Vol. 34, No. 2, 6. From the Top.

• Author: by Brian E. Hultman President, Wyoming State Bar

Wyoming Bar Journal

2011.

Vol. 34, No. 2, 6.

From the Top

Wyoming Bar JournalIssue: April, 2011From the Topby Brian E. Hultman President, Wyoming State BarHappy Hashkima Day, Emmaline!

March 2nd is a special day in the Hukman household. It is our Hashkima Day. Never heard of such a day? Neither had I until the spring of 2004.

Our odyssey towards Hashkima Day began 22 months earlier. Our first child, Emmaline, was a mere eight weeks old when she lost consciousness in my wife's arms. It was May 31, 2002; a nightmare day we will never forget. Baby Emmaline had been projectile vomiting for several days, but we were told by our pediatrician that it was most likely just "typical infant fussiness." Something inside of us knew that our baby was not well.

We raced to the doctor again, but this time you could see the concern and urgency on the faces of the entire medical team. After an emergency ultrasound and MRI, the three of us were life-flighted from Jackson to Primary Children's Hospital in Salt Lake City. We were told that Emmaline was experiencing significant inter-cranial pressure that had caused her to lose consciousness and was now threatening her life.

Upon our arrival in Salt Lake City, Emmaline was immediately rushed into surgery at the hands of an amazing neurosurgeon, Douglas Brockmeyer. Following hours of surgery, he told us that she had suffered a massive bleed that was probably the result of a vascular malformation, but he could not be sure. A new MRI showed an abnormality in the left side of her brain that was causing extensive swelling and severe compression of the right side. Tissue samples were sent to the lab and would be able to tell us more in time. He urged us to stay by her side in intensive care and to "just try to get her through the night."

Needless to say it was an emotional challenge. My life up to that moment had followed a fairly typical roadmap: high school, college, law school, job, marriage, new home and most recently, our first baby. This kind of thing was just not supposed to happen. It was not part of the script. This only happened to other people who you heard about through a friend of a friend-something that you saw on television or read about on the Internet. Suddenly, I was living it.

The next couple of days were fragile, but my wife Wendy and I became focused. Friends and family...