Today seems to have more glimpses of hope.
E-mail from my sister Christy about Len,
I am glad to report that as of the last 12hrs Len has shown progress.
He is still in the ICU and is in a room full of tubes and many
monitoring machines. He is currently still be assisted breathing but
only 40% instead of 100% last night. He is off his blood pressure
medications and that is very good news. They are treating him with
steroids and very strong antibiotics for bleeding in the
lungs(possibly as a result of chemo), pnemmonia, a strep infection,
and c.dif infection in his gut/colon. They are also giving him meds
to help start his white blood cells to form faster. Until his white
blood cells start to naturally produce, this healing will be slow.
Needless to say, he is not out of the woods. He is better but still
needs much more prayer. The fever has reduced!
He was alert when we saw him but they keep him well sedated to let him
rest and let his body heal. Please bare in mind that things change
hour by hour in the ICU and we need to pray for continual healing
throughout Len's body.
Please all keep praying and thinking positive thoughts.
With Love and Gratitude,
Christy
Praise:
1) Len's condition is becoming a little bit more stable and he's
breathing better.Yay! Thank the Lord
2) Len is off his blood pressure meds. Thank God. He's too young to be
on those thing! :)
Prayers:
1) That Len will be able to breath freely on his own by the end of
this weekend and that he will be strong enough not to be in this
induced coma.
2) That the Lord will begin the process of helping his body develop an
immune system (i.e. white blood cells and all the other good fighting
cells).
3) That Jesus will remove the pnemmonia, a strep infection, and c.dif
infection in Len's gut/colon system immediately.
4) That the Lord will bring out 1 or 2 exact matches that are willing
marrow downers. God says to ask and you will receive. So I'm dreaming,
asking, and believing. Thank you for joining my family in this asking
process.
5) Prayers that all who are praying along side Len and my family will
be able to see prayers answered and miracles happening in their own
lives. That's what I pray every night for you all and I know Len was
praying for miracles too. So let's pray that we all will have the
eyes, ear, and a sound mind to see the works of the Lord taking place
in our lives and the faith in God trust for the things that are not
seen.
Hebrews 11:1-3 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the
conviction of things not seen. Indeed by faith our ancestors received
approval. By Faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the
word of God, so that what is seen was made from things that are not
visible.
Friday, November 13, 2009
Day 2 : November 12th, 2009 : Sleep
Interrupted night for Len and family. Weird thing is that I felt so refreshed in the morning despite the interruptions. Only a God thing! I hope this continues.
Nar:)
Here's the e-mail I posted yesterday November the 12th. I cannot believe it's only been 16 days since we found out about Len's relapse. Life is crazy! Make sure to take a couple minutes to enjoy the day.
E-mail sent out November 12th
At 3am we were called by Len's doctor, his breathing is still a
problem so they have intubated him (induced coma stick a tube to
pressurize his lung and help him breath). The are monitoring him very
closely, gave him very strong anti-biotics and steriods to preempt the
DAH if he has it. He's in critical condition. Pray that there is no
DAH and that he will regain lung capacity to breath on his own. He
still has a 101 fever, pray that this comes down. Pray that he doesn't
get any infection and that his vital remain stable. (Oxygen, blood
pressure, temperature (comes down), heart rate).
Thanks for helping us pray.
Nar
Nar:)
Here's the e-mail I posted yesterday November the 12th. I cannot believe it's only been 16 days since we found out about Len's relapse. Life is crazy! Make sure to take a couple minutes to enjoy the day.
E-mail sent out November 12th
At 3am we were called by Len's doctor, his breathing is still a
problem so they have intubated him (induced coma stick a tube to
pressurize his lung and help him breath). The are monitoring him very
closely, gave him very strong anti-biotics and steriods to preempt the
DAH if he has it. He's in critical condition. Pray that there is no
DAH and that he will regain lung capacity to breath on his own. He
still has a 101 fever, pray that this comes down. Pray that he doesn't
get any infection and that his vital remain stable. (Oxygen, blood
pressure, temperature (comes down), heart rate).
