It's the Evening Shift...

Here's the evening briefing...John David is having a better day. Not much has changed since the last update. He tolerated the surgery well from this morning and has been stable today. They have reduced his sedation meds and yesterday removed the paralysis meds. He is still in possession of heavy narcotics and enjoying the benefits of those. His head bolt we named, "Frankie" - as it gives him the Frankenstien look - is giving us good readings. The swelling in his brain is going down and has not been a hot topic today. Still watching but no big developments and that is fabulous! They decided to wait to go back to the OR until tomorrow. They wanted to give him time to rest and recover. His color looks good his eye not so much. He isn't vain at all so I just told him it makes him look tough.

He is still critical but he is stable and we don't all jump everytime a dr walks through the door. It has been so awesome to hear all his stories. He is such a storyteller so we are working on getting some of those recorded to play to him in the room. Stay tuned for details on how to be a STAR on story time with John!

Wanted to post some pics from the blood drive just so you have a visual that will make your heart smile...

Thursday in a nutshell...

He just got out of surgery and it went well. They were able to clean up what they needed to and he stayed stable. That is good news. He is still having issues with the pressure in his head and so the handy head bolt measuring device - just amazing what they can do - led them to wait on the arm and abdomen. His body is still fighting hard to adjust to all the trauma. There is a lot going on with him but he feels no pain and is just sleeping away! Today we made a little message book for him entitled, "While you were sleeping..." be sure and leave him a note if you are at the hospital. We are looking forward to reading him all the comments, cards, messages, entries, etc. when he wakes up. We are all so overwhelmed (the really good kind of overwhelmed) with the support we have received it has been just amazing. Every need is met before we even know we have it. We will all be about 20 lbs heavier when he leaves the hospital from being fed so well. We have not gone hungry and not had to once wonder what we would eat, drink, who we could visit with, where we could sleep - all good stuff. John is a good guy and he has good friends!

Another day at the hospital is on it's way, so we will put another check in the win column! Still lots of unknowns but the words of an old hymn keeping going through my head tonite - get your singing voices ready and sing along -" I don't know what tomorrow holds but I know who holds tomorrow." That is all we really need to know!!! Good night.

Quick Update...

They are taking John back to surgery to do some clean up in his chest. He was able to go for another scan and make the trip to the OR for the procedure. Will post more about the day and how surgery goes in a bit. Please pray the surgery is uneventful and he tolerates it well.

So much for a boring night...

So today is Thursday and John is here for it- yippee! He did have an eventful night. Late last night that made the decision to put him on temporary dialysis in an effort to protect his kidenys. He is very acidic from the meds and all the fluids are hard on his kidneys. Protecting them is important for his overall health and his long term health. His fever has come done since this procedure and that is encouraging. During the night they struggled with keeping his pressures in his brain steady. It is swelling and the handy brain bolt is a hot topic for the day. The trauma team expects these ups and downs and have prepared us but lets just clarify that we prefer the UPs. They did confirm he has a temproal lobe fracture, and a therasic fracture (which means the middle of his back), a few fractures in the pelvic area but some of that will just heal on it's own. The implications of those injuries will be better determined once he is stable enough for an MRI and he is more alert- oh how I wish we could that a patience pill. They are giving him plasma for breakfast this morning - not his favorie but a healthy choice.

He is still very ill and still critical but he is still here! He will have no memory of all of this drama so we are looking forward to sharing it with him one day. We encourage you to post comments so that we can read them to him when he is more alert. He is going to need a lot of encouragemnt and heckling to get through this - but getting through it is the goal!

Announcement from the Sheriff's Office

2nd Blood Drive Held in Honor of Deputy John Norsworthy:

Due to the overwhelming response the Fort Bend County Sheriff’s Office is now holding a second blood drive in honor of critically injured Deputy John Norsworthy here at the Fort Bend County Sheriff’s Office, 1410 Williams Way Blvd., Richmond, Thursday, Deceber 30, 2010 at 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. Anyone 17 years of age and older is asked to help support Deputy Norsworthy; in critical condition as of early this morning.

Happy Wednesday...

I am questioning my days as it is hard to believe that we got the call less than 40 hours ago that John had been in an accident. In a way it has been a whirl wind and in a way it has been the longest 40 hours of our lives. It has been amazingly refreshing and torturous all at the same time. A roller coaster that is sure to have more ups and downs but one that is on a track and being driven by the best in their field. The support and encouragement received in honor of my brother has been incredibly humbling to all of us. A huge blessing to Melissa, the kids, my parents, her parents all of us. What an act of service, we have been cared for and loved on in ways we didn't even know we needed! Just the constant vigil to sit with us as we wait or cry or sleep even snore (myself excluded, of course) has been beautiful- the kind of beautiful that is far beyond words!

