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A Story About Community
6/17/2005 12:00:00 AM | Football
A Story About Community
June 17, 2005
By Jack DeGange
The first call from their son came on Saturday, July 31.
"We played phone tag but I knew something was wrong," said Mike Shannon, the father and a maxillofacial surgeon.
Mike, the son, is a junior at Dartmouth. He was taking three courses during the summer term and, at 6-4, 280 pounds, was preparing to be a starter at left tackle in the Green's offensive line.
What wasn't part of the plan was the area around Mike's left calf that was red and throbbing. Though he was in virtually peak physical condition from a summer of workouts, he could barely walk.
When they finally connected on the first day of August, the father-doctor listened to the son's description of the developing problem. He and his wife, Carolyn, were worried. "It sounded peculiar," said the father. "I felt that I had to get up there."
The drive from the Shannon home in Andover, Mass., takes less than two hours. It was late afternoon on Sunday, August 1, when the father arrived in Hanover.
"That first trip (on Sunday) probably saved our son's life," said Carolyn. "I'm thankful we were so close. All I could think about was, `What if we lived in Idaho?'"
Within an hour, leaning heavily on his father to keep from falling down, Mike Shannon was in the emergency room at Mary Hitchcock Memorial Hospital.
A nightmare was beginning for the Shannon family, though the son would remember little of the next two weeks.
A bruise in Mike's calf, the remnant of being kicked at the bottom of a pile on the next-to-last day of spring practice last May, became a nagging soft spot and the focal point for a bacterial infection of unknown origin that was spreading throughout his body.
For the next two days, father and mother were a tag team, making round-trip visits from home to the hospital. The doctor had patients to consider while Carolyn organized things at home for Mike's younger brothers, Chris and Tom.
Carolyn's parents, living in retirement on Cape Cod, quickly came into the picture. Her mother helped managed the home front. Her father, a retired surgeon, came to Mike's bedside. By Tuesday evening, the vigil had begun. For the next two weeks, Carolyn and Mike Shannon were never far from their son's bedside.
A team of specialists at MHMH gave Mike antibiotics to combat the infection and fluids to help flush it away. But the infection wasn't cooperating. Fluid collected in his lungs. Byproducts of the infection attacked his circulatory system. His body bloated (to about 300 pounds), his blood pressure fluctuated. His breathing was rapid and labored, about 40 breaths per minute, nearly three times normal.
Dark days were unfolding for Mike Shannon. "August 3 is the last day I remembered for awhile," he said.
"Mike was really sick for what seemed at first like a superficial skin infection," said Dr. Shannon. "We concluded the problem was deeper in his leg. He had a strong immune system and fought it for three days, then went into septic shock."
He was sedated and put on a ventilator. The decision was made to operate but the surgeons told the parents that all bets were off about saving Mike's leg.
The operation, deep into Mike's leg, was performed on August 4. He spent the next week in oblivion in the intensive care unit. It helped that he was in excellent condition. "The doctors told me I used everything I had, plus reserves, to stay alive and beat the infection," he said.
As their son battled for his life, Mike's parents fought their own exhaustion. "I was dealing with the emotions of a father while trying to focus as a doctor," said Mike Sr.
Support was already at hand with more than they could have imagined on the way.
"Within a couple of hours of when we arrived at the hospital (on August 1), (coach) John Lyons was there," said Mike Sr. "His presence didn't waver. He was there when Mike went into the ICU on August 5. One time, Gramp was dozing by Mike's bed. When he opened his eyes, there was John Lyons."
It wasn't just Mike's coaches (Lyons, offensive line coach Joe Leslie and the rest of the staff) though, as Carolyn said, "You can't pay a coach enough money for what John did. It goes way beyond football." "John's a special guy and so is Joe," said Mike the father who was an offensive lineman at Holy Cross.
Mike's teammates knew he was in the hospital but unaware of the dramatic downturn. They got the news from Kelly Lyons, the coach's daughter. She took their late evening call for pizza at EBA's in Hanover where she's a waitress.
Led by co-captains Chris Little and Ryan Conger (Mike's roommate last year), about 100 students (teammates and friends) organized a schedule to ensure someone was always at Mike's bedside, especially through the night so his parents could get a few hours of rest.
"It was important for Mike to have guys come by," said Dr. Shannon. "From my medical training, I know that patients will respond to touch and voice, even when they're unconscious. That stimulation helped and played to the medical treatment."
The support for Mike and his family extended far beyond his coaches and teammates.
"This isn't a story about Mike," said Carolyn Shannon. "It's really a story about community. I would go to Lou's (Restaurant) for crullers every morning and the baker would ask about Mike. The staff in the hospital cafeteria and the parking garage, they would all ask."
