prayer request

[Sooner_Bob]

Some of you who get the Daily Oklahoman may have read the article in today's paper about a flash fire/explosion burn victim. The burn victim is my uncle. He received some 2nd, but mostly 3rd degree burns to his back/body. Luckily he had just turned away from the pipeline before the flash fire so it spared his face from the trauma.

They expect him to remain heavily sedated in intensive care for at least 2 weeks. He could stay in the hospital burn unit for 30-40 more days after that. And then the rehab should begin.

My parents said he's not doing that great now, but the doctors have told them that's expected with burn victims. The first couple of days after the injuries are sometimes the hardest on them.

They're actually starting the first round of skin grafts tonight I believe.

Link to article (http://www.newsok.com/article/3019615)



Thanks.

[crawfish]

Thoughts and prayers. :(

[sanantoniosooner]

:(

IN

[Widescreen]

In. Having massive burns seems like one of the worst things to deal with. I've had horrible sunburns and those don't even chart compared to what he's going through.

[olevetonahill]

Dam Bro Im in NOW
them Burns Hurt Ive had a few . Not that bad tho .

[IB4OU2]

In! Bobby...:(

[jk the sooner fan]

in, and done! :(

[jacru]

on my list SB.

[NormanPride]

In. May the Lord speed the path of his recovery.

[FaninAma]

I hope all goes well for a full recovery for your uncle. He will be in my family's prayers.

[TUSooner]

In!

[VeeJay]

prayers your way

[soonerboomer93]

burns like that are rough, I hope he gets well soon

[Ike]

IN

[StoopTroup]

Wow...

You can count on it Bob.

May his pain and suffering be minimal and his recovery swift.

ST

[OCUDad]

In and done.

[OUHOMER]

in and done

[Mixer!]

Prayers your way, S_B. Keep us updated. :(

[BajaOklahoma]

Thoughts and prayers.
For al of you!

[Howzit]

:( Sorry, Bobby... :(

Hoping for a speedy recovery.

[Scott D]

in...best of luck on recovery.

[stoops the eternal pimp]

in...speedy recovery

[usmc-sooner]

God speed

[Tailwind]

Dang! That realy sucks. Best wishes for a full and speedy recovery. Looks like he's got a good support system going.

[Newbomb Turk]

you've got it.

praying and hoping for the best for him.

[leavingthezoo]

oh no! thoughts and prayers going up, bob.

[Mjcpr]

Hope all goes well, Bob.

[OUDoc]

My best, Bob.

[Sooner_Bob]

Thanks everyone . . . as soon as I hear how tonight's surgery goes I'll let you know.

[olevetonahill]

Update ?

[SoonerTerry]

Prayers to you all..

[royalfan5]

done

[OU4LIFE]

dang Bob, sorry to hear that man.

your family is in our prayers.

[Boomer.....]

Thoughts and prayers go out to him and your family.

[Beef]

Prayers for your family, Bob.

[BlondeSoonerGirl]

:(

[StoopTroup]

More prayers coming Bob...

Hope everything is going well.

ST

[soonersweetie]

Sorry this is so late, but I just read it.

Thoughts and prayers for you and your family and especially Bob. He will get through this. Thank goodness he had turned away and his face was spared. I can't even imagine the amount of pain he is in.

Please keep us updated.

[Sooner_Bob]

I haven't heard from anyone about how things went with the surgery, but I'm hoping no news is good news.

Thanks again.

[Sooner_Bob]

UPDATE

I got to go see him today. He actually looked pretty good IMO. He's still sedated, and still not out of the woods yet.

He's not as swollen as he was the last few days so hopefully he'll continue to get better.

My aunt is doing ok, but I think my young cousin still hasn't quite grasped what has happened with his dad. He's about 14 or so.

The family still needs your prayers.

[Newbomb Turk]

hope he continues to improve.

[olevetonahill]

What Newbomb said .
And the Olevet hill will keep on for him and the Family also .

[Sooner_Bob]

Update on my uncle . . .

