Upcoming July Fundraiser Event

Please join us on Saturday, July 31st from 5-9 for a "Bash and Fundraiser" benefiting Bryce and celebrating Brookfield High School's 50th birthday for the class of 1978.  Bands include Vital Signs, Waiting on Wednesday, Highway 49, and more.  Located at the Brookfield Town Hall.
Brookstock Facebook Event Invitation

We look forward to seeing you there!

July 9th, 2010

Time has flown by since we got home on May 6th, the day before Bryce's 21st birthday. We had a small family gathering that day, and began the arduous process of unpacking to settle into our terrific new home at The Taft School. Taft took a carriage house, located just behind our former house, and renovated the upstairs apartment and the existing three car garage into a phenomenal single-family home that is....handicap accessible! It is hard to believe that a garage could look anything like what we have now. Bryce's bedroom and bathroom, and a one-room kitchen and living room concept are on the first floor, and a two bedroom, two bath, den and office are upstairs. Taft's headmaster, Willy MacMullen, Chris Torino, the Dean of Faculty, and Jim Shepard, manager of the buildings and grounds of Taft deserve special thanks for helping Bryce and our family to move forward with the help that we need. Also, Kevin Conroy, my wonderful friend, had to move out of the carriage house so that we could move in. He was ever the gentleman about this! Bryce has an incredible well of patience, and I cannot tell you how many days are spent waiting for van rides to therapy at the Hospital for Special Care in New Britain, CT or dealing with autonomic dysreflexia. This last thing is a reaction to something that is wrong in the paralyzed part of one's body. Since Bryce cannot feel there, the reactions include high blood pressure and sweats. When those signals come, it becomes a mad dash to figure out what is wrong in time to have the blood pressure lower and some degree of normalcy to ensue. We have been making plans for Bryce to pursue his degree once more and to find new ways to compose with a keyboard and computer software or to play a lap steel guitar, which I am ordering for him with the money that I made in grading the AP Lit exams in Kentucky. We do not know if Bryce can play this with a slide and a special pick, but it is worth a try. TJ Thompson, a music teacher at Taft, has been coming over to help Bryce with computer software music programming. Bryce is taking an online course on the Government and Politics of Latin America at Central Connecticut State College, and he hopes to have these credits transferred to Colorado College - he is enrolled there full time in September. Bryce's Taft and CC friends continue to sustain him, and they visit frequently along with Grandma, Aunt Leslie, and cousins. Bryce continues with his calm demeanor of determination and understanding. We have a couple of fundraisers coming up - July 31st, Brookfield Class of '78 is throwing a 50th birthday bash for the class and a fundraiser for Bryce called "Brookstock" in the mode of Woodstock with five bands and other special guests along with a bring your own picnic party. Then on October 12th, there will be a golf tournament at the Watertown Club for Bryce. We are so grateful for this support since we need to buy a handicap van and other adaptive devices to make Bryce's life easier. Thank you to our friends who continue to support us, to my sister, brothers, and Mom who are always ready to help with the daily needs Bryce has, to Keefe who has stepped up to the plate in every way, to Cara who is our resident financial and logical mind, and to Bryce who teaches me every day. There is something truly otherworldly and eternal about someone who can see past the mundane silliness, the petty mediocrity that keeps us self-absorbed. In Bryce's giving heart and almost preternatural calm, we have, as his brother Keefe often states, our family hero. - Bryce's Mom

March 28th, 2010

Bryce returns on May 6th, the day before his 21st birthday. We are in a race to get our new house ready but so excited to have him home. The operation was a great success, and he has less pain and a stronger left arm as a result. Sometimes, he has slight finger movement in the right hand. Keep the faith! He hopes to take online courses this summer.

March 3rd, 2010

Good news! The surgeon's assistant informed Bryce's Dad that the operation was a huge success. The cyst was bigger than expected, but it collapsed on its own, and Dr. Falci did not have to insert a shunt in the spinal cord. Bryce's pain in his left shoulder and pectoral region has disappeared and he is gaining some touch sensation in his thumb and third fingers! His recovery is in the percentage of patients who will undoubtedly have big gains in the next 6 months after the operation. He said that Bryce had a lot of scar tissue, and that he cut enough away to make a difference. The huge cyst also responded to draining, and so that is another good sign. Bryce finally got some sleep this afternoon. Full steam ahead!

March 1st, 2010

I have some good news tonight. Bryce can lift his left arm high up to his ear, and the rotation of his right wrist is better as well! He goes into surgery tomorrow at 7:30 a.m. to have fluid in the spinal cord and a cyst removed. Pray for more movement regained.

The second piece of good news is that it looks very likely that the dock from which Bryce incurred his spinal cord injury will be removed in Prangins, Switzerland. The mayor and Canton of Vaud have approved the removal by June if there is no public protest. It was a very good day, and we hope for a successful surgery tomorrow.

February 24th, 2010

Please join the facebook group, Supprimer le ponton de Promenthoux/Prangins. If you do, you will join in the protest to remove the dock from which Bryce suffered his spinal cord injury. Bryce is the third injury, with the first in 1988, resulting in a man who is quadraplegic like Bryce, and then in 2004, another young boy died. The town and county decided to leave the dock in place.

February 8th, 2010

Super Bowl party, Colorado College friends, chili, a great game, Bryce, and brother Glenn. Bryce is doing well, and he really has the best friends in the world. Thank you to all of them - whether here or reading this. Skyped with Martin and John Leen today! So good to hear and see friends from Switzerland who are with us now on this journey forward. 

- Bryce's Mom

February 6th, 2010

Here with Bryce in Denver, watching college basketball and planning our Super Bowl party with his friends and Uncle Glenn for tomorrow. I learned how to transfer him to the car, and we took off to the mountains for some views and snow. The transfer is easy, and it gives us so much more mobility. So happy to be here!

-Bryce's Mom