Thanks for helping us pray.
Nar
Day 1: November 11th, 2009: Things are HOT!
Len did not have a very fun day today. Len was running a fever and needed a blood transfusion but the doctors did not want to do that while he was running a fever. Unfortunately they did not have any choice.
At 5am Len's temperature rose to 105, 106 is when you start to get brain damage, and the ICU was called in. I will spare you the details of that horrific night. Nevertheless, Len receive a blood transfusion. His temperature continued to go up and down so he was sent to the ICU later that evening.
More things continued to be up in the air throughout that night as you can see in the e-mails I sent below.
Here's the first e-mail I sent out:
Dear All,
Here’s an e-mail from my brother Scott who saw Len a few minutes ago.
I don’t mean to bombard your e-mails but if you could pray I would
really appreciate it.
Len is not feeling so great, his temperature has come down a bit and
his counts were too low so they gave him the infusion. He has seen
infectious disease specialist and they think one of the culture is
positive for strep. The are trying to tailor the anti-biotics to
combat that while Len's white cells are gone. This is a dangerous
junction cause Len has no way to fight off the disease and is very
weak. They may transfer him to ICU, for more care.
Pray that his temperature normalizes and that the anti-biotics fights of the strep
infection. They are giving him medicine for blood pressure to keep
that normal as well. He is on a respirator and his body is working
very hard, not only the chemo by the strep as well. Lastly, the 5
floor is schedule for a move, pray that things aren't confused during
the move.
I am praying that God will show compassion on Len. Is is only God that
can help him.
--Scott
P.S. Len had a horrible night last night. The Intensive Care Unite had
to come in and give him an immediate transfusion, despite the risky,
because his temperature was 105. Not good.
Thanks so much for your prayers during this time!
Here's the second e-mail I sent out that day:
Len is now in the ICU, he is having trouble breathing and has a fever.
They know he had an infection on Mon. but now the cultures have been
clear. The main concern now is his breathing. He has blood in the
lung, which may be the result of his coughing and causing blood leaks
(since he had such low blood platelet counts). He was infused with
more blood platelets and hopefully the blood and thus the poor
breathing will clear away. However he's in the ICU because the
alternative explanation of his poor breathing may be what the call DAH
which is more dangerous. This is blood in the lungs that sometimes
occurs during chemo, and the way they treat it is will high steroids
and pressurizing the lung (while len is in a coma). The doctors are
uping his anti-biotics also preemptively giving him steroids, so that
if it is DAH and his breathing deteriorates they have a started
treatment. The steroid do compromise the effectiveness of his
anti-biotics but this is the balance we need to strike. DAH sound
extremely dangerous, and let's pray that the platelets will seal Len's
lungs so he can breath properly. This evening is critical. Let's all
pray that Len's oxygenation improves. --Scott
Praise:
1) That Len's body seems to be taking the new platelets ok. We pray
that it will continue to receive this platelet transfusion smoothly.
Specific Prayer Request:
1) The Lord will immediately remove anything (blood or whatever it is)
that maybe hindering his breathing, heal any tears or wounds in his
lungs, and open up Len's air passages in his lungs.
2) That steroids will not have to be used because the Lord will have
already done the work of removing these blockages from his lungs and
healing his lungs.
3) That Jesus will strengthen Len's lungs and allow it be working on
its own again.
4) Alertness and wisdom for Len's doctors and nurses so that they can
make the correct and most wise decisions throughout the night and next
day about Len's fragile condition.
Thanks everyone for your prayer support and encouraging words. My
family could not be doing this without you!
At 5am Len's temperature rose to 105, 106 is when you start to get brain damage, and the ICU was called in. I will spare you the details of that horrific night. Nevertheless, Len receive a blood transfusion. His temperature continued to go up and down so he was sent to the ICU later that evening.
More things continued to be up in the air throughout that night as you can see in the e-mails I sent below.
