Turkey 2010 Day 6

A few pictures for ya'll.

This is a 13th C BC Hittite shrine. Way cool!

Pisidian Antioch - a place visited by Paul and Barnabas during their first missionary journey.

Brand new excavations underway. Huge plaza near the public fountain.

A small treasure in the local museum

Turkey 2010 Day 5

A 4-5 church cut out of the rocks in Cappadocias

More rock dwellings in the 'fairy chinmeys'.

The SultanHan- a motel on the ancxient silk road.

A couple of pictures for Ariana.

Turkey 2010 Day 4

A truly amazing day of homes, cities, and churches cut in to rocks of Cappadocia!

TURKEY 2010 Day 3

Forgive me for not posting much. We've had some very long, but really great days. I'll post a few pictures and hope to add more verbage later.

Turkey 2010 Day 2

Today was our first full touring day in the Old section of Istanbul-Sultanahmet. It is here the the Roman-Byzantine empire reigned for over 1000 years and the Ottoman empire ruled for over 400. Some assorted pictures.

Church of Holy Eirene (Peace). One of the oldest standing Christian churches in the world.

Guard outside Topkapi Palace

Cistern (as seen in From Russia With Love)

Topkapi Felicity Gate

Blue Mosque

Our group next to the Egyptian Oblisk in the Hippodrome

Shop in Grand Bazzar

Grand Bazaar-one of many lanes

The Blue Mosque

Probably no post tomorrow---we get to Cappadocia very late!

TURKEY 2010 Day 1

Well, we made it to Turky. All is well. I have been up about 30 hours, and that on three hours sleep, so I don't plan to post much. I'll try to post a couple of short videos posted, but the upload speed here is very slow.We did a bus tour of the old city walls and a cruise on the Bosphorus. Above was our view of the Galata Bridge from where we had lunch.

My cell phone isn't working, so send me e-mail if you need to talk to me.

Dillon Dalton Update 2

Updates Ported From Caring Bridge

Sunday, September 19, 2010 2:02 PM, PDT

Well that a difference one week makes! This past week Dillon's strength in this arms has grown a lot more. He has been having little muscle reactions to his therapy in this ankles! Also during one of the acupuncture treatments this past week Holly told me the needles were "twitching" per say...(excuse my lingo I am not medical minded!) in the knee area as well. They said that the muscles are likely trying to react to the brain signaling to 'move' and thus the little muscle movements! This is huge news! Although it is baby steps...each little step helps along the way to his recovery.

This next week is a big week as well because Dillon will get to make small trips outside the hospital. Holly will be able to take him on a few small outings. They won't be gone too long at a time but this is good practice on getting in and out of the vehicle. How nice for him to be able to leave the hospital for a few minutes during the day! I am sure the walls of the hospital can get boring.

The days at Seattle Children's seem to be pretty action packed with the specialist, residents, nurses, physical therapists and everyone else that comes to work with Dillon during the day. Holly said they always seem to be working on something or moving somewhere throughout the day. Dillon is such a trooper doing everything he possibly can to help with his recovery. Can't wait to hear new news this next week.

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Sunday, September 12, 2010 8:38 PM, PDT
Dillon is hoping to feel better in the next few days so he can continue his physical therapy. It is still the dizziness and the faintness (along with low blood pressure) that is greatly effecting him when he tries to sit in his wheel chair. As you can imagine this is super frustrating! Holly has a plan to tackle this problem she told me...so pray her idea will work! :)

Friday, September 10, 2010 8:32 PM, PDT
Well the last couple days have been a bit rough for Dillon. When he moves to his wheelchair the blood seems to be draining away from his head down to his feet, so he gets dizzy and light headed easily. From what I have read people with spinal cord injuries can have lower blood pressure as a result of their injuries with blood flow etc. (Remember I am not a doctor so I may not be stating this correctly).This is frustrating for Dillon not feeling good when he was just starting to feel more mobile with the small trips in and around the hospital. They are continuing with therapy as planned but it is a bit tough when his overall feeling of health is down.

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OK, next time I'm holding out for a better picture.

I had a chance to visit Dillon (and Holly) at Seattle Children's Hospital today. The news is basically good.

If you have been to Children's, you know what an amazing place it is. Everyone there is there because they have a passion to work with children and youth. They know how to help meet not just the medical needs of their patients, but their emotional and social needs as well.

