I've been trying to compile a prayer list of our BOL friends and family who need prayer. Please let me know if I've missed anyone. Thanks!

1-4-05 Jim and Lynne Bedsole - Lynne very ill showing signs of improvement after surgery and is off the ventilator specifically pray that her kidneys will begin to function again kidneys have some function Lynne had a seizure last night, seizures were caused by 1 or more strokes at the back of her brain Lynne had what is called a "watershed stroke." The event apparently occurred two weeks ago when her BP was very low. They know there has been some damage, but at this point it doesn't look like it should present any long-term deficit. Otherwise, she appears to be holding her own. Her heart is fine and kidney functions may be slightly better (but far from normal.)
Lynne's showing progress on all fronts:
- her thinking & communication is clearest since she was admitted to the hospital
- her surgery continues to heal nicely
- her lungs look good & breathing is OK
- her kidneys are starting to function more
Her doctors have halted the dialysis in hopes that her kidneys will take over and they have ordered physical therapy - beginning with sitting up on the side of the bed.

1-19-05 update Today's report is not very good. Jim describes this ordeal as a roller coaster ride of good days and not-so-good days. Although Lynne's doctors see slight improvement in her kidney functions, she's still in ICU and "remains very ill." The doctors are concerned that she's not making the kind of progress they expected at this point. Her white count is up and they don't know why. She'll have more tests and scans to look for evidence of various types of infections.
1-24-05 update - She's making good progress on all fronts:
- kidneys working well & dialysis no longer needed
- surgery healing
- confusion cleared up & neurologist is encouraged that she will recover fully from the stroke.She's eaten real food since Friday night and they hope to remove the feeding tube today. On Monday Jim expects she will move from ICU to the hospital's long term care unit.
1-26-05 update - Jim reports further setbacks this morning. Lynne's temperature has spiked as high as 103.5 and her white count is way up. Heartbeat, respiration, and potassium levels are also way up. Doctors have determined that she has a blood clot in her left leg and possibly elsewhere. She's scheduled for a CT scan & doppler today in order to determine the extent of the clot(s). She has not been conscious since Tuesday evening. 1-28-05 update -Late this morning, Jim's update is generally good--with one major exception. Lynne's doctors are very concerned about the large blood clot in her left leg and will put a filter in the vein that leads back to her heart, lungs, and brain. This surgical procedure has risks (Jim asks for our prayers), but the risk is greater that part of the clot will break loose and block a vital organ. 1-31-05 updateLynne is doing pretty good this weekend. They are talking about moving her out of ICU tomorrow (Monday). It has sure been a roller coaster ride, and I guess it is not over yet. She still has a lot of recovery and rehab work to get through. Please keep her in your prayers.

I can't tell you what it has meant to have all this prayer support and response from all of you. Thank you from the bottom of my heart!

Jim 2-3-05 update - Lynne has now been in a regular room since yesterday morning. She is doing pretty good. Her thought processes and communication are doing great now. She is still in some pain, but that is understandable given the pancreatitis and the surgery. Physical therapy is starting to work with her on getting her sitting up and standing. We've begun the long journey back.

I will never be able to express adequately how much your prayers and support have meant to my family and me. It has been an overwhelming experience to see this community pull together in this way. I love you all and am looking forward to seeing each one of you in person at some point in the future and having the opportunity to personally thank you.

Jim 2-7-05 update - After many days of progress, Lynne has experienced another setback. A CT Scan today showed two abscesses- one on her pancreas and one on her abdomen wall. She has had very bad stomach cramps and nausea most of the day and her fever has been as high as 103.8. They do not think surgery is a good alternative to repair the abscesses at this time, but have moved her back to ICU. 2-8-05 update -Jim's message at 9:15 Tuesday morning indicates that Lynne is a little better this morning. Her white count is down, her fever is down some, so they think the infection may be subsiding.

Jim spoke to the intervention radiologist (who knew there was such a thing) said there is not enough coalescence in the abscesses to intervene right now. They will do another CT scan the end of the week.

They plan to take the NG tube back out today, and if things go as smoothly as planned she will move out of ICU tomorrow.

Jim said he hopes maybe this is just smaller step back instead of a major setback. 2-11-05 update -Just a quick update - Lynne has been doing pretty good yesterday and today and they have now moved her back out of ICU! Here's praying that she doesn't have to go back there again. 2-15-05 update - Lynne is continuing to do OK. They did another CT scan on Sunday and it shows the abcess on her pancreas is still very diffuse, so nothing can be done to drain it at this point. They plan to continue to keep her on antibiotics for a long period of time to help stave off any infection from this and continue to monitor.She is improving in strength and endurance little by little. Today they have moved her finally to the Regency Hospital on the 4th floor inside of St. Francis hospital. This is a Long Term Acute Care (LTAC) facility and they'll be able to work with her more aggressively on physical and cognitive therapy to get her up and moving which will be the next step to getting her home. 2-22-05 update - Things are still pretty stable. Lynne started physical therapy to get her able to get up last week. She made it to the point where she was able to sit up in a chair for over an hour. However on Friday she developed another blood clot - this one in her right leg. The doctors have put her back on bed rest and no therapy until the clot clears some with the blood thinners they are giving her. They are optomistic that she might be able to restart therapy tomorrow, but we'll have to see. Although it seems there is always something else, we do still seem to be making slow progress.

1-4-05 Natalie Bear and Mom(Becca) - awaiting liver transplant Mom is a match for a living donor transplant to Natalie Bear. Awaiting date for surgery. The surgery is now Wednesday Feb. 9.
1-24-05 Miss Natalie is again a very sick little girl.
We are on our way to Children's Memorial right now. I'm signing off after I type this to drive there. Her tummy is huge (fluid collecting around the organs due to end stage liver disease) and they are going to try to tap it tomorrow. 1-27-05 Well, the "tapping" showed that the ascites fluid is not infected. So the plan is to treat this like it is cholangitis (that will make it #3 for her). She is getting a PICC line right now. Then they want to send us home on IV anti-biotics until the transplant.After 2 full days, already her fevers are gone. Her belly is a bit smaller, but I think that they will send us home on a diuretic.Her mood has improved (even though she's been NPO (orders to have no food or drink) for 18 hours)! She continues to be my little German-Irish spit-fire. She has gotten blood drawn 4 or 5 times now since we've been in-patient, and I've said it 100 times, I have no idea where she gets her temper from! 1-31-05 update Well, today is my last day at work until after the surgery. We are home from our latest hospital stay. The bear is strong and feeling good. She's on IV meds, a diuretic, and blood pressure medication. The doctors would like us to keep the bear home from daycare. Thanks again, for all your prayers and encouraging words! Our priest came over yesterday and blessed us both. That has helped to bring me some comfort...it's out of my hands now and into God's. from their website - Here's the transplant schedule:
Feb. 8:
11am - Becca - post-op exam (Northwestern)
2pm - Admit Natalie (Children's)

Feb. 9:
6am - Becca report to Northwestern
7am - Becca wheeled in to surgery
approx. 11am - Natalie's surgery to start at Children's
2-8-05 - Natalie will be admitted today at Children's Memorial. Tomorrow's schedule looks like this:

6am - Mom reports to Northwestern
7am - Mom wheeled in to surgery
approx. 11am - Natalie's surgery to start at Children's
Mom's surgery is expected to be around 6 hours and Natalie's will be 12+. Following surgeries mom will be discharged probably by Friday from Northwestern. Natalie will (most likely) be in-patient for a month.
2-9-05 today is the BIG Day. 2-11-05 - Both surgeries went quite well. Becca is recovering fine at Northwestern. She is on a pump for pain management and is quite, understandably, sore, but in great spirits. There was talk about releasing her tonight, but she's hoping its tomorrow so she gets a bit more time for rest and recovery.

The surgeons were not able to close up Natalie's incision completely so tomorrow she will be taken back to surgery for that. It is not uncommon for kids who've just received liver transplants to need to be left "open" a bit to give time for the body to adjust to the size of the new liver and to let the swelling go down. They are keeping Natalie in a "paralyzed" state so that she doesn't move until she's completely closed up. She is on a respirator, but doing quite a bit of the breathing on her own. 2-12-05 update Natalie went back to surgery this morning due to her hepatic artery being blocked. Her liver numbers began rising, causing the need to operate to find the source of the problem. The doctors feel that the artery became blocked due to pressure from her being closed up yesterday. There is now flow through the hepatic artery, but the surgeon had to leave her "open" meaning not even her skin is stitched together. Her incision is covered with gauze. She will be left this way for 2-3 days. Natalie has been relisted for a transplant, but not as Status 1 (the highest lising status possible). There is no plan right now to re-transplant her, but because of the blockage, there has been some damage to the liver. How much, they don't know yet. 2-13-05 update - Natalie had an ultrasound today that showed positive results, there is blood flow (good flow actually) in the hepatic artery. She is still heavily sedated, since she is still "open." Please keep praying. 2-15-05 update - Natalie was taken back into surgery around 5pm because heart rate rose and her blood pressure dropped. She also began bleeding out her JP drain. Her abdomen was getting so distended that her kidneys were having a hard time keeping up. During the surgery, they removed many blood clots and her kidneys were able to begin producing urine. The hepatic artery is still good with blood flow. They say this is a normal set back, but aren't sure what caused the bleed - possibly from the heparin used to thin her blood after the last surgery. She was out of surgery around 7pm. 2-20-05 update - Natalie is doing great! The surgeon didn't feel comfortable closing her completely on Friday, but did stretch her a bit to get her incision not so open. Her body is very happy with this and her liver numbers are staying great. Some were even normal - yippee!!! They are starting to turn down the respirator a bit so she is doing even more breathing on her own. Becca said that her and Natalie even played with a balloon a bit, and that Natalie was trying to clap, but can't because they have her arms restrained so she won't pull her breathing tube out. They're going to start giving Natalie some formula through her NG tube (through her nose) rather than through her IV. This is progress. Hopefully, if all continues well, on Tuesday they will take her back to surgery to try to close her completely. Keep the prayers coming! They've brought her this far. Let's get this kid up and going!

Becca is doing fine. 2-22-05 update - Natalie's surgery to close her up scheduled for today was bumped to tomorrow.

Currently she is at IR (interventional radiology) to get a new PICC line put in. Her direct line (at her neck) started coming out and the site appears to be infected. Ick! This shouldn't be a huge problem though, since she's on enough antibiotics to cure a HORSE. She is doing GREAT!!! Her liver numbers look AWESOME!!! 2-23-05 update -Natalie had another good night last night. She got a new PICC line in her femoral artery yesterday. They then removed the PICC line in her arm and the Artery line in her hand. So she’s left with a subclavian line (in her chest) and a femoral line.

The surgeons were busy yesterday, they finished up with the second transplant around 2am today. It looks like Natalie's surgery to close her will be around 1pm today.
2-24-05 update - Natalie was closed up yesterday...phew. We are now watching her liver function tests and ultrasounds closely to make sure that there are no complications like last time. She is still VERY sleepy from yesterday's procedure. We're waiting on her to wake up a bit more before we can start to wean her off the vent. Natalie's liver numbers continue to improve, slowly. She is still on the vent.

Every morning she has an X-Ray to look at her lungs. Today's X-ray looked "wet." The theory is that after closing her up, more pressure is being put on her lungs and she's not able to take deep breaths (this is not uncommon). So they are giving her a little lasix (diuretic) to help get rid of the excess fluid.

Also, this morning they stopped her feeds. She hadn't had a poopy diaper in 2 days. And her tummy was getting bigger as things "backed up." An hour after they took her food away she gave her nurse a poopy diaper - that'll show them.

At this point we're not going forward, but we're not moving back either. It's frustrating.


1-4-05 Go 4 It - diagnosed with lymphoma begins treatment today 1-18-05 She had her first chemo on Monday. She was a bit achy and sore and was heading in again Wednesday for support treatment. She's working when she feels she can and checks her emails and BOL then. Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers. 1-26-05 update - I am in treatment. On Wednesday I will get results to another biopsy that I had on Monday....At times under the weather....but my faith is strong, my husband is wonderful and I have good friends.....
1-31-05 update - So that you can update the prayer list.....

My biopsy was negative.. Treatment is ongoing. The first week was quite rough but after that it appears that I as good as before I was diagnosed. The second treatment is on the 7th and hopefully, it will follow the same pattern....I think I can "hang" pretty good with that.....
1-4-05 Skunk Boy's father - accident Was recovering nicely from surgery, but now he started seeing flashes of light in his eye, and the doctor said that the retina was trying to detach.

1-4-05 David Dickenson - thyroid illness I'm currently on 2 medications to keep my system in balance. They are working wonderfully. On Feb 2nd I take another radio-active pill to try and kill my thyroid again. It will then be 6-8 weeks before I know if it was successful. I would like to remain on your prayer list. Thank you for keeping me in your prayers.


1-5-05 Little Sister's niece - cancer returned
1-5-05 Fraud pup's friend's son, Zakery - almost drowned, still recovering
1-5-05 Skittles' Mom - triple bypass and valve replacement surgery recovering at home now Thanks so much for remembering my mother on the list. It's been just over a month since her surgery. She's recovering, but very slowly. She's still not eating and has lost 10 pounds, so her strength is coming back very slowly. She'll be 80 in 3 weeks, but is still a tough old bird. The visiting nurse thinks her slowness is possibly due to the fact that they had to go back in the next day due to her internal bleeding.
1-5-05 obx nut's Mom - stroke, unable to walk, in nursing home
1-5-05 Deena's Mom and Family - Mom battling lung cancer, family grieving over loss of Dad last October 2-14-05 update - I'd like to ask for your continued prayers for my mother and for our family. She is in the final stages of her illness now and probably doesn't have much time left - maybe a month or two. I met with a nurse from the hospice program last Friday and I believe they will be a great support for us. Please pray that my mother will continue to be comfortable and that, when her time comes, she will pass peacefully and painlessly into a wonderful place where she will no longer be sick. Thank you so much. Your prayers mean more than I can say.

1-6-05 Boomermom's co-worker - diagnosed with cancer/fell and broke her hip - had partial hip replacement 2-3-05 update - Is losing lots of weight. (7 pounds in last 2 weeks and had lost lots since becoming ill.) Doctors do not know why food is not digesting. Goes back to doctor for tests next week. 2-23-05 update - My co-worker came back to work part-time yesterday after her hip surgery. She cannot drive for six months so employees are picking her up and taking her home. She has to use a cane and others are helping her out so she doesn't have to walk any more than necessary. She is still not able to eat and has lost so much weight. Hopefully they will figure something out soon there.
1-7-05 Bear Collector's Dad - Hospitalized with Heart Attack
1-11-05 Princess ene - facing surgury that will result in her inability to bear a child Just wanted to give you an update, my dr finally called this morning and said my University consultation was approved. She is calling me back on Monday to notify me of which University. It will either be Standford or Davis. They said with cancer patients they usually can get in 2-3 weeks, all other appts usually take a month or longer. Because of the pain I'm experiencing and other symptoms she said she'd tried to get me in with the next couple of weeks. So please pray for my strength to accept whatever decision they make. Thanks!
2-11-05 update - You are in my prayers GB - on my side of things, they approved Davis. The waiting game continues though, now I have to wait for a nurse at Davis to contact my Dr to finalize an appt date. In the meantime I've been traveling back and forth to Fl/CA on business so it's been wearing on me. Thank you for your continued prayers 2-21-05 update - Just wanted to give an update - I finally received an appt, March 18 @ UCDavis. I'm both anxious and excited to be moving forward. Thank you for your continued prayers.

1-12-05 someone else's co-worker - injured in Thailand - lost family members in Tsunami
1-12-05 Melissa Ann's Husband - possible skin cancer

1-13-05 Corkygirl's father in law - in hospital with lung cancer and other illnesses. They moved my father-in-law to a nursing home yesterday. I don't think he will ever get back to his own apartment, I just hope my mother-in-law and sister-in-law don't try to keep him alive at all costs. We are too far away to have much say in it and that is hard on my husband. Thanks for your prayers
2-3-05 update - An update on my father-in-law, he will be released in the next few days to go back to his apartment. Not sure that's the best choice but he is better, able to go up a couple flights of stairs and will get home health care. There is nothing that can be done for any of the lung diseases or heart disease so no one knows how long he has but he is better and we are glad for that. Thanks for the prayers. 2-23-05 update - An update on my father-in-law, he was re-admitted to the hospital this week for pneumonia. The dr's are not giving him any treatment for the lung cancer, which tells us bunches, and this is a major setback for him. My mother-in-law is in denial to the seriousness of this situation and we are too far away to do much. We will need to make a trip to Pittsburgh sooner rather than later I think.

1-14-05 LadyLuck's Friend and her husband - he has been diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia and has cancerous cells in his lymph nodes. Undergoing chemotheraphy. 2-17-05 update - UPDATE: He had surgery last week to remove his kidney and a lot of the cancer inside. He is is still in the hospital. Hopefully this will help him on the road to recovery. Please continue to keep him in prayer. Thank you
1-21-05 Pizzaz's niece Channing - I'd like to add my niece to the prayer list. She's 2 and is being tested for autism. We're hoping she's just a slow developer with her social interaction and lack of speech. They're also going to test her hearing. So, please pray for little Channing. Thanks. 2-8-05 update - Update-my niece went for her hearing test and it's fine, she passed. So, now we undergo more therapy, early intervention to find out if she's just behind compared to others her age or whether she may have autism.Thanks for your continued prayers.
1-25-05 Skunk Boy's Sister - I think I need to also ask for prayers for my sister (the one I live with). She has had a very rough couple of months.
1-31-05 - Little Sister's Friend -A good friend of our family developed a virus and it settled around his heart. The sack around his heart has been filling up with fluid. They transported him to Rochester this weekend and yesterday they drew off 2 liters of fluid in the morning and more in the afternoon. This gave him instant relief but today we just found out that there was blood in the second fluid draw and have discovered that he has a hole in his aorta. He's being prepped right now for an 8 hour surgery and is considered very high risk. Please keep him in your prayers!!! Thanks! 2-2-05 update - Update on our friend...his surgery was successful. They also discovered an anurism on his aorta that they were able to repair. He'll be in the hospital for 7 to 10 days and then will be off work for 4 months. Thanks for your prayers and please keep remembering him as he has a long road of recovery.
2-4-06 MAJ's co-worker's brother is missing.
2-9-05 JLJ's sister and nephew - My sister called this morning and my 2 1/2 year old nephew was hospitalized last night for viral pneumonia. She has an 8 month old at home. They're hoping he'll be released today. She's not holding up as well as she normally would, she had a hysterectomy 3 weeks ago. If he's not released this afternoon, I'm off on a three hour drive to try and help out as best I can.
2-11-05 Desparate Wife - husband with drinking problem
2-11-05 Corkygirl's son - My oldest son is bipolar with paranoia and a recovering alcoholic and we have had a very, very scary week. His wife is out of town for 10 days and he fell apart Sunday night, missing 2 1/2 days of work and really struggling to get out of it. He did make many positive moves this week to take charge of his condition, he did not drink this time (YEA!!!), called his previous Dr and went back to that Dr. who made a change in his medicine. Those two things all by themselves are an improvement for him and we are grateful for that. I have asked for prayers from many of my friends and co-workers who know the situation and I know that those prayers were spoken and helped. He is back to work, on his way back out of this episode but I also know that this is not the end of these episodes for him. Since I know the power of prayer, I am asking for more please. It's baby steps but at-least it's steps forward instead of backwards and I don't want to lose him.
2-17-05 MT-n-Full's Friend - I just now received a call about one of my best friends from my former bank in DC. She was in a head on collision, suffered a stroke,has blot clots in her brain, and a lot more. She is one of the finest bank managers I have known. She is paralyzed also. Please place her on the prayer list asap. Thank you. (I am so upset. )
2-21-05 Princess Ene's Father - Please add my father to the list. My mom just sent an email that my father had a TIA (mini stroke) last night. She said his arm and face went numb for about 15 minutes. It was pretty scary for them. They are running an MRI and Ultrasound today. My father has probably been ill a total of 2 times in his life time so we are puzzled. I'm going on the internet right now to read up on them. I'll update as I learn more.
2-23-05 Dawnie's Friend - If we could add Sondra to the list I'd appreciate it. She's flying down to Portland for a bone marrow test to see what her lukemia numbers are looking like after the stem cell harvest of a few months ago. This is her 11th bone marrow draw, and every one of them is quite painful and carry risk. The biggest risk though is that they find bad news instead of good so if ya'll could keep her in your prayers for a couple of days I'd appreciate it!

2-23-05 Jim Bedsole's Brother-in-law - It just keeps piling on. Lynne's sister Debbie has been very close to us, especially during Lynne's recent illness. She has been down here from NC numerous times to cheer Lynne up. Well last Friday we just found out that Debbie's husband has leukemia. He is currently in Duke Medical Center undergoing heavy chemotherapy and some other type of therapy. They are also doing some tests that take up to 10 days to develop. After those tests they'll have a clearer picture of his status and prognosis.

Communal Requests:
All those grieving over the loss of a loved one.
All of those suffering from a chronic illness.
All of our military troops wherever they are serving our country.
All those affected by the 12-26-04 tsunami disaster.
All those who live with violence and poverty, without hope.

Let us know when our prayers are answered so we can remove them from our list. Prayer requests will be removed each Monday as warranted. If you post to this thread, I will update the list periodically.

An update on my father-in-law, he was re-admitted to the hospital this week for pneumonia. The dr's are not giving him any treatment for the lung cancer, which tells us bunches, and this is a major setback for him. My mother-in-law is in denial to the seriousness of this situation and we are too far away to do much. We will need to make a trip to Pittsburgh sooner rather than later I think.

