To Justin - Dude, Am I Glad!

First I wanted to shout out to Justin Rodgers - one of the guys that works with me. He's out of Dillingham - and we're in Kodiak. Still, he's a part of our team and last week the plane he was flying crashed, and through amazing circumstances, he is still alive. Badly hurt - but alive I'm posting the story from THESTATUS.com (a patient/family website that lets the family post updated info).... We've been holding our breath for the last couple of days... Hoping he'd be fine - So without further ado - here's the story and the last update:

(Please ignore how the system typeset it.)

On Tuesday pm Justin was involved in an airplane accident while out trapping with his father out of Dillingham. Chuck spotted the crash, alerted search and rescue, several hours later Justin was recovered and sent to Providence for treatment. Lucky to be both alive and coherent, Justin was severely hypothermic and had sustained several major injuries which include but are not limited to the following:-many broken bones which include both ankles, tibia/fibula of right leg, hip/pelvic fractures of the right hip, cracked sternum, shoulder/clavicle/arm fractures of the left shoulder, left cheek/ocular bones of the face, and suspected cervial fracture to the neck.(The hip and shoulder remain dislocated at this time)- several moderate to severe lacerations over the body, as well as moderate to severe burns (2nd and 3rd degree).He arrived at Providence Wed. early morning and had surgery to repair some of the lower leg bone issues of the right leg on that same day. He will have surgery to begin the reparation of the right hip on Friday with possible shoulder/eye socket repair scheduled for Tuesday. These are the first of a very long series of reparative surgeries.Justin, although injured badly, is coherent and in good humor. Amazingly there seem to be no internal organ injuries and his cognitive faculties remain intact.They are keeping a close eye on him and his doctors are referring to him as a very, very strong and healthy man, and are amazed yet delighted with his condition and attitude.His wife Erika is here with him and is his rock, he is hers and they are holding firm together. Chuck and Jeanette are also present, as is his sister Jessica.Justin will remain in ICU until the end of the weekend, and only close family are able to visit him at this time, and this is limited as well. He will be at Providence for the next few weeks, but is currently in room 205 of ACCU for those who wish to send cards or notes. (He is not allowed to have flowers in the room at this time)However, we do have a visitation log book in the waiting area of the Adult Critical Care Unit for those who come to visit, and these encouraging notes are forwarded to Justin and he seems to truly appreciate them.Jessica is fielding most calls for the family at 398-8445.We would like to thank everyone for the outpouring of love and support for Justin and his family. We are in awe and infinately thankful for the prayers and support. Words cannot describe our appreciation.Justin and his family also want to personally thank the rescue team and all medical professionals who have helped him. Without them, we wouldn't have him.

news updates26-Mar-06 02:12 PM - : Sunday early pm....Justin continues to do better and had another night of restful sleep last night. His swelling is decreased which makes him more comfortable.Nutrition is really important for the healing of Justin's burns and the burn specialist wants Justin to be consuming 3,000 calories/day. This can speed up the healing of the burns by approximately two weeks. This dietary requirement is not bad news for Justin because this means he gets to have as many banana-chocolate milkshakes as he wants. They are also putting additional protein in them to push it along.Justin continues to do everything that his doctors and nurses ask of him. He is still in pain but the staff is attending to this issue as best as is humanely possible. The swelling on his left eye is going down, too. He is now better able to open it and we suspect that there is visual improvement in that eye as of this morning. While not offical from the eye doctor, Justin does believe he was able to see Brett Gibbens through his left eye this morning.Justin will be remaining in Adult Critical Care Unit of Providence through the weekend. We'd heard that they were considering moving him out, but apparently the professionals thought better of it. Frankly, this makes us (his family) a little more relaxed as well. So, he will be staying put and will have a few recharge days before surgery on Tuesday.So, lets address Tuesday's surgery. Tuesday afternoon Justin is scheduled for surgery on his left shoulder to attempt repair to that area. Currently the upper left arm is broken into approximately four pieces, the clavicle and scapula are broken as well, and they anticipate significant cartilage damage will be found. There will be two highly skilled orthopedic surgeons addresing shoulder issues during this surgery. Additionally, the eye specialist will be placing a plate in behind the left eye to lift it from it's current position, rebuilding the eye socket itself. This will occur while Justin is under anesthesia and is only expected to take 20-30 minutes. ( Please be reminded that the eye area is not causing him significant discomfort.) Also, we hope that they will have time to address burn care issues while he is knocked out like they did last time.Again, Justin is being a real trooper (tee hee..) and we continue to be immensely proud of him and in awe of his attitude and courage. We thank you for all of your sentiment and support and would like to encourage you all to keep it up. Thanks for everything, you people are all beautiful to us.