As I visited Dillon today, Holly was meeting with a psychologist who will work with Dillon and a coordinator who will set up a school program for him. He will be well taken care of.

Dillon was his old self. He looks good. He's as bright and articulate as ever. If you didn't know about his healing pelvis and lack of feeling, you'd have no idea anything was wrong with him.

I found he had also followed and understood what the doctors had told him (no small task for anyone). He still has no feeling from about the middle of his torso down, but the anticipation is still that once the swelling in the spine subsides, feeling will come back. He is equally aware that when it does, he will need to re-train all the muscles that have been affected – something that could take not just weeks or months, but up to 1-2 years.

He started physical therapy today. The frustrating part of that for him is that what they are mainly doing to is to show him how to use and get around in a wheelchair. They have to start where he is at. He defiantly told me "Leaving here in a wheelchair is not an option!"

I was glad to hear that spirit and determination. He will need that in the weeks to come.

Continue to keep him and his family in your prayers. God is good. Dillon could have been killed in this accident if the truck had landed six inches further up his body. Let's pray that the miracle will continue and he will be restored to full health.

Dillon Duncan

Dillon Duncan, the 16 year old son of Holly and Todd Duncan and grandson of Bonnie Bricker-Smith, was seriously injured in an car accident. He was driving to meet his dad and brother in the Tanum Creek area, when he accidentally rolled his truck. He was ejected as the truck rolled and the truck rolled over him. While seriously injured, a small depression he fell into prevented the truck from completely crushing him.

He was found by his father and brother, taken to Kittitas Valley hospital, and from there flown to Harborview in Seattle, where he is receiving excellent care. (DILLON IS NOW AT CHILDREN'S SEATTLE)

Dillon’s pelvis was broken in several places. He is having surgery to repair this on Wednesday and he is expected to recover from these injuries with time and rehabilitation. Thankfully, there were no head injuries and Dillon is awake and alert.

Of greater concern is that he still does not have any feeling below his waist. It is far too early to assume that this is a permanent problem, or even that if it does not correct itself that there will not be an effective medical therapy that can treat it. However, this is serious and something that we ought be to praying for.

Whatever the short term results, Dillon faces months of rehab, probably at Children’s Hospital in Seattle and he, along with his family, will need our prayers and support – both immediately and for the months to come.

There is a web page for him at the CaringBridge.org website (enter "dillonduncan" on their main page). I will try to port their updates here also and keep it all in this same post. Information below will start to read with the latest information first.

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Story in the Daily Record, 9-5-2010

The Ellensburg High School FFA member leading the 1,400-pound steer in the Junior Livestock Sale auction show ring on Friday was not fellow EHS FFAer Dillon Duncan.

Yet it was, indeed, Dillon’s steer according to the list of sellers. Showing it for Dillon in Bloom Pavilion was a friend, Ethan Johnson, 15.

Dillon, 16, couldn’t be there. On Friday he was at Children’s Hospital in Seattle undergoing extensive rehabilitation for serious injuries he received in a one-vehicle collision on Aug. 22.
When the bidding was over for the animal, the steer brought in a hefty $7.50 a pound.
Johnson, before leading the steer back into the fairgrounds barn, said everybody wants to help out Dillon at this hard time in his life, including families associated with 4-H and FFA.

Dillon’s brother, Dalton, 13, sold his steer just before his brother’s went to auction and said he and others have pitched in to help raise the steer and get it ready for showing since Dillon went to the hospital.

Dillon’s steer didn’t go far afield: It was purchased by Bonnie and Ian Smith of Ellensburg, Dillon’s grandparents.

On Saturday, Bonnie staffed a table in front of Bloom Pavilion to sell beef raffle tickets to help support the Kittitas County 4-H program.

In addition to a pile of raffle tickets, on the table was a sign that told about a Sept. 12 benefit spaghetti dinner and silent auction to help the Todd and Holly Duncan family pay for medical treatment and rehabilitation services for their son, Dillon.

“We want to get the word out about how people can help,” Bonnie said. “It seems everybody who’s found out about the situation wants to help in any way they can.

“I’ll tell you, the friends and families of these organizations (4-H and FFA) have been absolutely awesome in all their support of Dillon, in their love and all their care for Holly and Todd.”
Bonnie said Dillon, after the accident, was taken to Kittitas Valley Community Hospital and then was airlifted to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.