My co-worker came back to work part-time yesterday after her hip surgery. She cannot drive for six months so employees are picking her up and taking her home. She has to use a cane and others are helping her out so she doesn't have to walk any more than necessary. She is still not able to eat and has lost so much weight. Hopefully they will figure something out soon there.

elena, you have such a gift of comforting words. Jim, please know your family is still in my thoughts and prayers.

My prayers are getting longer every day

Jim, please, when you know more about your brother in law, email me at my office and I'll send you Sondra's medical contact information. She is treated by the foremost expert on Lukemia in the nation if not the world. Her doctor invented the current treatment with Glevac (spelled wrong I'm sure). If he needs treatment and qualifies for Glevac, he's a more likely candidate if they don't screw around with a bunch of other drugs first. Gelvac 4 patients are showing amazing recovery rates depending on the type of Lukemia that they have. Even Sondra, with one of the worst types, is showing improvement when at this point she should be close to the end. She works full time, and aside from what she calls "a little lukemia" she's in great shape. I'd love to share that information with your loved ones!

I've been trying to compile a prayer list of our BOL friends and family who need prayer. Please let me know if I've missed anyone. Thanks!

1-4-05 Jim and Lynne Bedsole - Lynne very ill showing signs of improvement after surgery and is off the ventilator specifically pray that her kidneys will begin to function again kidneys have some function Lynne had a seizure last night, seizures were caused by 1 or more strokes at the back of her brain Lynne had what is called a "watershed stroke." The event apparently occurred two weeks ago when her BP was very low. They know there has been some damage, but at this point it doesn't look like it should present any long-term deficit. Otherwise, she appears to be holding her own. Her heart is fine and kidney functions may be slightly better (but far from normal.)
Lynne's showing progress on all fronts:
- her thinking & communication is clearest since she was admitted to the hospital
- her surgery continues to heal nicely
- her lungs look good & breathing is OK
- her kidneys are starting to function more
Her doctors have halted the dialysis in hopes that her kidneys will take over and they have ordered physical therapy - beginning with sitting up on the side of the bed.

1-19-05 update Today's report is not very good. Jim describes this ordeal as a roller coaster ride of good days and not-so-good days. Although Lynne's doctors see slight improvement in her kidney functions, she's still in ICU and "remains very ill." The doctors are concerned that she's not making the kind of progress they expected at this point. Her white count is up and they don't know why. She'll have more tests and scans to look for evidence of various types of infections.
1-24-05 update - She's making good progress on all fronts:
- kidneys working well & dialysis no longer needed
- surgery healing
- confusion cleared up & neurologist is encouraged that she will recover fully from the stroke.She's eaten real food since Friday night and they hope to remove the feeding tube today. On Monday Jim expects she will move from ICU to the hospital's long term care unit.
1-26-05 update - Jim reports further setbacks this morning. Lynne's temperature has spiked as high as 103.5 and her white count is way up. Heartbeat, respiration, and potassium levels are also way up. Doctors have determined that she has a blood clot in her left leg and possibly elsewhere. She's scheduled for a CT scan & doppler today in order to determine the extent of the clot(s). She has not been conscious since Tuesday evening. 1-28-05 update -Late this morning, Jim's update is generally good--with one major exception. Lynne's doctors are very concerned about the large blood clot in her left leg and will put a filter in the vein that leads back to her heart, lungs, and brain. This surgical procedure has risks (Jim asks for our prayers), but the risk is greater that part of the clot will break loose and block a vital organ. 1-31-05 updateLynne is doing pretty good this weekend. They are talking about moving her out of ICU tomorrow (Monday). It has sure been a roller coaster ride, and I guess it is not over yet. She still has a lot of recovery and rehab work to get through. Please keep her in your prayers.

I can't tell you what it has meant to have all this prayer support and response from all of you. Thank you from the bottom of my heart!

Jim 2-3-05 update - Lynne has now been in a regular room since yesterday morning. She is doing pretty good. Her thought processes and communication are doing great now. She is still in some pain, but that is understandable given the pancreatitis and the surgery. Physical therapy is starting to work with her on getting her sitting up and standing. We've begun the long journey back.

I will never be able to express adequately how much your prayers and support have meant to my family and me. It has been an overwhelming experience to see this community pull together in this way. I love you all and am looking forward to seeing each one of you in person at some point in the future and having the opportunity to personally thank you.

Jim 2-7-05 update - After many days of progress, Lynne has experienced another setback. A CT Scan today showed two abscesses- one on her pancreas and one on her abdomen wall. She has had very bad stomach cramps and nausea most of the day and her fever has been as high as 103.8. They do not think surgery is a good alternative to repair the abscesses at this time, but have moved her back to ICU. 2-8-05 update -Jim's message at 9:15 Tuesday morning indicates that Lynne is a little better this morning. Her white count is down, her fever is down some, so they think the infection may be subsiding.

Jim spoke to the intervention radiologist (who knew there was such a thing) said there is not enough coalescence in the abscesses to intervene right now. They will do another CT scan the end of the week.

They plan to take the NG tube back out today, and if things go as smoothly as planned she will move out of ICU tomorrow.

Jim said he hopes maybe this is just smaller step back instead of a major setback. 2-11-05 update -Just a quick update - Lynne has been doing pretty good yesterday and today and they have now moved her back out of ICU! Here's praying that she doesn't have to go back there again. 2-15-05 update - Lynne is continuing to do OK. They did another CT scan on Sunday and it shows the abcess on her pancreas is still very diffuse, so nothing can be done to drain it at this point. They plan to continue to keep her on antibiotics for a long period of time to help stave off any infection from this and continue to monitor.She is improving in strength and endurance little by little. Today they have moved her finally to the Regency Hospital on the 4th floor inside of St. Francis hospital. This is a Long Term Acute Care (LTAC) facility and they'll be able to work with her more aggressively on physical and cognitive therapy to get her up and moving which will be the next step to getting her home. 2-22-05 update - Things are still pretty stable. Lynne started physical therapy to get her able to get up last week. She made it to the point where she was able to sit up in a chair for over an hour. However on Friday she developed another blood clot - this one in her right leg. The doctors have put her back on bed rest and no therapy until the clot clears some with the blood thinners they are giving her. They are optomistic that she might be able to restart therapy tomorrow, but we'll have to see. Although it seems there is always something else, we do still seem to be making slow progress.

1-4-05 Natalie Bear and Mom(Becca) - awaiting liver transplant Mom is a match for a living donor transplant to Natalie Bear. Awaiting date for surgery. The surgery is now Wednesday Feb. 9.
1-24-05 Miss Natalie is again a very sick little girl.
We are on our way to Children's Memorial right now. I'm signing off after I type this to drive there. Her tummy is huge (fluid collecting around the organs due to end stage liver disease) and they are going to try to tap it tomorrow. 1-27-05 Well, the "tapping" showed that the ascites fluid is not infected. So the plan is to treat this like it is cholangitis (that will make it #3 for her). She is getting a PICC line right now. Then they want to send us home on IV anti-biotics until the transplant.After 2 full days, already her fevers are gone. Her belly is a bit smaller, but I think that they will send us home on a diuretic.Her mood has improved (even though she's been NPO (orders to have no food or drink) for 18 hours)! She continues to be my little German-Irish spit-fire. She has gotten blood drawn 4 or 5 times now since we've been in-patient, and I've said it 100 times, I have no idea where she gets her temper from! 1-31-05 update Well, today is my last day at work until after the surgery. We are home from our latest hospital stay. The bear is strong and feeling good. She's on IV meds, a diuretic, and blood pressure medication. The doctors would like us to keep the bear home from daycare. Thanks again, for all your prayers and encouraging words! Our priest came over yesterday and blessed us both. That has helped to bring me some comfort...it's out of my hands now and into God's. from their website - Here's the transplant schedule:
Feb. 8:
11am - Becca - post-op exam (Northwestern)
2pm - Admit Natalie (Children's)

Feb. 9:
6am - Becca report to Northwestern
7am - Becca wheeled in to surgery
approx. 11am - Natalie's surgery to start at Children's
2-8-05 - Natalie will be admitted today at Children's Memorial. Tomorrow's schedule looks like this:

6am - Mom reports to Northwestern
7am - Mom wheeled in to surgery
approx. 11am - Natalie's surgery to start at Children's
Mom's surgery is expected to be around 6 hours and Natalie's will be 12+. Following surgeries mom will be discharged probably by Friday from Northwestern. Natalie will (most likely) be in-patient for a month.
2-9-05 today is the BIG Day. 2-11-05 - Both surgeries went quite well. Becca is recovering fine at Northwestern. She is on a pump for pain management and is quite, understandably, sore, but in great spirits. There was talk about releasing her tonight, but she's hoping its tomorrow so she gets a bit more time for rest and recovery.

The surgeons were not able to close up Natalie's incision completely so tomorrow she will be taken back to surgery for that. It is not uncommon for kids who've just received liver transplants to need to be left "open" a bit to give time for the body to adjust to the size of the new liver and to let the swelling go down. They are keeping Natalie in a "paralyzed" state so that she doesn't move until she's completely closed up. She is on a respirator, but doing quite a bit of the breathing on her own. 2-12-05 update Natalie went back to surgery this morning due to her hepatic artery being blocked. Her liver numbers began rising, causing the need to operate to find the source of the problem. The doctors feel that the artery became blocked due to pressure from her being closed up yesterday. There is now flow through the hepatic artery, but the surgeon had to leave her "open" meaning not even her skin is stitched together. Her incision is covered with gauze. She will be left this way for 2-3 days. Natalie has been relisted for a transplant, but not as Status 1 (the highest lising status possible). There is no plan right now to re-transplant her, but because of the blockage, there has been some damage to the liver. How much, they don't know yet. 2-13-05 update - Natalie had an ultrasound today that showed positive results, there is blood flow (good flow actually) in the hepatic artery. She is still heavily sedated, since she is still "open." Please keep praying. 2-15-05 update - Natalie was taken back into surgery around 5pm because heart rate rose and her blood pressure dropped. She also began bleeding out her JP drain. Her abdomen was getting so distended that her kidneys were having a hard time keeping up. During the surgery, they removed many blood clots and her kidneys were able to begin producing urine. The hepatic artery is still good with blood flow. They say this is a normal set back, but aren't sure what caused the bleed - possibly from the heparin used to thin her blood after the last surgery. She was out of surgery around 7pm. 2-20-05 update - Natalie is doing great! The surgeon didn't feel comfortable closing her completely on Friday, but did stretch her a bit to get her incision not so open. Her body is very happy with this and her liver numbers are staying great. Some were even normal - yippee!!! They are starting to turn down the respirator a bit so she is doing even more breathing on her own. Becca said that her and Natalie even played with a balloon a bit, and that Natalie was trying to clap, but can't because they have her arms restrained so she won't pull her breathing tube out. They're going to start giving Natalie some formula through her NG tube (through her nose) rather than through her IV. This is progress. Hopefully, if all continues well, on Tuesday they will take her back to surgery to try to close her completely. Keep the prayers coming! They've brought her this far. Let's get this kid up and going!

Becca is doing fine. 2-22-05 update - Natalie's surgery to close her up scheduled for today was bumped to tomorrow.

Currently she is at IR (interventional radiology) to get a new PICC line put in. Her direct line (at her neck) started coming out and the site appears to be infected. Ick! This shouldn't be a huge problem though, since she's on enough antibiotics to cure a HORSE. She is doing GREAT!!! Her liver numbers look AWESOME!!! 2-23-05 update -Natalie had another good night last night. She got a new PICC line in her femoral artery yesterday. They then removed the PICC line in her arm and the Artery line in her hand. So she’s left with a subclavian line (in her chest) and a femoral line.

The surgeons were busy yesterday, they finished up with the second transplant around 2am today. It looks like Natalie's surgery to close her will be around 1pm today.
2-24-05 update - Natalie was closed up yesterday...phew. We are now watching her liver function tests and ultrasounds closely to make sure that there are no complications like last time. She is still VERY sleepy from yesterday's procedure. We're waiting on her to wake up a bit more before we can start to wean her off the vent. 2-25-05 update - Natalie's liver numbers continue to improve, slowly. She is still on the vent.

Every morning she has an X-Ray to look at her lungs. Today's X-ray looked "wet." The theory is that after closing her up, more pressure is being put on her lungs and she's not able to take deep breaths (this is not uncommon). So they are giving her a little lasix (diuretic) to help get rid of the excess fluid.

Also, this morning they stopped her feeds. She hadn't had a poopy diaper in 2 days. And her tummy was getting bigger as things "backed up." An hour after they took her food away she gave her nurse a poopy diaper - that'll show them.

At this point we're not going forward, but we're not moving back either. It's frustrating. 2-27-05 update - Oh what a wonderful day!!!

Dr. Superina (her surgeon that I swear walks on water) came by today on the morning rounds. They have decided to agressively wean Miss Natalie OFF of the vent. They have slowly begun the process today and plan on pulling it out tomorrow. (We hope she agrees with this.) Yesterday they started feeding her again, but just with pedialight. Dr. Superina said that he thinks she can handle regular food. So they have started giving her Isomil though her NG tube. But again, very slowly, only 5 ml an hour, then moving up 5 ml every 3 hours if she tolerates it well.

She SAT UP TODAY!!! Daddy and I helped her. We placed blankets next to her - to help prop her up - she's so weak. But she had a wonderful time playing with her see-n-say and sitting there for a little while!!!

Thanks all for your words of encouragement. We're praying for more good days to come!

1-4-05 Go 4 It - diagnosed with lymphoma begins treatment today 1-18-05 She had her first chemo on Monday. She was a bit achy and sore and was heading in again Wednesday for support treatment. She's working when she feels she can and checks her emails and BOL then. Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers. 1-26-05 update - I am in treatment. On Wednesday I will get results to another biopsy that I had on Monday....At times under the weather....but my faith is strong, my husband is wonderful and I have good friends.....
1-31-05 update - So that you can update the prayer list.....

My biopsy was negative.. Treatment is ongoing. The first week was quite rough but after that it appears that I as good as before I was diagnosed. The second treatment is on the 7th and hopefully, it will follow the same pattern....I think I can "hang" pretty good with that.....
1-4-05 Skunk Boy's father - accident Was recovering nicely from surgery, but now he started seeing flashes of light in his eye, and the doctor said that the retina was trying to detach.

1-4-05 David Dickenson - thyroid illness I'm currently on 2 medications to keep my system in balance. They are working wonderfully. On Feb 2nd I take another radio-active pill to try and kill my thyroid again. It will then be 6-8 weeks before I know if it was successful. I would like to remain on your prayer list. Thank you for keeping me in your prayers.


1-5-05 Little Sister's niece - cancer returned
1-5-05 Fraud pup's friend's son, Zakery - almost drowned, still recovering
1-5-05 Skittles' Mom - triple bypass and valve replacement surgery recovering at home now Thanks so much for remembering my mother on the list. It's been just over a month since her surgery. She's recovering, but very slowly. She's still not eating and has lost 10 pounds, so her strength is coming back very slowly. She'll be 80 in 3 weeks, but is still a tough old bird. The visiting nurse thinks her slowness is possibly due to the fact that they had to go back in the next day due to her internal bleeding.
1-5-05 obx nut's Mom - stroke, unable to walk, in nursing home
1-5-05 Deena's Mom and Family - Mom battling lung cancer, family grieving over loss of Dad last October 2-14-05 update - I'd like to ask for your continued prayers for my mother and for our family. She is in the final stages of her illness now and probably doesn't have much time left - maybe a month or two. I met with a nurse from the hospice program last Friday and I believe they will be a great support for us. Please pray that my mother will continue to be comfortable and that, when her time comes, she will pass peacefully and painlessly into a wonderful place where she will no longer be sick. Thank you so much. Your prayers mean more than I can say.

1-6-05 Boomermom's co-worker - diagnosed with cancer/fell and broke her hip - had partial hip replacement 2-3-05 update - Is losing lots of weight. (7 pounds in last 2 weeks and had lost lots since becoming ill.) Doctors do not know why food is not digesting. Goes back to doctor for tests next week. 2-23-05 update - My co-worker came back to work part-time yesterday after her hip surgery. She cannot drive for six months so employees are picking her up and taking her home. She has to use a cane and others are helping her out so she doesn't have to walk any more than necessary. She is still not able to eat and has lost so much weight. Hopefully they will figure something out soon there.
1-7-05 Bear Collector's Dad - Hospitalized with Heart Attack
1-11-05 Princess ene - facing surgury that will result in her inability to bear a child Just wanted to give you an update, my dr finally called this morning and said my University consultation was approved. She is calling me back on Monday to notify me of which University. It will either be Standford or Davis. They said with cancer patients they usually can get in 2-3 weeks, all other appts usually take a month or longer. Because of the pain I'm experiencing and other symptoms she said she'd tried to get me in with the next couple of weeks. So please pray for my strength to accept whatever decision they make. Thanks!
2-11-05 update - You are in my prayers GB - on my side of things, they approved Davis. The waiting game continues though, now I have to wait for a nurse at Davis to contact my Dr to finalize an appt date. In the meantime I've been traveling back and forth to Fl/CA on business so it's been wearing on me. Thank you for your continued prayers 2-21-05 update - Just wanted to give an update - I finally received an appt, March 18 @ UCDavis. I'm both anxious and excited to be moving forward. Thank you for your continued prayers.

1-12-05 someone else's co-worker - injured in Thailand - lost family members in Tsunami
1-12-05 Melissa Ann's Husband - possible skin cancer

1-13-05 Corkygirl's father in law - in hospital with lung cancer and other illnesses. They moved my father-in-law to a nursing home yesterday. I don't think he will ever get back to his own apartment, I just hope my mother-in-law and sister-in-law don't try to keep him alive at all costs. We are too far away to have much say in it and that is hard on my husband. Thanks for your prayers
2-3-05 update - An update on my father-in-law, he will be released in the next few days to go back to his apartment. Not sure that's the best choice but he is better, able to go up a couple flights of stairs and will get home health care. There is nothing that can be done for any of the lung diseases or heart disease so no one knows how long he has but he is better and we are glad for that. Thanks for the prayers. 2-23-05 update - An update on my father-in-law, he was re-admitted to the hospital this week for pneumonia. The dr's are not giving him any treatment for the lung cancer, which tells us bunches, and this is a major setback for him. My mother-in-law is in denial to the seriousness of this situation and we are too far away to do much. We will need to make a trip to Pittsburgh sooner rather than later I think.

1-14-05 LadyLuck's Friend and her husband - he has been diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia and has cancerous cells in his lymph nodes. Undergoing chemotheraphy. 2-17-05 update - UPDATE: He had surgery last week to remove his kidney and a lot of the cancer inside. He is is still in the hospital. Hopefully this will help him on the road to recovery. Please continue to keep him in prayer. Thank you
1-21-05 Pizzaz's niece Channing - I'd like to add my niece to the prayer list. She's 2 and is being tested for autism. We're hoping she's just a slow developer with her social interaction and lack of speech. They're also going to test her hearing. So, please pray for little Channing. Thanks. 2-8-05 update - Update-my niece went for her hearing test and it's fine, she passed. So, now we undergo more therapy, early intervention to find out if she's just behind compared to others her age or whether she may have autism.Thanks for your continued prayers.
1-25-05 Skunk Boy's Sister - I think I need to also ask for prayers for my sister (the one I live with). She has had a very rough couple of months.
1-31-05 - Little Sister's Friend -A good friend of our family developed a virus and it settled around his heart. The sack around his heart has been filling up with fluid. They transported him to Rochester this weekend and yesterday they drew off 2 liters of fluid in the morning and more in the afternoon. This gave him instant relief but today we just found out that there was blood in the second fluid draw and have discovered that he has a hole in his aorta. He's being prepped right now for an 8 hour surgery and is considered very high risk. Please keep him in your prayers!!! Thanks! 2-2-05 update - Update on our friend...his surgery was successful. They also discovered an anurism on his aorta that they were able to repair. He'll be in the hospital for 7 to 10 days and then will be off work for 4 months. Thanks for your prayers and please keep remembering him as he has a long road of recovery.

