2008 Woodie Awards
Milmoe makes steps toward recovery
UVM sophmore Mike defies odds and makes astounding recovery
Colin Lucas Cynic Correspondent
Issue date: 10/30/06 Section: News
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UVM sophomore Mike Milmoe has begun an astounding recovery from the vegetative state that he slipped into following his collapse during a flag football game in Sept.
Doctors diagnosed Milmoe as having had a ventricular fibrillation, his father, Jim Milmoe said. "There was an electrical rhythm that went through his heart that sent it into a fibrillation," he said.
A fibrillation is a "condition in which the heart's electrical activity becomes disordered. The heart pumps little or no blood. Collapse and sudden cardiac death will follow in minutes unless medical help is provided immediately," according to the American Heart Association.
Over the past few weeks, Milmoe has been gradually improving to the point that he "is starting to form words," Jim Milmoe said.
"The nurse asked him, 'Where do you go to school, Michael?' and according to her, Milmoe said, 'Vermont, The University of Vermont,'" Jim Milmoe said.
The Milmoe family set up a Web site on carepages.com so they could post updates about his condition to friends, family, and supporters.
According to the Web site, doctors initially estimated Milmoe's chances of recovery to be very slim.
"Mike suffered a severe injury to his brain, doctors seem to think he went about 75 minutes without oxygen," the Web site stated in mid-September. "Michael has about a one in 10 chance of full recovery or needing limited assistance."
As of Sept. 15, "One of the doctors said he [had] about a 33 percent chance of full recovery, 33 percent no recovery, 33 percent somewhere in between," stated the Web site.
The following day, Milmoe's family posted on the Web site that they were, "praying for a miracle as his chances for recovery are slim, less than 5 percent, but miracles do happen!"
During the following weeks, the prospect of Milmoe recovering remained grim, as he continually suffered from severe fevers, according to the Web site.
On Oct. 3, Milmoe was moved from the Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, where he had been receiving care since Sept, to The Spaulding Rehab Hospital. At Spaulding, he began doing speech and physical therapy.
Doctors diagnosed Milmoe as having had a ventricular fibrillation, his father, Jim Milmoe said. "There was an electrical rhythm that went through his heart that sent it into a fibrillation," he said.
A fibrillation is a "condition in which the heart's electrical activity becomes disordered. The heart pumps little or no blood. Collapse and sudden cardiac death will follow in minutes unless medical help is provided immediately," according to the American Heart Association.
Over the past few weeks, Milmoe has been gradually improving to the point that he "is starting to form words," Jim Milmoe said.
"The nurse asked him, 'Where do you go to school, Michael?' and according to her, Milmoe said, 'Vermont, The University of Vermont,'" Jim Milmoe said.
The Milmoe family set up a Web site on carepages.com so they could post updates about his condition to friends, family, and supporters.
According to the Web site, doctors initially estimated Milmoe's chances of recovery to be very slim.
"Mike suffered a severe injury to his brain, doctors seem to think he went about 75 minutes without oxygen," the Web site stated in mid-September. "Michael has about a one in 10 chance of full recovery or needing limited assistance."
As of Sept. 15, "One of the doctors said he [had] about a 33 percent chance of full recovery, 33 percent no recovery, 33 percent somewhere in between," stated the Web site.
The following day, Milmoe's family posted on the Web site that they were, "praying for a miracle as his chances for recovery are slim, less than 5 percent, but miracles do happen!"
During the following weeks, the prospect of Milmoe recovering remained grim, as he continually suffered from severe fevers, according to the Web site.
On Oct. 3, Milmoe was moved from the Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, where he had been receiving care since Sept, to The Spaulding Rehab Hospital. At Spaulding, he began doing speech and physical therapy.
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