*J* who lost her daughter right after Christmas

Please pray for *J* (Kahla's friend) whose 23 year old daughter died unexpectedly right after Christmas. This was her only child; her best friend. Her daughter's death was sudden and completely unexpected. Only 9 short months ago this same woman also lost her husband very unexpectedly.

Chelle's IVF scheduling and her father's surgery

Please pray for Chelle as she tries to schedule her IVF #2 around her father's surgery (for ulcerative colitis). They run a business together and having them both out might cause issues with the business. Pray that they will be able to hold the fort down and can both have the procedures done.

Leah - Newly Diagnosed with Breast Cancer

Please pray for Leah and her family. Leah is the wife of one of my high school and college friends. She was diagnosed this past week with breast cancer. Leah is only 28 years old and has 5 young children. She begins chemo this week (for 3 months) and then will have a mastectomy and full hysterectomy (it has spread) and then will have radiation.

Friend's husband has diabetes complications

Please pray for my friend's husband who is experiencing complications with his diabetes.

Praise Item!

Stellan is home from the hospital! Thanks for your prayers!

Update on Eme 1/4/09

There is a new update on Emerson, whose picture and previous requests are listed below.

She had a really rough night and day- unbelievable what that little girl goes through! Please check the site and continue to pray for Emerson and her family.

1/1/09 Update on Emerson

I'm not sure whether to link to the update or paste it here. I think I'll copy & paste because I'm afraid you might not take the time to follow the link.

"Fighting Hard"
Emerson made it through the night. She's febrile, her heart is racing, her belly remains very hard and distended, and her coloring is not good. She received plasma & platelets last evening and blood transfusions throughout the night. Her hemoglobin is dropping which would suggest internal bleeding. The hope is that her body will begin to clot and reabsorb the blood. The surgeon said to imagine a large hole – the bowel is gone & her body cavity is filling with blood and fluid. Her blood gases (an indicator of lung stability) have been poor and she’s very acidotic. On a positive note, though, her blood pressure remains stable. Most didn’t expect that.

The plan right now is to take Emerson back to surgery tomorrow morning to re-examine & wash out the body cavity. If she deteriorates quickly today, though, they’ll take her down sooner. If her blood gases don’t improve, she’ll be transferred to the high-frequency vent (the oscillator). Continual dialysis will be restarted this morning.

The surgeon said her hope is to give Eme’s body time to heal and strengthen before we re-list. She actually isn’t even a candidate for transplant right now. She’s too sick – she must be infection free, and her lungs and kidneys must be stronger. She must have a fighting chance to survive transplant or she won’t be relisted. I asked the surgeon how long that would take…she said we have a little time, but wasn’t willing to speculate as to exactly how long. She said we’re still just trying to “get through today”.

Jim made it in safely and the surgeon has ordered me to get some sleep. No promises, but I’ll try my best…


Please pray for Emerson!!