2-9-05 JLJ's sister and nephew - My sister called this morning and my 2 1/2 year old nephew was hospitalized last night for viral pneumonia. She has an 8 month old at home. They're hoping he'll be released today. She's not holding up as well as she normally would, she had a hysterectomy 3 weeks ago. If he's not released this afternoon, I'm off on a three hour drive to try and help out as best I can.
2-11-05 Desparate Wife - husband with drinking problem
2-11-05 Corkygirl's son - My oldest son is bipolar with paranoia and a recovering alcoholic and we have had a very, very scary week. His wife is out of town for 10 days and he fell apart Sunday night, missing 2 1/2 days of work and really struggling to get out of it. He did make many positive moves this week to take charge of his condition, he did not drink this time (YEA!!!), called his previous Dr and went back to that Dr. who made a change in his medicine. Those two things all by themselves are an improvement for him and we are grateful for that. I have asked for prayers from many of my friends and co-workers who know the situation and I know that those prayers were spoken and helped. He is back to work, on his way back out of this episode but I also know that this is not the end of these episodes for him. Since I know the power of prayer, I am asking for more please. It's baby steps but at-least it's steps forward instead of backwards and I don't want to lose him.
2-17-05 MT-n-Full's Friend - I just now received a call about one of my best friends from my former bank in DC. She was in a head on collision, suffered a stroke,has blot clots in her brain, and a lot more. She is one of the finest bank managers I have known. She is paralyzed also. Please place her on the prayer list asap. Thank you. (I am so upset. )
2-21-05 Princess Ene's Father - Please add my father to the list. My mom just sent an email that my father had a TIA (mini stroke) last night. She said his arm and face went numb for about 15 minutes. It was pretty scary for them. They are running an MRI and Ultrasound today. My father has probably been ill a total of 2 times in his life time so we are puzzled. I'm going on the internet right now to read up on them. I'll update as I learn more.
2-23-05 Dawnie's Friend - If we could add Sondra to the list I'd appreciate it. She's flying down to Portland for a bone marrow test to see what her lukemia numbers are looking like after the stem cell harvest of a few months ago. This is her 11th bone marrow draw, and every one of them is quite painful and carry risk. The biggest risk though is that they find bad news instead of good so if ya'll could keep her in your prayers for a couple of days I'd appreciate it! 2-28-05 update - Sondra came home last night and is feeling great. No infection issues, and while they didn't give her final numbers, her initial numbers are looking good. I appreciate your prayer for my dear friend. I'll be praying for those still in need

2-23-05 Jim Bedsole's Brother-in-law - It just keeps piling on. Lynne's sister Debbie has been very close to us, especially during Lynne's recent illness. She has been down here from NC numerous times to cheer Lynne up. Well last Friday we just found out that Debbie's husband has leukemia. He is currently in Duke Medical Center undergoing heavy chemotherapy and some other type of therapy. They are also doing some tests that take up to 10 days to develop. After those tests they'll have a clearer picture of his status and prognosis.
2-28-05 Wacokid - Well, well, well. One of my eyes didn't turn out so good so I will have to have additional eye surgery on March 10th to cut a muscle and stitch it back up shorter. I am feeling fine but would appreciate your continued prayers to help me get thru the month of March.

Communal Requests:
All those grieving over the loss of a loved one.
All of those suffering from a chronic illness.
All of our military troops wherever they are serving our country.
All those affected by the 12-26-04 tsunami disaster.
All those who live with violence and poverty, without hope.

Let us know when our prayers are answered so we can remove them from our list. Prayer requests will be removed each Monday as warranted. If you post to this thread, I will update the list periodically.

Sondra came home last night and is feeling great. No infection issues, and while they didn't give her final numbers, her initial numbers are looking good. I appreciate your prayer for my dear friend. I'll be praying for those still in need

My co-worker's brother was found and he is ok update to 2/4/05 post).

I've been trying to compile a prayer list of our BOL friends and family who need prayer. Please let me know if I've missed anyone. Thanks!

1-4-05 Jim and Lynne Bedsole - Lynne very ill showing signs of improvement after surgery and is off the ventilator specifically pray that her kidneys will begin to function again kidneys have some function Lynne had a seizure last night, seizures were caused by 1 or more strokes at the back of her brain Lynne had what is called a "watershed stroke." The event apparently occurred two weeks ago when her BP was very low. They know there has been some damage, but at this point it doesn't look like it should present any long-term deficit. Otherwise, she appears to be holding her own. Her heart is fine and kidney functions may be slightly better (but far from normal.)
Lynne's showing progress on all fronts:
- her thinking & communication is clearest since she was admitted to the hospital
- her surgery continues to heal nicely
- her lungs look good & breathing is OK
- her kidneys are starting to function more
Her doctors have halted the dialysis in hopes that her kidneys will take over and they have ordered physical therapy - beginning with sitting up on the side of the bed.

1-19-05 update Today's report is not very good. Jim describes this ordeal as a roller coaster ride of good days and not-so-good days. Although Lynne's doctors see slight improvement in her kidney functions, she's still in ICU and "remains very ill." The doctors are concerned that she's not making the kind of progress they expected at this point. Her white count is up and they don't know why. She'll have more tests and scans to look for evidence of various types of infections.
1-24-05 update - She's making good progress on all fronts:
- kidneys working well & dialysis no longer needed
- surgery healing
- confusion cleared up & neurologist is encouraged that she will recover fully from the stroke.She's eaten real food since Friday night and they hope to remove the feeding tube today. On Monday Jim expects she will move from ICU to the hospital's long term care unit.
1-26-05 update - Jim reports further setbacks this morning. Lynne's temperature has spiked as high as 103.5 and her white count is way up. Heartbeat, respiration, and potassium levels are also way up. Doctors have determined that she has a blood clot in her left leg and possibly elsewhere. She's scheduled for a CT scan & doppler today in order to determine the extent of the clot(s). She has not been conscious since Tuesday evening. 1-28-05 update -Late this morning, Jim's update is generally good--with one major exception. Lynne's doctors are very concerned about the large blood clot in her left leg and will put a filter in the vein that leads back to her heart, lungs, and brain. This surgical procedure has risks (Jim asks for our prayers), but the risk is greater that part of the clot will break loose and block a vital organ. 1-31-05 updateLynne is doing pretty good this weekend. They are talking about moving her out of ICU tomorrow (Monday). It has sure been a roller coaster ride, and I guess it is not over yet. She still has a lot of recovery and rehab work to get through. Please keep her in your prayers.

I can't tell you what it has meant to have all this prayer support and response from all of you. Thank you from the bottom of my heart!

Jim 2-3-05 update - Lynne has now been in a regular room since yesterday morning. She is doing pretty good. Her thought processes and communication are doing great now. She is still in some pain, but that is understandable given the pancreatitis and the surgery. Physical therapy is starting to work with her on getting her sitting up and standing. We've begun the long journey back.

I will never be able to express adequately how much your prayers and support have meant to my family and me. It has been an overwhelming experience to see this community pull together in this way. I love you all and am looking forward to seeing each one of you in person at some point in the future and having the opportunity to personally thank you.

Jim 2-7-05 update - After many days of progress, Lynne has experienced another setback. A CT Scan today showed two abscesses- one on her pancreas and one on her abdomen wall. She has had very bad stomach cramps and nausea most of the day and her fever has been as high as 103.8. They do not think surgery is a good alternative to repair the abscesses at this time, but have moved her back to ICU. 2-8-05 update -Jim's message at 9:15 Tuesday morning indicates that Lynne is a little better this morning. Her white count is down, her fever is down some, so they think the infection may be subsiding.

Jim spoke to the intervention radiologist (who knew there was such a thing) said there is not enough coalescence in the abscesses to intervene right now. They will do another CT scan the end of the week.

They plan to take the NG tube back out today, and if things go as smoothly as planned she will move out of ICU tomorrow.

Jim said he hopes maybe this is just smaller step back instead of a major setback. 2-11-05 update -Just a quick update - Lynne has been doing pretty good yesterday and today and they have now moved her back out of ICU! Here's praying that she doesn't have to go back there again. 2-15-05 update - Lynne is continuing to do OK. They did another CT scan on Sunday and it shows the abcess on her pancreas is still very diffuse, so nothing can be done to drain it at this point. They plan to continue to keep her on antibiotics for a long period of time to help stave off any infection from this and continue to monitor.She is improving in strength and endurance little by little. Today they have moved her finally to the Regency Hospital on the 4th floor inside of St. Francis hospital. This is a Long Term Acute Care (LTAC) facility and they'll be able to work with her more aggressively on physical and cognitive therapy to get her up and moving which will be the next step to getting her home. 2-22-05 update - Things are still pretty stable. Lynne started physical therapy to get her able to get up last week. She made it to the point where she was able to sit up in a chair for over an hour. However on Friday she developed another blood clot - this one in her right leg. The doctors have put her back on bed rest and no therapy until the clot clears some with the blood thinners they are giving her. They are optomistic that she might be able to restart therapy tomorrow, but we'll have to see. Although it seems there is always something else, we do still seem to be making slow progress. 3-2-05 update -Lynne is continuing to improve slowly. She has now gotten out of bed and walked (using a walker) a couple of times for 15-20 feet each time. She is continuing to work on leg exercises to strengthen her legs. Yesterday she sat up in the chair for 2 hours and ate lunch in the chair.

Yesterday they switched all of her IV antibiotics to pill form (as closely as they could) which they will continue for a couple more weeks. We'll need to keep a close watch for any change in the infection level from the abscesses with the changed antibiotic, but so far so good.

Thanks to all for your continued prayers. Lynne is really amazed at the extent of those praying for her.

1-4-05 Natalie Bear and Mom(Becca) - awaiting liver transplant Mom is a match for a living donor transplant to Natalie Bear. Awaiting date for surgery. The surgery is now Wednesday Feb. 9.
1-24-05 Miss Natalie is again a very sick little girl.
We are on our way to Children's Memorial right now. I'm signing off after I type this to drive there. Her tummy is huge (fluid collecting around the organs due to end stage liver disease) and they are going to try to tap it tomorrow. 1-27-05 Well, the "tapping" showed that the ascites fluid is not infected. So the plan is to treat this like it is cholangitis (that will make it #3 for her). She is getting a PICC line right now. Then they want to send us home on IV anti-biotics until the transplant.After 2 full days, already her fevers are gone. Her belly is a bit smaller, but I think that they will send us home on a diuretic.Her mood has improved (even though she's been NPO (orders to have no food or drink) for 18 hours)! She continues to be my little German-Irish spit-fire. She has gotten blood drawn 4 or 5 times now since we've been in-patient, and I've said it 100 times, I have no idea where she gets her temper from! 1-31-05 update Well, today is my last day at work until after the surgery. We are home from our latest hospital stay. The bear is strong and feeling good. She's on IV meds, a diuretic, and blood pressure medication. The doctors would like us to keep the bear home from daycare. Thanks again, for all your prayers and encouraging words! Our priest came over yesterday and blessed us both. That has helped to bring me some comfort...it's out of my hands now and into God's. from their website - Here's the transplant schedule:
Feb. 8:
11am - Becca - post-op exam (Northwestern)
2pm - Admit Natalie (Children's)

Feb. 9:
6am - Becca report to Northwestern
7am - Becca wheeled in to surgery
approx. 11am - Natalie's surgery to start at Children's
2-8-05 - Natalie will be admitted today at Children's Memorial. Tomorrow's schedule looks like this:

6am - Mom reports to Northwestern
7am - Mom wheeled in to surgery
approx. 11am - Natalie's surgery to start at Children's
Mom's surgery is expected to be around 6 hours and Natalie's will be 12+. Following surgeries mom will be discharged probably by Friday from Northwestern. Natalie will (most likely) be in-patient for a month.
2-9-05 today is the BIG Day. 2-11-05 - Both surgeries went quite well. Becca is recovering fine at Northwestern. She is on a pump for pain management and is quite, understandably, sore, but in great spirits. There was talk about releasing her tonight, but she's hoping its tomorrow so she gets a bit more time for rest and recovery.

The surgeons were not able to close up Natalie's incision completely so tomorrow she will be taken back to surgery for that. It is not uncommon for kids who've just received liver transplants to need to be left "open" a bit to give time for the body to adjust to the size of the new liver and to let the swelling go down. They are keeping Natalie in a "paralyzed" state so that she doesn't move until she's completely closed up. She is on a respirator, but doing quite a bit of the breathing on her own. 2-12-05 update Natalie went back to surgery this morning due to her hepatic artery being blocked. Her liver numbers began rising, causing the need to operate to find the source of the problem. The doctors feel that the artery became blocked due to pressure from her being closed up yesterday. There is now flow through the hepatic artery, but the surgeon had to leave her "open" meaning not even her skin is stitched together. Her incision is covered with gauze. She will be left this way for 2-3 days. Natalie has been relisted for a transplant, but not as Status 1 (the highest lising status possible). There is no plan right now to re-transplant her, but because of the blockage, there has been some damage to the liver. How much, they don't know yet. 2-13-05 update - Natalie had an ultrasound today that showed positive results, there is blood flow (good flow actually) in the hepatic artery. She is still heavily sedated, since she is still "open." Please keep praying. 2-15-05 update - Natalie was taken back into surgery around 5pm because heart rate rose and her blood pressure dropped. She also began bleeding out her JP drain. Her abdomen was getting so distended that her kidneys were having a hard time keeping up. During the surgery, they removed many blood clots and her kidneys were able to begin producing urine. The hepatic artery is still good with blood flow. They say this is a normal set back, but aren't sure what caused the bleed - possibly from the heparin used to thin her blood after the last surgery. She was out of surgery around 7pm. 2-20-05 update - Natalie is doing great! The surgeon didn't feel comfortable closing her completely on Friday, but did stretch her a bit to get her incision not so open. Her body is very happy with this and her liver numbers are staying great. Some were even normal - yippee!!! They are starting to turn down the respirator a bit so she is doing even more breathing on her own. Becca said that her and Natalie even played with a balloon a bit, and that Natalie was trying to clap, but can't because they have her arms restrained so she won't pull her breathing tube out. They're going to start giving Natalie some formula through her NG tube (through her nose) rather than through her IV. This is progress. Hopefully, if all continues well, on Tuesday they will take her back to surgery to try to close her completely. Keep the prayers coming! They've brought her this far. Let's get this kid up and going!

Becca is doing fine. 2-22-05 update - Natalie's surgery to close her up scheduled for today was bumped to tomorrow.

Currently she is at IR (interventional radiology) to get a new PICC line put in. Her direct line (at her neck) started coming out and the site appears to be infected. Ick! This shouldn't be a huge problem though, since she's on enough antibiotics to cure a HORSE. She is doing GREAT!!! Her liver numbers look AWESOME!!! 2-23-05 update -Natalie had another good night last night. She got a new PICC line in her femoral artery yesterday. They then removed the PICC line in her arm and the Artery line in her hand. So she’s left with a subclavian line (in her chest) and a femoral line.

The surgeons were busy yesterday, they finished up with the second transplant around 2am today. It looks like Natalie's surgery to close her will be around 1pm today.
2-24-05 update - Natalie was closed up yesterday...phew. We are now watching her liver function tests and ultrasounds closely to make sure that there are no complications like last time. She is still VERY sleepy from yesterday's procedure. We're waiting on her to wake up a bit more before we can start to wean her off the vent. 2-25-05 update - Natalie's liver numbers continue to improve, slowly. She is still on the vent.

Every morning she has an X-Ray to look at her lungs. Today's X-ray looked "wet." The theory is that after closing her up, more pressure is being put on her lungs and she's not able to take deep breaths (this is not uncommon). So they are giving her a little lasix (diuretic) to help get rid of the excess fluid.

Also, this morning they stopped her feeds. She hadn't had a poopy diaper in 2 days. And her tummy was getting bigger as things "backed up." An hour after they took her food away she gave her nurse a poopy diaper - that'll show them.

At this point we're not going forward, but we're not moving back either. It's frustrating. 2-27-05 update - Oh what a wonderful day!!!

Dr. Superina (her surgeon that I swear walks on water) came by today on the morning rounds. They have decided to agressively wean Miss Natalie OFF of the vent. They have slowly begun the process today and plan on pulling it out tomorrow. (We hope she agrees with this.) Yesterday they started feeding her again, but just with pedialight. Dr. Superina said that he thinks she can handle regular food. So they have started giving her Isomil though her NG tube. But again, very slowly, only 5 ml an hour, then moving up 5 ml every 3 hours if she tolerates it well.

She SAT UP TODAY!!! Daddy and I helped her. We placed blankets next to her - to help prop her up - she's so weak. But she had a wonderful time playing with her see-n-say and sitting there for a little while!!!

Thanks all for your words of encouragement. We're praying for more good days to come! 2-28-05 update - Grrr...As with all things, what goes up must come down and such is the roller coaster of our lives.

The doctors are still planning on pulling the vent today. So that's a good thing. Natalie's LFTs (Liver Function Tests) rose over the weekend - that's not a good thing. She has an ultrasound scheduled for later today. The doctors are thinking that this could be a mild case of rejection.

The "R" word. No parent of a transplant kid wants to hear it. But they have told us that it can be easily controlled with a few days of steroids.

After the ultrasound, we'll know more. They may do a biopsy tomorrow 3-1-05 update - Our big girl is having a super day!

This morning they decided to repeat the ultrasound from yesterday. Something looked funny and after a second look, it was determined that all was fine.

Her liver numbers went down. Most likely this is explained by her having a mild case of rejection followed with the steroids the gave her prior to pulling the vent. It is believed that the steriods helped to get the rejection under control. At least that is the theory for now.

We'll continue to monitor her LFTs.

She just drank 8oz of apple juice and happily played with her new Fisher Price Castle this morning!!! She's napping now.

1-4-05 Go 4 It - diagnosed with lymphoma begins treatment today 1-18-05 She had her first chemo on Monday. She was a bit achy and sore and was heading in again Wednesday for support treatment. She's working when she feels she can and checks her emails and BOL then. Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers. 1-26-05 update - I am in treatment. On Wednesday I will get results to another biopsy that I had on Monday....At times under the weather....but my faith is strong, my husband is wonderful and I have good friends.....
1-31-05 update - So that you can update the prayer list.....

My biopsy was negative.. Treatment is ongoing. The first week was quite rough but after that it appears that I as good as before I was diagnosed. The second treatment is on the 7th and hopefully, it will follow the same pattern....I think I can "hang" pretty good with that.....

1-4-05 David Dickenson - thyroid illness I'm currently on 2 medications to keep my system in balance. They are working wonderfully. On Feb 2nd I take another radio-active pill to try and kill my thyroid again. It will then be 6-8 weeks before I know if it was successful. I would like to remain on your prayer list. Thank you for keeping me in your prayers.


1-5-05 Little Sister's niece - cancer returned
1-5-05 Fraud pup's friend's son, Zakery - almost drowned, still recovering
1-5-05 Skittles' Mom - triple bypass and valve replacement surgery recovering at home now Thanks so much for remembering my mother on the list. It's been just over a month since her surgery. She's recovering, but very slowly. She's still not eating and has lost 10 pounds, so her strength is coming back very slowly. She'll be 80 in 3 weeks, but is still a tough old bird. The visiting nurse thinks her slowness is possibly due to the fact that they had to go back in the next day due to her internal bleeding.
1-5-05 obx nut's Mom - stroke, unable to walk, in nursing home
1-5-05 Deena's Mom and Family - Mom battling lung cancer, family grieving over loss of Dad last October 2-14-05 update - I'd like to ask for your continued prayers for my mother and for our family. She is in the final stages of her illness now and probably doesn't have much time left - maybe a month or two. I met with a nurse from the hospice program last Friday and I believe they will be a great support for us. Please pray that my mother will continue to be comfortable and that, when her time comes, she will pass peacefully and painlessly into a wonderful place where she will no longer be sick. Thank you so much. Your prayers mean more than I can say.

1-6-05 Boomermom's co-worker - diagnosed with cancer/fell and broke her hip - had partial hip replacement 2-3-05 update - Is losing lots of weight. (7 pounds in last 2 weeks and had lost lots since becoming ill.) Doctors do not know why food is not digesting. Goes back to doctor for tests next week. 2-23-05 update - My co-worker came back to work part-time yesterday after her hip surgery. She cannot drive for six months so employees are picking her up and taking her home. She has to use a cane and others are helping her out so she doesn't have to walk any more than necessary. She is still not able to eat and has lost so much weight. Hopefully they will figure something out soon there.
1-7-05 Bear Collector's Dad - Hospitalized with Heart Attack
1-11-05 Princess ene - facing surgury that will result in her inability to bear a child Just wanted to give you an update, my dr finally called this morning and said my University consultation was approved. She is calling me back on Monday to notify me of which University. It will either be Standford or Davis. They said with cancer patients they usually can get in 2-3 weeks, all other appts usually take a month or longer. Because of the pain I'm experiencing and other symptoms she said she'd tried to get me in with the next couple of weeks. So please pray for my strength to accept whatever decision they make. Thanks!
2-11-05 update - You are in my prayers GB - on my side of things, they approved Davis. The waiting game continues though, now I have to wait for a nurse at Davis to contact my Dr to finalize an appt date. In the meantime I've been traveling back and forth to Fl/CA on business so it's been wearing on me. Thank you for your continued prayers 2-21-05 update - Just wanted to give an update - I finally received an appt, March 18 @ UCDavis. I'm both anxious and excited to be moving forward. Thank you for your continued prayers.

1-12-05 Melissa Ann's Husband - possible skin cancer

1-13-05 Corkygirl's father in law - in hospital with lung cancer and other illnesses. They moved my father-in-law to a nursing home yesterday. I don't think he will ever get back to his own apartment, I just hope my mother-in-law and sister-in-law don't try to keep him alive at all costs. We are too far away to have much say in it and that is hard on my husband. Thanks for your prayers
2-3-05 update - An update on my father-in-law, he will be released in the next few days to go back to his apartment. Not sure that's the best choice but he is better, able to go up a couple flights of stairs and will get home health care. There is nothing that can be done for any of the lung diseases or heart disease so no one knows how long he has but he is better and we are glad for that. Thanks for the prayers. 2-23-05 update - An update on my father-in-law, he was re-admitted to the hospital this week for pneumonia. The dr's are not giving him any treatment for the lung cancer, which tells us bunches, and this is a major setback for him. My mother-in-law is in denial to the seriousness of this situation and we are too far away to do much. We will need to make a trip to Pittsburgh sooner rather than later I think.

