Update on OC Superintendent

Oconee County Schools Superintendent Dr. Mike Lucas is recovering after surgery last month to correct a congenital heart defect.  Oconee County Schools Assistant Superintendent Dr. Michael Thorsland has been serving as acting superintendent while Dr. Lucas is on medical leave and he says Dr. Lucas is now home recovering.  “He had a defect in his heart from birth, something that the doctors were watching for many years and it was finally time to take action to repair he birth defect he had and he underwent that a little more than a week ago.  He is home and I had the chance to talk to him on the phone Friday and he is doing well and very appreciative for all the thoughts and prayers people have offered his way.” Depending on his recovery, Dr. Thorsland anticipates Dr. Lucas could be back to work next month.  “Hopefully sometime in October, it is a pretty traumatic surgery what he had, so there is a several week recovery time but we are hoping sometime in October he will be back.” The congenital defect of Dr. Lucas’s aortic valve is a very common birth defect that is often identified by a heart murmur.  He had surgery to replace it with a new and improved aortic valve.