Remember My Brother
 

I'm asking for everyone to remember my brother in prayer, he was involved in an auto accident last night and is in the trauma unit at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, TN. There was a cow in the middle of the road and it was already dark, so apparently he didn't see it until it was too late. They had to life flight him from the accident scene in KY to Nashville, TN (about 80-85 miles away). He was able to talk to them at the accident scene last last night and told them his name. His wife's brother was one of the first ones to come up on the accident after it happened and even after seeing him, he didn't know who it was until my brother was able to tell them his name. The doctors are saying either every bone or nearly every bone in his face is broken and they currently have him on a ventilator to help him breath. I've been over to see him today and just from the looks of his head and face I have to say he's lucky to be alive. He's still got the neck brace on that they put on him at the scene of the accident, because they can't do an MRI on his neck until they can get some of the medical equipment removed from him. They have him heavily sedated, but the nurses have ask him a couple times to give them a thumbs up and he has responded. I think he realizes we are there even though he can't talk to us, because a couple times while I was in to see him the nurses were working with him and he started fighting it, but I told him everything was alright and he would stop fighting with them and let them do whatever they were doing. My mom also said while she was back to see him, his wife mentioned their grand daughters name to him and he moved his eye brows as if he were responding. The doctors have already told us it's going to be a long drawn out process and that he would have to have multiple surgeries on his face. At least he's at the best trauma hospital in this area and probably one of the best in the nation. Everyone just please remember him and pray that everything works out good for him.

Re: Remember My Brother
 

wow, he hit a cow.

I've heard of people hitting deer and them rolling into the cab and messing people up. I couldn't imagine if that were to happen with an 800lb animal.

definitely keep him in my prayers.

even if everything turns out good, he has a long road ahead of him. just do your best to keep his spirits up.

Re: Remember My Brother
 

Thanks Beef!! We're not sure whether the cow actually hit him or if it was something else in the car, because no one at the hospital today had yet seen the car. They said when they got to the car he had his hands clasp behind his head, so we're wondering if he saw it right before hitting it and used his hands and arms to try to protect his head, maybe ducking and the air bag hitting him in the face. They said he hit the cow hard enough that it killed the cow.

In KY motorcycle riders aren't required to wear helmets and I ride motorcycles and wear a helmet, but I think if some of the people who don't wear helmets would go in and see some of the people with head trauma it would make them think more seriously about wearing one.

Re: Remember My Brother
 

He'll be in my prayers.

Vanderbilt is a great trauma hospital. From my personal experience in Sept 09 (when I had my above knee amputation after a motorcycle accident), the doctors and nurses were top notch. I never felt that they ignored any of my or my wife's concerns, they were always very professional and kept me comfortable.

Like Beef said, keep him focused on the positive and on the future.

In my opinion, for many men, showing too much sympathy for them CAN be a bad thing and can drag them down.

Re: Remember My Brother
 

wow, yea i dont belive in drivers ed they tell you what to do when encountering a cow...

at least he sounds like he consciously knows people so he hasnt lost memory. yea it will be long and drawn out but it could have been very worse...


on a related side note i think mythbusters did the myth of either speeding up or slowing down when about to hit a moose (kinda like a cow i guess), i think the outcome was slowing down as any reduction in speed is a reduction in momentum. and a reduction in forces/damage etc

all i know its better to hit the animal than to swerve so slam on the brakes, lay on the horn and hope for the best...

Re: Remember My Brother
 

Erik, I think you told me before you lived in Christian county. My brother lives in Pembroke and the accident happened on US 41 between Pembroke and Trenton.

I agree that all the nursing personel I met today while at Vanderbilt were really nice, professional and worked really great with the ones in the trauma unit.

I'm disabled now because of a back injury that I sustained from a construction related accident 11 years ago. I know from experience things like this are very hard to adjust to. I think my brother will be OK, he has family and life long friends that will help him though this hard time in his life.

It was just a few months ago we were on our way home from church one Sunday night when I rounded a curve and there were several cows right on the edge of the road and I nearly hit one that night, I had room to swerve toward the center of the road without endangering us or anyone else on the road. If they had been in the middle of the road I'd have definitly hit one, because I wouldn't have had enough time to react and miss it.

Thanks to all who have replied and are keeping him in your prayers.