1-14-05 LadyLuck's Friend and her husband - he has been diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia and has cancerous cells in his lymph nodes. Undergoing chemotheraphy. 2-17-05 update - UPDATE: He had surgery last week to remove his kidney and a lot of the cancer inside. He is is still in the hospital. Hopefully this will help him on the road to recovery. Please continue to keep him in prayer. Thank you
1-21-05 Pizzaz's niece Channing - I'd like to add my niece to the prayer list. She's 2 and is being tested for autism. We're hoping she's just a slow developer with her social interaction and lack of speech. They're also going to test her hearing. So, please pray for little Channing. Thanks. 2-8-05 update - Update-my niece went for her hearing test and it's fine, she passed. So, now we undergo more therapy, early intervention to find out if she's just behind compared to others her age or whether she may have autism.Thanks for your continued prayers.
1-31-05 - Little Sister's Friend -A good friend of our family developed a virus and it settled around his heart. The sack around his heart has been filling up with fluid. They transported him to Rochester this weekend and yesterday they drew off 2 liters of fluid in the morning and more in the afternoon. This gave him instant relief but today we just found out that there was blood in the second fluid draw and have discovered that he has a hole in his aorta. He's being prepped right now for an 8 hour surgery and is considered very high risk. Please keep him in your prayers!!! Thanks! 2-2-05 update - Update on our friend...his surgery was successful. They also discovered an anurism on his aorta that they were able to repair. He'll be in the hospital for 7 to 10 days and then will be off work for 4 months. Thanks for your prayers and please keep remembering him as he has a long road of recovery.

2-11-05 Corkygirl's son - My oldest son is bipolar with paranoia and a recovering alcoholic and we have had a very, very scary week. His wife is out of town for 10 days and he fell apart Sunday night, missing 2 1/2 days of work and really struggling to get out of it. He did make many positive moves this week to take charge of his condition, he did not drink this time (YEA!!!), called his previous Dr and went back to that Dr. who made a change in his medicine. Those two things all by themselves are an improvement for him and we are grateful for that. I have asked for prayers from many of my friends and co-workers who know the situation and I know that those prayers were spoken and helped. He is back to work, on his way back out of this episode but I also know that this is not the end of these episodes for him. Since I know the power of prayer, I am asking for more please. It's baby steps but at-least it's steps forward instead of backwards and I don't want to lose him.
2-17-05 MT-n-Full's Friend - I just now received a call about one of my best friends from my former bank in DC. She was in a head on collision, suffered a stroke,has blot clots in her brain, and a lot more. She is one of the finest bank managers I have known. She is paralyzed also. Please place her on the prayer list asap. Thank you. (I am so upset. )
2-21-05 Princess Ene's Father - Please add my father to the list. My mom just sent an email that my father had a TIA (mini stroke) last night. She said his arm and face went numb for about 15 minutes. It was pretty scary for them. They are running an MRI and Ultrasound today. My father has probably been ill a total of 2 times in his life time so we are puzzled. I'm going on the internet right now to read up on them. I'll update as I learn more.
2-23-05 Dawnie's Friend - If we could add Sondra to the list I'd appreciate it. She's flying down to Portland for a bone marrow test to see what her lukemia numbers are looking like after the stem cell harvest of a few months ago. This is her 11th bone marrow draw, and every one of them is quite painful and carry risk. The biggest risk though is that they find bad news instead of good so if ya'll could keep her in your prayers for a couple of days I'd appreciate it! 2-28-05 update - Sondra came home last night and is feeling great. No infection issues, and while they didn't give her final numbers, her initial numbers are looking good. I appreciate your prayer for my dear friend. I'll be praying for those still in need

2-23-05 Jim Bedsole's Brother-in-law - It just keeps piling on. Lynne's sister Debbie has been very close to us, especially during Lynne's recent illness. She has been down here from NC numerous times to cheer Lynne up. Well last Friday we just found out that Debbie's husband has leukemia. He is currently in Duke Medical Center undergoing heavy chemotherapy and some other type of therapy. They are also doing some tests that take up to 10 days to develop. After those tests they'll have a clearer picture of his status and prognosis.
2-28-05 Wacokid - Well, well, well. One of my eyes didn't turn out so good so I will have to have additional eye surgery on March 10th to cut a muscle and stitch it back up shorter. I am feeling fine but would appreciate your continued prayers to help me get thru the month of March.

Communal Requests:
All those grieving over the loss of a loved one.
All of those suffering from a chronic illness.
All of our military troops wherever they are serving our country.
All those affected by the 12-26-04 tsunami disaster.
All those who live with violence and poverty, without hope.

Let us know when our prayers are answered so we can remove them from our list. Prayer requests will be removed each Monday as warranted. If you post to this thread, I will update the list periodically.

I've been trying to compile a prayer list of our BOL friends and family who need prayer. Please let me know if I've missed anyone. Thanks!

1-4-05 Jim and Lynne Bedsole - Lynne very ill showing signs of improvement after surgery and is off the ventilator specifically pray that her kidneys will begin to function again kidneys have some function Lynne had a seizure last night, seizures were caused by 1 or more strokes at the back of her brain Lynne had what is called a "watershed stroke." The event apparently occurred two weeks ago when her BP was very low. They know there has been some damage, but at this point it doesn't look like it should present any long-term deficit. Otherwise, she appears to be holding her own. Her heart is fine and kidney functions may be slightly better (but far from normal.)
Lynne's showing progress on all fronts:
- her thinking & communication is clearest since she was admitted to the hospital
- her surgery continues to heal nicely
- her lungs look good & breathing is OK
- her kidneys are starting to function more
Her doctors have halted the dialysis in hopes that her kidneys will take over and they have ordered physical therapy - beginning with sitting up on the side of the bed.

1-19-05 update Today's report is not very good. Jim describes this ordeal as a roller coaster ride of good days and not-so-good days. Although Lynne's doctors see slight improvement in her kidney functions, she's still in ICU and "remains very ill." The doctors are concerned that she's not making the kind of progress they expected at this point. Her white count is up and they don't know why. She'll have more tests and scans to look for evidence of various types of infections.
1-24-05 update - She's making good progress on all fronts:
- kidneys working well & dialysis no longer needed
- surgery healing
- confusion cleared up & neurologist is encouraged that she will recover fully from the stroke.She's eaten real food since Friday night and they hope to remove the feeding tube today. On Monday Jim expects she will move from ICU to the hospital's long term care unit.
1-26-05 update - Jim reports further setbacks this morning. Lynne's temperature has spiked as high as 103.5 and her white count is way up. Heartbeat, respiration, and potassium levels are also way up. Doctors have determined that she has a blood clot in her left leg and possibly elsewhere. She's scheduled for a CT scan & doppler today in order to determine the extent of the clot(s). She has not been conscious since Tuesday evening. 1-28-05 update -Late this morning, Jim's update is generally good--with one major exception. Lynne's doctors are very concerned about the large blood clot in her left leg and will put a filter in the vein that leads back to her heart, lungs, and brain. This surgical procedure has risks (Jim asks for our prayers), but the risk is greater that part of the clot will break loose and block a vital organ. 1-31-05 updateLynne is doing pretty good this weekend. They are talking about moving her out of ICU tomorrow (Monday). It has sure been a roller coaster ride, and I guess it is not over yet. She still has a lot of recovery and rehab work to get through. Please keep her in your prayers.

I can't tell you what it has meant to have all this prayer support and response from all of you. Thank you from the bottom of my heart!

Jim 2-3-05 update - Lynne has now been in a regular room since yesterday morning. She is doing pretty good. Her thought processes and communication are doing great now. She is still in some pain, but that is understandable given the pancreatitis and the surgery. Physical therapy is starting to work with her on getting her sitting up and standing. We've begun the long journey back.

I will never be able to express adequately how much your prayers and support have meant to my family and me. It has been an overwhelming experience to see this community pull together in this way. I love you all and am looking forward to seeing each one of you in person at some point in the future and having the opportunity to personally thank you.

Jim 2-7-05 update - After many days of progress, Lynne has experienced another setback. A CT Scan today showed two abscesses- one on her pancreas and one on her abdomen wall. She has had very bad stomach cramps and nausea most of the day and her fever has been as high as 103.8. They do not think surgery is a good alternative to repair the abscesses at this time, but have moved her back to ICU. 2-8-05 update -Jim's message at 9:15 Tuesday morning indicates that Lynne is a little better this morning. Her white count is down, her fever is down some, so they think the infection may be subsiding.

Jim spoke to the intervention radiologist (who knew there was such a thing) said there is not enough coalescence in the abscesses to intervene right now. They will do another CT scan the end of the week.

They plan to take the NG tube back out today, and if things go as smoothly as planned she will move out of ICU tomorrow.

Jim said he hopes maybe this is just smaller step back instead of a major setback. 2-11-05 update -Just a quick update - Lynne has been doing pretty good yesterday and today and they have now moved her back out of ICU! Here's praying that she doesn't have to go back there again. 2-15-05 update - Lynne is continuing to do OK. They did another CT scan on Sunday and it shows the abcess on her pancreas is still very diffuse, so nothing can be done to drain it at this point. They plan to continue to keep her on antibiotics for a long period of time to help stave off any infection from this and continue to monitor.She is improving in strength and endurance little by little. Today they have moved her finally to the Regency Hospital on the 4th floor inside of St. Francis hospital. This is a Long Term Acute Care (LTAC) facility and they'll be able to work with her more aggressively on physical and cognitive therapy to get her up and moving which will be the next step to getting her home. 2-22-05 update - Things are still pretty stable. Lynne started physical therapy to get her able to get up last week. She made it to the point where she was able to sit up in a chair for over an hour. However on Friday she developed another blood clot - this one in her right leg. The doctors have put her back on bed rest and no therapy until the clot clears some with the blood thinners they are giving her. They are optomistic that she might be able to restart therapy tomorrow, but we'll have to see. Although it seems there is always something else, we do still seem to be making slow progress. 3-2-05 update -Lynne is continuing to improve slowly. She has now gotten out of bed and walked (using a walker) a couple of times for 15-20 feet each time. She is continuing to work on leg exercises to strengthen her legs. Yesterday she sat up in the chair for 2 hours and ate lunch in the chair.

Yesterday they switched all of her IV antibiotics to pill form (as closely as they could) which they will continue for a couple more weeks. We'll need to keep a close watch for any change in the infection level from the abscesses with the changed antibiotic, but so far so good.

Thanks to all for your continued prayers. Lynne is really amazed at the extent of those praying for her.

1-4-05 Natalie Bear and Mom(Becca) - awaiting liver transplant Mom is a match for a living donor transplant to Natalie Bear. Awaiting date for surgery. The surgery is now Wednesday Feb. 9.
1-24-05 Miss Natalie is again a very sick little girl.
We are on our way to Children's Memorial right now. I'm signing off after I type this to drive there. Her tummy is huge (fluid collecting around the organs due to end stage liver disease) and they are going to try to tap it tomorrow. 1-27-05 Well, the "tapping" showed that the ascites fluid is not infected. So the plan is to treat this like it is cholangitis (that will make it #3 for her). She is getting a PICC line right now. Then they want to send us home on IV anti-biotics until the transplant.After 2 full days, already her fevers are gone. Her belly is a bit smaller, but I think that they will send us home on a diuretic.Her mood has improved (even though she's been NPO (orders to have no food or drink) for 18 hours)! She continues to be my little German-Irish spit-fire. She has gotten blood drawn 4 or 5 times now since we've been in-patient, and I've said it 100 times, I have no idea where she gets her temper from! 1-31-05 update Well, today is my last day at work until after the surgery. We are home from our latest hospital stay. The bear is strong and feeling good. She's on IV meds, a diuretic, and blood pressure medication. The doctors would like us to keep the bear home from daycare. Thanks again, for all your prayers and encouraging words! Our priest came over yesterday and blessed us both. That has helped to bring me some comfort...it's out of my hands now and into God's. from their website - Here's the transplant schedule:
Feb. 8:
11am - Becca - post-op exam (Northwestern)
2pm - Admit Natalie (Children's)

Feb. 9:
6am - Becca report to Northwestern
7am - Becca wheeled in to surgery
approx. 11am - Natalie's surgery to start at Children's
2-8-05 - Natalie will be admitted today at Children's Memorial. Tomorrow's schedule looks like this:

6am - Mom reports to Northwestern
7am - Mom wheeled in to surgery
approx. 11am - Natalie's surgery to start at Children's
Mom's surgery is expected to be around 6 hours and Natalie's will be 12+. Following surgeries mom will be discharged probably by Friday from Northwestern. Natalie will (most likely) be in-patient for a month.
2-9-05 today is the BIG Day. 2-11-05 - Both surgeries went quite well. Becca is recovering fine at Northwestern. She is on a pump for pain management and is quite, understandably, sore, but in great spirits. There was talk about releasing her tonight, but she's hoping its tomorrow so she gets a bit more time for rest and recovery.

The surgeons were not able to close up Natalie's incision completely so tomorrow she will be taken back to surgery for that. It is not uncommon for kids who've just received liver transplants to need to be left "open" a bit to give time for the body to adjust to the size of the new liver and to let the swelling go down. They are keeping Natalie in a "paralyzed" state so that she doesn't move until she's completely closed up. She is on a respirator, but doing quite a bit of the breathing on her own. 2-12-05 update Natalie went back to surgery this morning due to her hepatic artery being blocked. Her liver numbers began rising, causing the need to operate to find the source of the problem. The doctors feel that the artery became blocked due to pressure from her being closed up yesterday. There is now flow through the hepatic artery, but the surgeon had to leave her "open" meaning not even her skin is stitched together. Her incision is covered with gauze. She will be left this way for 2-3 days. Natalie has been relisted for a transplant, but not as Status 1 (the highest lising status possible). There is no plan right now to re-transplant her, but because of the blockage, there has been some damage to the liver. How much, they don't know yet. 2-13-05 update - Natalie had an ultrasound today that showed positive results, there is blood flow (good flow actually) in the hepatic artery. She is still heavily sedated, since she is still "open." Please keep praying. 2-15-05 update - Natalie was taken back into surgery around 5pm because heart rate rose and her blood pressure dropped. She also began bleeding out her JP drain. Her abdomen was getting so distended that her kidneys were having a hard time keeping up. During the surgery, they removed many blood clots and her kidneys were able to begin producing urine. The hepatic artery is still good with blood flow. They say this is a normal set back, but aren't sure what caused the bleed - possibly from the heparin used to thin her blood after the last surgery. She was out of surgery around 7pm. 2-20-05 update - Natalie is doing great! The surgeon didn't feel comfortable closing her completely on Friday, but did stretch her a bit to get her incision not so open. Her body is very happy with this and her liver numbers are staying great. Some were even normal - yippee!!! They are starting to turn down the respirator a bit so she is doing even more breathing on her own. Becca said that her and Natalie even played with a balloon a bit, and that Natalie was trying to clap, but can't because they have her arms restrained so she won't pull her breathing tube out. They're going to start giving Natalie some formula through her NG tube (through her nose) rather than through her IV. This is progress. Hopefully, if all continues well, on Tuesday they will take her back to surgery to try to close her completely. Keep the prayers coming! They've brought her this far. Let's get this kid up and going!

Becca is doing fine. 2-22-05 update - Natalie's surgery to close her up scheduled for today was bumped to tomorrow.

Currently she is at IR (interventional radiology) to get a new PICC line put in. Her direct line (at her neck) started coming out and the site appears to be infected. Ick! This shouldn't be a huge problem though, since she's on enough antibiotics to cure a HORSE. She is doing GREAT!!! Her liver numbers look AWESOME!!! 2-23-05 update -Natalie had another good night last night. She got a new PICC line in her femoral artery yesterday. They then removed the PICC line in her arm and the Artery line in her hand. So she’s left with a subclavian line (in her chest) and a femoral line.

The surgeons were busy yesterday, they finished up with the second transplant around 2am today. It looks like Natalie's surgery to close her will be around 1pm today.
2-24-05 update - Natalie was closed up yesterday...phew. We are now watching her liver function tests and ultrasounds closely to make sure that there are no complications like last time. She is still VERY sleepy from yesterday's procedure. We're waiting on her to wake up a bit more before we can start to wean her off the vent. 2-25-05 update - Natalie's liver numbers continue to improve, slowly. She is still on the vent.

Every morning she has an X-Ray to look at her lungs. Today's X-ray looked "wet." The theory is that after closing her up, more pressure is being put on her lungs and she's not able to take deep breaths (this is not uncommon). So they are giving her a little lasix (diuretic) to help get rid of the excess fluid.

Also, this morning they stopped her feeds. She hadn't had a poopy diaper in 2 days. And her tummy was getting bigger as things "backed up." An hour after they took her food away she gave her nurse a poopy diaper - that'll show them.

At this point we're not going forward, but we're not moving back either. It's frustrating. 2-27-05 update - Oh what a wonderful day!!!

Dr. Superina (her surgeon that I swear walks on water) came by today on the morning rounds. They have decided to agressively wean Miss Natalie OFF of the vent. They have slowly begun the process today and plan on pulling it out tomorrow. (We hope she agrees with this.) Yesterday they started feeding her again, but just with pedialight. Dr. Superina said that he thinks she can handle regular food. So they have started giving her Isomil though her NG tube. But again, very slowly, only 5 ml an hour, then moving up 5 ml every 3 hours if she tolerates it well.

She SAT UP TODAY!!! Daddy and I helped her. We placed blankets next to her - to help prop her up - she's so weak. But she had a wonderful time playing with her see-n-say and sitting there for a little while!!!

Thanks all for your words of encouragement. We're praying for more good days to come! 2-28-05 update - Grrr...As with all things, what goes up must come down and such is the roller coaster of our lives.

The doctors are still planning on pulling the vent today. So that's a good thing. Natalie's LFTs (Liver Function Tests) rose over the weekend - that's not a good thing. She has an ultrasound scheduled for later today. The doctors are thinking that this could be a mild case of rejection.

The "R" word. No parent of a transplant kid wants to hear it. But they have told us that it can be easily controlled with a few days of steroids.

After the ultrasound, we'll know more. They may do a biopsy tomorrow 3-1-05 update - Our big girl is having a super day!

This morning they decided to repeat the ultrasound from yesterday. Something looked funny and after a second look, it was determined that all was fine.

Her liver numbers went down. Most likely this is explained by her having a mild case of rejection followed with the steroids the gave her prior to pulling the vent. It is believed that the steriods helped to get the rejection under control. At least that is the theory for now.

We'll continue to monitor her LFTs.

She just drank 8oz of apple juice and happily played with her new Fisher Price Castle this morning!!! She's napping now. 3-2-05 update - Right now Natalie is running a fever of 102. But her LFTs continue to improve. She is also starting to get puffy as a side affect of the steroids.

For breakfast she ate 1/2 of a breakfast sausage - we're taking baby steps on the food thing.

Today's plan of action looks like this:
-Do cultures of blood to look for a bacterial infection (she's been on anti-viral meds up to now)
-Pull her subclavian line since it's been in for 21 days
-SEND US TO 6 WEST!!!

That's right, we're getting out of the ICU!!! WOOHOO!

I'll make changes to the page once I know the room number. Hopefully the move will be today... 3-3-05 update - What a very busy day we all had. First things first, she kept daddy up ALL night and then she took a 5 hour "nap" today. Poor daddy. He's sleeping at the hospital with her and I am here at the Kohl's house.

Natalie is eating like a horse (well, a little pony anyway)! For dinner she had some cut up pieces of chicken, 3 smily-face fries, applesauce, 2 chicken nuggets (of mommies), a few french fries, 4 cookies, and 3 ounces of apple juice to wash it down! Gotta' love those steroids!!!

Her LFTs went back up today, so a liver biopsy was done at 4 pm. This was to confirm rejection. An hour prior to the biopsy she had a new PICC line placed and her femoral line removed. Her PICC line, it should be said, was done WITHOUT sedation, just a local to numb the site. Her nurses and the docs said that they've never seen a kid like her. She didn't cry! Oh my sweet Natalie, how strong you are. Once she recovered from these procedures she was back to her normal self.

About the rejection: They went ahead and increased her steroids and they tell us that this should get the rejection under control. She was given a dose of steroids prior to having the vent pulled and this helped, but she'll need a few more days.

Since we're on the floor and some have wondered, Natalie is free to have HEALTHY visitors.

1-4-05 Go 4 It - diagnosed with lymphoma begins treatment today 1-18-05 She had her first chemo on Monday. She was a bit achy and sore and was heading in again Wednesday for support treatment. She's working when she feels she can and checks her emails and BOL then. Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers. 1-26-05 update - I am in treatment. On Wednesday I will get results to another biopsy that I had on Monday....At times under the weather....but my faith is strong, my husband is wonderful and I have good friends.....
1-31-05 update - So that you can update the prayer list.....

My biopsy was negative.. Treatment is ongoing. The first week was quite rough but after that it appears that I as good as before I was diagnosed. The second treatment is on the 7th and hopefully, it will follow the same pattern....I think I can "hang" pretty good with that.....

1-4-05 David Dickenson - thyroid illness I'm currently on 2 medications to keep my system in balance. They are working wonderfully. On Feb 2nd I take another radio-active pill to try and kill my thyroid again. It will then be 6-8 weeks before I know if it was successful. I would like to remain on your prayer list. Thank you for keeping me in your prayers.


1-5-05 Little Sister's niece - cancer returned
1-5-05 Fraud pup's friend's son, Zakery - almost drowned, still recovering
1-5-05 Skittles' Mom - triple bypass and valve replacement surgery recovering at home now Thanks so much for remembering my mother on the list. It's been just over a month since her surgery. She's recovering, but very slowly. She's still not eating and has lost 10 pounds, so her strength is coming back very slowly. She'll be 80 in 3 weeks, but is still a tough old bird. The visiting nurse thinks her slowness is possibly due to the fact that they had to go back in the next day due to her internal bleeding.
1-5-05 obx nut's Mom - stroke, unable to walk, in nursing home
1-5-05 Deena's Mom and Family - Mom battling lung cancer, family grieving over loss of Dad last October 2-14-05 update - I'd like to ask for your continued prayers for my mother and for our family. She is in the final stages of her illness now and probably doesn't have much time left - maybe a month or two. I met with a nurse from the hospice program last Friday and I believe they will be a great support for us. Please pray that my mother will continue to be comfortable and that, when her time comes, she will pass peacefully and painlessly into a wonderful place where she will no longer be sick. Thank you so much. Your prayers mean more than I can say.

