Stryker Brigade News

September 24, 2004

Dear friends,

You can now read these updates on www.strykernews.com as they wanted to post them for others to see. The Tacoma News Tribune may also run some of them and possibly interview me next week for an article on how the wounded of Scott's brigade are doing. Personally, it's been too damned easy to overlook the wounded of this conflict. They are all remarkable young people.

Here's the latest information on Scott:

Scott was transferred to Bethesda (National Naval Medical Center) this evening because they have THE Army neurologist and the latest equipment for radiological interventions (running things through arteries to keep vessels open) over there. I spoke to a Navy neurologist late this evening and he described this Army doctor as way beyond his level of expertise.

A doctor who's smarter than a brain surgeon? I gotta meet this guy and hope to do so tomorrow. Typical government operation, too. One branch has the equipment and the other has the know-how to use it. Seriously, the Army neurologists at Walter Reed almost speak in reverential tones about this doctor. Like in "Blazing Saddles" when the townsfolk of Rock Ridge hear the name, Randolph Scott.

The reason for the transfer now is because Scott may be having or is at risk of having basilar artery vasospasms. They did an angiogram this morning, but it was negative (no damage to the blood vessels in his brain--whew!). However, there is always a risk with this type of injury that the blood vessels may spasm and cut off the blood supply to parts of the brain. The neurologists huddled and decided they needed to get Scott over to Bethesda now so in case the vasospasms do occur they would not need to run him over in an ambulance in traffic.

Before the transfer we went over the ASL alphabet with Scott (he did pretty good considering the pictures were right hands and pretty small at that) and I did some basic functioning testing. I drew a figure on the white board and then got him to copy it with his left hand. I tried next to do as well with my left hand for fun. Our drawings of a square, cube, star, triangle and something else I now forget looked pretty close to the same. I also went over numbers using the four fingers of one hand. I held up one, then two, etc. and he did so as well. Then I told him I would hold up numbers at random and for him to flash the same fingers back. He got ten for ten and very quickly. It would appear then, that even if he doesn't continue to improve, with less morphine and some training, he could learn to communicate using sign language. Of course, he will continue to improve, but it's good to know we've got a good base to work from. Scott continues to do well with drinking water and juice. He was supposed to start a clear liquid diet, but had to go to Bethesda instead.

Scott got to hold his baby girl today, but he won't be able to do that at Bethesda because they have different patients there. There are also some very serious restrictions on wounded returning due to some nasty bugs over there. Infants don't have the immune systems to beat this thing, so he will have to be transported out to go see her (which will be somewhat therapeutic for him anyway).

I talked one of the neurologists (I did an internship with the VA and knew the talk) into letting me see Scott's CT scan (takes pictures of the brain that look like cross sections) results (no MRI because of the metal in his head). You can see the swelling and bruising as slightly darker areas in the brain. Also, he has had a portion of his skull removed to allow the brain to swell and not be damaged. From the outside, you can see a lump or two, but from the CT scan, it's really noticeable that he's got a problem up there. The doctor went to the "slice" just above or below the object and it showed as a bright burst of light frozen on the computer screen, sort of like a solar flare photo. Really depressing to look at it, my friends. The next frame shows very clearly an object the same approximate dimensions as a 7.62mm bullet. Having seen this, I now correct doctors when they say fragment because that's a bullet in there. I discussed the process of recovery with the neurologist and he said one of the big problems is infections and the vasospasms. He had high praise for the Kevlar helmet in use in the Army as he credited it for saving the lives of many soldiers. It is unknown if the bullet that hit Scott went through the helmet or not, but my guess is it was a ricochet that hit him under the helmet. There will be no effort made to remove it as it would do more damage to dig it out. It's way too deep in there to play with, about exactly where I thought it would be from the symptoms.

That's about it. Hard day for us all, but at the end of it he's in the best place to be with this kind of problem. Of course, I tell them all what an outstanding soldier Scott is (Note what tense I've used here) and what he's already done for us. The doctors are impressed and you can tell they will do their very best for him.

ST

September 23, 2004

Here's the latest and please feel free to pass on, as appropriate. I don't have all the e-mail addresses I need with me, it seems.

So far as we can tell, Scott caught a bullet "fragment" in his brain on the left side above his ear at about 2 o'clock going around from the top of his ear. He arrived at Walter Reed on Wednesday night and was met by his parents, brother, wife and 7 week old baby girl (He got to see her three hours after she was born on 7/31/04 when he arrived on R & R). Saturday, while he was at Landstuhl, he was unable to move his right side or speak. He was able to make some sounds, but nothing intelligible.

This evening, we were having a very hard time trying to communicate with him. He wanted something or wanted to say something and we couldn't figure it out. […] Then, we remembered they gave us a small white board to use. My older son held it up for him and put the pen in his left hand. He hesitated for a minute and then wrote:

S-C-O-T-T

put the pen down with a small nod and gave us a thumbs up.

Well, now we need a new whiteboard, because we're not ever going to erase that one. He's still in the fight!

By the time we left for the evening he was feeding himself ice chips with a spoon and drank a kid's juice box with a straw. He also yelled out "all" after three attempts, meaning he wanted to see us all at once (ICU rules are for two only, but I'm bigger than they are here). He can hug (he lifts his right arm a few inches, but left is all the way around) and (weakly) kiss us, too.

He can smile weakly, give us the "well, no s**t" look and scowled and rolled his eyes at a nurse who was patronizing him.