Re: Remember My Brother
 

Wishing the best for your brother. He's responsive, and in good hands. I hope he pulls through.

My hunting buddy's son hit a moose once. I've been in 2 cars that hit deer. Moose and cattle have huge mass that comes right through a windshield. Deer tend to smash bumpers and grills.

Re: Remember My Brother
 

Prayer sent.

Re: Remember My Brother
 

<< What he said.

what is your brother's name?

Re: Remember My Brother
 

Terry Cook

I hit a couple deer in my '88 Escort about a year or so ago, the first one was apparently on the edge of the road and I didn't see it and had to turn around and see what I'd hit to make sure it wasn't a person. The deer was laying dead in the ditch. The second one ran out of the woods and right into my path, I saw it before getting to it and was able to slow way down before impact. Both happened within a couple months of one another. All the damage that was done was that the first one must have hit low and raised the steel bumper on the Escort about an inch.

Re: Remember My Brother
 

He will be in my prayers as well. Best of luck to him and his journey to recovery.

Re: Remember My Brother
 

prayers sent!

after he's out of the hospital, i'd suggest encouraging him to see a chiropractor. they often see things a medical doc can't or won't.

Re: Remember My Brother
 

We just got back from the hospital about an hour ago, he still looks about the same, but my niece (his daughter) said she ask him to squeeze her hand last night and he did and the nurses said he was still responding to them and their commands. They were able to put in a feeding tube and do the MRI on his neck this afternoon, but of course we don't know the results of it yet, we're hoping to know something tomorrow. Yesterday the doctors said the ventilator was doing most of his breathing for him, but today he was doing the largerst percent of the breathing on his own, so God is hearing the prayers and answering, so keep it up.

My niece had pictures of the car on her cell phone that her uncle sent her. It appears that the cow rolled up onto the hood then onto the top mashing the top down and possibly tearing the roof part of the way off on the drivers side and is probably what had hit his head/face.

Re: Remember My Brother
 

Also, please remember my mom, she's having a pretty tough time with this since my dad just passed away about 10 months ago after them having been married almost 60 years. She went to the hospital with me this afternoon and made the comment that it's too soon for another tragidy in the family.

Re: Remember My Brother
 

Sounds like hes doing good and holding his own.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to your family.

Re: Remember My Brother
 

I got an appointment with the VA chiropractor, the intent being to loosen-up my neck and, when he looked at my file refused to treat me in any fashion, even massage. He looked at the MRI and said his treatment was inappropriate. I suppose any competent chiropractor would stay away from stepping-on a physicians treatment.
I'm going to guess our brother is a long way from exiting Physical Therapy and being in a position to think of anything else.

Re: Remember My Brother
 

Great News!!! My sister in law called my mom from the hospital this morning after the Dr. was in to see my brother, then mom called me to give me an update. She told my mom that my brother tried to talk to them this morning, saying they could understand part of what he was saying and not understand part of it, but I'm sure his speach would be slurred from all the swelling, broken bones, possible inner mouth injuries, and medications, but the good thing is that he's talking and seems to know everything. They said he had ask if he was at home. I'm not sure whether he meant was he at home when the accident happened or whether he was asking if he was at home now. She said the Dr. didn't say anything about the MRI they done on his neck, but apparently everything was OK, because my sister in law said they had removed the neck brace. He hasn't opened his eyes, but I'm pretty sure he can't, because of the swelling in his face, my guess is that his head is approximatley 1 1/2 times it's normal size with broken bones, cuts, abraisions, and bruising. Everyone keep praying and hopefully this will be a speedy and full recovery.


If he has any serious injuries that they think a chiropractor would be able to assist with I'll definitely suggest that he see one. I started seeing one about a year ago for my back and neck injuries and he's done it more good than all the medical doctors I've seen in the past 11 years since my injury.

Re: Remember My Brother
 

That's very promising news, indeed!

Re: Remember My Brother
 

Yes, glad to hear! :) Still praying though! ;)

Re: Remember My Brother
 

More good news came in this morning when my sister in law called my mom. My brother is now out of the most critical portion of the trauma unit and in a private room within the trauma unit. We are going back to the hospital tonight and I'll update either later tonight or tomorrow. Keep praying it's definitely working.