1-6-05 Boomermom's co-worker - diagnosed with cancer/fell and broke her hip - had partial hip replacement 2-3-05 update - Is losing lots of weight. (7 pounds in last 2 weeks and had lost lots since becoming ill.) Doctors do not know why food is not digesting. Goes back to doctor for tests next week. 2-23-05 update - My co-worker came back to work part-time yesterday after her hip surgery. She cannot drive for six months so employees are picking her up and taking her home. She has to use a cane and others are helping her out so she doesn't have to walk any more than necessary. She is still not able to eat and has lost so much weight. Hopefully they will figure something out soon there.
1-7-05 Bear Collector's Dad - Hospitalized with Heart Attack
1-11-05 Princess ene - facing surgury that will result in her inability to bear a child Just wanted to give you an update, my dr finally called this morning and said my University consultation was approved. She is calling me back on Monday to notify me of which University. It will either be Standford or Davis. They said with cancer patients they usually can get in 2-3 weeks, all other appts usually take a month or longer. Because of the pain I'm experiencing and other symptoms she said she'd tried to get me in with the next couple of weeks. So please pray for my strength to accept whatever decision they make. Thanks!
2-11-05 update - You are in my prayers GB - on my side of things, they approved Davis. The waiting game continues though, now I have to wait for a nurse at Davis to contact my Dr to finalize an appt date. In the meantime I've been traveling back and forth to Fl/CA on business so it's been wearing on me. Thank you for your continued prayers 2-21-05 update - Just wanted to give an update - I finally received an appt, March 18 @ UCDavis. I'm both anxious and excited to be moving forward. Thank you for your continued prayers.

1-12-05 Melissa Ann's Husband - possible skin cancer

1-13-05 Corkygirl's father in law - in hospital with lung cancer and other illnesses. They moved my father-in-law to a nursing home yesterday. I don't think he will ever get back to his own apartment, I just hope my mother-in-law and sister-in-law don't try to keep him alive at all costs. We are too far away to have much say in it and that is hard on my husband. Thanks for your prayers
2-3-05 update - An update on my father-in-law, he will be released in the next few days to go back to his apartment. Not sure that's the best choice but he is better, able to go up a couple flights of stairs and will get home health care. There is nothing that can be done for any of the lung diseases or heart disease so no one knows how long he has but he is better and we are glad for that. Thanks for the prayers. 2-23-05 update - An update on my father-in-law, he was re-admitted to the hospital this week for pneumonia. The dr's are not giving him any treatment for the lung cancer, which tells us bunches, and this is a major setback for him. My mother-in-law is in denial to the seriousness of this situation and we are too far away to do much. We will need to make a trip to Pittsburgh sooner rather than later I think.

1-14-05 LadyLuck's Friend and her husband - he has been diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia and has cancerous cells in his lymph nodes. Undergoing chemotheraphy. 2-17-05 update - UPDATE: He had surgery last week to remove his kidney and a lot of the cancer inside. He is is still in the hospital. Hopefully this will help him on the road to recovery. Please continue to keep him in prayer. Thank you
1-21-05 Pizzaz's niece Channing - I'd like to add my niece to the prayer list. She's 2 and is being tested for autism. We're hoping she's just a slow developer with her social interaction and lack of speech. They're also going to test her hearing. So, please pray for little Channing. Thanks. 2-8-05 update - Update-my niece went for her hearing test and it's fine, she passed. So, now we undergo more therapy, early intervention to find out if she's just behind compared to others her age or whether she may have autism.Thanks for your continued prayers.
1-31-05 - Little Sister's Friend -A good friend of our family developed a virus and it settled around his heart. The sack around his heart has been filling up with fluid. They transported him to Rochester this weekend and yesterday they drew off 2 liters of fluid in the morning and more in the afternoon. This gave him instant relief but today we just found out that there was blood in the second fluid draw and have discovered that he has a hole in his aorta. He's being prepped right now for an 8 hour surgery and is considered very high risk. Please keep him in your prayers!!! Thanks! 2-2-05 update - Update on our friend...his surgery was successful. They also discovered an anurism on his aorta that they were able to repair. He'll be in the hospital for 7 to 10 days and then will be off work for 4 months. Thanks for your prayers and please keep remembering him as he has a long road of recovery.

2-11-05 Corkygirl's son - My oldest son is bipolar with paranoia and a recovering alcoholic and we have had a very, very scary week. His wife is out of town for 10 days and he fell apart Sunday night, missing 2 1/2 days of work and really struggling to get out of it. He did make many positive moves this week to take charge of his condition, he did not drink this time (YEA!!!), called his previous Dr and went back to that Dr. who made a change in his medicine. Those two things all by themselves are an improvement for him and we are grateful for that. I have asked for prayers from many of my friends and co-workers who know the situation and I know that those prayers were spoken and helped. He is back to work, on his way back out of this episode but I also know that this is not the end of these episodes for him. Since I know the power of prayer, I am asking for more please. It's baby steps but at-least it's steps forward instead of backwards and I don't want to lose him.
2-17-05 MT-n-Full's Friend - I just now received a call about one of my best friends from my former bank in DC. She was in a head on collision, suffered a stroke,has blot clots in her brain, and a lot more. She is one of the finest bank managers I have known. She is paralyzed also. Please place her on the prayer list asap. Thank you. (I am so upset. ) 3-2-05 update - On 2-17 I posted about my friend who was in an accident just over 2 weeks ago. The human body is so amazing when accompanied by prayers! My friend is now home recuperating. She is expected to fully recover from the stroke and makes progress everyday. The blood clots are better. Although her foot is in a cast, she can get around with a walker now by herself!!! She is having a little problem with math, telling time, searching the phone book - takes a little longer - but with her therapy she has greatly improved --- and she may be ready to return to work in as little as 8 weeks!!! Thank you for the prayers - it has truly been a miracle what she has accomplished so far!
2-21-05 Princess Ene's Father - Please add my father to the list. My mom just sent an email that my father had a TIA (mini stroke) last night. She said his arm and face went numb for about 15 minutes. It was pretty scary for them. They are running an MRI and Ultrasound today. My father has probably been ill a total of 2 times in his life time so we are puzzled. I'm going on the internet right now to read up on them. I'll update as I learn more.
2-23-05 Dawnie's Friend - If we could add Sondra to the list I'd appreciate it. She's flying down to Portland for a bone marrow test to see what her lukemia numbers are looking like after the stem cell harvest of a few months ago. This is her 11th bone marrow draw, and every one of them is quite painful and carry risk. The biggest risk though is that they find bad news instead of good so if ya'll could keep her in your prayers for a couple of days I'd appreciate it! 2-28-05 update - Sondra came home last night and is feeling great. No infection issues, and while they didn't give her final numbers, her initial numbers are looking good. I appreciate your prayer for my dear friend. I'll be praying for those still in need

2-23-05 Jim Bedsole's Brother-in-law - It just keeps piling on. Lynne's sister Debbie has been very close to us, especially during Lynne's recent illness. She has been down here from NC numerous times to cheer Lynne up. Well last Friday we just found out that Debbie's husband has leukemia. He is currently in Duke Medical Center undergoing heavy chemotherapy and some other type of therapy. They are also doing some tests that take up to 10 days to develop. After those tests they'll have a clearer picture of his status and prognosis.
2-28-05 Wacokid - Well, well, well. One of my eyes didn't turn out so good so I will have to have additional eye surgery on March 10th to cut a muscle and stitch it back up shorter. I am feeling fine but would appreciate your continued prayers to help me get thru the month of March.

Communal Requests:
All those grieving over the loss of a loved one.
All of those suffering from a chronic illness.
All of our military troops wherever they are serving our country.
All those affected by the 12-26-04 tsunami disaster.
All those who live with violence and poverty, without hope.
Jessica Lunsford, nine years old who is missing and all other children who are missing/kidnapped from their homes.

Let us know when our prayers are answered so we can remove them from our list. Prayer requests will be removed each Monday as warranted. If you post to this thread, I will update the list periodically.

On 2-17 I posted about my friend who was in an accident just over 2 weeks ago. The human body is so amazing when accompanied by prayers! My friend is now home recuperating. She is expected to fully recover from the stroke and makes progress everyday. The blood clots are better. Although her foot is in a cast, she can get around with a walker now by herself!!! She is having a little problem with math, telling time, searching the phone book - takes a little longer - but with her therapy she has greatly improved --- and she may be ready to return to work in as little as 8 weeks!!! Thank you for the prayers - it has truly been a miracle what she has accomplished so far! (Did I say how happy I am!)

Please pray for the little 9 year old girl missing in Florida from her bedroom, Jessica Lunsford. Pray for her safe reutn and to give her family strength and comfort.

I've been trying to compile a prayer list of our BOL friends and family who need prayer. Please let me know if I've missed anyone. Thanks!

1-4-05 Jim and Lynne Bedsole - Lynne very ill showing signs of improvement after surgery and is off the ventilator specifically pray that her kidneys will begin to function again kidneys have some function Lynne had a seizure last night, seizures were caused by 1 or more strokes at the back of her brain Lynne had what is called a "watershed stroke." The event apparently occurred two weeks ago when her BP was very low. They know there has been some damage, but at this point it doesn't look like it should present any long-term deficit. Otherwise, she appears to be holding her own. Her heart is fine and kidney functions may be slightly better (but far from normal.)
Lynne's showing progress on all fronts:
- her thinking & communication is clearest since she was admitted to the hospital
- her surgery continues to heal nicely
- her lungs look good & breathing is OK
- her kidneys are starting to function more
Her doctors have halted the dialysis in hopes that her kidneys will take over and they have ordered physical therapy - beginning with sitting up on the side of the bed.

1-19-05 update Today's report is not very good. Jim describes this ordeal as a roller coaster ride of good days and not-so-good days. Although Lynne's doctors see slight improvement in her kidney functions, she's still in ICU and "remains very ill." The doctors are concerned that she's not making the kind of progress they expected at this point. Her white count is up and they don't know why. She'll have more tests and scans to look for evidence of various types of infections.
1-24-05 update - She's making good progress on all fronts:
- kidneys working well & dialysis no longer needed
- surgery healing
- confusion cleared up & neurologist is encouraged that she will recover fully from the stroke.She's eaten real food since Friday night and they hope to remove the feeding tube today. On Monday Jim expects she will move from ICU to the hospital's long term care unit.
1-26-05 update - Jim reports further setbacks this morning. Lynne's temperature has spiked as high as 103.5 and her white count is way up. Heartbeat, respiration, and potassium levels are also way up. Doctors have determined that she has a blood clot in her left leg and possibly elsewhere. She's scheduled for a CT scan & doppler today in order to determine the extent of the clot(s). She has not been conscious since Tuesday evening. 1-28-05 update -Late this morning, Jim's update is generally good--with one major exception. Lynne's doctors are very concerned about the large blood clot in her left leg and will put a filter in the vein that leads back to her heart, lungs, and brain. This surgical procedure has risks (Jim asks for our prayers), but the risk is greater that part of the clot will break loose and block a vital organ. 1-31-05 updateLynne is doing pretty good this weekend. They are talking about moving her out of ICU tomorrow (Monday). It has sure been a roller coaster ride, and I guess it is not over yet. She still has a lot of recovery and rehab work to get through. Please keep her in your prayers.

I can't tell you what it has meant to have all this prayer support and response from all of you. Thank you from the bottom of my heart!

Jim 2-3-05 update - Lynne has now been in a regular room since yesterday morning. She is doing pretty good. Her thought processes and communication are doing great now. She is still in some pain, but that is understandable given the pancreatitis and the surgery. Physical therapy is starting to work with her on getting her sitting up and standing. We've begun the long journey back.

I will never be able to express adequately how much your prayers and support have meant to my family and me. It has been an overwhelming experience to see this community pull together in this way. I love you all and am looking forward to seeing each one of you in person at some point in the future and having the opportunity to personally thank you.

Jim 2-7-05 update - After many days of progress, Lynne has experienced another setback. A CT Scan today showed two abscesses- one on her pancreas and one on her abdomen wall. She has had very bad stomach cramps and nausea most of the day and her fever has been as high as 103.8. They do not think surgery is a good alternative to repair the abscesses at this time, but have moved her back to ICU. 2-8-05 update -Jim's message at 9:15 Tuesday morning indicates that Lynne is a little better this morning. Her white count is down, her fever is down some, so they think the infection may be subsiding.

Jim spoke to the intervention radiologist (who knew there was such a thing) said there is not enough coalescence in the abscesses to intervene right now. They will do another CT scan the end of the week.

They plan to take the NG tube back out today, and if things go as smoothly as planned she will move out of ICU tomorrow.

Jim said he hopes maybe this is just smaller step back instead of a major setback. 2-11-05 update -Just a quick update - Lynne has been doing pretty good yesterday and today and they have now moved her back out of ICU! Here's praying that she doesn't have to go back there again. 2-15-05 update - Lynne is continuing to do OK. They did another CT scan on Sunday and it shows the abcess on her pancreas is still very diffuse, so nothing can be done to drain it at this point. They plan to continue to keep her on antibiotics for a long period of time to help stave off any infection from this and continue to monitor.She is improving in strength and endurance little by little. Today they have moved her finally to the Regency Hospital on the 4th floor inside of St. Francis hospital. This is a Long Term Acute Care (LTAC) facility and they'll be able to work with her more aggressively on physical and cognitive therapy to get her up and moving which will be the next step to getting her home. 2-22-05 update - Things are still pretty stable. Lynne started physical therapy to get her able to get up last week. She made it to the point where she was able to sit up in a chair for over an hour. However on Friday she developed another blood clot - this one in her right leg. The doctors have put her back on bed rest and no therapy until the clot clears some with the blood thinners they are giving her. They are optomistic that she might be able to restart therapy tomorrow, but we'll have to see. Although it seems there is always something else, we do still seem to be making slow progress. 3-2-05 update -Lynne is continuing to improve slowly. She has now gotten out of bed and walked (using a walker) a couple of times for 15-20 feet each time. She is continuing to work on leg exercises to strengthen her legs. Yesterday she sat up in the chair for 2 hours and ate lunch in the chair.

Yesterday they switched all of her IV antibiotics to pill form (as closely as they could) which they will continue for a couple more weeks. We'll need to keep a close watch for any change in the infection level from the abscesses with the changed antibiotic, but so far so good.

Thanks to all for your continued prayers. Lynne is really amazed at the extent of those praying for her.

1-4-05 Natalie Bear and Mom(Becca) - awaiting liver transplant Mom is a match for a living donor transplant to Natalie Bear. Awaiting date for surgery. The surgery is now Wednesday Feb. 9.
1-24-05 Miss Natalie is again a very sick little girl.
We are on our way to Children's Memorial right now. I'm signing off after I type this to drive there. Her tummy is huge (fluid collecting around the organs due to end stage liver disease) and they are going to try to tap it tomorrow. 1-27-05 Well, the "tapping" showed that the ascites fluid is not infected. So the plan is to treat this like it is cholangitis (that will make it #3 for her). She is getting a PICC line right now. Then they want to send us home on IV anti-biotics until the transplant.After 2 full days, already her fevers are gone. Her belly is a bit smaller, but I think that they will send us home on a diuretic.Her mood has improved (even though she's been NPO (orders to have no food or drink) for 18 hours)! She continues to be my little German-Irish spit-fire. She has gotten blood drawn 4 or 5 times now since we've been in-patient, and I've said it 100 times, I have no idea where she gets her temper from! 1-31-05 update Well, today is my last day at work until after the surgery. We are home from our latest hospital stay. The bear is strong and feeling good. She's on IV meds, a diuretic, and blood pressure medication. The doctors would like us to keep the bear home from daycare. Thanks again, for all your prayers and encouraging words! Our priest came over yesterday and blessed us both. That has helped to bring me some comfort...it's out of my hands now and into God's. from their website - Here's the transplant schedule:
Feb. 8:
11am - Becca - post-op exam (Northwestern)
2pm - Admit Natalie (Children's)

Feb. 9:
6am - Becca report to Northwestern
7am - Becca wheeled in to surgery
approx. 11am - Natalie's surgery to start at Children's
2-8-05 - Natalie will be admitted today at Children's Memorial. Tomorrow's schedule looks like this:

6am - Mom reports to Northwestern
7am - Mom wheeled in to surgery
approx. 11am - Natalie's surgery to start at Children's
Mom's surgery is expected to be around 6 hours and Natalie's will be 12+. Following surgeries mom will be discharged probably by Friday from Northwestern. Natalie will (most likely) be in-patient for a month.
2-9-05 today is the BIG Day. 2-11-05 - Both surgeries went quite well. Becca is recovering fine at Northwestern. She is on a pump for pain management and is quite, understandably, sore, but in great spirits. There was talk about releasing her tonight, but she's hoping its tomorrow so she gets a bit more time for rest and recovery.

The surgeons were not able to close up Natalie's incision completely so tomorrow she will be taken back to surgery for that. It is not uncommon for kids who've just received liver transplants to need to be left "open" a bit to give time for the body to adjust to the size of the new liver and to let the swelling go down. They are keeping Natalie in a "paralyzed" state so that she doesn't move until she's completely closed up. She is on a respirator, but doing quite a bit of the breathing on her own. 2-12-05 update Natalie went back to surgery this morning due to her hepatic artery being blocked. Her liver numbers began rising, causing the need to operate to find the source of the problem. The doctors feel that the artery became blocked due to pressure from her being closed up yesterday. There is now flow through the hepatic artery, but the surgeon had to leave her "open" meaning not even her skin is stitched together. Her incision is covered with gauze. She will be left this way for 2-3 days. Natalie has been relisted for a transplant, but not as Status 1 (the highest lising status possible). There is no plan right now to re-transplant her, but because of the blockage, there has been some damage to the liver. How much, they don't know yet. 2-13-05 update - Natalie had an ultrasound today that showed positive results, there is blood flow (good flow actually) in the hepatic artery. She is still heavily sedated, since she is still "open." Please keep praying. 2-15-05 update - Natalie was taken back into surgery around 5pm because heart rate rose and her blood pressure dropped. She also began bleeding out her JP drain. Her abdomen was getting so distended that her kidneys were having a hard time keeping up. During the surgery, they removed many blood clots and her kidneys were able to begin producing urine. The hepatic artery is still good with blood flow. They say this is a normal set back, but aren't sure what caused the bleed - possibly from the heparin used to thin her blood after the last surgery. She was out of surgery around 7pm. 2-20-05 update - Natalie is doing great! The surgeon didn't feel comfortable closing her completely on Friday, but did stretch her a bit to get her incision not so open. Her body is very happy with this and her liver numbers are staying great. Some were even normal - yippee!!! They are starting to turn down the respirator a bit so she is doing even more breathing on her own. Becca said that her and Natalie even played with a balloon a bit, and that Natalie was trying to clap, but can't because they have her arms restrained so she won't pull her breathing tube out. They're going to start giving Natalie some formula through her NG tube (through her nose) rather than through her IV. This is progress. Hopefully, if all continues well, on Tuesday they will take her back to surgery to try to close her completely. Keep the prayers coming! They've brought her this far. Let's get this kid up and going!

Becca is doing fine. 2-22-05 update - Natalie's surgery to close her up scheduled for today was bumped to tomorrow.

Currently she is at IR (interventional radiology) to get a new PICC line put in. Her direct line (at her neck) started coming out and the site appears to be infected. Ick! This shouldn't be a huge problem though, since she's on enough antibiotics to cure a HORSE. She is doing GREAT!!! Her liver numbers look AWESOME!!! 2-23-05 update -Natalie had another good night last night. She got a new PICC line in her femoral artery yesterday. They then removed the PICC line in her arm and the Artery line in her hand. So she’s left with a subclavian line (in her chest) and a femoral line.

The surgeons were busy yesterday, they finished up with the second transplant around 2am today. It looks like Natalie's surgery to close her will be around 1pm today.
2-24-05 update - Natalie was closed up yesterday...phew. We are now watching her liver function tests and ultrasounds closely to make sure that there are no complications like last time. She is still VERY sleepy from yesterday's procedure. We're waiting on her to wake up a bit more before we can start to wean her off the vent. 2-25-05 update - Natalie's liver numbers continue to improve, slowly. She is still on the vent.

Every morning she has an X-Ray to look at her lungs. Today's X-ray looked "wet." The theory is that after closing her up, more pressure is being put on her lungs and she's not able to take deep breaths (this is not uncommon). So they are giving her a little lasix (diuretic) to help get rid of the excess fluid.

Also, this morning they stopped her feeds. She hadn't had a poopy diaper in 2 days. And her tummy was getting bigger as things "backed up." An hour after they took her food away she gave her nurse a poopy diaper - that'll show them.

At this point we're not going forward, but we're not moving back either. It's frustrating. 2-27-05 update - Oh what a wonderful day!!!

Dr. Superina (her surgeon that I swear walks on water) came by today on the morning rounds. They have decided to agressively wean Miss Natalie OFF of the vent. They have slowly begun the process today and plan on pulling it out tomorrow. (We hope she agrees with this.) Yesterday they started feeding her again, but just with pedialight. Dr. Superina said that he thinks she can handle regular food. So they have started giving her Isomil though her NG tube. But again, very slowly, only 5 ml an hour, then moving up 5 ml every 3 hours if she tolerates it well.