Here's the first e-mail I sent out:
Dear All,
Here’s an e-mail from my brother Scott who saw Len a few minutes ago.
I don’t mean to bombard your e-mails but if you could pray I would
really appreciate it.
Len is not feeling so great, his temperature has come down a bit and
his counts were too low so they gave him the infusion. He has seen
infectious disease specialist and they think one of the culture is
positive for strep. The are trying to tailor the anti-biotics to
combat that while Len's white cells are gone. This is a dangerous
junction cause Len has no way to fight off the disease and is very
weak. They may transfer him to ICU, for more care.
Pray that his temperature normalizes and that the anti-biotics fights of the strep
infection. They are giving him medicine for blood pressure to keep
that normal as well. He is on a respirator and his body is working
very hard, not only the chemo by the strep as well. Lastly, the 5
floor is schedule for a move, pray that things aren't confused during
the move.
I am praying that God will show compassion on Len. Is is only God that
can help him.
--Scott
P.S. Len had a horrible night last night. The Intensive Care Unite had
to come in and give him an immediate transfusion, despite the risky,
because his temperature was 105. Not good.
Thanks so much for your prayers during this time!
Here's the second e-mail I sent out that day:
Len is now in the ICU, he is having trouble breathing and has a fever.
They know he had an infection on Mon. but now the cultures have been
clear. The main concern now is his breathing. He has blood in the
lung, which may be the result of his coughing and causing blood leaks
(since he had such low blood platelet counts). He was infused with
more blood platelets and hopefully the blood and thus the poor
breathing will clear away. However he's in the ICU because the
alternative explanation of his poor breathing may be what the call DAH
which is more dangerous. This is blood in the lungs that sometimes
occurs during chemo, and the way they treat it is will high steroids
and pressurizing the lung (while len is in a coma). The doctors are
uping his anti-biotics also preemptively giving him steroids, so that
if it is DAH and his breathing deteriorates they have a started
treatment. The steroid do compromise the effectiveness of his
anti-biotics but this is the balance we need to strike. DAH sound
extremely dangerous, and let's pray that the platelets will seal Len's
lungs so he can breath properly. This evening is critical. Let's all
pray that Len's oxygenation improves. --Scott
Praise:
1) That Len's body seems to be taking the new platelets ok. We pray
that it will continue to receive this platelet transfusion smoothly.
Specific Prayer Request:
1) The Lord will immediately remove anything (blood or whatever it is)
that maybe hindering his breathing, heal any tears or wounds in his
lungs, and open up Len's air passages in his lungs.
2) That steroids will not have to be used because the Lord will have
already done the work of removing these blockages from his lungs and
healing his lungs.
3) That Jesus will strengthen Len's lungs and allow it be working on
its own again.
4) Alertness and wisdom for Len's doctors and nurses so that they can
make the correct and most wise decisions throughout the night and next
day about Len's fragile condition.
Thanks everyone for your prayer support and encouraging words. My
family could not be doing this without you!
Introduction: What's going on?
Here's what I sent out to lots of friends and family a few days before we started the 40 days of prayer. This should give you a good idea if what we are doing and if you would like to join please feel free to sign up for a slot even if we are 35 days into the 40 days. Len does not shy away from this type of attention and would LOVE to have you praying for him. :) Here it goes.
Dear Friends and Family,
As many of you may already know Len, my brother, was diagnosed with
Leukemia in January 2008, was treated and cancer free for a year. Less
than two week Len's Leukemia returned. Len needs a bone marrow
transplant in order to survive.
Currently, Len has finished his first round of chemo and so far things
are going as well as they can. Thank you Lord! Although Len is
physically weak from chemo, his spirits are high and he has no doubt
that the Lord is using this horrible situation to bring about good.
We appreciate all of your prayers and support through this difficult
time. You are all such a blessing to my family.
Unfortunately, Len is still in need of a bone marrow donor. I know
that many of you have been eager to help Len and have recently signed
up to be a bone marrow donor on his behalf. But as I was praying
recently I was reminded that prayer is more than half of this battle.
