On Sunday, April 12th, Dan was involved in a motorcycle accident. He was transported to the hospital and is currently in critical condition.
Dan has many broken ribs, a broken clavical, and multiple skull/facial fractures. The ribs and shoulder will heal without intervention; all efforts are focused on the head trauma right now.
Dan has always been the first to show up for others. Now, it’s our turn to show up for him. Every bit of support helps him focus on what matters most: getting better.
We have no idea what the future looks like right now but we want to make sure Dan’s finances are in order when he comes home (we haven’t given him any other options, he’s coming home eventually). Your generosity will help him cover his essential living expenses—like rent and utilities, ect—while ensuring we can purchase any specialized medical equipment that may be necessary for his recovery and comfort at home.
Even if you’re not in a position to donate, please consider sharing this post. Every share brings more eyes to Dan’s story and sends a wave of much-needed support his way as he tackles the long road to recovery. Let’s show him he’s not walking this path alone.
Daily updates
Day 1- When we left the hospital, he was stable and they told us the hardest parts would be days 3-5. They put a monitor in his head to have immediate reads on brain swelling. It’s sticking out like an antenna. It’s cute. They tell us his swelling is at a non-concerning level.
Day 2- Dan is stable all day. The doctor tells us he is cautiously optimistic. There aren’t any changes from Day 1, except he’s now reacting to pain in all extremities. Great news, but it's the calm before the storm.
Day 3- His stats start to destabilize early morning, they do another scan and add some meds. He doesn’t react to pain in any extremities now. Dr reminds us we are going into Day 3, so it’s the start of the roller coaster and he was right. There are ups and downs all day. Further sedation. Temperature control. Pain management. The brain swelling/pressure is fluctuating all day and reaches concerning levels multiple times.
Day 4 (4/15) - Dan was stable all night and all day. His brain pressure has been in good range all day- only slightly elevated once this morning when they moved him. They joke he's a bit moody when they move him.
They have taken down the sedation significantly and he's off the blood pressure medication entirely. They're feeding him and his organs all seem to be working.
From here they will slowly continue decreasing the remaining sedation and other medications as tolerated.
Please keep praying. We aren't out of the woods yet. After all of this, the biggest hurdle is we need him to wake up. Please pray for him. Pray his brain heals. Pray the bleeding wasn't too much. Pray the swelling came down quick enough. Pray he is still him
Day 5 (4/16)
The good news! Dan's physical recovery is going great. He's maintaining great levels of pressure in the brain all night and today. So much so they're planning to take the pressure gauge out tomorrow morning.
The fluid in his lungs has minimized and they talked about taking the chest tubes out in the next couple days.
They are still slowly decreasing the sedation and pain medications. The dose of sedative is about half of what it was this morning.
The majority of the day Dan was fully relying on the ventilator. There was a brief stint mid day where he did some on his own- during a little tantrum after being moved.
He is still not responding to painful stimulation in his hands/feet. We really need him to wake up. The sooner the better.
Please keep praying.
Day 6 (4/17)
A Rollercoaster of a day. Continuing balancing act of trying to slowly decrease meds and sedation as tolerated. Had some scares with spikes of concerning pressure on Dans brain. Adjusting sedation and meds as he tolerates. Dan did have some response to pain stimulation in his hand and had some movements of his mouth. please keep praying. Dan needs all the support he can get. We still need him to wake up.
Day 7 (4/18)
The roller coaster continued the last 24 hours.
The bloodwork is coming back good and no changes when comparing the CT scan from earlier to the one today (good because it hasn't gotten worse).
His stats and cranial pressure have been unstable for 2 days so they put him in a deep sedation and are allowing him to rest with no movement and no other major changes for the day. They talked about continuing this approach tomorrow (Sunday) and then start dialing everything back again on Monday. The timeline may change though.
The rest of his body is healing fine. We/they are focusing on the traumatic brain injury (TBI) and getting him to wake up.