She SAT UP TODAY!!! Daddy and I helped her. We placed blankets next to her - to help prop her up - she's so weak. But she had a wonderful time playing with her see-n-say and sitting there for a little while!!!

Thanks all for your words of encouragement. We're praying for more good days to come! 2-28-05 update - Grrr...As with all things, what goes up must come down and such is the roller coaster of our lives.

The doctors are still planning on pulling the vent today. So that's a good thing. Natalie's LFTs (Liver Function Tests) rose over the weekend - that's not a good thing. She has an ultrasound scheduled for later today. The doctors are thinking that this could be a mild case of rejection.

The "R" word. No parent of a transplant kid wants to hear it. But they have told us that it can be easily controlled with a few days of steroids.

After the ultrasound, we'll know more. They may do a biopsy tomorrow 3-1-05 update - Our big girl is having a super day!

This morning they decided to repeat the ultrasound from yesterday. Something looked funny and after a second look, it was determined that all was fine.

Her liver numbers went down. Most likely this is explained by her having a mild case of rejection followed with the steroids the gave her prior to pulling the vent. It is believed that the steriods helped to get the rejection under control. At least that is the theory for now.

We'll continue to monitor her LFTs.

She just drank 8oz of apple juice and happily played with her new Fisher Price Castle this morning!!! She's napping now. 3-2-05 update - Right now Natalie is running a fever of 102. But her LFTs continue to improve. She is also starting to get puffy as a side affect of the steroids.

For breakfast she ate 1/2 of a breakfast sausage - we're taking baby steps on the food thing.

Today's plan of action looks like this:
-Do cultures of blood to look for a bacterial infection (she's been on anti-viral meds up to now)
-Pull her subclavian line since it's been in for 21 days
-SEND US TO 6 WEST!!!

That's right, we're getting out of the ICU!!! WOOHOO!

I'll make changes to the page once I know the room number. Hopefully the move will be today... 3-3-05 update - What a very busy day we all had. First things first, she kept daddy up ALL night and then she took a 5 hour "nap" today. Poor daddy. He's sleeping at the hospital with her and I am here at the Kohl's house.

Natalie is eating like a horse (well, a little pony anyway)! For dinner she had some cut up pieces of chicken, 3 smily-face fries, applesauce, 2 chicken nuggets (of mommies), a few french fries, 4 cookies, and 3 ounces of apple juice to wash it down! Gotta' love those steroids!!!

Her LFTs went back up today, so a liver biopsy was done at 4 pm. This was to confirm rejection. An hour prior to the biopsy she had a new PICC line placed and her femoral line removed. Her PICC line, it should be said, was done WITHOUT sedation, just a local to numb the site. Her nurses and the docs said that they've never seen a kid like her. She didn't cry! Oh my sweet Natalie, how strong you are. Once she recovered from these procedures she was back to her normal self.

About the rejection: They went ahead and increased her steroids and they tell us that this should get the rejection under control. She was given a dose of steroids prior to having the vent pulled and this helped, but she'll need a few more days.

Since we're on the floor and some have wondered, Natalie is free to have HEALTHY visitors. 3-7-05 update -
Miss Natalie is again sick. How she contracted Rotavirus is anybody's guess - but hospitals are not always the cleanest place to be. She's back to getting IV fluids, mostly because we've been hard pressed to get her to keep anything down. She kept daddy - who, bless his heart, has been staying with her at the hospital - up ALL night last night.

It freaked us out a bit, since all of her meds are now oral.
She's on 11 meds, given a total of 25 times a day, so we're really hoping that this virus gets better soon. Even though she's immunosuppresed, she sould be able to fight it.

1-4-05 Go 4 It - diagnosed with lymphoma begins treatment today 1-18-05 She had her first chemo on Monday. She was a bit achy and sore and was heading in again Wednesday for support treatment. She's working when she feels she can and checks her emails and BOL then. Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers. 1-26-05 update - I am in treatment. On Wednesday I will get results to another biopsy that I had on Monday....At times under the weather....but my faith is strong, my husband is wonderful and I have good friends.....
1-31-05 update - So that you can update the prayer list.....

My biopsy was negative.. Treatment is ongoing. The first week was quite rough but after that it appears that I as good as before I was diagnosed. The second treatment is on the 7th and hopefully, it will follow the same pattern....I think I can "hang" pretty good with that.....

1-4-05 David Dickenson - thyroid illness I'm currently on 2 medications to keep my system in balance. They are working wonderfully. On Feb 2nd I take another radio-active pill to try and kill my thyroid again. It will then be 6-8 weeks before I know if it was successful. I would like to remain on your prayer list. Thank you for keeping me in your prayers.


1-5-05 Little Sister's niece - cancer returned
1-5-05 Fraud pup's friend's son, Zakery - almost drowned, still recovering
1-5-05 Skittles' Mom - triple bypass and valve replacement surgery recovering at home now Thanks so much for remembering my mother on the list. It's been just over a month since her surgery. She's recovering, but very slowly. She's still not eating and has lost 10 pounds, so her strength is coming back very slowly. She'll be 80 in 3 weeks, but is still a tough old bird. The visiting nurse thinks her slowness is possibly due to the fact that they had to go back in the next day due to her internal bleeding.
1-5-05 obx nut's Mom - stroke, unable to walk, in nursing home
1-5-05 Deena's Mom and Family - Mom battling lung cancer, family grieving over loss of Dad last October 2-14-05 update - I'd like to ask for your continued prayers for my mother and for our family. She is in the final stages of her illness now and probably doesn't have much time left - maybe a month or two. I met with a nurse from the hospice program last Friday and I believe they will be a great support for us. Please pray that my mother will continue to be comfortable and that, when her time comes, she will pass peacefully and painlessly into a wonderful place where she will no longer be sick. Thank you so much. Your prayers mean more than I can say.

1-6-05 Boomermom's co-worker - diagnosed with cancer/fell and broke her hip - had partial hip replacement 2-3-05 update - Is losing lots of weight. (7 pounds in last 2 weeks and had lost lots since becoming ill.) Doctors do not know why food is not digesting. Goes back to doctor for tests next week. 2-23-05 update - My co-worker came back to work part-time yesterday after her hip surgery. She cannot drive for six months so employees are picking her up and taking her home. She has to use a cane and others are helping her out so she doesn't have to walk any more than necessary. She is still not able to eat and has lost so much weight. Hopefully they will figure something out soon there.
1-7-05 Bear Collector's Dad - Hospitalized with Heart Attack
1-11-05 Princess ene - facing surgury that will result in her inability to bear a child Just wanted to give you an update, my dr finally called this morning and said my University consultation was approved. She is calling me back on Monday to notify me of which University. It will either be Standford or Davis. They said with cancer patients they usually can get in 2-3 weeks, all other appts usually take a month or longer. Because of the pain I'm experiencing and other symptoms she said she'd tried to get me in with the next couple of weeks. So please pray for my strength to accept whatever decision they make. Thanks!
2-11-05 update - You are in my prayers GB - on my side of things, they approved Davis. The waiting game continues though, now I have to wait for a nurse at Davis to contact my Dr to finalize an appt date. In the meantime I've been traveling back and forth to Fl/CA on business so it's been wearing on me. Thank you for your continued prayers 2-21-05 update - Just wanted to give an update - I finally received an appt, March 18 @ UCDavis. I'm both anxious and excited to be moving forward. Thank you for your continued prayers.

1-12-05 Melissa Ann's Husband - possible skin cancer

1-13-05 Corkygirl's father in law - in hospital with lung cancer and other illnesses. They moved my father-in-law to a nursing home yesterday. I don't think he will ever get back to his own apartment, I just hope my mother-in-law and sister-in-law don't try to keep him alive at all costs. We are too far away to have much say in it and that is hard on my husband. Thanks for your prayers
2-3-05 update - An update on my father-in-law, he will be released in the next few days to go back to his apartment. Not sure that's the best choice but he is better, able to go up a couple flights of stairs and will get home health care. There is nothing that can be done for any of the lung diseases or heart disease so no one knows how long he has but he is better and we are glad for that. Thanks for the prayers. 2-23-05 update - An update on my father-in-law, he was re-admitted to the hospital this week for pneumonia. The dr's are not giving him any treatment for the lung cancer, which tells us bunches, and this is a major setback for him. My mother-in-law is in denial to the seriousness of this situation and we are too far away to do much. We will need to make a trip to Pittsburgh sooner rather than later I think.

1-14-05 LadyLuck's Friend and her husband - he has been diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia and has cancerous cells in his lymph nodes. Undergoing chemotheraphy. 2-17-05 update - UPDATE: He had surgery last week to remove his kidney and a lot of the cancer inside. He is is still in the hospital. Hopefully this will help him on the road to recovery. Please continue to keep him in prayer. Thank you
1-21-05 Pizzaz's niece Channing - I'd like to add my niece to the prayer list. She's 2 and is being tested for autism. We're hoping she's just a slow developer with her social interaction and lack of speech. They're also going to test her hearing. So, please pray for little Channing. Thanks. 2-8-05 update - Update-my niece went for her hearing test and it's fine, she passed. So, now we undergo more therapy, early intervention to find out if she's just behind compared to others her age or whether she may have autism.Thanks for your continued prayers.
1-31-05 - Little Sister's Friend -A good friend of our family developed a virus and it settled around his heart. The sack around his heart has been filling up with fluid. They transported him to Rochester this weekend and yesterday they drew off 2 liters of fluid in the morning and more in the afternoon. This gave him instant relief but today we just found out that there was blood in the second fluid draw and have discovered that he has a hole in his aorta. He's being prepped right now for an 8 hour surgery and is considered very high risk. Please keep him in your prayers!!! Thanks! 2-2-05 update - Update on our friend...his surgery was successful. They also discovered an anurism on his aorta that they were able to repair. He'll be in the hospital for 7 to 10 days and then will be off work for 4 months. Thanks for your prayers and please keep remembering him as he has a long road of recovery.

2-11-05 Corkygirl's son - My oldest son is bipolar with paranoia and a recovering alcoholic and we have had a very, very scary week. His wife is out of town for 10 days and he fell apart Sunday night, missing 2 1/2 days of work and really struggling to get out of it. He did make many positive moves this week to take charge of his condition, he did not drink this time (YEA!!!), called his previous Dr and went back to that Dr. who made a change in his medicine. Those two things all by themselves are an improvement for him and we are grateful for that. I have asked for prayers from many of my friends and co-workers who know the situation and I know that those prayers were spoken and helped. He is back to work, on his way back out of this episode but I also know that this is not the end of these episodes for him. Since I know the power of prayer, I am asking for more please. It's baby steps but at-least it's steps forward instead of backwards and I don't want to lose him.
2-17-05 MT-n-Full's Friend - I just now received a call about one of my best friends from my former bank in DC. She was in a head on collision, suffered a stroke,has blot clots in her brain, and a lot more. She is one of the finest bank managers I have known. She is paralyzed also. Please place her on the prayer list asap. Thank you. (I am so upset. ) 3-2-05 update - On 2-17 I posted about my friend who was in an accident just over 2 weeks ago. The human body is so amazing when accompanied by prayers! My friend is now home recuperating. She is expected to fully recover from the stroke and makes progress everyday. The blood clots are better. Although her foot is in a cast, she can get around with a walker now by herself!!! She is having a little problem with math, telling time, searching the phone book - takes a little longer - but with her therapy she has greatly improved --- and she may be ready to return to work in as little as 8 weeks!!! Thank you for the prayers - it has truly been a miracle what she has accomplished so far!
2-21-05 Princess Ene's Father - Please add my father to the list. My mom just sent an email that my father had a TIA (mini stroke) last night. She said his arm and face went numb for about 15 minutes. It was pretty scary for them. They are running an MRI and Ultrasound today. My father has probably been ill a total of 2 times in his life time so we are puzzled. I'm going on the internet right now to read up on them. I'll update as I learn more.
2-23-05 Dawnie's Friend - If we could add Sondra to the list I'd appreciate it. She's flying down to Portland for a bone marrow test to see what her lukemia numbers are looking like after the stem cell harvest of a few months ago. This is her 11th bone marrow draw, and every one of them is quite painful and carry risk. The biggest risk though is that they find bad news instead of good so if ya'll could keep her in your prayers for a couple of days I'd appreciate it! 2-28-05 update - Sondra came home last night and is feeling great. No infection issues, and while they didn't give her final numbers, her initial numbers are looking good. I appreciate your prayer for my dear friend. I'll be praying for those still in need

2-23-05 Jim Bedsole's Brother-in-law - It just keeps piling on. Lynne's sister Debbie has been very close to us, especially during Lynne's recent illness. She has been down here from NC numerous times to cheer Lynne up. Well last Friday we just found out that Debbie's husband has leukemia. He is currently in Duke Medical Center undergoing heavy chemotherapy and some other type of therapy. They are also doing some tests that take up to 10 days to develop. After those tests they'll have a clearer picture of his status and prognosis.
2-28-05 Wacokid - Well, well, well. One of my eyes didn't turn out so good so I will have to have additional eye surgery on March 10th to cut a muscle and stitch it back up shorter. I am feeling fine but would appreciate your continued prayers to help me get thru the month of March.

Communal Requests:
All those grieving over the loss of a loved one.
All of those suffering from a chronic illness.
All of our military troops wherever they are serving our country.
All those affected by the 12-26-04 tsunami disaster.
All those who live with violence and poverty, without hope.
Jessica Lunsford, nine years old who is missing and all other children who are missing/kidnapped from their homes.

Let us know when our prayers are answered so we can remove them from our list. Prayer requests will be removed each Monday as warranted. If you post to this thread, I will update the list periodically.

I was given an appt for 3/18 at UCDavis. Your prayers are coveted. Also, my father was told he has two blood clots on either side of his brain. They are continuing tests but are puzzled. They say these type of brain clots are usually caused by head trauma, he's had none. Thank you for your continued prayers.

I've been trying to compile a prayer list of our BOL friends and family who need prayer. Please let me know if I've missed anyone. Thanks!

1-4-05 Jim and Lynne Bedsole - Lynne very ill showing signs of improvement after surgery and is off the ventilator specifically pray that her kidneys will begin to function again kidneys have some function Lynne had a seizure last night, seizures were caused by 1 or more strokes at the back of her brain Lynne had what is called a "watershed stroke." The event apparently occurred two weeks ago when her BP was very low. They know there has been some damage, but at this point it doesn't look like it should present any long-term deficit. Otherwise, she appears to be holding her own. Her heart is fine and kidney functions may be slightly better (but far from normal.)
Lynne's showing progress on all fronts:
- her thinking & communication is clearest since she was admitted to the hospital
- her surgery continues to heal nicely
- her lungs look good & breathing is OK
- her kidneys are starting to function more
Her doctors have halted the dialysis in hopes that her kidneys will take over and they have ordered physical therapy - beginning with sitting up on the side of the bed.

1-19-05 update Today's report is not very good. Jim describes this ordeal as a roller coaster ride of good days and not-so-good days. Although Lynne's doctors see slight improvement in her kidney functions, she's still in ICU and "remains very ill." The doctors are concerned that she's not making the kind of progress they expected at this point. Her white count is up and they don't know why. She'll have more tests and scans to look for evidence of various types of infections.
1-24-05 update - She's making good progress on all fronts:
- kidneys working well & dialysis no longer needed
- surgery healing
- confusion cleared up & neurologist is encouraged that she will recover fully from the stroke.She's eaten real food since Friday night and they hope to remove the feeding tube today. On Monday Jim expects she will move from ICU to the hospital's long term care unit.
1-26-05 update - Jim reports further setbacks this morning. Lynne's temperature has spiked as high as 103.5 and her white count is way up. Heartbeat, respiration, and potassium levels are also way up. Doctors have determined that she has a blood clot in her left leg and possibly elsewhere. She's scheduled for a CT scan & doppler today in order to determine the extent of the clot(s). She has not been conscious since Tuesday evening. 1-28-05 update -Late this morning, Jim's update is generally good--with one major exception. Lynne's doctors are very concerned about the large blood clot in her left leg and will put a filter in the vein that leads back to her heart, lungs, and brain. This surgical procedure has risks (Jim asks for our prayers), but the risk is greater that part of the clot will break loose and block a vital organ. 1-31-05 updateLynne is doing pretty good this weekend. They are talking about moving her out of ICU tomorrow (Monday). It has sure been a roller coaster ride, and I guess it is not over yet. She still has a lot of recovery and rehab work to get through. Please keep her in your prayers.

I can't tell you what it has meant to have all this prayer support and response from all of you. Thank you from the bottom of my heart!

Jim 2-3-05 update - Lynne has now been in a regular room since yesterday morning. She is doing pretty good. Her thought processes and communication are doing great now. She is still in some pain, but that is understandable given the pancreatitis and the surgery. Physical therapy is starting to work with her on getting her sitting up and standing. We've begun the long journey back.

I will never be able to express adequately how much your prayers and support have meant to my family and me. It has been an overwhelming experience to see this community pull together in this way. I love you all and am looking forward to seeing each one of you in person at some point in the future and having the opportunity to personally thank you.

Jim 2-7-05 update - After many days of progress, Lynne has experienced another setback. A CT Scan today showed two abscesses- one on her pancreas and one on her abdomen wall. She has had very bad stomach cramps and nausea most of the day and her fever has been as high as 103.8. They do not think surgery is a good alternative to repair the abscesses at this time, but have moved her back to ICU. 2-8-05 update -Jim's message at 9:15 Tuesday morning indicates that Lynne is a little better this morning. Her white count is down, her fever is down some, so they think the infection may be subsiding.

Jim spoke to the intervention radiologist (who knew there was such a thing) said there is not enough coalescence in the abscesses to intervene right now. They will do another CT scan the end of the week.

They plan to take the NG tube back out today, and if things go as smoothly as planned she will move out of ICU tomorrow.

Jim said he hopes maybe this is just smaller step back instead of a major setback. 2-11-05 update -Just a quick update - Lynne has been doing pretty good yesterday and today and they have now moved her back out of ICU! Here's praying that she doesn't have to go back there again. 2-15-05 update - Lynne is continuing to do OK. They did another CT scan on Sunday and it shows the abcess on her pancreas is still very diffuse, so nothing can be done to drain it at this point. They plan to continue to keep her on antibiotics for a long period of time to help stave off any infection from this and continue to monitor.She is improving in strength and endurance little by little. Today they have moved her finally to the Regency Hospital on the 4th floor inside of St. Francis hospital. This is a Long Term Acute Care (LTAC) facility and they'll be able to work with her more aggressively on physical and cognitive therapy to get her up and moving which will be the next step to getting her home. 2-22-05 update - Things are still pretty stable. Lynne started physical therapy to get her able to get up last week. She made it to the point where she was able to sit up in a chair for over an hour. However on Friday she developed another blood clot - this one in her right leg. The doctors have put her back on bed rest and no therapy until the clot clears some with the blood thinners they are giving her. They are optomistic that she might be able to restart therapy tomorrow, but we'll have to see. Although it seems there is always something else, we do still seem to be making slow progress. 3-2-05 update -Lynne is continuing to improve slowly. She has now gotten out of bed and walked (using a walker) a couple of times for 15-20 feet each time. She is continuing to work on leg exercises to strengthen her legs. Yesterday she sat up in the chair for 2 hours and ate lunch in the chair.

Yesterday they switched all of her IV antibiotics to pill form (as closely as they could) which they will continue for a couple more weeks. We'll need to keep a close watch for any change in the infection level from the abscesses with the changed antibiotic, but so far so good.

Thanks to all for your continued prayers. Lynne is really amazed at the extent of those praying for her. 3-9-05 update - They have actually started the preparation process for her going home. It looks like now it could be as early as Friday, but more likely Monday. She is continuing to walk well and is getting better on her ability to get up. She still needs some assistance in getting up, but is needing less than before. Soon she won't need any help and they'll get the catheter out and she'll be good to go.

We can't thank you all enough for your prayers. They have been answered in a mighty way. May God's blessings flow to each of you who lifted her up during this ordeal. Please don't stop praying for her now. She is still going to need a lot of recovery.

1-4-05 Natalie Bear and Mom(Becca) - awaiting liver transplant Mom is a match for a living donor transplant to Natalie Bear. Awaiting date for surgery. The surgery is now Wednesday Feb. 9.
1-24-05 Miss Natalie is again a very sick little girl.
We are on our way to Children's Memorial right now. I'm signing off after I type this to drive there. Her tummy is huge (fluid collecting around the organs due to end stage liver disease) and they are going to try to tap it tomorrow. 1-27-05 Well, the "tapping" showed that the ascites fluid is not infected. So the plan is to treat this like it is cholangitis (that will make it #3 for her). She is getting a PICC line right now. Then they want to send us home on IV anti-biotics until the transplant.After 2 full days, already her fevers are gone. Her belly is a bit smaller, but I think that they will send us home on a diuretic.Her mood has improved (even though she's been NPO (orders to have no food or drink) for 18 hours)! She continues to be my little German-Irish spit-fire. She has gotten blood drawn 4 or 5 times now since we've been in-patient, and I've said it 100 times, I have no idea where she gets her temper from! 1-31-05 update Well, today is my last day at work until after the surgery. We are home from our latest hospital stay. The bear is strong and feeling good. She's on IV meds, a diuretic, and blood pressure medication. The doctors would like us to keep the bear home from daycare. Thanks again, for all your prayers and encouraging words! Our priest came over yesterday and blessed us both. That has helped to bring me some comfort...it's out of my hands now and into God's. from their website - Here's the transplant schedule:
Feb. 8:
11am - Becca - post-op exam (Northwestern)
2pm - Admit Natalie (Children's)

Feb. 9:
6am - Becca report to Northwestern
7am - Becca wheeled in to surgery
approx. 11am - Natalie's surgery to start at Children's
2-8-05 - Natalie will be admitted today at Children's Memorial. Tomorrow's schedule looks like this:

6am - Mom reports to Northwestern
7am - Mom wheeled in to surgery
approx. 11am - Natalie's surgery to start at Children's
Mom's surgery is expected to be around 6 hours and Natalie's will be 12+. Following surgeries mom will be discharged probably by Friday from Northwestern. Natalie will (most likely) be in-patient for a month.
2-9-05 today is the BIG Day. 2-11-05 - Both surgeries went quite well. Becca is recovering fine at Northwestern. She is on a pump for pain management and is quite, understandably, sore, but in great spirits. There was talk about releasing her tonight, but she's hoping its tomorrow so she gets a bit more time for rest and recovery.

