negolien
Elite
Injured by a dirt bag who threw a brick at him in June on the TV show on patrol live. Here's the original story and the update. Best wishes to him.. Real American's back the Blue. Hum won't let me share the update .. Just type in Deputy Swanger in the facebook search bar it was posted about 11pm pacific on the 9th. He had a set back but is doin well atm.
Hello again everyone
I am so happy to update you all that Deputy Swanger’s surgery has happened. We are so hopeful that now, six months after he got hit, he will finally be able to begin healing.
Dalton still has a long recovery ahead of him. This was a cricotracheal resection, essentially an internal amputation of the damaged part of his trachea. His airway is now only held together by stitches until it heals. It’s one of the most technically demanding operations in airway surgery, with risk of restenosis. Thankfully the surgery has been considered successful so far, although there were challenges.
The immediate time after the surgery was extremely hard. He didn’t respond well and had to be put on the ventilator again. Once he woke up in the SICU with the breathing tube in, he refused sedation because of the trauma he endured in the coma in June. He was awake and in pain and writing to communicate while on the ventilator for seven hours, until he had a huge blood clot from his lungs go up into the vent through the breathing tube. The clot blocked the vent filter and stopped the airflow, suffocating Dalton. I watched him stop breathing while nurses ran in and surrounded us, he became tachycardic, and they had to emergency sedate him again until they took him to the OR to take the breathing tube out. He remembers all of it, and so will I. We never let go of each other. There aren’t words to describe the trauma and torture he’s been through again. As I sit here still shaking, trying to summarize six months of pain and agony, all I can do is stare at him sleeping and hold onto the good.
And there was so much good. Because of you all, we got in to see the best doctors who made safe, solid medical decisions to save Dalton. Our friends became family. People went out of their way to be at the hospital with us, to send messages and cards and gifts, to try to carry Dalton’s cross with him. There has been so much kindness and prayer and proof that humanity as a whole is good.
In one of my first updates I shared a quote. “If you go to Jesus, He may ask of you far more than you originally planned to give… but He can give you infinitely more than you dared ask or think.” This has been far more than either of us planned to give. I was talking to my dad in the fall after Dalton got hit and I was so angry, because we were facing more challenges and I already gave everything I had to give. He said no you haven’t, because you haven’t done everything you’ve been called to do yet. Maybe Dalton and I were called to have people pray for each other while they were praying for him. Maybe he was called to humanize the badge, to learn the depths of his bravery and strength, to be tested as a good and faithful servant and made new. Maybe I was called to protect and serve him, to fiercely advocate, to handle more than I ever thought possible and to learn to handle it with grace. Maybe there’s more left to do. But for now, he’s finally safe and I’m watching him breathe.
If you get a message from me years from now, I am still determined to thank each of you. Until then, please continue praying for our law enforcement, first responders, and for each other. From the depths of our hearts, thank you
Hello again everyone
Dalton still has a long recovery ahead of him. This was a cricotracheal resection, essentially an internal amputation of the damaged part of his trachea. His airway is now only held together by stitches until it heals. It’s one of the most technically demanding operations in airway surgery, with risk of restenosis. Thankfully the surgery has been considered successful so far, although there were challenges.
The immediate time after the surgery was extremely hard. He didn’t respond well and had to be put on the ventilator again. Once he woke up in the SICU with the breathing tube in, he refused sedation because of the trauma he endured in the coma in June. He was awake and in pain and writing to communicate while on the ventilator for seven hours, until he had a huge blood clot from his lungs go up into the vent through the breathing tube. The clot blocked the vent filter and stopped the airflow, suffocating Dalton. I watched him stop breathing while nurses ran in and surrounded us, he became tachycardic, and they had to emergency sedate him again until they took him to the OR to take the breathing tube out. He remembers all of it, and so will I. We never let go of each other. There aren’t words to describe the trauma and torture he’s been through again. As I sit here still shaking, trying to summarize six months of pain and agony, all I can do is stare at him sleeping and hold onto the good.
And there was so much good. Because of you all, we got in to see the best doctors who made safe, solid medical decisions to save Dalton. Our friends became family. People went out of their way to be at the hospital with us, to send messages and cards and gifts, to try to carry Dalton’s cross with him. There has been so much kindness and prayer and proof that humanity as a whole is good.
In one of my first updates I shared a quote. “If you go to Jesus, He may ask of you far more than you originally planned to give… but He can give you infinitely more than you dared ask or think.” This has been far more than either of us planned to give. I was talking to my dad in the fall after Dalton got hit and I was so angry, because we were facing more challenges and I already gave everything I had to give. He said no you haven’t, because you haven’t done everything you’ve been called to do yet. Maybe Dalton and I were called to have people pray for each other while they were praying for him. Maybe he was called to humanize the badge, to learn the depths of his bravery and strength, to be tested as a good and faithful servant and made new. Maybe I was called to protect and serve him, to fiercely advocate, to handle more than I ever thought possible and to learn to handle it with grace. Maybe there’s more left to do. But for now, he’s finally safe and I’m watching him breathe.
If you get a message from me years from now, I am still determined to thank each of you. Until then, please continue praying for our law enforcement, first responders, and for each other. From the depths of our hearts, thank you