John looks good today. He is sporting a new hair style - his hair line has moved even farther back. His nurse evidentaly has some barber shop experience too. They cleaned his head and face up and he looks better. He went a little heavy on the black eye makeup on one eye but we will take it. His color is good. His swelling is about the same maybe even a little less. They are waiting still for the official results from the scan but the trauma surgeon who saw them had no real concerns. This is the point of the journey were we grab some coffee and sip on it to pass the time. His body is busy healing and recovering. He will remain in an induced coma so he isn't laughing at our jokes or commenting on our chatter but his body is busy doing it's thing - mending. The next days are hopefully going to be a little dull. They will watch for infection from the repair in the diaphragm and continue to monitor the pressure around the brain with the handy screw in his head. If all that goes well the hope is to begin reducing the sedation meds and see how he responds. The timing on that is a judgement call for the docs and we will trust them. John's to do list includes getting rid of his extra fluid and getting rest allowing his body to heal.

It is Wednesday and he is alive and heading toward recovery for that we are thrilled! Happy Wednesday - thanks for sharing it with us!

Your gonna like this post...

We are super excited to share this update with you. John was stable for the most part this afternoon which allowed them to do the full body imagine and take him back to the OR as they planned. The Dr reported they have stopped all internal bleeding and at the time of his report they were working on closing him up. They were able to repair a severe laceration to his diaphragm. The hope is to close him up and be done with this step. They were able to completely close his chest tonight and his abdomen is mostly closed but not completely. They wanted to leave that open to help allievate some of the fluid he is retaining. His vitals are slightly elevated but stable with the medication. The preliminary catscan shows no serious injuries to the brain and we will know more as the swelling comes down. All major internal organs are stable. With the bleeding stopped we can now start to address some of the other injuries. He has many to choose from but with the bleeding under control the next priority is the head injuries. This will be a time thing- it could take days or weeks for his body to heal enough to wean him of the meds to increase his alertness. Orthopedics will need to address the broken bones and the skin graft to repair where they relieved the pressure in his arm. So very thankful for the progress he has made the last 24 hours. This is going to be a long road to recovery but so excited recovery is becoming a real possibility. When asked what to expect the Dr predicted "the ABSOLUTE best case scenario for recovery time is a minimum of 1 1/2 months in the hospital". We are thrilled to have months and years in John's future. This should get interesting especially when John hears that news! :)

Just a note out to the fabulous group of men and women who have supported and loved on our family the last few days - it seems like forever but it has just been a little over 24 hours. What a day and what a blessing you have been!

Battling hard....

JD is fighting hard! He is not out of the woods by any stretch but we are encouraged by the monitor readings. His blood pressure seems to be maintaining at a good level, his oxygen is good, his body temperature is back to normal, his heart rate is good. All good signs. It is possible that another procedure will be done today to close his diaphram. We hope he endures that well. It appears that his leg ISN'T broken (will be confirmed later) and the procedure on his left arm seems to have been successful at getting blood flowing back into it. Status of his pelvis is still not confirmed.

We are encouraged but still praying for more healing. Please join us!

BLOOD DRIVE info

The blood drive will be held at the Fort Bend County Sheriff’s Office, 1410 Williams Way Blvd., Richmond, on Wednesday, Dec. 29 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Anyone 17 years of age and older can give blood.

Thanks to all of you who have and will donate in honor of John - such an honor! Here are other donoating options.

Tuesday, Dec. 28-------
Farmer's Co-Op (El Campo)8:30 a.m. to 12 p.m.
Fort Bend County Road and Bridge 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Sugar Land Neighborhood Donor Center 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Best Buy (Rosenberg) 4:30 to 7 p.m.

Wednesday, Dec. 29:--------
Austin County Sheriff's Office 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Fort Bend County Sheriff's Office 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Sugar Land Neighborhood Donor Center 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

**********Visit www.giveblood.org or call 1-888-482-5663 for more details**********

Today is a BIG day for John....

