One Year Ago Today

One year ago today, Luke was passenger in a horrific car accident. The driver lost control of the car and mid-spin, it slammed into a tree, crushing the car into Luke. Natural human instinct caused Luke to attempt to struggle free. Thankfully, the Lord had his watchful eye and sent a man to calm Luke. Had it not been for that man, Luke could have bled to death in his struggle. Luke's condition was so critical, the hospital had to perform multiple operations before the family even arrived. He sustained 3 breaks in his leg, his pelvis was completely severed in 2 pieces, broken jaw (crushed on one side), nerve trauma in the shoulder, broken ribs, broken nose, pelvic nerve trauma, lacerations in his lungs, and some minor internal bleeding. No brain trauma.

With trauma like this, we know his body will physically never be the same. His pelvis could not heal 100% evenly so he has a permanent limp, his jaw was also not able to heal evenly (even though he had his jaw wired shut), he is awaiting teeth implants and is working hard to recover the year the accident set him back.

I know Luke would give anything to reverse the accident, but he has proven a remarkable trust in the Lord and acceptance with full joy. His attitude has truly been one that would glorify the Lord. What an encouragement he is to me. I thank God for the resilience and the strength he has given Luke, so that he can continue to be a light to all those who know him or will ever meet him.

We praise God for sparing Luke for our sake, so that we may be blessed. A miraculous survival, 5 successful surgeries, 2 custom shoes, a few fake teeth (and a partridge in a pear tree) and one year later, we are still shouting for joy at the wonders of our mighty God’s hand. The Lord does not have to prove His might, nor does He need to make himself known, but how wonderful it is when He allows us the opportunity to see Him at work!

Thank you all for your prayers, support, love, cards, food, games and flowers that you provided while Luke was in the hospital. You all were a great encouragement to us and the entire Keith family.

We are rejoicing with our whole hearts.

Loving the life that God has given us,
Luke and Faith Keith

Oh taste and see that the Lord is good:

Shoulder surgery - a success!

"The surgery could not have gone better" were the doc's words to me when Luke was moved to Recovery. They were able to successfully relieve the tension in his rotary cuff and surrounding tissues and re-open the "tunnels" that allow electricty to flow to that area. He experienced a lot of atrophy during the past 9 months while the muscles and tissue were NOT receiving electricity, but Luke is so strong and healthy, we know he will be back to snuff in no time. I continually am in awe and thanksgiving for the Lord's work on Luke's body and his miraculous survival of such a horrific accident.

Thought I'd share this praise with you all! Thanks for your prayers!

Cool x-rays!!!

Preop for Luke

...here are a few fascintating pics to give you an idea of the crazy damage my bones experienced:

Holiday splitting and surgery forthcoming!

Luke will go for surgery on December 5th! there is a 92% chance he will have FULL functionality of his left arm after the surgery. The surgery will be relieving tension as well as repairing nerves around his rotator cuff. This is very exciting for us. Luke has been dragging his feet at the gym in discouragement because he can't do what he used to. By "dragging his feet" I mean to say that I can sense his discouragement, but in actuality Luke only exudes a thankful attitude that he is even alive. He has the best attiude I have ever seen. Of all people, he could complain, but he trudges through life as if "life coudn't be better". He is my hero.


Holidays - splitting time between families is a skill I am sure we will improve on over the years. This year was a tough one for me to adjust to being the first time I have ever had to split a holiday, but I am SO looking forward to it! I love change!! We will spend Thanksgiving with his side and then the remainder of the weekend with my family, since my mom and sister will be unable to celebrate Christmas with the family. My mom will be flying home to the Philippines for Christmas and Leah has been scheduled to work that week.

We are looking forward to starting new traditions. And we are also looking forward to another excuse to make my pumpkin cheescake Mmmm...

RE: Picture
Wednesday night is game night for us and a few other couples - we had a pumpkin carving contest that was hysterical fun.

So...Anyone running the Turkey Trot this year?

Happy November everyone,
Luke and Faith

Just a quickie!

A lot of you have been asking about Luke's progress, so I thought I would update via a little blogging. :) He has been undergoing some nerve tests and MRI's because it seems certain muscles are not receiving appropriate signals. One of our biggest concerns is his shoulder/back. His left arm is not capable of making certain movements anymore. The doctor is running tests to eliminate theories. Some of these results we will need to wait till January to begin reassessing as the doc says we need to give it time.

He has been experiencing increased discomfort in his pelvis/hip area because of the misalignment during the intial healing. The most we can do for that right now is insoles and custom shoes.

His bone graft in his jaw seems to be progressing right along, so hopefully when it settles, in about 8 months, he will have nice teeth implants to fill those gaps.

What a trooper! It's pretty amazing to see how he takes all of this in. He has such a great attitude despite his many ailments. I am proud to be his wife.