Sunday July 11th, 2010
Pauline and I got little sleep and woke up at 6:30. I asked her what she wanted to do, as she was supposed to stay in Franklin until August and I was not supposed to leave Franklin for home until Monday.
Her first words were that we had to go to Gainsville. Not knowing how long we would be gone, we had to pack up things, and close up the house as if we were leaving for a long time.
We left at 9:45 having taken care of most things. Pam Bridges had a set of keys for our place and was going to come down and clean the refrigerator out of items that would spoil.
We were each driving our own vehicles, and Pauline followed me down the highway. In Clayton we got a phone call from Chris Touchton, who had been in touch with his friend, J Mocco. J just happens to be a Neuorsurgical Doctor at the very hospital that Alyee was in. Chris had called him from camp, around midnight. J was at a doctors conference in Wyoming. Soon as J heard what was happening, he hung up on Chris, called the hospital to get the details, and to look at her file online. He called Chris back and said that he was going to be the attending physician on this case and that he would be taking care of her.
It was 5:30 when we got to the hospital in Gainesville FL. A long 8 hour drive. I could tell when Pauline got a phone call when we were driving, as she would slow way down and fall back from me.
Captain Murphy met us downstairs when we arrived at the hospital, and Mannys two sisters and his brothers fiance Rebecca was there with him, to take Griffin, back to Rebeccas apartment in town as she is a UF student.
Captain Murphy took us up to the 8th floor where Alyee is, and there we met Mannys Step mom. Andrea (Mannys Step mom) told us that there are lots of tubes and equipment attached to Alyson, and she was sedated and out of it. But don’t be scared and don’t let her see any fear.
When I walked into the room, if you had told me that she had been hit by a Mack truck, I would have believed you. There she was laying in this big bed, not even 100 pounds, and she was lost not only in the bed, but behind and under all sorts of tubes and wires. Several machines were around her, beeping ticking and flashing all sorts of colored graphs and numbers. All vital indicators to the nurses and doctors of what her body was doing. She was out of it, but if talked to her she could acknowledge with a shake of her head, that she understood what you were asking.
The doctor came in and brought us up to date on her prognosis. The angiogram did not confirm an anurism. They were going to do an MRI scan to see if that was going to show anything. That was scheduled for sometime that night. She was in serious but stable condition, and they were going to keep looking to see what happened.
He mentioned that Dr Mocco had been in touch with him at least 40 times via text message, and that Dr Mocco was all over this case. He also told us that Dr Mocco was one of the very best in this field, and that she was going to be in very good care with him in charge of her case.
Mannys dad Fernando arrived a little later and went right in to see her. He had driven up from Miami. Being a Doctor in Columbia, he was able to see what her condition was, and asked questions and made inquiries about things he was concerned about. It was reassuring to know that he was there, and his experiences and expertise was going to help make sure that she was getting all the special care she needed.
Elyse Bridges who is one of Alysons best friends was there, and was very concerned for Alyson. She was leaving the next day, to go with a musical group to attend a youth conference in Sweden. She still had to go home and pack for a plane ride she was catching the next morning, but she was in no hurry to leave. She walked out of the hospital when we left, reluctant to have to leave.
Pauline stayed that night at the hospital with Alyson. I took Manny back to camp where he could get some good sleep.
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