So for those of you who are willing and able, I have another favor to
ask. I would like to start a campaign of Forty Days of Prayer to pray
and petition the Lord for Len's complete healing. These forty days
would begin on Wednesday, November 11th and last through midnight of
December 20th.
Why 40 days? Forty days is an important length of time in the Bible
where characters such as Jesus, Moses, and Noah went through some
major trials and came out of them changed and transformed. Forty days
also happens to be the time by which Len's doctor would like to start
the processes for Len to have a bone marrow transplant. He cannot do
this until Len has a donor.
As such, I am asking you to join me in a prayer vigil on behalf of
Len. I’ve set up a weekly prayer schedule where you could pick one
hour in the week to spend with God on behalf of Len. You are more than
welcome to pick more than one hour, but I think one hour a week is a
very manageable request. My hope is that for every hour of that 40
days the Lord will be hearing prayers from us for Len’s life. Please
do not feel pressure to participate. Either way you have been such a
blessing to my family and I am so thankful to have you all in my life.
To those who want to participate in this Forty Days of Prayer please
go to this link (
http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AhJzXnFrl5bydHpPaThUVnZRbmQtT2lSQUZDb1lzb3c&hl=en
)and pick a time that you can commit to every week. If the chart is
full, feel free to double book. The more the merrier. I will try to
update you each week about Len and what we can pray for, but below are
some resources you can use during your prayer times.
Thank you everyone! Love ya so much!
Nar
P.S. For those who are interested in becoming a marrow donor you can
go to www.marrow.org to find out more. Feel free to forward this
e-mail to friends who would be interested in helping.
Dear Friends and Family,
As many of you may already know Len, my brother, was diagnosed with
Leukemia in January 2008, was treated and cancer free for a year. Less
than two week Len's Leukemia returned. Len needs a bone marrow
transplant in order to survive.
Currently, Len has finished his first round of chemo and so far things
are going as well as they can. Thank you Lord! Although Len is
physically weak from chemo, his spirits are high and he has no doubt
that the Lord is using this horrible situation to bring about good.
We appreciate all of your prayers and support through this difficult
time. You are all such a blessing to my family.
Unfortunately, Len is still in need of a bone marrow donor. I know
that many of you have been eager to help Len and have recently signed
up to be a bone marrow donor on his behalf. But as I was praying
recently I was reminded that prayer is more than half of this battle.
So for those of you who are willing and able, I have another favor to
ask. I would like to start a campaign of Forty Days of Prayer to pray
and petition the Lord for Len's complete healing. These forty days
would begin on Wednesday, November 11th and last through midnight of
December 20th.
Why 40 days? Forty days is an important length of time in the Bible
where characters such as Jesus, Moses, and Noah went through some
major trials and came out of them changed and transformed. Forty days
also happens to be the time by which Len's doctor would like to start
the processes for Len to have a bone marrow transplant. He cannot do
this until Len has a donor.
As such, I am asking you to join me in a prayer vigil on behalf of
Len. I’ve set up a weekly prayer schedule where you could pick one
hour in the week to spend with God on behalf of Len. You are more than
welcome to pick more than one hour, but I think one hour a week is a
very manageable request. My hope is that for every hour of that 40
days the Lord will be hearing prayers from us for Len’s life. Please
do not feel pressure to participate. Either way you have been such a
blessing to my family and I am so thankful to have you all in my life.
To those who want to participate in this Forty Days of Prayer please
go to this link (
http://spreadsheets.google.
)and pick a time that you can commit to every week. If the chart is
full, feel free to double book. The more the merrier. I will try to
update you each week about Len and what we can pray for, but below are
some resources you can use during your prayer times.
Thank you everyone! Love ya so much!
Nar
P.S. For those who are interested in becoming a marrow donor you can
go to www.marrow.org to find out more. Feel free to forward this
e-mail to friends who would be interested in helping.
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