Dr. Jack Turco, head of Dartmouth's Health Services, arranged for the Shannons to have a room near his office at Dick's House, the college infirmary. "Safety and Security is next to Dick's House," said Dr. Shannon. "Every night they would ask how Mike was doing."
"There was thoughtfulness everywhere," said Carolyn. "President (Jim) Wright and his wife, Susan, visited separately. Susan (a cancer survivor) spoke to us about the value of a positive attitude.
"It's humbling to be part of such a great community. Mike's teachers were in touch (he's on campus this fall, completing the summer course work that suddenly became secondary to survival). His Spanish instructor (Xenia Markowitt) wrote a beautiful letter in Spanish that closed with this sentence, `You behave like a brave bull.'"
Faculty members and parents from Belmont Hill School (where Mike prepped for Dartmouth) also visited Mike as he came out of intensive care and continued through recovery that led to his release from MHMH on August 25, nearly a month after he had hobbled into the emergency room.
"The medical staff at MHMH was sensitive to us," said Dr. Shannon. "They saw how well conditioned Mike was but were taken aback by how sick he became and how fast he went downhill."
The chronology of events -- illness, treatment (including skin graft surgery to repair the area where the infection erupted), recovery and now the resumption of a strength restoration program in anticipation of returning to the football field for spring practice and the 2005 season) is one story.
What the Dartmouth community did -- players, coaches, everyone, coming together for Mike is another, greater story. "This was a shared experience to help Mike get better," said Dr. Shannon, who spoke to the Dartmouth team in the early days of preseason practice this fall.
"I wanted them to know how important it was, from a therapeutic point, for them to visit Mike in the hospital and to thank them. I reminded them that the hard work of (strength and conditioning coach) Bob Miller's program gets them ready for football but that it also saved Mike's life.
"I told them there are ten teams on their schedule but they can put an asterisk on this season. They faced a bigger challenge -- the challenge to live. In my book, they were already 1-0."
Said Mike Shannon, who is lifting and running again, "I was fortunate to be on campus and near a world class hospital. I'm thankful that amazing things happened, happy to get back to normal."
"Life is so fragile," said Carolyn Shannon. "That's why we've been in contact with Lawrence Rubida's family (he's the Brown tackle who is currently fighting cancer.
"Every player helped Mike. We're part of a great football family. I feel like we have more than 100 new sons. For us, football isn't about wins and losses. It's much more than that."
Jack DeGange, a freelance writer, is co-author with David Shribman '76, of a new book, Dartmouth College Football.
June 17, 2005
By Jack DeGange
The first call from their son came on Saturday, July 31.
"We played phone tag but I knew something was wrong," said Mike Shannon, the father and a maxillofacial surgeon.
Mike, the son, is a junior at Dartmouth. He was taking three courses during the summer term and, at 6-4, 280 pounds, was preparing to be a starter at left tackle in the Green's offensive line.
What wasn't part of the plan was the area around Mike's left calf that was red and throbbing. Though he was in virtually peak physical condition from a summer of workouts, he could barely walk.
When they finally connected on the first day of August, the father-doctor listened to the son's description of the developing problem. He and his wife, Carolyn, were worried. "It sounded peculiar," said the father. "I felt that I had to get up there."
The drive from the Shannon home in Andover, Mass., takes less than two hours. It was late afternoon on Sunday, August 1, when the father arrived in Hanover.
"That first trip (on Sunday) probably saved our son's life," said Carolyn. "I'm thankful we were so close. All I could think about was, `What if we lived in Idaho?'"
Within an hour, leaning heavily on his father to keep from falling down, Mike Shannon was in the emergency room at Mary Hitchcock Memorial Hospital.
A nightmare was beginning for the Shannon family, though the son would remember little of the next two weeks.
A bruise in Mike's calf, the remnant of being kicked at the bottom of a pile on the next-to-last day of spring practice last May, became a nagging soft spot and the focal point for a bacterial infection of unknown origin that was spreading throughout his body.
For the next two days, father and mother were a tag team, making round-trip visits from home to the hospital. The doctor had patients to consider while Carolyn organized things at home for Mike's younger brothers, Chris and Tom.
Carolyn's parents, living in retirement on Cape Cod, quickly came into the picture. Her mother helped managed the home front. Her father, a retired surgeon, came to Mike's bedside. By Tuesday evening, the vigil had begun. For the next two weeks, Carolyn and Mike Shannon were never far from their son's bedside.
A team of specialists at MHMH gave Mike antibiotics to combat the infection and fluids to help flush it away. But the infection wasn't cooperating. Fluid collected in his lungs. Byproducts of the infection attacked his circulatory system. His body bloated (to about 300 pounds), his blood pressure fluctuated. His breathing was rapid and labored, about 40 breaths per minute, nearly three times normal.
Dark days were unfolding for Mike Shannon. "August 3 is the last day I remembered for awhile," he said.
