The Big Day Is Here

We will try to post updates throughout the day.

9:00 - Luke is currently in surgery. We are waiting patiently in a family waiting room. We are lucky to be surrounded by our great families as we try to pass the time. Check back soon.

9:30 - A nurse from the operating room just called and said that everything is going great right now with the surgery.

10:20 - Luke's cardiologist has just given us an update. The surgery is mostly complete. They are just waiting to make sure he doesn't have any bleeding and then they will close him up. They said we should be able to see him an about an hour.

11:15 - Luke is out of surgery and everything went as planned with no surprises! They are currently getting him all set up in the Intensive Care Unit and we should be able to see him in the next half hour or so.

12:00 - We were just able to see Luke for the first time since the surgery. He is hooked up to about 30 different monitors, but is resting comfortably.

4:45 - No changes to report. Luke is being closely monitored by the great staff here to make sure his vitals are all where they need to be. The doctors still anticipate that Luke will be taken off the ventilator tomorrow. Molly and Matt will be spending the night in a "sleep room" in the ICU. If you are wondering about visiting, it is possible you might be able to visit on Sunday, but maybe not until Monday. We will keep you posted!

8:30 - No new news to report and right now that's a good thing. We did receive somewhat of a reality check about an hour ago when a five or six year old little boy two beds down from Luke had his heart stop. After witnessing multiple doctors adminster CPR for about 20 minutes, I'm not so sure how well we will sleep tonight. Thankfully the doctors were able to stabilize the boy, but still very scary to witness. Unless something dramatic happens, this will probably be the last update tonight. Tomorrow will be an important day for Luke, and we thank all of you for keeping him in your thoughts.

Luke's Surgery

As many of you know, and for those who we haven't had the chance to tell yet, Luke is having surgery to correct a heart defect on Friday morning, December 7. The surgery will be done at Children's Hospital in Minneapolis at 8 in the morning.

We want to thank all of you for keeping our family in your thoughts and prayers.

Over the next week or so we might be a little hard to get a hold of on our cell phones so check the blog as we will be posting updates on Luke's condition as well as a telephone number for the recovery room we will be staying in.

If you want to read more about Luke's heart condition - Coarctation of the Aorta - you can click here.

My Friend Olivia

Luke and Olivia Major spent some quality time together at a recent get together at the Knutson's house. Luke and Olivia were born 10 days apart. Thanks for hanging out Olivia!

Look What I Can Do!

Luke's Baptism

Luke's baptism was this weekend. It was such a special day for us and our families. Luke is so lucky to have so many loving people in his life.

A Weekend in Mitchell

We had a great time with the Kahl family in Mitchell, SD. Highlights included Luke attending his first basketball game and seeing Coach Kahl get his first win as a head coach. Congrats Aaron! We are so proud of you. We had so much fun and hope to do it again sometime soon!

Trip to South Dakota

The family is making a trip to Mitchell, South Dakota this weekend to visit the Kahl family. Luke is going to feel like the Corn Palace is his second home as this will be his second trip to Mitchell in his 4 and a half months.