Day 8&9 4/19-4/20
More roller coaster.
Both chest tubes are out. Infection gone. Lungs look "pristine" per the Dr.
it's a continuation of managing his symptoms. His stats have been unstable now for 6 days.
There is still a significant amount of swelling in his brain which is causing his brain to "storm". He's fighting in there and doesn't want to give up control (the point of sedating him is to allow his brain to relax and he's just not having that).
Just about anything can set him off/throw his stats. Touch, sounds, a wrinkle in his sheet, someone fluffed his pillow too much. Hes like the Princess and the Pea. I hope someone tells him I said that.
Yesterday was a very hard day. Around 330pm and his stats were all very high the Dr came in and told us there appears to be more swelling in the brain than the last CT showed. He's not responding to sedation anymore. He's maxed out on a bunch of meds. So, they put him in a medically induced coma. It's the deepest sedation they can do for him and a bit of a last-ish effort to get him to rest so his brain can stop swelling and recover. They didn't give a timeframe on the coma, and I didn't ask. We can figure that out later. What I've found is trying to plan anything is a joke. It's like telling Dan what to do. He ain't gonna listen.
They haven't given up on him so we are still hopeful. Please keep praying.
Day 10 & 11. 4/21-4/22
He's still in the induced coma. His stats (blood pressure, heart rate, etc) have been staying in range a little better.
His cranial pressure is still an issue. It made it to the 40's again yesterday and 30's today when they turned him and it's largely staying in the 20's consistently (we want it below 20). When they can get it down it doesn't stay down long anymore.
We are hanging on to hope until they tell us otherwise
Day 12 & 13. (4/23 & 4/24)
We have seen the first bits of progress. The last 36 hours have been steady. Dans stats have been stable and more importantly his body is stabilizing itself on its own with some things now. He tolerates movement again- gets mad for a minute but settles himself back down without extra help from meds.
He is still in a medically induced coma and they are very slowly titrating back some of the sedatives.
Multiple doctors have now said they do not expect him to wake for several weeks or more even once the coma meds are done.
At the end of the update this morning the doctor said these last 24 hours are the best we have seen so far and "he's shown signs of life in a comatose state".
Day 14, 15 & 16 (4/25-4/27)
Dan's physical condition continues to improve. He is off the coma medication as of this morning (4/27). They are weaning down the pain medications. He has a light dose of sedative to keep him comfortable with the vent in his throat.
He is getting a tracheotomy soon so he can still get help with breathing but won't be uncomfortable in his throat (if he were to wake up the current tube would cause severe discomfort/stress). This isn't something we love but they say it doesn't have to be permanent.
He is responding to pain stimulation again in both lower and one upper extremity. Yesterday he also had a response in his face. It is too early to know if his is a true Dan reaction or if they're reflexes. Drs have said the coma meds are off but they take days to fully leave the system and can still take an extended period to wake up (weeks-months)
With all of the metal off they are planning to get that MRI finally, hopefully this week. This will give us an idea of his brain function.
He needs your prayers here still. We still need him to wake up after all of this. Pray the last of these meds leave his body peacefully and pray pray pray he's still in there enough to live a life he can enjoy.
Day 17 4/28
The official MRI results came back this afternoon and confirmed what doctors were already seeing earlier—they do not see anything that would prevent Dan from making a meaningful recovery. While they still can’t predict exactly what that will look like or the timeline, they shared that patients with similar injuries and progression have recovered well. His brainstem in particular looks very good. Overall, doctors are encouraged and have been happy with his progress over the last 2–3 days.
Dan did undergo a tracheostomy today, which went well, and he now has a breathing tube in his neck. He also showed some reflexive movements (eye opening, yawning and stretching), which are expected brainstem responses—not signs of waking yet, but still reassuring. They plan to place a PEG feeding tube tomorrow, which will be safer and more comfortable than the current tube.