The surgeons were not able to close up Natalie's incision completely so tomorrow she will be taken back to surgery for that. It is not uncommon for kids who've just received liver transplants to need to be left "open" a bit to give time for the body to adjust to the size of the new liver and to let the swelling go down. They are keeping Natalie in a "paralyzed" state so that she doesn't move until she's completely closed up. She is on a respirator, but doing quite a bit of the breathing on her own. 2-12-05 update Natalie went back to surgery this morning due to her hepatic artery being blocked. Her liver numbers began rising, causing the need to operate to find the source of the problem. The doctors feel that the artery became blocked due to pressure from her being closed up yesterday. There is now flow through the hepatic artery, but the surgeon had to leave her "open" meaning not even her skin is stitched together. Her incision is covered with gauze. She will be left this way for 2-3 days. Natalie has been relisted for a transplant, but not as Status 1 (the highest lising status possible). There is no plan right now to re-transplant her, but because of the blockage, there has been some damage to the liver. How much, they don't know yet. 2-13-05 update - Natalie had an ultrasound today that showed positive results, there is blood flow (good flow actually) in the hepatic artery. She is still heavily sedated, since she is still "open." Please keep praying. 2-15-05 update - Natalie was taken back into surgery around 5pm because heart rate rose and her blood pressure dropped. She also began bleeding out her JP drain. Her abdomen was getting so distended that her kidneys were having a hard time keeping up. During the surgery, they removed many blood clots and her kidneys were able to begin producing urine. The hepatic artery is still good with blood flow. They say this is a normal set back, but aren't sure what caused the bleed - possibly from the heparin used to thin her blood after the last surgery. She was out of surgery around 7pm. 2-20-05 update - Natalie is doing great! The surgeon didn't feel comfortable closing her completely on Friday, but did stretch her a bit to get her incision not so open. Her body is very happy with this and her liver numbers are staying great. Some were even normal - yippee!!! They are starting to turn down the respirator a bit so she is doing even more breathing on her own. Becca said that her and Natalie even played with a balloon a bit, and that Natalie was trying to clap, but can't because they have her arms restrained so she won't pull her breathing tube out. They're going to start giving Natalie some formula through her NG tube (through her nose) rather than through her IV. This is progress. Hopefully, if all continues well, on Tuesday they will take her back to surgery to try to close her completely. Keep the prayers coming! They've brought her this far. Let's get this kid up and going!

Becca is doing fine. 2-22-05 update - Natalie's surgery to close her up scheduled for today was bumped to tomorrow.

Currently she is at IR (interventional radiology) to get a new PICC line put in. Her direct line (at her neck) started coming out and the site appears to be infected. Ick! This shouldn't be a huge problem though, since she's on enough antibiotics to cure a HORSE. She is doing GREAT!!! Her liver numbers look AWESOME!!! 2-23-05 update -Natalie had another good night last night. She got a new PICC line in her femoral artery yesterday. They then removed the PICC line in her arm and the Artery line in her hand. So she’s left with a subclavian line (in her chest) and a femoral line.

The surgeons were busy yesterday, they finished up with the second transplant around 2am today. It looks like Natalie's surgery to close her will be around 1pm today.
2-24-05 update - Natalie was closed up yesterday...phew. We are now watching her liver function tests and ultrasounds closely to make sure that there are no complications like last time. She is still VERY sleepy from yesterday's procedure. We're waiting on her to wake up a bit more before we can start to wean her off the vent. 2-25-05 update - Natalie's liver numbers continue to improve, slowly. She is still on the vent.

Every morning she has an X-Ray to look at her lungs. Today's X-ray looked "wet." The theory is that after closing her up, more pressure is being put on her lungs and she's not able to take deep breaths (this is not uncommon). So they are giving her a little lasix (diuretic) to help get rid of the excess fluid.

Also, this morning they stopped her feeds. She hadn't had a poopy diaper in 2 days. And her tummy was getting bigger as things "backed up." An hour after they took her food away she gave her nurse a poopy diaper - that'll show them.

At this point we're not going forward, but we're not moving back either. It's frustrating. 2-27-05 update - Oh what a wonderful day!!!

Dr. Superina (her surgeon that I swear walks on water) came by today on the morning rounds. They have decided to agressively wean Miss Natalie OFF of the vent. They have slowly begun the process today and plan on pulling it out tomorrow. (We hope she agrees with this.) Yesterday they started feeding her again, but just with pedialight. Dr. Superina said that he thinks she can handle regular food. So they have started giving her Isomil though her NG tube. But again, very slowly, only 5 ml an hour, then moving up 5 ml every 3 hours if she tolerates it well.

She SAT UP TODAY!!! Daddy and I helped her. We placed blankets next to her - to help prop her up - she's so weak. But she had a wonderful time playing with her see-n-say and sitting there for a little while!!!

Thanks all for your words of encouragement. We're praying for more good days to come! 2-28-05 update - Grrr...As with all things, what goes up must come down and such is the roller coaster of our lives.

The doctors are still planning on pulling the vent today. So that's a good thing. Natalie's LFTs (Liver Function Tests) rose over the weekend - that's not a good thing. She has an ultrasound scheduled for later today. The doctors are thinking that this could be a mild case of rejection.

The "R" word. No parent of a transplant kid wants to hear it. But they have told us that it can be easily controlled with a few days of steroids.

After the ultrasound, we'll know more. They may do a biopsy tomorrow 3-1-05 update - Our big girl is having a super day!

This morning they decided to repeat the ultrasound from yesterday. Something looked funny and after a second look, it was determined that all was fine.

Her liver numbers went down. Most likely this is explained by her having a mild case of rejection followed with the steroids the gave her prior to pulling the vent. It is believed that the steriods helped to get the rejection under control. At least that is the theory for now.

We'll continue to monitor her LFTs.

She just drank 8oz of apple juice and happily played with her new Fisher Price Castle this morning!!! She's napping now. 3-2-05 update - Right now Natalie is running a fever of 102. But her LFTs continue to improve. She is also starting to get puffy as a side affect of the steroids.

For breakfast she ate 1/2 of a breakfast sausage - we're taking baby steps on the food thing.

Today's plan of action looks like this:
-Do cultures of blood to look for a bacterial infection (she's been on anti-viral meds up to now)
-Pull her subclavian line since it's been in for 21 days
-SEND US TO 6 WEST!!!

That's right, we're getting out of the ICU!!! WOOHOO!

I'll make changes to the page once I know the room number. Hopefully the move will be today... 3-3-05 update - What a very busy day we all had. First things first, she kept daddy up ALL night and then she took a 5 hour "nap" today. Poor daddy. He's sleeping at the hospital with her and I am here at the Kohl's house.

Natalie is eating like a horse (well, a little pony anyway)! For dinner she had some cut up pieces of chicken, 3 smily-face fries, applesauce, 2 chicken nuggets (of mommies), a few french fries, 4 cookies, and 3 ounces of apple juice to wash it down! Gotta' love those steroids!!!

Her LFTs went back up today, so a liver biopsy was done at 4 pm. This was to confirm rejection. An hour prior to the biopsy she had a new PICC line placed and her femoral line removed. Her PICC line, it should be said, was done WITHOUT sedation, just a local to numb the site. Her nurses and the docs said that they've never seen a kid like her. She didn't cry! Oh my sweet Natalie, how strong you are. Once she recovered from these procedures she was back to her normal self.

About the rejection: They went ahead and increased her steroids and they tell us that this should get the rejection under control. She was given a dose of steroids prior to having the vent pulled and this helped, but she'll need a few more days.

Since we're on the floor and some have wondered, Natalie is free to have HEALTHY visitors. 3-7-05 update -
Miss Natalie is again sick. How she contracted Rotavirus is anybody's guess - but hospitals are not always the cleanest place to be. She's back to getting IV fluids, mostly because we've been hard pressed to get her to keep anything down. She kept daddy - who, bless his heart, has been staying with her at the hospital - up ALL night last night.

It freaked us out a bit, since all of her meds are now oral.
She's on 11 meds, given a total of 25 times a day, so we're really hoping that this virus gets better soon. Even though she's immunosuppresed, she sould be able to fight it. 3-8-05 update - Rotavirus - a blessing in disguise? Long story short - we may be going home tomorrow or Wednesday - to our own home!!!!! During the doctor's rounds it was stated to us that there is no longer a medical need for Natalie to be staying here. They would like to discharge us to Kohl's house due to the driving distance between Byron and Chicago, but Natalie has to be Rotavirus-free for 3 weeks in order to not spread the virus to other kids at Kohl's house. So it looks like home is a better option.

1-4-05 Go 4 It - diagnosed with lymphoma begins treatment today 1-18-05 She had her first chemo on Monday. She was a bit achy and sore and was heading in again Wednesday for support treatment. She's working when she feels she can and checks her emails and BOL then. Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers. 1-26-05 update - I am in treatment. On Wednesday I will get results to another biopsy that I had on Monday....At times under the weather....but my faith is strong, my husband is wonderful and I have good friends.....
1-31-05 update - So that you can update the prayer list.....

My biopsy was negative.. Treatment is ongoing. The first week was quite rough but after that it appears that I as good as before I was diagnosed. The second treatment is on the 7th and hopefully, it will follow the same pattern....I think I can "hang" pretty good with that.....

1-4-05 David Dickenson - thyroid illness I'm currently on 2 medications to keep my system in balance. They are working wonderfully. On Feb 2nd I take another radio-active pill to try and kill my thyroid again. It will then be 6-8 weeks before I know if it was successful. I would like to remain on your prayer list. Thank you for keeping me in your prayers.


1-5-05 Little Sister's niece - cancer returned

1-5-05 Fraud pup's friend's son, Zakery - almost drowned, still recovering

1-5-05 Skittles' Mom - triple bypass and valve replacement surgery recovering at home now Thanks so much for remembering my mother on the list. It's been just over a month since her surgery. She's recovering, but very slowly. She's still not eating and has lost 10 pounds, so her strength is coming back very slowly. She'll be 80 in 3 weeks, but is still a tough old bird. The visiting nurse thinks her slowness is possibly due to the fact that they had to go back in the next day due to her internal bleeding.

1-5-05 obx nut's Mom - stroke, unable to walk, in nursing home

1-5-05 Deena's Mom and Family - Mom battling lung cancer, family grieving over loss of Dad last October 2-14-05 update - I'd like to ask for your continued prayers for my mother and for our family. She is in the final stages of her illness now and probably doesn't have much time left - maybe a month or two. I met with a nurse from the hospice program last Friday and I believe they will be a great support for us. Please pray that my mother will continue to be comfortable and that, when her time comes, she will pass peacefully and painlessly into a wonderful place where she will no longer be sick. Thank you so much. Your prayers mean more than I can say.

1-6-05 Boomermom's co-worker - diagnosed with cancer/fell and broke her hip - had partial hip replacement 2-3-05 update - Is losing lots of weight. (7 pounds in last 2 weeks and had lost lots since becoming ill.) Doctors do not know why food is not digesting. Goes back to doctor for tests next week. 2-23-05 update - My co-worker came back to work part-time yesterday after her hip surgery. She cannot drive for six months so employees are picking her up and taking her home. She has to use a cane and others are helping her out so she doesn't have to walk any more than necessary. She is still not able to eat and has lost so much weight. Hopefully they will figure something out soon there.

1-7-05 Bear Collector's Dad - Hospitalized with Heart Attack

1-11-05 Princess ene - facing surgury that will result in her inability to bear a child Just wanted to give you an update, my dr finally called this morning and said my University consultation was approved. She is calling me back on Monday to notify me of which University. It will either be Standford or Davis. They said with cancer patients they usually can get in 2-3 weeks, all other appts usually take a month or longer. Because of the pain I'm experiencing and other symptoms she said she'd tried to get me in with the next couple of weeks. So please pray for my strength to accept whatever decision they make. Thanks!
2-11-05 update - You are in my prayers GB - on my side of things, they approved Davis. The waiting game continues though, now I have to wait for a nurse at Davis to contact my Dr to finalize an appt date. In the meantime I've been traveling back and forth to Fl/CA on business so it's been wearing on me. Thank you for your continued prayers 2-21-05 update - Just wanted to give an update - I finally received an appt, March 18 @ UCDavis. I'm both anxious and excited to be moving forward. Thank you for your continued prayers. 3-8-05 update - I was given an appt for 3/18 at UCDavis. Your prayers are coveted

1-12-05 Melissa Ann's Husband - possible skin cancer

1-13-05 Corkygirl's father in law - in hospital with lung cancer and other illnesses. They moved my father-in-law to a nursing home yesterday. I don't think he will ever get back to his own apartment, I just hope my mother-in-law and sister-in-law don't try to keep him alive at all costs. We are too far away to have much say in it and that is hard on my husband. Thanks for your prayers
2-3-05 update - An update on my father-in-law, he will be released in the next few days to go back to his apartment. Not sure that's the best choice but he is better, able to go up a couple flights of stairs and will get home health care. There is nothing that can be done for any of the lung diseases or heart disease so no one knows how long he has but he is better and we are glad for that. Thanks for the prayers. 2-23-05 update - An update on my father-in-law, he was re-admitted to the hospital this week for pneumonia. The dr's are not giving him any treatment for the lung cancer, which tells us bunches, and this is a major setback for him. My mother-in-law is in denial to the seriousness of this situation and we are too far away to do much. We will need to make a trip to Pittsburgh sooner rather than later I think.

1-14-05 LadyLuck's Friend and her husband - he has been diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia and has cancerous cells in his lymph nodes. Undergoing chemotheraphy. 2-17-05 update - UPDATE: He had surgery last week to remove his kidney and a lot of the cancer inside. He is is still in the hospital. Hopefully this will help him on the road to recovery. Please continue to keep him in prayer. Thank you

1-21-05 Pizzaz's niece Channing - I'd like to add my niece to the prayer list. She's 2 and is being tested for autism. We're hoping she's just a slow developer with her social interaction and lack of speech. They're also going to test her hearing. So, please pray for little Channing. Thanks. 2-8-05 update - Update-my niece went for her hearing test and it's fine, she passed. So, now we undergo more therapy, early intervention to find out if she's just behind compared to others her age or whether she may have autism.Thanks for your continued prayers.

1-31-05 - Little Sister's Friend -A good friend of our family developed a virus and it settled around his heart. The sack around his heart has been filling up with fluid. They transported him to Rochester this weekend and yesterday they drew off 2 liters of fluid in the morning and more in the afternoon. This gave him instant relief but today we just found out that there was blood in the second fluid draw and have discovered that he has a hole in his aorta. He's being prepped right now for an 8 hour surgery and is considered very high risk. Please keep him in your prayers!!! Thanks! 2-2-05 update - Update on our friend...his surgery was successful. They also discovered an anurism on his aorta that they were able to repair. He'll be in the hospital for 7 to 10 days and then will be off work for 4 months. Thanks for your prayers and please keep remembering him as he has a long road of recovery.

2-11-05 Corkygirl's son - My oldest son is bipolar with paranoia and a recovering alcoholic and we have had a very, very scary week. His wife is out of town for 10 days and he fell apart Sunday night, missing 2 1/2 days of work and really struggling to get out of it. He did make many positive moves this week to take charge of his condition, he did not drink this time (YEA!!!), called his previous Dr and went back to that Dr. who made a change in his medicine. Those two things all by themselves are an improvement for him and we are grateful for that. I have asked for prayers from many of my friends and co-workers who know the situation and I know that those prayers were spoken and helped. He is back to work, on his way back out of this episode but I also know that this is not the end of these episodes for him. Since I know the power of prayer, I am asking for more please. It's baby steps but at-least it's steps forward instead of backwards and I don't want to lose him.

2-17-05 MT-n-Full's Friend - I just now received a call about one of my best friends from my former bank in DC. She was in a head on collision, suffered a stroke,has blot clots in her brain, and a lot more. She is one of the finest bank managers I have known. She is paralyzed also. Please place her on the prayer list asap. Thank you. (I am so upset. ) 3-2-05 update - On 2-17 I posted about my friend who was in an accident just over 2 weeks ago. The human body is so amazing when accompanied by prayers! My friend is now home recuperating. She is expected to fully recover from the stroke and makes progress everyday. The blood clots are better. Although her foot is in a cast, she can get around with a walker now by herself!!! She is having a little problem with math, telling time, searching the phone book - takes a little longer - but with her therapy she has greatly improved --- and she may be ready to return to work in as little as 8 weeks!!! Thank you for the prayers - it has truly been a miracle what she has accomplished so far!

2-21-05 Princess Ene's Father - Please add my father to the list. My mom just sent an email that my father had a TIA (mini stroke) last night. She said his arm and face went numb for about 15 minutes. It was pretty scary for them. They are running an MRI and Ultrasound today. My father has probably been ill a total of 2 times in his life time so we are puzzled. I'm going on the internet right now to read up on them. I'll update as I learn more. 3-8-05 update - my father was told he has two blood clots on either side of his brain. They are continuing tests but are puzzled. They say these type of brain clots are usually caused by head trauma, he's had none. Thank you for your continued prayers.

2-23-05 Dawnie's Friend - If we could add Sondra to the list I'd appreciate it. She's flying down to Portland for a bone marrow test to see what her lukemia numbers are looking like after the stem cell harvest of a few months ago. This is her 11th bone marrow draw, and every one of them is quite painful and carry risk. The biggest risk though is that they find bad news instead of good so if ya'll could keep her in your prayers for a couple of days I'd appreciate it! 2-28-05 update - Sondra came home last night and is feeling great. No infection issues, and while they didn't give her final numbers, her initial numbers are looking good. I appreciate your prayer for my dear friend. I'll be praying for those still in need

2-23-05 Jim Bedsole's Brother-in-law - It just keeps piling on. Lynne's sister Debbie has been very close to us, especially during Lynne's recent illness. She has been down here from NC numerous times to cheer Lynne up. Well last Friday we just found out that Debbie's husband has leukemia. He is currently in Duke Medical Center undergoing heavy chemotherapy and some other type of therapy. They are also doing some tests that take up to 10 days to develop. After those tests they'll have a clearer picture of his status and prognosis.

2-28-05 Wacokid - Well, well, well. One of my eyes didn't turn out so good so I will have to have additional eye surgery on March 10th to cut a muscle and stitch it back up shorter. I am feeling fine but would appreciate your continued prayers to help me get thru the month of March.

Communal Requests:
All those grieving over the loss of a loved one.
All of those suffering from a chronic illness.
All of our military troops wherever they are serving our country.
All those affected by the 12-26-04 tsunami disaster.
All those who live with violence and poverty, without hope.
Jessica Lunsford, nine years old who is missing and all other children who are missing/kidnapped from their homes.
All of the families of at least 27 elementary school children who diedafter eating a snack during morning recess Wednesday in the southern Philippines consisting of cassava prepared by a street vendor.


Let us know when our prayers are answered so we can remove them from our list. Prayer requests will be removed each Monday as warranted. If you post to this thread, I will update the list periodically.

I've been trying to compile a prayer list of our BOL friends and family who need prayer. Please let me know if I've missed anyone. Thanks!

1-4-05 Jim and Lynne Bedsole - Lynne admitted to the hospital Christmas Day. After a lot of ups and downs they have actually started the preparation process for her going home. It looks like now it could be as early as Friday(3-11-05), but more likely Monday. She is continuing to walk well and is getting better on her ability to get up. She still needs some assistance in getting up, but is needing less than before. Soon she won't need any help and they'll get the catheter out and she'll be good to go.

We can't thank you all enough for your prayers. They have been answered in a mighty way. May God's blessings flow to each of you who lifted her up during this ordeal. Please don't stop praying for her now. She is still going to need a lot of recovery.

1-4-05 Natalie Bear and Mom(Becca) - awaiting liver transplant Mom is a match for a living donor transplant to Natalie Bear. Liver transplant took place 2-9-05. 3-10-05 update - This morning labs were drawn and it appears that Natalie is again having a rejection episode. (At least that is how they are treating it.) It is minor, and without the labs we would not be able to tell by looking at her. In fact she's "talking" the nurses heads off today!

They have decided based on this latest news to change Natalie from Cyclosporin (Neoral) to Prograf. Both are "anti-rejection" meds. But Prograf is MUCH stronger and without the "hairgrowth" sideaffect that Neoral has.
late night 3-10-05 update - LFTs are again on the rise, even after increasing the steroids and changing to Prograf. So Natalie had a biopsy today. Her doctors want to confirm rejection, for which she's getting treated. Dr. Whitington, has hypothesized that her LFTs (Liver function tests) are on the rise for one of two reasons.
1. Rejection
2. The Rotavirus made it's way into the liver. While this is uncommon, he has seen it before.

