A fund has been set up and donations can be sent to the address below. Please feel free to pass this onto as many people that you wish. And please keep Mattt and his family in your prayers.


Brownie Points
P.O. Box 398
Norwood, MA  02062

NEW WEBSITE FOR MATT BROWN
http://www.mattbrownnumber3.org/

Matts Progress Matt had successful surgery on Wednesday, January 27th to stabilize his spine. The surgery lasted about 6 hours and two surgeons, one nuero surgeon and one orthopedic surgeon installed what amounts to a steel cage around matt’s spine from the C3 – C6 vertebra which has made his spine very stable. This allows us to now move Matt into a more upright position, without fear of further damaging his neck, and to begin working on his breathing. For the last 8 days the focus has been on two things, wean Matt off his respirator and begin Physical Therapy (PT). The PT consists of moving his limbs and joints and also using what is called a Tip Board, to move him into an upright position for short periods of time. This is to work on his blood pressure and matt has been able to maintain it without medication.

His breathing has proved to more of a challenge. He had been making good progress but due to excess fluid buildup suffered a partially collapsed left lung on Tuesday of this week. They have managed to re-inflate the lung and yesterday and today had tested Matt’s ability to essentially breathe on his own, lowering the assistance of the respirator and seeing if he could manage his breathing on his own. While he can manage to breathe on his own for a short while, he can not sustain it, especially when he dozes off to sleep. After a discussion with his doctor yesterday, it was determined that Matt will require a tracheostomy, which will take place today. While it is surgery, it is a positive step in that it now allows several things to happen; Matt will have the breathing tube removed from his throat, allowing him to talk, He will, in short time, be able to drink and if his throat feels better, eat, It will get him to rehabilitation quicker. We have discussed the surgery with Matt and his answer was, "How quick can we do it". Research has shown that the quicker you can get a spinal cord injury patient to Rehab, the better the long term results and this surgery will help us do that.

Matt remains paralyzed from the chest down, with no movement in his arms, hands, legs or feet. He has, however, started to experience sensation to touch on both his biceps and on his left arm, down to the upper forearm, which are below the original paralysis line. These are small victories but victories that we welcome. Something is there, we don’t know what, or what it means but we’ll take it.

Matt has also had his entire hockey team come to Children’s Hospital to visit him this past Sunday. It was a huge lift for Matt’s spirits and the parents of his teammates said it did wonders for their sons. It was reported that on their way into the hospital, all 26 players tried to enter the hospital at once, through the large revolving door at the entrance and proceeded to get stuck. Quite a site, all 26 players dressed in the blue hockey warm up suits, stuck under glass. He has also received jerseys from hockey stars Patrice Bergeron of the Bruins, Mike Eruzione from the 1980 Olympic hockey team, Wayne Gretzky and a football jersey from Former patriot Teddy Bruschi. And while these jersey’s are amazing to a boy of 15, it is the messages on them that mean even more: To be patient, to stay positive, to Believe in Miracles and to Stay Strong.

The outpouring of support from our family, friends, the Town of Norwood, our co-workers and even people we don’t know has been amazing. In addition the hockey community from around the state and country have reached out to Matt to show their support. The cards, letters, thoughts, prayers and words of encouragement mean more to us than words can ever express. We are truly blessed and it reinforces my belief that despite all of the negative we see and read about in the news, there are still many wonderful people out there.

We continue to focus on Matt, hour by hour and day by day and are amazed at his strength, his courage and his positive attitude.

My thanks to all of you for your personal thoughts and prayers that you have sent. I have said to many people this week that I have sent an e-mail or a note to a friend with the words “you are in my thoughts and prayers” and have often wondered if they meant anything to the person I had sent it to. I now find myself on the other end of those messages and I can assure you, it means a lot.

Thank you to everyone for your support, thoughts and prayers - they mean so much to Matt, Sue Kelley and me. We'll send another update over the next few days..