to him  because it does feel like four years to Moya, Julia, Ciara and myself as well.

Keep the faith. We believe in Miracles !!!

Please keep praying and posting.
http://www.carepages.com/carepages/MikeyD/updates/3435877?update_messages=yes 
you can see Ciara walking him down the hall in the hospital in the picture and see him pushing Sean in the wheelchair in the other picture.

Friday Morning

MikeyD got his cast off on Monday again and was fitted for Leg Braces he will need these to learn how to walk again and may need them for a long time. This is the countdown to hopefully the end of a long 10 week casting process two more weeks to go. MikeyD said I have two more weeks to go and then  these bad boys come off he is looking forward to it. Hopefully the week before Christmas they will be gone for good.

MikeyD also asked me tonight why he has to have this Defibrillator in his chest for the rest of his life because it is lumpy and sore he said, I tried to explain to him that the soreness should go away but the lump in your chest will not I also tried to explain that you heart is fine now and that it is there just as a precaution.

it is really hard to explain all  this to a 12 year old boy who a few months ago was healthy as a horse and playing sports pitching in All Star Baseball games and shooting hoops for five different teams and then  he wakes up out of a coma in a broken down body .

Despite all of this he is defying all odds last week coach Greg came to visit MikeyD and we had to push him down the halls this week MikeyD cannot sit still and pushes himself down the hall. Today Dr Y seen MikeyD in the gym and shook his head in disbelief after watching what MikeyD can accomplish compared to looking at his brain scan on an MRI. Dr. Y walked over to Moya and said it is amazing what this little boy can do he is so strong and he is defying all odds. According to the MRI he should and could not be doing what he is doing. Believe it or not a lot of the doctors follow the MikeyD blog and are on care pages and they read the post everyday they will tell you MikeyD is the fighter and he is a true miracle boy.

He did say that he will need intense Cognitive therapy after this which they do not offer. Believe me Moya and I will find him the best Cognitive therapy we can find no matter what. Believe it or since my post Tuesday night we have saved one kid maybe two as of next week after their parents read the blog and or the care pages they had the kids screened one was not allowed to play basketball anymore and one is waiting for further test results I will take one for now and one later. I know God saved MikeyD  for a reason to go on to do great things not sure of the whole how and why right now but I will accept him saving one life at a time slowly for now as a sign from above.

Please keep the faith and believe in miracles.

Please keep praying and posting.

Please continue to visit MikeyD he needs all the company he can get right now.

God Bless.

Unfailing Prayer to St. Anthony

"Blessed be God in His angels and in His saints."

O Holy St. Anthony, gentlest of Saints, you love for God and Charity for His creatures, made you worthy, when on earth, to possess miraculous powers. Miracles waited on your word, which you were ever ready to speak for those in trouble or anxiety. Encouraged by this thought, I implore of you to obtain for me A Full Recovery for MikeyD that he will be able to run and play with his friends again one day like he use to. The answer to my prayer may require a miracle, even so, you are the Saint of Miracles.

O gentle and loving St. Anthony, whose heart was ever full of human sympathy, whisper my petition into the ears of the Sweet Infant Jesus, who loved to be folded in your arms; and the gratitude of my heart will ever be yours. Amen.

Tuesday Night

A dedication to Albert Martin

I received a call yesterday regarding Albert Martin see article below this is what happened to MikeyD and everyone there at the time thought he had a seizure at first. I reached out to Dr.Vetter right away  and spoke to her regarding this tragedy and I have reached out to get in touch with the family.Alberts sister should at leat be tested right away. Some testing of Albert should be done so the family may know the cause and other kids playing basketball might be saved. This happens a lot more to kids playing basketball every year than you think just ask Dr.Vetter.

As soon as MikeyD is back on his feet I am going on a crusade and going to work with Dr. Vetter to make sure all parks where kids play basketball have an AED.

I would also like to see a law where kids playing sports have to at least get an EKG to look for an arrhythmia.

Even though it would not have helped in MikeyD’s case the EKG will help save a lot of other children.  

 I am also begging all of you again if you have kids playing sports especially Basketball this is much more common to basketball players please have them tested start with a simple EKG and also have them tested for Dehydration as well.
This story breaks my heart.

 As reported by the Newark Star-Ledger, Red Bank (N.J.) Regional High senior Albert Martin, a starting forward on the school's basketball team, collapsed during his team's Monday afternoon preseason scrimmage against Point Pleasant Beach (N.J.) High. Martin had reportedly been sitting on the bench when a timeout was called and the forward was told to get ready to return to the game. He took a sip of Gatorade, his knees buckled and he collapsed to the floor.

A school trainer who was on-site rushed to Martin's side and attempted but ultimately failed to revive him. Paramedics who arrived shortly thereafter were similarly unsuccessful, and the teenager was pronounced dead at Riverview Hospital within hours of his initial collapse.

"We knew it was bad right away," Scott Martin, the Red Bank head basketball coach (who is of no relation to the deceased) told the Star-Ledger. "His eyes rolled to the back of his head, he was having some sort of seizure."

Though there has been no official announcement about Martin's cause of death, it seems highly likely to be connected to a heart arrhythmia or another heart abnormality. Martin's mother, Tracy Dixon, confirmed that her son had never received any type of heart screening.

 May he rest in Peace !!!

God bless his Family.

please have your kids tested.