Luke went in for more surgery today with the orthopedic surgeons. They put a plate and screws in next to his left femur. They also removed more of the leg to just above the knee as they had told us would happen. He has strong muscles in his leg and the doctors say everything looks good. They have incisions on either side of the leg which they will leave open for now to be able to flush out the wounds.
They put a plate and screws in the forearm as well. The radial joint at the elbow will need replaced in a future surgery. The ends of the fingers that were damaged looked good and will just require plastic surgery down the road.
They are putting him on a different ventilator that won't be doing all the breathing for him. At this point there is nothing scheduled through the weekend. All the major surgeries are done with only minor and cosmetic to come.
His condition remains critical but stable and improving daily. I will add more updates when there are any changes.
Once again a very heartfelt thank you from Bill, Paula, Ben and Becki for all the prayers being sent heavenward. God is continuing to honor your petitions on Luke's behalf.
Ben flew back to Binghamton today. It looked pretty certain that delaying his departure would not give him the opportunity to see Luke out of the sedation.
--Bill
Friday, October 31, 2008
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Surgery a success!
Luke came through the surgery to repair the tear on his aorta with flying colors! God has certainly honored the thousands of prayers being raised to Him on behalf of Luke. It was a very long afternoon. Luke actually didn't go into surgery until 12:35 Pacific time. And it took a couple more hours than originally thought with tests and so forth. But it certainly was worth the wait. A graft was placed inside the aorta and opened to cover the tear and was a complete success. We were told that possibly the orthopedic surgeons would also be working on Luke's arm and leg, but it was felt that it was best to concentrate specifically on the aorta. He is now off the medications regulating his blood pressure. His condition is still critical, but stable.
The plan now is for the orthopedic surgeons to operate tomorrow morning on his arm and left femur. They will be cleaning up the wounds. They probably won't be working on setting the broken bones yet.
We are anxiously waiting for Luke to be brought out of the heavy sedation he is under. They will see how tomorrow's surgery goes to make that determination, but it still probably won't be for a couple of days or maybe longer. Ben is having to make decision as to whether to fly home tomorrow morning as he orginally booked or postpone his return flight until Monday with the hopes of being able to see Luke out of the sedation. Please pray for guidance for the right decision. The best we can get from all the medical staff is a definite maybe!
I'm sorry for the delay in getting things posted on here but I don't have access in the ICU waiting room and have to leave the hospital and walk a short distance to the Medical Library to get on line. A very heart felt thank you to all for your constant prayers for Luke and support and once again to all the Border Patrol agents and staff for the overwhelming support we are receiving.
Bill
The plan now is for the orthopedic surgeons to operate tomorrow morning on his arm and left femur. They will be cleaning up the wounds. They probably won't be working on setting the broken bones yet.
We are anxiously waiting for Luke to be brought out of the heavy sedation he is under. They will see how tomorrow's surgery goes to make that determination, but it still probably won't be for a couple of days or maybe longer. Ben is having to make decision as to whether to fly home tomorrow morning as he orginally booked or postpone his return flight until Monday with the hopes of being able to see Luke out of the sedation. Please pray for guidance for the right decision. The best we can get from all the medical staff is a definite maybe!
I'm sorry for the delay in getting things posted on here but I don't have access in the ICU waiting room and have to leave the hospital and walk a short distance to the Medical Library to get on line. A very heart felt thank you to all for your constant prayers for Luke and support and once again to all the Border Patrol agents and staff for the overwhelming support we are receiving.
Bill
Brief Surgery Update
Luke is out of surgery for the aorta repair. All went well. Tomorrow, the orthopedic doctor will work on his arm, hand, and leg. Luke is now off the blood pressure medicine. He will remain sedated at least until after the surgery tomorrow. He is doing well.
Luke's dad will be updating more specific soon.
Luke's dad will be updating more specific soon.
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Newspaper and TV reports
I don't know how long they will stay on line but here are two links to both a newspaper report and TV new report on Luke's incident.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20081028-1138-bn28agenthit.html
http://www.sandiego6.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=4376b96c-e440-41d7-9b27-f6b061c39705
Wednesday, October 29: They are moving some of the IV's on Luke this afternoon. They are watching Luke's improvement and the cardiologists are planning on operating tomorrow, Thursday at 11am PST (there is one patient scheduled ahead of him, so it could be even earlier), to repair the tear on his aorta.
---Bill
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20081028-1138-bn28agenthit.html
http://www.sandiego6.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=4376b96c-e440-41d7-9b27-f6b061c39705
Wednesday, October 29: They are moving some of the IV's on Luke this afternoon. They are watching Luke's improvement and the cardiologists are planning on operating tomorrow, Thursday at 11am PST (there is one patient scheduled ahead of him, so it could be even earlier), to repair the tear on his aorta.
---Bill
Update from Luke's mom
(from an email sent back to the CCUB Church)
The name of the hospital is UCSD Medical Center, 200 West Arbor Dr, San Diego, CA 92103 (619) 543-6222.
Thank you sooooo much for your prayers.
The border patrol has a peer group which helps and ministers to families of border patrol agents. They have helped us with transportation, food, answering our questions, etc. They have a chaplain who has been with us at the hospital and gone in with us when we can visit Luke. The doctors and nurses have been wonderful in updating and keeping us informed.