Re: Remember My Brother
 

Very encouraging news. He's got a long way to go yet, but his progress is in the right direction.

Re: Remember My Brother
 

it is a long road ahead but the only way down it is one step at a time.

baby steps get you there.

Re: Remember My Brother
 

About Chiropractic

A long time ago I went to a "Back Care Class" and learned the proper way to sit and stand, how to use a broom and how to lift things and a number of stretching exercises that have caused a chronic back problem to disappear; a problem that, a couple times in my Army career caused me to, without warning, collapse in a pile.
The class was at the YMCA ant taught by a Physical Therapist.

Re: Remember My Brother
 

We just returned from the hospital about an hour ago and everything seems to be coming along much better that we were expecting. I was able to communicate with Terry tonight and he's able to open his left eye. He had a pretty bad cut that had to be sewn up at his right eye so it's probably going to take some healing before he'll be able to open it. He's not able to speak much, but he's writing us notes. Even in the condition he's in, first he thanked me for coming to see him and bringing my mom, since she doesn't drive. The next thing he said is "how is mom"? I assured him she was doing much better now that he was able to communicate with us and that she knew he was doing so much better. I asked him tonight if he remembered us being there Monday, and just as I suspected Monday he was aware we were there and remembered it. They were saying earlier today they were going to do surgery on his face Friday, but before we left tonight they had updated it to tomorrow saying he was strong enough to go through it, so mom and I are planning to go back to the hospital tomorrow morning to see him before they start the surgery and give him support during the surgery. Right after the accident they were saying he'd be facing multiple surgeries on his face, now the Dr.'s are saying this may be the only surgery he will need so the news just keeps getting better and better. They are estimating the surgery will be somewhere between 5 and 10 hours long (hopefully that will be good news too and only take 2-3 hours), so he'll have a long rough day to go through tomorrow, but hopefully after tomorrow he will be at a point where he can really get started with the healing process. Apparently he remembers everything leading up to the accident, because my sister in law said today one of his notes said "cow?". She said she just told him not to worry about the cow that it was gone now. I don't know whether he was asking if he hit the cow, what happened to the cow, or if he tried to avoid it and was trying to figure out if that's what caused the wreck.

I've talked to several other people who have family in the trauma unit and I'm sure they would all appreciate prayers for their family member and family also. I talked to one lady there tonight who's son in law has been there for 11 days I think she said and he hasn't come to yet. He's a law enforcement officer and an 18 wheeler turned over on top of the car he was in. She said they were flying him by helicopter to Atlanta tomorrow to have him checked out by brain surgeon there to try to find out what's going on with him. One lady who's dad is in the trauma unit surprised everyone tonight by bringing food into the waiting room and placing it on a cart for anyone who wanted something to eat. When we left I gave her $10. and told her if she decided to do this again to use it to help pay for the food and if she didn't just use the money for herself, either way is fine, because she probably brought in close to $100. worth of food tonight to help others. It's really nice to see someone in this type situation trying to do things to help comfort others in the same situation. When we first got there at about 5:00 PM, I heard her say her dad was running a temperature of 107, but when visiting hours rolled around at 8:30 and she went in to see her dad she came out very excited, so I knew she had got some good news. Her dad's temperature was back to normal. Maybe this was God's way of rewarding her for her good deed!

Please keep the prayers coming!!, not only for Terry, but for all the victims and their families.

Re: Remember My Brother
 

Terry went into surgery today at about 1:15 PM today and was there until about 7:45 PM, so about 6 1/2 hours. I didn't see the surgeon, but my sister in law said he didn't share much information, just said everything went well then left. We're hoping this is the only surgery he has to go through and that now he can get well on his way to full recovery. Thanks for all the prayers and for keeping our family in mind and most of all keep praying!!

Re: Remember My Brother
 

I haven't had the chance to update lately, because we have been away from home either at the hospital or at my mom's house since Friday afternoon. Yesterday my brother started communicating with us more again after having a couple days to start recovering from his surgery. They took him off the ventilator last night and was able to leave it off part of the night, but had to put it back on him sometime during the night. I think that's one of their main goals right now to get him so he can do all his breathing on his own. Very little if any of the swelling has gone down, but he is looking much better. I don't know what they are giving him for pain, but apparently it's doing a pretty good job, he said yesterday his pain level was a 2 on a 1-10 scale. Everyone just keep praying and have faith, everything will work out fine.