"Mike was really sick for what seemed at first like a superficial skin infection," said Dr. Shannon. "We concluded the problem was deeper in his leg. He had a strong immune system and fought it for three days, then went into septic shock."
He was sedated and put on a ventilator. The decision was made to operate but the surgeons told the parents that all bets were off about saving Mike's leg.
The operation, deep into Mike's leg, was performed on August 4. He spent the next week in oblivion in the intensive care unit. It helped that he was in excellent condition. "The doctors told me I used everything I had, plus reserves, to stay alive and beat the infection," he said.
As their son battled for his life, Mike's parents fought their own exhaustion. "I was dealing with the emotions of a father while trying to focus as a doctor," said Mike Sr.
Support was already at hand with more than they could have imagined on the way.
"Within a couple of hours of when we arrived at the hospital (on August 1), (coach) John Lyons was there," said Mike Sr. "His presence didn't waver. He was there when Mike went into the ICU on August 5. One time, Gramp was dozing by Mike's bed. When he opened his eyes, there was John Lyons."
It wasn't just Mike's coaches (Lyons, offensive line coach Joe Leslie and the rest of the staff) though, as Carolyn said, "You can't pay a coach enough money for what John did. It goes way beyond football." "John's a special guy and so is Joe," said Mike the father who was an offensive lineman at Holy Cross.
Mike's teammates knew he was in the hospital but unaware of the dramatic downturn. They got the news from Kelly Lyons, the coach's daughter. She took their late evening call for pizza at EBA's in Hanover where she's a waitress.
Led by co-captains Chris Little and Ryan Conger (Mike's roommate last year), about 100 students (teammates and friends) organized a schedule to ensure someone was always at Mike's bedside, especially through the night so his parents could get a few hours of rest.
"It was important for Mike to have guys come by," said Dr. Shannon. "From my medical training, I know that patients will respond to touch and voice, even when they're unconscious. That stimulation helped and played to the medical treatment."
The support for Mike and his family extended far beyond his coaches and teammates.
"This isn't a story about Mike," said Carolyn Shannon. "It's really a story about community. I would go to Lou's (Restaurant) for crullers every morning and the baker would ask about Mike. The staff in the hospital cafeteria and the parking garage, they would all ask."
Dr. Jack Turco, head of Dartmouth's Health Services, arranged for the Shannons to have a room near his office at Dick's House, the college infirmary. "Safety and Security is next to Dick's House," said Dr. Shannon. "Every night they would ask how Mike was doing."
"There was thoughtfulness everywhere," said Carolyn. "President (Jim) Wright and his wife, Susan, visited separately. Susan (a cancer survivor) spoke to us about the value of a positive attitude.
"It's humbling to be part of such a great community. Mike's teachers were in touch (he's on campus this fall, completing the summer course work that suddenly became secondary to survival). His Spanish instructor (Xenia Markowitt) wrote a beautiful letter in Spanish that closed with this sentence, `You behave like a brave bull.'"
Faculty members and parents from Belmont Hill School (where Mike prepped for Dartmouth) also visited Mike as he came out of intensive care and continued through recovery that led to his release from MHMH on August 25, nearly a month after he had hobbled into the emergency room.
"The medical staff at MHMH was sensitive to us," said Dr. Shannon. "They saw how well conditioned Mike was but were taken aback by how sick he became and how fast he went downhill."
The chronology of events -- illness, treatment (including skin graft surgery to repair the area where the infection erupted), recovery and now the resumption of a strength restoration program in anticipation of returning to the football field for spring practice and the 2005 season) is one story.
What the Dartmouth community did -- players, coaches, everyone, coming together for Mike is another, greater story. "This was a shared experience to help Mike get better," said Dr. Shannon, who spoke to the Dartmouth team in the early days of preseason practice this fall.
"I wanted them to know how important it was, from a therapeutic point, for them to visit Mike in the hospital and to thank them. I reminded them that the hard work of (strength and conditioning coach) Bob Miller's program gets them ready for football but that it also saved Mike's life.
"I told them there are ten teams on their schedule but they can put an asterisk on this season. They faced a bigger challenge -- the challenge to live. In my book, they were already 1-0."
Said Mike Shannon, who is lifting and running again, "I was fortunate to be on campus and near a world class hospital. I'm thankful that amazing things happened, happy to get back to normal."
"Life is so fragile," said Carolyn Shannon. "That's why we've been in contact with Lawrence Rubida's family (he's the Brown tackle who is currently fighting cancer.
"Every player helped Mike. We're part of a great football family. I feel like we have more than 100 new sons. For us, football isn't about wins and losses. It's much more than that."
Jack DeGange, a freelance writer, is co-author with David Shribman '76, of a new book, Dartmouth College Football.
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