He's still hanging in there and is close to being done with all the skin grafts (he may actually be having the last one early this week).

He's having to deal with pneumonia in one of his lungs now, so that's making things kinda tough. He can't breathe on his own like they want him to because of it so he's still using the breathing machine.

Several folks at Hillcrest have commented that most people with similar injuries don't make it as long as he has.

Thanks for all prayers and positive thoughts.

[soonersweetie]

That's good news. Hopefully he can fight that pneumonia thing.

I'll continue to send prayers his way and keep us updated!

[olevetonahill]

Still in Bro
Thanks for the update.

[MamaMia]

Prayers from our home. :(

[Sooner_Bob]

Man. I can't believe I haven't posted an update since April.

Well, my uncle has been in the Hillcrest Burn Unit for 120 days or so and is finally getting to head for rehab. The last few days he's actually been able to get out of bed and walk. It started with 15 feet one day, then 30 and finally about 90 today.

My family has been through it with this situation so I really appreciate the kind thoughts and prayers from you guys throughout this whole ordeal.

He'll probably have one or two minor skin graft surgeries and then I'm pretty sure after a couple of weeks in rehab they'll let him go home and try rehab from there.

Here's a journal (http://www.caringbridge.org/cb/inputSiteName.do?method=search&siteName=johnvillines) if anyone wants to read the story of his amazing recovery so far.

[stoops the eternal pimp]

continued prayers boss...

[Turd_Ferguson]

He has quite a cheering crowd waiting at the end of the hall.
IMO, that's 99% of the medicine right there. Hope it all go's well.

[85Sooner]

As someone who has been on fire I can definetly get some prayer going.

[MamaMia]

...The family still needs your prayers.Absolutely. :(

[olevetonahill]

Been in from the start , will stay in duration.
Please keep us updated on his progress

[GrapevineSooner]

Continued prayers.

[OCUDad]

Still in.

[OU4LIFE]

Bob, glad to hear of the progress.

thanks for keeping us posted. If there's anything we locals can do for you and yours, let me know.

m

[Okieflyer]

Late, but in!

[Boomer.....]

In.

[Newbomb Turk]

Saw this in yesterdays DOK

http://newsok.com/article/3104708/


After being severely burned in flash fire, Seminole man is beating the odds


By Chad Previch
Staff Writer
TULSA — Nancy Villines was not supposed to hear what was coming through her cell phone.
It was the end of February and her husband, a veteran natural gas worker, had just been in an explosion so powerful that his wallet was knocked out of his pants.

The co-worker who drove John Villines in rural Pottawatomie County to meet an ambulance told Nancy Villines that her husband was in an accident and that it didn't look bad. But that man, thinking he hung up his phone, told someone a different story.

Nancy Villines heard it, and her heart sank.

For three months, doctors at the Alexander Burn Unit at Hillcrest Medical Center in Tulsa didn't know whether John Villines would survive.
But now, Villines, 53, could be released from the Kaiser Rehabilitation Center at Hillcrest within a few weeks.
"This is something I would never wish on anyone,” Nancy Villines said.
"This has just been a real hell-raising experience.”

Given Villines' third-degree burns — significant deep-tissue damage — age and the time he was on a ventilator, his chances of survival were not very good, said Dr. Gary Decker, the admitting physician who organized Villines' treatment.
Most patients with Villines' burns do not leave the center alive.
‘It was horrifying'

Villines of Seminole was working on a gas gathering line near Saint Louis in rural Pottawatomie County on Feb. 27 when he was critically burned. He was a 17-year veteran of Enerfin Resources Co. and was repairing a low-pressure pipeline when a flash-fire erupted.


Two co-workers called 911, and drove him in a pickup to meet an ambulance because they were afraid the paramedics would not find them. Villines was flown to an Oklahoma City hospital, which was full, and then taken to the Tulsa medical center.

Enerfin filed an incident report with the state Corporation Commission.
A company official told The Oklahoman that day that Villines was a "very good employee, and we certainly are going to miss him while he's out.”
Within 24 hours, his wife said he was swollen beyond recognition.