For those who want to give directly to help the family with medical costs, Bonnie said there is an account set up at Sterling Savings Bank in Ellensburg. Checks can be made payable to: FBO Dillon Duncan.

“There’s so many people who have helped in so many ways,” Bonnie said. “It would be so hard to thank them all. We appreciate everything.

“This community reaches out so much to those who need help.”

Bonnie said she did want to mention two who have especially helped: the Bland family and Ellensburg High School FFA adviser Steve Russell.

“I believe in prayer and I believe in asking God for healing,” Bonnie said. “One thing everyone can do is to pray for Dillon’s complete healing.”

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9-3-2010

I’ve had a few more notes filter in, so just a brief update.

Of course, the biggest concern is that Dillon has no feeling below his waist and the worry is that there is a spinal cord injury. They have done several MRIs and none have found any sign of such an injury, but there is a small chance that there is still one that cannot be detected.

One odd bit of good news is that when his feeling of numbness started to moved up his body a few days ago that was a sign that perhaps the lower body numbness was not from a spinal cord injury. Such injuries never seem to move up the torso. So, they have looked for another cause.

This could still be from swelling. It could also be from a very rare condition when marrow from a broken bone seeps into the spine, causing temporary paralysis. There is no way to test for this, but the good news is that this condition is almost always 100% reversible over time.

There will still need to be a long time of recovery and rehabilitation and we need to keep the family in our prayers. Such time are hard on families for all sorts of reasons and while things looking better, there is a long way to go.

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Ported from CaringBridge
9-1-2010
Okay this will be a short update...but Dillon got to move to Seattle Children's Hospital today! This is great news because this means he was well enough to move hospitals and can withstand a few hours of rehabilitation already. If any of you haven't visited Childrens it is an amazing hospital! I look forward to getting to visit him there. Although Harborview is an AMAZING hospital and no doubt they worked magic on Dillon...Children's has a more 'warm and fuzzy' feeling there. I will update you all more when I talk to the family! (P.S. Holly there is an amazing italian place within walking distance I want to walk you to that serves football sized calzones!)

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Tuesday, August 31, 2010 2:33 PM, PDT


Okay so new update...they are thinking it is just pressure from it being swollen and with the swelling going down so will the pressure on his nerves! Medication and time are what will fix this. Talk about getting on Dillon's nerves! :) Hang in there Dillon...I will update more when I hear from the family!
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Tuesday, August 31, 2010 2:18 PM, PDT
I am floored at the number of people that are checking the website...gives me chills to think all of these people are pulling for Dillon!

Today I got new from Holly that is kind of frustrating for Dillon and his family. Dillon was feeling more sensations around his stomach area and yesterday that feeling went away. The numbness feeling that he has been having started moving it way up into his chest area. This hasn't been explained this all of a sudden happened. There are several reasons this may be happening, one the pevic surgeon said can be fairly common. Sometimes when the nerves in the back are healing it can have a 'yo yo' type effect...so they thought it may be temporary.

Other reasons are beyond my medical knowledge so I won't attempt to try and explain what I "think" they may be. One step foward and two back...but doesn't mean that those sensations in his stomach will not come back. There may be more swelling on the spine putting pressure on the nerves along the spinal cord. He was put on a few steroids and other medications I can't recall and they are searching every MRI, CAT scan and I think they talked about doing an endoscopy as well. He has a team of people working on fixing this situation as soon as they are able.

Holly said Dillion is a trooper and is fighting along with everything that comes up!He has been sitting up a little more everyday and been doing every bit of therapy that he has been expected to do. Please continue to pray and send well wishes. Although this may seem like a huge set back lets pray this is just another step along his incredible road to recovery!

The donations and overwhelming amount of volunteers for the spaghetti feed and auction is awesome. Please let me know via email if you would like to do something to help, or have something to donate...thank you!
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8-31-2010 Morning
We got word from Dillon's grandmother that he has had a few small set-backs. The biggest one is that he now doesn't seem to have feeling below his navel. That's a little higher than before. He's also experiencing some pain in his armpit.

A new MRI has been ordered and that has probably already been done. It's still way too early in the healing process to have a handle on this, but any new problems are a strain on everyone.