So another update- one which is encouraging. The surgeon seemed much more optomistic after this surgery. Although she did not find the source being the pooling behind the pelvis that she had hoped to find she seemed satisfied the team had exhausted all efforts to stop the bleeding that could potentailly be the source. Something about blocking the bleeding from some major vessels. In layman terms they are hoping the bleeding will now start to slow from the trauma and the procedure they did to block those major vessels. They are going to give him some down time back in the ICU to recoop from all his travels and check his level and such before taking him to imaging. The imaging will further check for injuries to the chest and abdomen and neck. They need to continue to look for the bleeding source until it stops. They also want to rule out a spinal injury before they can address the head injuries - which really is unpredicatable as to how they will heal or impact him until we get more info and see how he responds. He did move his arms and legs when he initially arrived - so that is a very positive sign in regards to the spine. They hope to have the imaging done by mid morning and they told us to expect him to return to the OR again this afternoon. We are in the best place to get the best care and for that we are thankful!

12 Hours Later...

This all started about 12 very long hours ago. The accident occurred at 6:50 pm so we are in a critical period for him. They are doing everything they can to save him.....which indicates just how horrible this is. He is still very ill but they did have to take him back into surgery. The internal bleeding is still the main problem. The surgeon just came out to report that he is still with us but she was unable to identify the source of all the bleeding when she opened him up this second time. The best case scenario now is that the pelvis sustained more injury than they suspected (since they can't get him to imagining yet) and that the blood is pooling in the back of the pelvis. She explained in very large words how to address that but lets just say that the Interventional Radiology team is on their way to do their thing and look for that bleeding. They can't open him up to get there because the bleeding would be too intense so they will instead go through his leg very similar to an angioplasty. This is hopefully the source and we are praying that this team can quickly identify it as the problem and do their magic on stopping the bleeding. He is not out of the woods and the next few hours are extremely critical. His blood pressure is better and they have put a screw like monitor in his head to watch the pressure on his brain. It was elevated but is now normal so that is a bit of good news for the head injuries. Please pray specifically that the source of the bleeding will be identified and stopped quickly to give him a chance to survive!

I know many of you who have been here have volunteered to donate blood. We appreciate that and know that John would be honored by your acts of donation. We are working with the hospital to coordinate that and will post as soon as we have the details.

What happened???

Soooooo... JD aka. John was in route to a call and was invovled in an serious accident. His car flipped and he was life flighted to Memorial Hermann. Another officer was in front of him and able to immediately report the accident. He was transported and remains in critical condition. The major concerns for him are internal bleeding and head injuries. He has a fractured arm, leg and several broken ribs that they have confirmed. He needs our prayers in a very big way. The trauma team took him to surgery from the ER to look for internal injuries. He had many! Their inital concern was he had very low blood pressure and was bleeding from his nose, mouth and ear - not a good sign. Once they took him to surgery they were able to identify the source of some of the bleeding. Lots of abdominal bleeding including bruising to the heart and all that other stuff in your chest cavity!(I suppose I should have studied more in biology.) :0 They did remove his spleen and pack him to help control the bleeding. He was really struggling in the OR after 2 1/2 hours and so the trauma surgeon decided to partially close him up and wait until he could tolerate more surgery. They did remove his spleen - not sure what that even does for you but his is gone now. He was taken to ICU to be warmed up and get his blood pressure more stable. He was given 24 units of blood in the OR and platelets and has received another 24 units of blood and additional platelets since. The latest update the from the team was that his blood was finally starting to coagulate (clot). His blood pressure is up and stabalizing. He is continuing to bleed and will need to go back to the OR but they need to wait as long as possible to let his body recover from all the trauma. The last update was much more encouraging than the previous one post-op. The trauma dr did say at the last update, "he is the sickest patient in this hospital" - a title we really didn't want him to have! She did also say we broke the record for the most visitors for one patient - it's a brotherhood ya know! They have not been able to do any imaging on him yet so they do not know the full extent of his injuries but they did a bedside CT and there are 3 areas of concern on his brain. They are watching for swelling but for now there is just brusising and signs of bleeding but no swelling- they are watching closely. He is at this moment having a bedside surgery in the ICU to relieve the pressure in his forearm. He has multiple breaks in his left arm and all the blood product he is requiring is creating a blockage in his arm. So they are making incisions to relieve that pressure to save the muscle in his arm. He is not going to be a happy camper when he wakes up - please pray with us that he will stabalize. The internal bleeding although under control is still a concern and the extent of the head injuries is a huge unknown as well. He isn't stable enough yet to see past those injuries so buckle up this is going to be a long road.....
Thanks for walking beside our family! We will update as we know more.
Blessings, Bridget - JD's sister