Ross Update - October 5

I just got home from visiting Rossi at the hospital, and I am very pleased to say that he looked a hundred times better than he did when I last saw him, before I left for Italy and the Motocross of Nations.
Last Sunday, he was still wearing a big plastic neck collar, on a ton of pain meds, and had a chest tube installed to help drain the blood and fluid from his punctured lung. Though he is still in some pain, thanks to his numerous broken ribs and broken vertebrae in his back, I was relieved to see my big brother looking, acting and sounding like his normal self. Ross can now speak normally, and he has no more swelling on or around his face. When he first came out of surgery 10 days ago, he looked a lot like I do, when I accidentally eat a shrimp.
Ross got to roll around in a wheelchair today, and he has had a couple physical therapy sessions already. “It’s pretty hard moving around,” he said. “My legs are complete dead weight, and they weigh a ton! After I was in the chair for a while today, and working with the therapists on how to get and out of the chair, I felt like I had done a bunch of hard motos at the track.”
Though Ross has no movement (yet!) in his legs and no real feeling either, I was very happy to hear that he is beginning to have some burning sensations flashing down his legs, with it being more detectable on his right side.
Many of his friends and old racing rivals have stopped in to see him, and it’s obvious that he enjoys the company, even if extended visits tend to wear him out. Though he has had the chest tube removed, he still loses his breath if he laughs or tries to overdo it.

While I was in Italy, I spoke to so many people about my brother, and though deep down I already knew this, it was nice to see what an impact he has had on the sport of motocross, and how many people consider him a good friend. Chad Reed told me that he really enjoyed the time he spent working with Ross during the time he spent on the Yamaha of Troy squad. “I learned a lot about suspension and testing from Ross,” said Reed.
I will continue to post updates on my blog. Please excuse any typos in this entry - I am running on about 4 hours of sleep in the last 24 hours. For now, it’s time to hit the hay and dream about the day I will ride with my brother again…
Oh yeah, while I was away, some of Rossi’s friends set up a web site of sorts for people to leave messages directly for Ross.
www.caringbridge.org/visit/rossmaeda