Please continue to keep Dillon in your prayers. Pray also for the family as they have to move from "sprint" to "marathon" mode to stand beside him during this time.
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8-27-2010
This is Melissa again, I got to talk to Holly today to get an update on Dillon. He is getting these messages and the ones emailed to the Harborview email address...so keep them coming! The whole family appreciates all of the love and support being given to them during this stressful time.

Today was a HUGE today for Dillon! He was unhooked from all of the tubes and wires today...and was officially moved out of the Intensive Care Unit! Hooray! :) He is being moved form side to side to make sure the body doesn't get to stiff sitting in one position. Today he also got to sit up for the first time. This makes him very dizzy right now so he is only able to sit up for a minute or so at a time. The time will increase everyday as to help gain his mobility back. He is still coping with the pain and is on round the clock medicine for comfort. Dillon has been able to eat and drink little bits at a time too.

After the surgery the other day the surgeon himself came out to talk to Holly and Todd and explained everything about the surgery. He even drew a whole picture of the operation on a white pillow case! He explained what pins were put where, in what breaks, and where the plates were placed. It sounded like the surgeon took great care in explaining everything he did during surgery. This was the top pelvis surgeon in the country operating on Dillon too! What a blessing for that...and the surgeon seemed very hopeful that Dillon would be mobile again with therapy.

They are estimating Dillon being moved to Seattle Children's Hospital by the middle to end of next week. It will take about 6 weeks total for the pelvis to even heal. During this time Dillon will be doing lots of therapy teaching his body how to move again after the trauma. His stay at Children's has been estimated to be between 4-6 weeks...so in one aspect he has a long journey...but at the same time this is faster than most adults are able to heal. Being 16 years old has its perks here! The body is able to heal and regenerate itself a lot faster at this age (as compared to mine!)

I will be updating this website as much as I can when I find out new information. The family will take over at a later date when things slow down a lot more in the hospital~ Planning for the Spaghetti feed on September 12th from 4-7 pm at the fair grounds is coming along! Thank you so much for continuing to offer help...all donations for the silent auction are appreciated! This will be a great and fun event in honor of Dillon.

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8-26-2010
Wednesday Night Update.....

I visited with the family today. You could say I visited with Dillon too, but after about 5 hours of surgery:

1. All he really wanted to do was sleep; and,

2. He will have no recollection I (or probably anyone else) was there.

Surgery went well. He was lucky to have a amazingly qualified surgeon do the surgery to repair his broken pelvis. 13 pins and two plates later it was done and the doctor felt good about how things went.

He told the family that the normal recovery time for this kind of surgery is six weeks of mostly bed rest, followed by six weeks for physical therapy. However, that doesn’t account the spinal injury, the extent of which is still unknown.

Eventually, Dillon will probably be moved to Seattle Children’s Hospital for the therapy portion.

Keep the prayers going. This is just the first step on a long road.

Update from General Assembly

Hello from warm and humid Minneapolis. We are in our last full day of meeting of the PC(USA) General Assembly. It has been a long week.

I have received several communications from some of you about what has happened, specifically about the Assembly approving “homosexual ministers”. I will speak about what GA has done on Sunday morning, but let me give you some brief details now.

Often the media gets the story wrong, or tells it in an incomplete way. Right now we have a standard in our Book of Order for ordained office that states for church officers:

“b. Those who are called to office in the church are to lead a life in obedience to Scripture and in conformity to the historic confessional standards of the church. Among these standards is the requirement to live either in fidelity within the covenant of marriage between a man and a woman (W 4.9001), or chastity in singleness. Persons refusing to repent of any self acknowledged practice which the confessions call sin shall not be ordained and/or installed as deacons, elders, or ministers of the Word and Sacrament.”

This General Assembly, just as several GA’s in the past has done, has recommended that this standard in our constitution be removed, potentially allowing for ordination of active homosexual persons.

It is important to understand that this change MUST be approved by a majority of our Presbyteries before the change is made. That is how changes to our church constitution are approved. All previous attempts to make this change have failed; the last attempt was just over a year ago. I do not believe this new recommendation will succeed either.

That is not to say that I’m happy about everything the GA has done. They did reject any attempt to redefine marriage from “one man and one woman” to “two people”. That’s showed some good sense. But to say that we now permit the ordination of active homosexuals or as a denomination approve of any homosexual behavior is not correct.

Thanks to all of you who care enough about the greater church and our witness to the world to pay attention to this. Keep praying for the work of our GA.