The Glorious Flight of the Red Wing

So where is Gabe Allen? Last we told you he was to fly East on January 12th, and so he did!
Is he in Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital in Boston undergoing vigorous rehab? No, he is not!

Gabe is camping out in room 834 of Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston recovering from a drug reaction rash. In the Alternate Universe on the Ride to Recovery you can never quite be sure where you will be one day to the next. So let me tell you what happened….

In December came the great news that Mike’s prime resource for footwear at Winterport Boot Shop, the Red Wing Shoe Company, would provide their corporate jet — a snazzy Citation V, and two pilots, Chap and Jim–to fly Gabe east as a gift to the family. This was a fantastic gift saving many thousands of dollars. What remained was to have Kentfield Drs. release Gabe, Spaulding Drs. receive Gabe and Insurance approve. This was all completed by January 6th and we contacted the Flying Nurses International to organize the medical essentials of the trip. Dana of the Flying Nurses arranged for sending and receiving ambulances; in flight ICU nurse Allen; all necessary health equipment; and a car service to transport all the baggage to and from the hospitals. The Maietta Bike raffle proceeds really would be able to pay for the medical end of the trip.

Early in the morning of January 12th, so early that Kierie and I really didn’t go to sleep the night before, nurse Allen arrived to prepare Gabe for the flight. He dressed him in warm clothes and prepped the St Joseph Ambulance team. The night shift nurses and CNAs on the first wing all came to say goodbye, wish us well, and some cried a few tears. The Limo service arrived and packed in our luggage. It was a good thing that the Limo also packed a huge black umbrella because we sure needed it at 4:00 in the morning when we got to Kieser Air at Oakland Metropolitan International Airport. Dark, cold and pouring rain was our sendoff from California. The umbrella covered most of the sideways drifting rain while the ambulance and jet crews planned how to get Gabe through the jet door that was narrower than his shoulders.

Into the narrow jet he went and into the comfy reclining seat. Kierie and Allen on the port side stowing the final medical supplies, Gabe and I on starboard and pilot Chap and navigator Jim reading off the final preflight checklist. We took off like a spirited race car at the drop of the flag and headed for Fargo, North Dakota our midway fuel stop. Gabe had a bit of sedation to help keep him calm so we thought nothing of his laid back observation of the trip unfolding around him. Allen was kept busy with monitoring Gabe –heart rate, oxygen level, suctioning the trach and giving meds. Kierie kept Gabe entertained and comfy with blankets and pillows. I mostly took pictures and enjoyed the catered Danish breakfast and sandwich and salad lunch that came aboard in Fargo. Chap swapped flying duties with Jim at Fargo and often passed back the Flight GPS mini-screen to let us see what state we were over. When we reached the Hudson and Chap announced that Manhattan was just at the point where the river disappeared on the horizon Gabe looked wistfully off into the distance.

We landed in the private aviation section of Hanscom Field in Bedford, Mass. by 3:00 in the afternoon, well ahead of schedule. PrideStar ambulance was ready to receive us. This time we knew exactly how to extract Gabe and get him onto the waiting stretcher. It was good bye to Chap and Jim who planned to make it back to Red Wing, Minnesota by supper. Allen came along to hand Gabe off to his counterpart nurse at Spaulding. All went smoothly and we were soon getting Gabe into his private room overlooking the beautiful  suspension bridge in Boston. We unpacked the bags, met the nurses and had a quick meeting with some of the staff. Gabe was safe in Boston and it was time to find Tim Swan, our host in Somerville just 5 miles away.

Our new place is sweet, a third floor condo that Tim owns in an older renovated house. We have the penthouse bed and bath on the fourth floor. We had time to meet Tim and his girlfriend Ann, enjoy some tasty chicken pie then we dropped into bed totally exhausted.

Early the next morning Tim drove us in to be with Gabe. We experienced Spaulding PT, OT and ST in action as they evaluated him throughout the morning. At 10:30AM we were happily surprised when the Respiratory Dept. chief no sooner announced that Gabe could have his trach downsized to a 7 than it was done — before our very eyes. Gabe’s chapped lips and a few red dots on his cheeks raised no alarms. He was very sleepy during his evaluations and we thought he was still on west coast time. At noon a few more dots showed up on his hand and palms and it was time to alert the nurse. By 5:00PM when we took off his foot braces and found a severe rash on the soles of both feet it was time to call the Dr..  That started a chain of events that began with us in an ambulance on a ride to Mass General two miles away.

This was followed by a 17 hour wait in an emergency room cubby for a room in this hospital that by law cannot turn away any ambulance. Except for the suspense of the spreading rash we were as comfy as could be when they brought in a hospital bed for Gabe and a gurney bed for me. Kierie went ”home” to rest up to replace me on the day shift. She supervised his arrival to a real room in the White Wing at 2:00PM the next day

So that is where we are, in a fantastic hospital with great nurses and teams of Drs.. Neurologists, opthomologists, dermatologists, a physiatrist and teams of internists have decided on a clinical diagnosis of drug reaction rash to a drug he was previously on in California. A diagnosis that ranges in severity from mild to deadly, Gabe has the mild variety where only 5% of his body is affected. His lips, mouth and soles of his feet being most affected but already improving. Despite his lips resembling the loser’s in a 12 round boxing championship he is still trying to talk and is gamely doing his bedside situps.

So the flight took place, we are ecstatic that we are on the East Coast, and we can hardly wait to get back to Spaulding where they are holding him a bed. As this is the Alternate Universe you can bet it will have a beautiful view of the Charles River.

Call first before you visit to make sure Gabe can receive visitors and to find out where we are. If you want to send letters our official address for the next month or so will be 30 Victoria Street #3, Somerville MA 02144.