Details about hospital

Thought I'd better put up a post about this. Mike's at Auckland Hospital in the neurology ward, which is ward 81. No flowers please, as the nurses don't let them in for fear of infections. However we can put up cards and things around his bed. Kylie has already made a lovely photo-collage and Rob has dropped off the t-shirt he made for Mike to wear on the Ironman - Rob's a podiatrist and was going to be sponsoring Mike.

As I said before, there are heaps of people flocking to see him and the nurses have actually suggested reducing the flow compared to the first few days, presumably due to the risk not just of disturbing Mike but also the other patients. Mike is going to be in need of visitors in the long-run, so there will be plenty of opportunities for visiting him over the next few weeks and months, so don't feel you need to dash up to see Mike this weekend. After all, I have lots of stories about the UK to bore Mike with yet.

Mum, Dad, Phil and I appreciate all the support we've been receiving, and it's wonderful to know how much Mike is appreciated.

Dates and times

The dates and times on the earlier posts are a bit stuffed, as I manually adjusted them, and then found the settings to set the blog to NZ time. They were actually sent at about half-past one this afternoon.

How Mike is doing (Saturday, 26 Feb)

Anyway, as you can see, it's taken us a while after the accident to get this blog started. So I'll give everyone an update on his progress, and we can post more history as we get more sorted. I've split this into good news and not so good, read whichever section you prefer first.


Good News

Mike's now breathing on his own and swallowing his own saliva, so he's been moved out of intensive care into the neurology ward.

There are apparently four factors that increase the chances of recovering from a head injury:

• High general intelligence before the accident
• Strong social skills
• High level of physical fitness
• Strong family support

And Mike has ticks for all four. He's so fit that his pulse rate was so slow when the ambulance staff got to them that they were seriously worried until Ben told them that about 40 bpm is about normal for someone training for the Ironman. Over the 2 1/2 days I've been back from the UK we've been by far the biggest group in the waiting room, with family and friends waiting for him. And no one who's been to Canterbury University, NZ, can be stupid. (Bit of bias there, I admit).

All Mike's limbs are moving, which means that his spinal cord has not been damaged. His pupils are responding to light and are even.

Not so Good News

Mike's still very unconscious, he is not responding to voice, though he does a bit to pain, and maybe to changes in light. There's no signs yet that his movements are controlled by his brain, e.g. when the staff are doing something to him a hand doesn't come up to try to brush them away.

Will keep you updated.

First post

Hi, this is Tracy, Mike's sister. I've set up this blog for my family and me to post updates on Mike's progress to everyone in the world who is worrying about him.

In case you don't already know about Mike, he got a serious head injury on Sunday, 20 February 2005. He was out cycling with his mate Ben in Auckland, they were both training for the Ironman down in Taupo. A van turned right in front of them and Mike, without time to react, ran into it. Ben, who was a bit behind, managed to turn and clipped the rear of the van and escaped with some grazes and bruises. Apparently the van driver saw them but didn't realise how fast they were moving (about 35-40 km an hour) and thought they had time to turn before the guys got there.

So, if you're out cycling, keep an eye out for vans.

Note - Just fixed my relationship to my brother. Dad was a bit surprised to find that I was referring to myself as Mike's brother.