There is a mild ligament injury in his neck, but it does not require surgery—he’ll just keep the neck brace on a bit longer. He also has a shear injury to the brain lining from the impact, which will heal over time but is the reason recovery will likely take months.
He is still being treated for pneumonia in his left lung, though his breathing has improved. He continues to run occasional low-grade fevers, which doctors say is not unusual.
Looking ahead, the care team has begun mentioning eventual transfer to a long-term care/rehab facility once he’s ready, which is a positive sign that he’s stable and progressing.
5/16
We’re officially over a month in. He’s doing well considering all he’s gone through and we are a bit surprised how quickly we are seeing some of the improvement.
After he was physically stable the question turned from “is he going to make it?” to “how much of *Dan* still in there?”.
We can say with confidence Dan is in there.
Here are a few fun things we have enjoyed over the last couple weeks:
-When talking about Chloee he wakes up and tries to talk.
-when showed a video of his dog he said “Luna” clear as day.
-when sister asked him if he missed her he shook his head no.
-When someone makes a bad joke he rolls his eyes and turns his head.
-Has responded “Love you too” multiple times.
-Likes to pull his gown up when the fan is blowing….
-Laughs sometimes at things that are actually funny.
There are times his eyes are open and he’s moving around and times of actual consciousness when he can connect and communicate some.
He’s entirely off the ventilator. Still has the trach but he’s not using it for anything anymore. They will talk about taking that out once he’s able to eat some.
Some days we see a lot of progress and it surprises us. Some days seem slow and he’s less alert. Some days feel like backwards steps. All of which is normal so even on the bad days- we have to remind ourselves he’s still moving forward.
There is a meeting next week to discuss him moving to rehab - he is not yet meeting the milestones to go to rehab so this is very early stages of planning.
Please keep praying. If you’re not sure what to pray for specifically he could use some prayers for help with comfort, understanding, and pain management. Recovering from a Traumatic Brian Injury isn’t a defined process. There is some guessing and checking and figuring out of what works and what doesn’t. He’s sometimes agitated and we don’t know if it’s because of the TBI/Brainstorming or if he’s in pain. He’s definitely communicated some pain in his legs recently which could be from brain storming or muscles not being used.
5/25
It has been and continues to be the roller coaster they told us about. This last week brought both high highs and lows. Sometimes he seems awake but isn’t. Sometimes he sleeps most of the day and night. Sometimes he’s awake and chatty but doesn’t remember people or his relation to them. Sometimes, he’s awake and aware. All of this is normal.
We met with Rehab last week and discussed rehabilitation and requirements to go. He is very close to going to rehab and we want only the best for him. The rehab we want to go with is intense and will give him a kick in the ass to get him going. But rehab there is very short. It’s only a few weeks and then he has to go home.
As we are talking about rehab and the plan for after rehab we are also starting stronger discussion around friend visits. When he comes home he/we will absolutely need help. We will let everyone know the plan via Facebook once we have a clear path and then work with everyone. Thank you all again for being so patient, I know you all care deeply and it’s not been easy to not visit.
6/2
So much has changed in just a week. Dan doesn’t know how to wait around for anything- he’s just going to get it done. Including healing. This is not new news for anyone that knows him.
Since the last update he is awake and conscious. They got him up to walk last Wednesday and he did great considering he’d been in bed for 6 weeks. He’s had a lot of family visitors and his memory is coming around.
He moved to rehab a couple days ago and he’s getting GREAT care there. Therapy is intense and consistent so he’s exhausted in the evenings. Today, he walked 800ft. He’s doing so well in just these couple days they shortened his estimated stay by 2 weeks.
Since being at rehab he’s a bit more confused. That’s normal for being in a new unfamiliar setting and all new faces all day. Even through the confusion we can see he’s making progress. He talks about people and memories a lot. He has brought up childhood memories all the way up through the day before the accident.
He is still saying no to visitors. We will keep updating.
He still needs as much support and prayers as he can get. This recovery is going to be a long rough road. Please continue to share and donate if possible.