Will is going to have surgery again this Wednesday.  The doctors told us that his grafts during the last surgery he had have been the most sucessful so far.  I will write later in the day on Wed. or early Thurs. with another update.

On another note Amazingwillpower.com also has some new updates.

Will did well during his surgery yesterday.  He is now resting in the ICU.  The doctor added a few small grafts of his own skin on his chest. 

Will is going to have surgery again today probably around noon.  Please keep him in you thoughts and prayers this will be his 8th surgery.  I will write more later today or tonight for an update.

WE LOVE YOU WILL!

a second web site!

Please also visit www.amazingwillpower.com

a story that made us all very happy!

Last friday our mom and aunt went into Will’s room to visit. Our mom noticed that the i.v. that gives him pain medicine was empty. Our mom thought will could be in pain if he was not receiving the medication, so she went to get a nurse. The nurse said it was ok and she would be hooking up the new medicine soon. This meant that Will was not under as heavy sedation as he normally is. Our aunt told Will she was going say the names of 3 of his CDs and for him to stick out his tounge when she said the one he wanted to hear and he did.  Then my mom asked Will can you hear us, and he shook his head yes! She then asked are you in pain. Will shook his head no! This made us very happy. Our mom then knew then that he was more aware than usual and explained to him, before the sedation set in from the next batch of medicine, where he was and that he was doing well and we all love him.

 It felt good to get a response, because normally we think he can hear us but the doctors said that the medicine makes people in a fog or very deep sleep so we are never quite sure.

It has been a little over a month. Will is still in the same burn ICU. He can not talk to us because he is still under heavy sedation. He will be like this for at least 6 month or longer. The amount of time he spends in the ICU depends on how well his skin grafts do and his overall state of health. When they graft Wills skin they only can do a little portion at at time and sometimes it has to be redone in the same area if it is unsuccessful the 1st time. The doctors must keep him sedated so he can use all of his energy to heal, even talking takes energy. The faster the skin grafts “take” and grows around his body the better. Without your skin something as small as an apple or salad sitting in the room could kill you  because your body would have no layer to protect you from the bacteria of the outside world. This is why we must be very careful when visiting. If we think we might be getting a cold we can not visit and risk getting germs in Will’s room. That is scary, but Will has been very strong, he has had many people praying for him, and he has not had infections. Will’s lungs seem to be ok, they have minimal coal (smoke) when they are cleaned by the nurses. He is healthy on the inside. We just have to get the outside repaired.

 Will could actually talk and will be able to talk in the future, but the doctors have placed a temporary tracheotomy to make surgeries easier on him.  The trach makes it possible for will to be easily intubated for surgeries so that they do not have to put tubes down his throat for every surgery. So if that was not there and he was not under sedation he could   speak. ~Kelly D.
 

Will did well during his surgery yesterday.  He had some grafts of his own skin done on his forearms.  -Katie

Jan 15 2008

Will remains in stable but critical condition in the ICU.  He will have another surgery today for possibly more skin grafts.  He did not recieve any grafts of his own skin in his previous surgery so hopefully he will be able to get some today.  We will try to update as soon as possible when his surgery is over to let everyone know how it went.   

-Katie D.

Sunday Jan 6th update

Today Will remains in stable but critical condition.  He will have surgery tomorrow to remove more burned skin and possibly have more skin grafted.   Make sure to keep him in your prayers daily.  Yesterday was Will and his twin sisters (Kirby) birthday.  We know how important Wills friends are to him and he would have loved to have them visit on his birthday but for Wills health we have to keep visitors to a minimum because his skin is so damaged he could easily get very sick from exposure to any germs.  In the future he will be able to have more visitors as his immunity improves and we will let you guys know as soon as his doctors feel it is not too risky. 

-Katie D.

Herald/SARAH MOORE KUSCHELLWhat is left of an electric guitar lies in the ruins after a fire gutted a trailer in the 200 block of Reece Creek Road in Killeen on Dec. 12. One of the fire’s victims remains hospitalized in Dallas with burns on 95 percent of his body.