Re: Remember My Brother
 

That's a bit of a setback going back on the ventilator, but he's stable, responsive, and recovering.

Re: Remember My Brother
 

We just returned from the hospital about a 1/2 hour ago. This morning he was running a fever of 103.5, but the fever has broke and all is well there. It's my understanding that they took him back off the ventilator this morning and he's been able to breath fully on his own today. I ask him this afternoon if he was feeling any better and he responded no by shaking his head. I think the swelling is starting to go down a little bit. Please continue the prayers.

Re: Remember My Brother
 

[COLOR="Black"]Someone that saw the cow told my sister in law that it probably weighed between 1200-1400 pounds and a friend of mine that saw it estimated 1000 pounds. Regardless of weight it was a huge animal.

I haven't updated the condition of my brother lately, partly because I've been sick for the last few days and wasn't going to go see him and possibly make him sick. I did go see him this afternoon which was the first time I'd seen him since last Saturday. When I went in they had him up sitting in a chair in his room and he said he'd been sitting up for about 3 hours and that this was the first day since his accident that he had felt good all day. He looked much better than he did a week ago, with nearly all the swelling on the left side of his face gone. He's now able to talk to us instead of having to write notes, he's able to fully open his left eye, partially open his right eye and they started feeding him soft foods and liquids today. If this isn't enough good news tomorrow he goes to rehab. He doesn't know yet how long he'll be in rehab, but they are saying probably not very long. He's hoping for a week and that might be about right. I think they are just going to have him in rehab to help him regain his strength from the accident and just lying around for the past 2 weeks.

Re: Remember My Brother
 

Re: Remember My Brother
 

Great news about your brother's progress. It's pretty remarkable he'll be going home this soon after such serious injuries.

The size of a cow depends on its sex, age, breed, and condition. A <1 year old Hereford beef steer or heifer will be off the range and headed to the feedlot at 800 lbs for finishing on grain, and slaughter at 1100 lbs. A Jersey milk cow will be out on the range until she's retired at ~three years old, and she'll weigh 2200 + lbs.

Re: Remember My Brother
 

Wow, that progress is great to hear!

Re: Remember My Brother
 

I don't know much about cows except they eat grass and hay and that's where milk, hamburger and steak comes from, but I was told by my friend who saw it, this was a milk cow. Regardless of what breed it was it's too big to be hitting with a car!!

My sister in law called my mom last night after they got Terry into the rehab center and told her they were talking like he might be there 3-4 weeks. She said Terry told them he didn't think he could stand more than another week. I think he's getting tired of laying around doing nothing, because several days ago he told his wife he was ready to get busy doing something.

Re: Remember My Brother
 

They'll be working him hard with physical therapy. No worries there ;).

There are four main milking cow breeds in the USA: Jersey, Guernsey, Holstein, and Brown Swiss. Holsteins are the largest. I misspoke when I said Jerseys weigh 2200 lbs.

According to Wikipedia, Holstein weight is 1300-1500 lbs, Jerseys are "quite small" at 800-1200 lbs (average 1000 lbs), Guernseys (1000-1100 lbs) average slightly more than Jerseys. Answers.com says Brown Swiss cows weigh 1100-1500 lbs.

Re: Remember My Brother
 

Glad to here that your brother is recovering well, Ford Man.

Re: Remember My Brother
 

The best news yet came today. Tomorrow he gets to go home. Thanks to everyone for the thoughts and prayers, and also keep remembering him in prayer, he still has a long ways to go. I'll continue to keep everyone posted as he passes other milestones along the way.

Re: Remember My Brother
 

Terry went back to the eye Dr. and the surgeon that did his surgery today. Both gave him a good report. I think the surgeon wants to see him again in about 6 weeks. He also went in and worked about 3 or 4 hours last Friday, which I think made him pretty tired, but otherwise didn't bother him.

Re: Remember My Brother
 

Good!

Re: Remember My Brother
 

Great to hear that your brother is doing so well. Hopefully he is out of the woods and will be back to his normal self very very soon.

Re: Remember My Brother
 

That's terrific news. He's a lucky guy, indeed, to recover so well from such a horrible misfortune.