He undergoes an angiogram in the morning to see if there's any damage to the blood vessels in the brain and he's had some problem with a raised temperature caused, most likely, from the trauma to his head. They will not remove the fragment which will eventually scar over up there. He may have to use other parts of his brain to speak and use the right side of his body, but that's for tomorrow.

ST

September 21, 2004

Dear Friends (and I keep finding I have more of them than I thought through all of this),

Here's the latest news from Landstuhl about Scott's condition, along with a tribute photo his brother made today (Scott's nickname was and is Robocop):

He is due to be transported from Landstuhl to Walter Reed Wednesday. We arrive about the same time as he does, so that's going to be nice.

Current status: He can now nod slightly. He was able to lift his right arm slightly while they were moving him around. Also, a roll of tape they're putting in his right hand isn't there when they come back, so something is going on. He is able to say "Ow, ow" from time to time. He's getting 2mg of morphine every hour, so I suppose that should be "Oh, wow" and they're just not hearing him correctly.

I will repeat this: The staff at Landstuhl are underpaid and overworked. They have done an outstanding job for Scott and by extension, all our wounded.

He's in that skull and we're going to dig him out. Thanks for your support and kind wishes. […]

[…] Name a FOB after SGT Demand, too. Prepare to have an address for the SSG letters as we're working up a really good one for you! As the guy said in 2010, "I see stars..."

ST

September 18, 2004

Friends,

I keep thinking of people I've left off previous mailings and adding them on, so if you're getting this for the first time, a brief recap (and a sincere apology for the shock/oversight):

On September 14, 2004, while on a dismounted patrol in Mosul, Iraq, searching for hostile mortar emplacements, SGT Scott Thorne (dismount squad leader) and his men were in a narrow alley when a car suddenly pulled up at the entrance and opened fire with a Soviet-made RPK light machine gun. […] Scott and one of his men were hit immediately, but the rest were able to return fire. The vehicle escaped […]. Six men were wounded, one mortally, as it turned out. Scott was hit in the left rear part of his skull. The platoon medic, Army Specialist [B___], did a superlative job in stabilizing the wounded and preparing them for transport to the local Combat Support Hospital (CSH). Scott was eventually transferred to a CSH in Baghdad where he underwent brain surgery. It was initially reported that the 7.62mm bullet was left in his brain as it would have caused more damage to remove it than to push it to a safer area. He has just been transferred to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany and will be transported to Walter Reed shortly. He will likely remain there a month. […]

His current condition:

Scott has expressive aphasia which means he cannot talk. He tries to mouth words, but that doesn't work real well. He is able to communicate by the old one finger is yes, two is no and thumbs up and down. He also gave the female (Major) nurse the "bird" when she told him to wait until she finished some medical test before giving him more water, so we know his personality is intact. (He gets this trait of insulting female Major nurses from his Dad, which is a real long story that I'll spare you now.) They are thrilled he is able to swallow, but I can't remember from my graduate neuroanatomy classes exactly why that is. The ICU nurse reports he's "mad as a hornet," which will be good for his recovery. Knowing Scott as I do, he'll want to get back into the fight as soon as possible. The ICU nurse did not know if the bullet was still in his head (this information is only useful for airport security purposes).

His right side is paralyzed, but there was some thought that he had moved his right foot earlier for the ambulance driver. He can see and breathe on his own. One of his comrades, also at Landstuhl has communicated with him by written note, so he can read. […]

Scott still has some brain swelling and it's hoped things will improve after that goes down. Brain injuries take up to three years to recover from, with most of the improvement in the front end of that period. So, don't lose heart.

He's missing some skull on the left rear/side, but they can match it for the right side with some silicone molding. […] With any luck he'll be doing the Lloyd Bridges schtick from the Hot Shots movies in a few months.

I am absolutely certain that he is receiving the best medical care available on the planet. […]

We hope to see him at Walter Reed Army Medical Center soon and we'll be sure to keep you guys in the loop. Not sure if Madigan Army Medical Center is the next stop or not in this process after WRAMC. […] Also, he probably needs to be sent to Madigan to be close to his men, wife and infant daughter. He'll need all the motivation he can get.

Thanks for all your expressions of concern and support. We don't require anything at this time. I'll give you updates, as appropriate, which means when his condition changes significantly (i.e., paralysis ends, he can talk, etc.). If you don't want updates for some reason […], let me know and I'll not send them.

ST

September 14, 2004

For those of you getting this news about my younger son, SGT Scott Thorne, and his situation for the first time, my sincere apologies for leaving you out of the first message. I've got a lot of neurons devoted to other projects right now, as you can imagine.

The latest update on Scott's condition is he has a skull fracture on the left side of his head. Others in his patrol (1 was KIA and 5, including Scott, were WIA in an apparent drive-by shooting on their dismounted patrol in western Mosul) have been trying to communicate out about their condition and what happened […]. It is not known (by us anyway) exactly how his skull was fractured, or how serious the fracture is, but it certainly sounds better than a gunshot wound up there. Knowing how hard headed he can be (his Dad warned him about days like this before he enlisted but he had to sign up anyway), I wouldn't be surprised if he was shot but the bullet bounced.

Anyway, his mother and I are really appreciative of your kind comments and wishes for his recovery. I'm saving them for him to read when he gets home, whenever that is. Times like this I'm really glad we can communicate as rapidly as we do and to have such great friends as you all are. Thanks again for your support.

ST