Ok, so I know I said I was going to post often here, our lives seem pretty boring now if you compare them to the events that followed Katrina. And, even though I am over hearing the name "Katrina" there must be hundreds or thousands of stories untold. Only close friends and family know Ryan's story, maybe this is the time to tell it. "Write a book!" This is always the second comment I get after telling the story. That is after, "Oh my God". The storm has past, the fema trailers have moved, and now after 6 years the long 2 week court trial is over. The end for the defense. They (the 10 or more attorneys) go back to their jobs just as normal as they were before the trial. Even though we proved our case and won, we still go back to what is known as our new lives. Living with a child that has a Traumatic Brain Injury has changed our lives forever in so many ways. Many more things for the worse than the better. If that sounds bizarre, it felt more bizarre typing it. So what I think I might do here on this blog is tell Ryan's story beginning the summer before the accident. Maybe this documentary can one day be an inspiration to tell more people. So, I will also give you current progress with Ryan's recovery. Like, yesterday his Maw Maw and Paw Paw came over and download some casino applications to Ryan's IPad. I think they are trying to talk him into going to the casino again. We took him to Island View over the summer and even though he had a blast, he said he was not going back. I asked him why and he used sign language to show me that their were to many old people smoking. I was surprised my self at the number of old people smoking and their spouse standing right next to them with their own portable oxygen tanks. Scary!
Dr Doisblanc "Ben" was not Ryan's doctor, but he was the "Head Honcho" over all operations when we were stuck in Charity Hospital in New Orleans before, during and after the storm. He took this picture of Ryan and sent it to me months after the storm.
This picture was taken after the storm, after the levees broke, but before the generators went out. The tempature was so intense, and you can see the nurses fanning Ryan with styrofoam food trays. When the generators got low a group of family members and nurses walked across to the above ground parking lot and siphoned gassed from parked cars. Once the gas ran out, and the generator went down Ryan had to be removed from life support. The nurses took turns "bagging" him manually so that he would get oxygen.
Below is an article about a documentary done. It was on Discover Channel and it was
about Dr. Doisblanc, Charity Hospital and the days to follow Katrina. Ryan was not featured in this program, but Dr. Doisblanc "Ben" did testify at Ryan's trial. He was phenomenal!
This is the link: http://dsc.discovery.com/convergence/katrina/meet/deboisblanc.html
Here is the article about the show:
Ben is chief of the intensive care unit at Charity Hospital, one of New Orleans' only two public hospitals, which serve the city's poorest and uninsured patients. When the power fails, the temperature soon exceeds 100 degrees, and nurses and family members manually operate respirators and work by flashlight to carry patients up to higher floors of the hospital to escape the filthy water flooding their buildings. The media reports that Charity Hospital has been evacuated, but it's not true. He and his staff are faced with keeping 11 critically ill patients alive under desperate circumstances. Even as their rescue is imminent, de Boisblanc faces another challenge: saving the life of a 23-year-old male patient, Hunter Reeves, by performing open chest surgery without sedation or anesthesia and with only a flashlight as his light source.
Since the Hurricane: Charity Hospital is still closed.
Since the Hurricane: Charity Hospital is still closed.
