This morning's update

Well,
We've met with many great Dr's & nurses this morning and here is the latest. The plan is that tomorrow afternoon, Luke will have a blebectomy & pleurodesis on his left lung. The surgeon who is doing the procedure is Dr. Craig Albanese (Division Chief, Pediatric General Surgery). They feel that they may be able to go in through the same entry points as before, creating less scars and scar tissue.
We feel very lucky to have such great care here and we are praying for a successful procedure and a quick recovery.
Luke is resting comfortably and is a little anxious about tomorrow.

Visitors

Luke's hospital slideshow

Stanford 12/11/10

Pneumothorax...huh??

This word sounds more like a derivative of Anthrax, then it does a collapsed lung.
Well, he's back. This is #4 in 4 1/2 years, and frankly it's getting a bit old to him at this point.
Luke complained of chest pain Tuesday night and Wednesday day, then after a Dr's visit and a brief check in at Dr's Hospital Manteca, he was off to Stanford (our home away from home). He has not required a chest tube this time (he's excited for that), but they have seen a bleb (or more) on his left lung and are planning on doing surgery on Monday. They will remove the bleb(s) and do a pleurodesis on his left lung. In 2006, he had blebs removed from both lungs and they did a pleurodesis on his right side, but Dr's have avoided doing one on the right side, so as to avoid any potential complications when heart surgery would be required. The feeling now is that the recurring "pneuno's" need to be avoided and they will just have to deal with the pleurodesis when they get to that point.
Luke continues to amaze and inspire those around him. He has maintained a positive attitude and other than his strict opposition to getting another chest tube, he has been very understanding of what has to happen and is ready to get it going.
We are very thankful for the outpouring of love and support that surrounds us during these challenging times and we are very grateful for everyone's thoughts and prayers.
More info as it comes.

Ken

Eagle project

Luke's Eagle Scout service project is now complete. Part one (Aug. 22nd) was completed in 4 hours with the help of 58 volunteers. They planted 200 shrubs, 7 trees and spread countless yards of bark. Part two was just completed when a handful of us concreted in the bench that he bought with the $5oo he raised.
What an awesome job....we are so proud of him.

BYU-Idaho

Well, it is official. Our little girl has grown up!
Last week Allison & I had the privilege of taking Alex up to school in Rexburg Idaho and helping her move in to her dorm. We flew to Salt Lake then drove to Rexburg, stopping along the way to shop at Target and Walmart(I hope they have restocked those stores, because we cleaned them out).
Rexburg is beautiful, BYUI is incredible and we couldn't be more proud of Alex for her decision to attend and her dedication to succeed.