Luke can hear us when we visit with him and so he can hear our verbal prayers when we pray over him. He can't respond and they want him to stay sedated but I did notice his eyelids move and his hand move when he heard our voices.
The border patrol is like any military unit - they are all family and very close. Members from Luke's acaademy class traveled 2 hours to come to the hospital to be there for him and for us.
Luke and us have alot of support and we praise the Lord for that.
We were told by the doctors that 50% of cases where there is a tear of the aorta the individuals do not survive making it to the hospital. We praise God that he did survive this.
Even with all he was through yesterday by the time we arrived he had color in his face which was an improvement. The doctors had let him come out of sedation long enough to ask him some questions. He was able to respond by nodding his head so we know there is no brain damage. Praise God!
Thanks again.
Paula
The name of the hospital is UCSD Medical Center, 200 West Arbor Dr, San Diego, CA 92103 (619) 543-6222.
Thank you sooooo much for your prayers.
The border patrol has a peer group which helps and ministers to families of border patrol agents. They have helped us with transportation, food, answering our questions, etc. They have a chaplain who has been with us at the hospital and gone in with us when we can visit Luke. The doctors and nurses have been wonderful in updating and keeping us informed.
Luke can hear us when we visit with him and so he can hear our verbal prayers when we pray over him. He can't respond and they want him to stay sedated but I did notice his eyelids move and his hand move when he heard our voices.
The border patrol is like any military unit - they are all family and very close. Members from Luke's acaademy class traveled 2 hours to come to the hospital to be there for him and for us.
Luke and us have alot of support and we praise the Lord for that.
We were told by the doctors that 50% of cases where there is a tear of the aorta the individuals do not survive making it to the hospital. We praise God that he did survive this.
Even with all he was through yesterday by the time we arrived he had color in his face which was an improvement. The doctors had let him come out of sedation long enough to ask him some questions. He was able to respond by nodding his head so we know there is no brain damage. Praise God!
Thanks again.
Paula
Luke's Accident
In an effort to send Luke and his family our thoughts and prayers, and keep everyone up to date with Luke's condition, we've decided to start this blog. We will try to be as up to date and accurate as possible, please be patient as we receive the news, hopefully when the family is able they can update here as well.
Please continue to pray for Luke and his family. Here is what we know so far.
On October 27th at approx. 11:30 p.m. Luke was on his way to work on his motorcycle. The San Diego police received calls that there was a guy driving down the wrong side of the road, so the police were pursuing him. He attempted to hit one guy on a motorcycle but that guy saw him coming and was able to pull over. This guy saw Luke & intentionally swerved to hit him. The cop said they've booked this guy with everything. . . attempted murder, deadly weapon, etc. the cop believes that he was NOT intoxicated and he may not have any drugs in his system. The guy showed NO remorse for what he had done. And the cop assured us that he will do everything in his power to get this guy locked up for good.
Here is Luke's condition according to Luke's sister Becki:
They have Luke sedated and we can't talk to him or touch him. They want him as relaxed as possible. He has drainage tubes coming from all over his body. His left arm is in a cast & they will eventually remove his left leg up above his knee. Right now it's cut off at the knee. They also have made incisions on his left thigh to relieve some of the pressure. On Thursday they want to go in and put a stint on his aorta - as long as he's stable enough. They are currently keeping his blood pressure low. He has received so much blood that they said he will need to be kept on the ventilator for quite some time. They may even need to do a trach (sp?) on him. We really want to be able to talk to him & touch him & let him know we're all here, but we just can't.
Luke is at The University of California - San Diego Medical Center. If you'd like to send him a card the address is:
-
UCSD Medical Center, Hillcrest
200 West Arbor Dr.
San Diego, CA 92103
Attn: Luke Dithrich - SICU
-
To call for patient Information:
(760) 436-3016
Please continue to pray for Luke and his family. Here is what we know so far.
On October 27th at approx. 11:30 p.m. Luke was on his way to work on his motorcycle. The San Diego police received calls that there was a guy driving down the wrong side of the road, so the police were pursuing him. He attempted to hit one guy on a motorcycle but that guy saw him coming and was able to pull over. This guy saw Luke & intentionally swerved to hit him. The cop said they've booked this guy with everything. . . attempted murder, deadly weapon, etc. the cop believes that he was NOT intoxicated and he may not have any drugs in his system. The guy showed NO remorse for what he had done. And the cop assured us that he will do everything in his power to get this guy locked up for good.
Here is Luke's condition according to Luke's sister Becki:
They have Luke sedated and we can't talk to him or touch him. They want him as relaxed as possible. He has drainage tubes coming from all over his body. His left arm is in a cast & they will eventually remove his left leg up above his knee. Right now it's cut off at the knee. They also have made incisions on his left thigh to relieve some of the pressure. On Thursday they want to go in and put a stint on his aorta - as long as he's stable enough. They are currently keeping his blood pressure low. He has received so much blood that they said he will need to be kept on the ventilator for quite some time. They may even need to do a trach (sp?) on him. We really want to be able to talk to him & touch him & let him know we're all here, but we just can't.
Luke is at The University of California - San Diego Medical Center. If you'd like to send him a card the address is:
-
UCSD Medical Center, Hillcrest
200 West Arbor Dr.
San Diego, CA 92103
Attn: Luke Dithrich - SICU
-
To call for patient Information:
(760) 436-3016
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