Nancy Villines always feared an explosion but never imagined it happening.
Her husband was wearing denim at the time of the flash fire. She has since learned denim is extremely flammable and thinks the material should be banned for pipeline workers.
"To walk into his room and have fluids oozing out of his skin, rolling off the bed onto the floor, it was horrifying,” Nancy Villines said.

Road to recovery
John Villines suffered burns to 67 percent of his body, mainly third-degree burns, his wife said. In the medical center, he suffered multiple infections, kidney failure, pneumonia (four times) and drops in blood-pressure. His wife said he survived through prayers, great care and inner strength. This is a man, after all, who beat thyroid cancer in 2003.

He lost about 60 pounds but has regained about 20, his wife said. And he has just regained some use of his voice.

On Thursday, he will undergo his 12th — and hopefully last — skin graft surgery.
The skin grafts have healed, and two areas — his upper rear leg and right underarm — remain. Those procedures are needed because skin protects against infections and fluid loss.

Nancy Villines has been at Hillcrest all 168 days. She leaves about once every two weeks for a short time to check on the home. Their 14-year-old son was by his dad's side but left because he returns to school today.
Nancy had to sell her candle and gift shop in Seminole but said it was a blessing to be sent to Hillcrest.
"They are absolutely brilliant doctors,” she said. "They have labeled him their miracle.”
Decker laughed when he heard Villines' compliment, saying it was a team effort. That team, he said, includes Nancy Villines who "stood by her man.”
"It's not easy going through surgeries and grafting and burning, and he did it with his head held high,” Decker said. "Both of those people are remarkable people.”

Nancy Villines hopes her husband will return to work. But now, she's just worried about getting him home and into an 18-month outpatient therapy program in Oklahoma City.
"That's about as far as I can see is going home,” she said.
Decker, the surgeon, sees much more than that. "Hopefully, we'll get him home to seeing sunsets and watching his son play baseball,” he said. "He'll be able to enjoy a fairly good life.”

[Tailwind]

Awesome!

[Boomer.....]

Great news!

[yermom]

i totally missed this before :(

glad to hear he's doing well, sounds like it's been pretty rough

[TUSooner]

Wow. Very good!!
He's still on my prayer list.

[OUDoc]

That's great! (And a miracle that he survived burns that bad.)

[SoonerBOI]

Prayers are sent from down under. God Bless!

[olevetonahill]

Thank s for the update
We need More updates on these things .

[SoonerGirl06]

Absolutely wonderful news.

He's a very lucky man.

Prayers are still in for him and his family.

[soonerloyal]

Still praying and claiming healing for your uncle, and support for y'all. Holler at your Sooner Family if we can do ANYTHING.

[Sooner_Bob]

He's getting to come home today . . . :D

He should be getting checked out of the rehab center in Tulsa at about 11 am and will finally get to be in his own home after 6 months.


Thanks to one and all for your thoughts and prayers. He really is a miracle patient. (Even if he is a Poke fan.)

[M]

He's getting to come home today . . . :D

He should be getting checked out of the rehab center in Tulsa at about 11 am and will finally get to be in his own home after 6 months.


Thanks to one and all for your thoughts and prayers. He really is a miracle patient. (Even if he is a Poke fan.)


Awww, great news!! :D

[RacerX]

YEAH!

[Newbomb Turk]

good news.

[Boomer.....]

Great to hear!

[NormanPride]

Awesome. Just in time to watch the pokes beat up on ***************!

[Sooner_Bob]

I talked with my mom and she said that Channel 6 out of Tulsa was at the hospital as he checked out and that my aunt was driving like a woman on a mission to get home.

There might be something about his homecoming on the evening news . . .

[Sooner_Bob]

Well, for a guy who's been through what he has I'd have to say that he looked very good when I got to see him. He's still got a long way to go and will have to work pretty hard during rehab for the next year or so, but I think he'll do it.

He knows that he is a miracle and that will motivate him to improve.

Thanks again for all the kind thoughts and prayers.