However, Natalie is eating like a champ - she ate a whole plate of spaghetti today and then followed it up with 12 ounces of grape juice!!! 3-11-05 update - Home! Home! Home!
We are going home today!!!!!

Phew...my head is in a whirlwind, need to breathe...

Natalie's liver numbers improved overnight, it looks like it was rejection and the extra steroids are working. We'll probably be here for the rest of the day, waiting for scripts for prescriptions and discharge orders, but who cares - we're leaving!!!

We have to come back next Monday and Thursday for appointments. That's OK with us!!!

The biggest thing that we need to remember is that Natalie is immuno-suppressed. So we have to keep her away from crowds or large gatherings for 6 months. She needs to be kept in a controlled - CLEAN - environment and be kept away from those that are sick. But at the same time we have to try to give her a normal life.

You guys rock!!!! Thanks for being our prayer warriors. Surely you have all reserved your places in heaven.


1-4-05 Go 4 It - diagnosed with lymphoma begins treatment today 1-18-05 She had her first chemo on Monday. She was a bit achy and sore and was heading in again Wednesday for support treatment. She's working when she feels she can and checks her emails and BOL then. Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers. 1-26-05 update - I am in treatment. On Wednesday I will get results to another biopsy that I had on Monday....At times under the weather....but my faith is strong, my husband is wonderful and I have good friends.....
1-31-05 update - So that you can update the prayer list.....

My biopsy was negative.. Treatment is ongoing. The first week was quite rough but after that it appears that I as good as before I was diagnosed. The second treatment is on the 7th and hopefully, it will follow the same pattern....I think I can "hang" pretty good with that.....

1-4-05 David Dickenson - thyroid illness I'm currently on 2 medications to keep my system in balance. They are working wonderfully. On Feb 2nd I take another radio-active pill to try and kill my thyroid again. It will then be 6-8 weeks before I know if it was successful. I would like to remain on your prayer list. Thank you for keeping me in your prayers.


1-5-05 Little Sister's niece - cancer returned

1-5-05 Fraud pup's friend's son, Zakery - almost drowned, still recovering

1-5-05 Skittles' Mom - triple bypass and valve replacement surgery recovering at home now Thanks so much for remembering my mother on the list. It's been just over a month since her surgery. She's recovering, but very slowly. She's still not eating and has lost 10 pounds, so her strength is coming back very slowly. She'll be 80 in 3 weeks, but is still a tough old bird. The visiting nurse thinks her slowness is possibly due to the fact that they had to go back in the next day due to her internal bleeding.

1-5-05 obx nut's Mom - stroke, unable to walk, in nursing home

1-5-05 Deena's Mom and Family - Mom battling lung cancer, family grieving over loss of Dad last October 2-14-05 update - I'd like to ask for your continued prayers for my mother and for our family. She is in the final stages of her illness now and probably doesn't have much time left - maybe a month or two. I met with a nurse from the hospice program last Friday and I believe they will be a great support for us. Please pray that my mother will continue to be comfortable and that, when her time comes, she will pass peacefully and painlessly into a wonderful place where she will no longer be sick. Thank you so much. Your prayers mean more than I can say.

1-6-05 Boomermom's co-worker - diagnosed with cancer/fell and broke her hip - had partial hip replacement 2-3-05 update - Is losing lots of weight. (7 pounds in last 2 weeks and had lost lots since becoming ill.) Doctors do not know why food is not digesting. Goes back to doctor for tests next week. 2-23-05 update - My co-worker came back to work part-time yesterday after her hip surgery. She cannot drive for six months so employees are picking her up and taking her home. She has to use a cane and others are helping her out so she doesn't have to walk any more than necessary. She is still not able to eat and has lost so much weight. Hopefully they will figure something out soon there.

1-7-05 Bear Collector's Dad - Hospitalized with Heart Attack

1-11-05 Princess ene - facing surgury that will result in her inability to bear a child Just wanted to give you an update, my dr finally called this morning and said my University consultation was approved. She is calling me back on Monday to notify me of which University. It will either be Standford or Davis. They said with cancer patients they usually can get in 2-3 weeks, all other appts usually take a month or longer. Because of the pain I'm experiencing and other symptoms she said she'd tried to get me in with the next couple of weeks. So please pray for my strength to accept whatever decision they make. Thanks!
2-11-05 update - You are in my prayers GB - on my side of things, they approved Davis. The waiting game continues though, now I have to wait for a nurse at Davis to contact my Dr to finalize an appt date. In the meantime I've been traveling back and forth to Fl/CA on business so it's been wearing on me. Thank you for your continued prayers 2-21-05 update - Just wanted to give an update - I finally received an appt, March 18 @ UCDavis. I'm both anxious and excited to be moving forward. Thank you for your continued prayers. 3-8-05 update - I was given an appt for 3/18 at UCDavis. Your prayers are coveted

1-12-05 Melissa Ann's Husband - possible skin cancer

1-13-05 Corkygirl's father in law - in hospital with lung cancer and other illnesses. They moved my father-in-law to a nursing home yesterday. I don't think he will ever get back to his own apartment, I just hope my mother-in-law and sister-in-law don't try to keep him alive at all costs. We are too far away to have much say in it and that is hard on my husband. Thanks for your prayers
2-3-05 update - An update on my father-in-law, he will be released in the next few days to go back to his apartment. Not sure that's the best choice but he is better, able to go up a couple flights of stairs and will get home health care. There is nothing that can be done for any of the lung diseases or heart disease so no one knows how long he has but he is better and we are glad for that. Thanks for the prayers. 2-23-05 update - An update on my father-in-law, he was re-admitted to the hospital this week for pneumonia. The dr's are not giving him any treatment for the lung cancer, which tells us bunches, and this is a major setback for him. My mother-in-law is in denial to the seriousness of this situation and we are too far away to do much. We will need to make a trip to Pittsburgh sooner rather than later I think.

1-14-05 LadyLuck's Friend and her husband - he has been diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia and has cancerous cells in his lymph nodes. Undergoing chemotheraphy. 2-17-05 update - UPDATE: He had surgery last week to remove his kidney and a lot of the cancer inside. He is is still in the hospital. Hopefully this will help him on the road to recovery. Please continue to keep him in prayer. Thank you

1-21-05 Pizzaz's niece Channing - I'd like to add my niece to the prayer list. She's 2 and is being tested for autism. We're hoping she's just a slow developer with her social interaction and lack of speech. They're also going to test her hearing. So, please pray for little Channing. Thanks. 2-8-05 update - Update-my niece went for her hearing test and it's fine, she passed. So, now we undergo more therapy, early intervention to find out if she's just behind compared to others her age or whether she may have autism.Thanks for your continued prayers.

1-31-05 - Little Sister's Friend -A good friend of our family developed a virus and it settled around his heart. The sack around his heart has been filling up with fluid. They transported him to Rochester this weekend and yesterday they drew off 2 liters of fluid in the morning and more in the afternoon. This gave him instant relief but today we just found out that there was blood in the second fluid draw and have discovered that he has a hole in his aorta. He's being prepped right now for an 8 hour surgery and is considered very high risk. Please keep him in your prayers!!! Thanks! 2-2-05 update - Update on our friend...his surgery was successful. They also discovered an anurism on his aorta that they were able to repair. He'll be in the hospital for 7 to 10 days and then will be off work for 4 months. Thanks for your prayers and please keep remembering him as he has a long road of recovery.

2-11-05 Corkygirl's son - My oldest son is bipolar with paranoia and a recovering alcoholic and we have had a very, very scary week. His wife is out of town for 10 days and he fell apart Sunday night, missing 2 1/2 days of work and really struggling to get out of it. He did make many positive moves this week to take charge of his condition, he did not drink this time (YEA!!!), called his previous Dr and went back to that Dr. who made a change in his medicine. Those two things all by themselves are an improvement for him and we are grateful for that. I have asked for prayers from many of my friends and co-workers who know the situation and I know that those prayers were spoken and helped. He is back to work, on his way back out of this episode but I also know that this is not the end of these episodes for him. Since I know the power of prayer, I am asking for more please. It's baby steps but at-least it's steps forward instead of backwards and I don't want to lose him.

2-17-05 MT-n-Full's Friend - I just now received a call about one of my best friends from my former bank in DC. She was in a head on collision, suffered a stroke,has blot clots in her brain, and a lot more. She is one of the finest bank managers I have known. She is paralyzed also. Please place her on the prayer list asap. Thank you. (I am so upset. ) 3-2-05 update - On 2-17 I posted about my friend who was in an accident just over 2 weeks ago. The human body is so amazing when accompanied by prayers! My friend is now home recuperating. She is expected to fully recover from the stroke and makes progress everyday. The blood clots are better. Although her foot is in a cast, she can get around with a walker now by herself!!! She is having a little problem with math, telling time, searching the phone book - takes a little longer - but with her therapy she has greatly improved --- and she may be ready to return to work in as little as 8 weeks!!! Thank you for the prayers - it has truly been a miracle what she has accomplished so far!

2-21-05 Princess Ene's Father - Please add my father to the list. My mom just sent an email that my father had a TIA (mini stroke) last night. She said his arm and face went numb for about 15 minutes. It was pretty scary for them. They are running an MRI and Ultrasound today. My father has probably been ill a total of 2 times in his life time so we are puzzled. I'm going on the internet right now to read up on them. I'll update as I learn more. 3-8-05 update - my father was told he has two blood clots on either side of his brain. They are continuing tests but are puzzled. They say these type of brain clots are usually caused by head trauma, he's had none. Thank you for your continued prayers.

2-23-05 Dawnie's Friend - If we could add Sondra to the list I'd appreciate it. She's flying down to Portland for a bone marrow test to see what her lukemia numbers are looking like after the stem cell harvest of a few months ago. This is her 11th bone marrow draw, and every one of them is quite painful and carry risk. The biggest risk though is that they find bad news instead of good so if ya'll could keep her in your prayers for a couple of days I'd appreciate it! 2-28-05 update - Sondra came home last night and is feeling great. No infection issues, and while they didn't give her final numbers, her initial numbers are looking good. I appreciate your prayer for my dear friend. I'll be praying for those still in need

2-23-05 Jim Bedsole's Brother-in-law - It just keeps piling on. Lynne's sister Debbie has been very close to us, especially during Lynne's recent illness. She has been down here from NC numerous times to cheer Lynne up. Well last Friday we just found out that Debbie's husband has leukemia. He is currently in Duke Medical Center undergoing heavy chemotherapy and some other type of therapy. They are also doing some tests that take up to 10 days to develop. After those tests they'll have a clearer picture of his status and prognosis.

2-28-05 Wacokid - Well, well, well. One of my eyes didn't turn out so good so I will have to have additional eye surgery on March 10th to cut a muscle and stitch it back up shorter. I am feeling fine but would appreciate your continued prayers to help me get thru the month of March.

3-10-05 Boomer's Wife - My wife and I have recently been told she has Lymphoma Cancer and she is undergoing chemo treatments.

Communal Requests:
All those grieving over the loss of a loved one.
All of those suffering from a chronic illness.
All of our military troops wherever they are serving our country.
All those affected by the 12-26-04 tsunami disaster.
All those who live with violence and poverty, without hope.
Jessica Lunsford, nine years old who is missing and all other children who are missing/kidnapped from their homes.
All of the families of at least 27 elementary school children who diedafter eating a snack during morning recess Wednesday in the southern Philippines consisting of cassava prepared by a street vendor.


Let us know when our prayers are answered so we can remove them from our list. Prayer requests will be removed each Monday as warranted. If you post to this thread, I will update the list periodically.

I've been trying to compile a prayer list of our BOL friends and family who need prayer. Please let me know if I've missed anyone. Thanks!

1-4-05 Jim and Lynne Bedsole - Lynne admitted to the hospital Christmas Day. After a lot of ups and downs they have actually started the preparation process for her going home. 3-16-05 update - Well, I spoke to Lynne this morning and the doctor has seen her today and as of right now everything in on track for her to be discharged to home TOMORROW!!!!!!! After 81 days in the hospital (40 of which were in ICU), she is finally coming home.

For those of you who don't believe in the miraculous power of prayer, let this experience serve as a testimony that God is real and that he does desire a relationship with us. It is our sin that separates us from God, but that separation can be bridged through the person of Jesus Christ. He is faithful to His word in all things. And in all things, He is in control. It was only through an abiding faith in these tenets and the uplifted prayers of all our wonderful friends and family that we were able to make it through this long ordeal.

1-4-05 Natalie Bear and Mom(Becca) - awaiting liver transplant Mom is a match for a living donor transplant to Natalie Bear. Liver transplant took place 2-9-05. 3-15-05 update - Back in the hospital...
We came on Monday for a clinic appointment and we were admitted. Her LFTs climbed (total bilirubin went from 1.0 to 5.0).

We had an ultrasound last night and were supposed to have a biopsy this morning. But after her doctors looked and looked at her ultrasound they decided that it looks like there may be some sort of blockage in the biliary structure. So the biopsy for this morning was cancelled. There is also a fear that there may be a narrowing at the site where my portal vein attached to her portal vein.

We will have a cholangiogram tomorrow. (Actually it's called a Percutaneous transhepatic cholangiogram.) She's had these done in the past. The only difference being if there is a blockage or narrowing she may have a tube placed that will collect fluid outside of her body - for up to 3 months.

1-4-05 Go 4 It - diagnosed with lymphoma begins treatment today 1-18-05 She had her first chemo on Monday. She was a bit achy and sore and was heading in again Wednesday for support treatment. She's working when she feels she can and checks her emails and BOL then. Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers. 1-26-05 update - I am in treatment. On Wednesday I will get results to another biopsy that I had on Monday....At times under the weather....but my faith is strong, my husband is wonderful and I have good friends.....
1-31-05 update - So that you can update the prayer list.....

My biopsy was negative.. Treatment is ongoing. The first week was quite rough but after that it appears that I as good as before I was diagnosed. The second treatment is on the 7th and hopefully, it will follow the same pattern....I think I can "hang" pretty good with that.....

1-4-05 David Dickenson - thyroid illness I'm currently on 2 medications to keep my system in balance. They are working wonderfully. On Feb 2nd I take another radio-active pill to try and kill my thyroid again. It will then be 6-8 weeks before I know if it was successful. I would like to remain on your prayer list. Thank you for keeping me in your prayers.


1-5-05 Little Sister's niece - cancer returned

1-5-05 Fraud pup's friend's son, Zakery - almost drowned, still recovering

1-5-05 Skittles' Mom - triple bypass and valve replacement surgery recovering at home now Thanks so much for remembering my mother on the list. It's been just over a month since her surgery. She's recovering, but very slowly. She's still not eating and has lost 10 pounds, so her strength is coming back very slowly. She'll be 80 in 3 weeks, but is still a tough old bird. The visiting nurse thinks her slowness is possibly due to the fact that they had to go back in the next day due to her internal bleeding.

1-5-05 obx nut's Mom - stroke, unable to walk, in nursing home

1-5-05 Deena's Mom and Family - Mom battling lung cancer, family grieving over loss of Dad last October 2-14-05 update - I'd like to ask for your continued prayers for my mother and for our family. She is in the final stages of her illness now and probably doesn't have much time left - maybe a month or two. I met with a nurse from the hospice program last Friday and I believe they will be a great support for us. Please pray that my mother will continue to be comfortable and that, when her time comes, she will pass peacefully and painlessly into a wonderful place where she will no longer be sick. Thank you so much. Your prayers mean more than I can say.

1-6-05 Boomermom's co-worker - diagnosed with cancer/fell and broke her hip - had partial hip replacement 2-3-05 update - Is losing lots of weight. (7 pounds in last 2 weeks and had lost lots since becoming ill.) Doctors do not know why food is not digesting. Goes back to doctor for tests next week. 2-23-05 update - My co-worker came back to work part-time yesterday after her hip surgery. She cannot drive for six months so employees are picking her up and taking her home. She has to use a cane and others are helping her out so she doesn't have to walk any more than necessary. She is still not able to eat and has lost so much weight. Hopefully they will figure something out soon there.

1-7-05 Bear Collector's Dad - Hospitalized with Heart Attack

1-11-05 Princess ene - facing surgury that will result in her inability to bear a child Just wanted to give you an update, my dr finally called this morning and said my University consultation was approved. She is calling me back on Monday to notify me of which University. It will either be Standford or Davis. They said with cancer patients they usually can get in 2-3 weeks, all other appts usually take a month or longer. Because of the pain I'm experiencing and other symptoms she said she'd tried to get me in with the next couple of weeks. So please pray for my strength to accept whatever decision they make. Thanks!
2-11-05 update - You are in my prayers GB - on my side of things, they approved Davis. The waiting game continues though, now I have to wait for a nurse at Davis to contact my Dr to finalize an appt date. In the meantime I've been traveling back and forth to Fl/CA on business so it's been wearing on me. Thank you for your continued prayers 2-21-05 update - Just wanted to give an update - I finally received an appt, March 18 @ UCDavis. I'm both anxious and excited to be moving forward. Thank you for your continued prayers. 3-8-05 update - I was given an appt for 3/18 at UCDavis. Your prayers are coveted

1-12-05 Melissa Ann's Husband - possible skin cancer

1-13-05 Corkygirl's father in law - in hospital with lung cancer and other illnesses. They moved my father-in-law to a nursing home yesterday. I don't think he will ever get back to his own apartment, I just hope my mother-in-law and sister-in-law don't try to keep him alive at all costs. We are too far away to have much say in it and that is hard on my husband. Thanks for your prayers
2-3-05 update - An update on my father-in-law, he will be released in the next few days to go back to his apartment. Not sure that's the best choice but he is better, able to go up a couple flights of stairs and will get home health care. There is nothing that can be done for any of the lung diseases or heart disease so no one knows how long he has but he is better and we are glad for that. Thanks for the prayers. 2-23-05 update - An update on my father-in-law, he was re-admitted to the hospital this week for pneumonia. The dr's are not giving him any treatment for the lung cancer, which tells us bunches, and this is a major setback for him. My mother-in-law is in denial to the seriousness of this situation and we are too far away to do much. We will need to make a trip to Pittsburgh sooner rather than later I think.

1-14-05 LadyLuck's Friend and her husband - he has been diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia and has cancerous cells in his lymph nodes. Undergoing chemotheraphy. 2-17-05 update - UPDATE: He had surgery last week to remove his kidney and a lot of the cancer inside. He is is still in the hospital. Hopefully this will help him on the road to recovery. Please continue to keep him in prayer. Thank you

1-21-05 Pizzaz's niece Channing - I'd like to add my niece to the prayer list. She's 2 and is being tested for autism. We're hoping she's just a slow developer with her social interaction and lack of speech. They're also going to test her hearing. So, please pray for little Channing. Thanks. 2-8-05 update - Update-my niece went for her hearing test and it's fine, she passed. So, now we undergo more therapy, early intervention to find out if she's just behind compared to others her age or whether she may have autism.Thanks for your continued prayers.

1-31-05 - Little Sister's Friend -A good friend of our family developed a virus and it settled around his heart. The sack around his heart has been filling up with fluid. They transported him to Rochester this weekend and yesterday they drew off 2 liters of fluid in the morning and more in the afternoon. This gave him instant relief but today we just found out that there was blood in the second fluid draw and have discovered that he has a hole in his aorta. He's being prepped right now for an 8 hour surgery and is considered very high risk. Please keep him in your prayers!!! Thanks! 2-2-05 update - Update on our friend...his surgery was successful. They also discovered an anurism on his aorta that they were able to repair. He'll be in the hospital for 7 to 10 days and then will be off work for 4 months. Thanks for your prayers and please keep remembering him as he has a long road of recovery.

2-11-05 Corkygirl's son - My oldest son is bipolar with paranoia and a recovering alcoholic and we have had a very, very scary week. His wife is out of town for 10 days and he fell apart Sunday night, missing 2 1/2 days of work and really struggling to get out of it. He did make many positive moves this week to take charge of his condition, he did not drink this time (YEA!!!), called his previous Dr and went back to that Dr. who made a change in his medicine. Those two things all by themselves are an improvement for him and we are grateful for that. I have asked for prayers from many of my friends and co-workers who know the situation and I know that those prayers were spoken and helped. He is back to work, on his way back out of this episode but I also know that this is not the end of these episodes for him. Since I know the power of prayer, I am asking for more please. It's baby steps but at-least it's steps forward instead of backwards and I don't want to lose him.

2-17-05 MT-n-Full's Friend - I just now received a call about one of my best friends from my former bank in DC. She was in a head on collision, suffered a stroke,has blot clots in her brain, and a lot more. She is one of the finest bank managers I have known. She is paralyzed also. Please place her on the prayer list asap. Thank you. (I am so upset. ) 3-2-05 update - On 2-17 I posted about my friend who was in an accident just over 2 weeks ago. The human body is so amazing when accompanied by prayers! My friend is now home recuperating. She is expected to fully recover from the stroke and makes progress everyday. The blood clots are better. Although her foot is in a cast, she can get around with a walker now by herself!!! She is having a little problem with math, telling time, searching the phone book - takes a little longer - but with her therapy she has greatly improved --- and she may be ready to return to work in as little as 8 weeks!!! Thank you for the prayers - it has truly been a miracle what she has accomplished so far!

2-21-05 Princess Ene's Father - Please add my father to the list. My mom just sent an email that my father had a TIA (mini stroke) last night. She said his arm and face went numb for about 15 minutes. It was pretty scary for them. They are running an MRI and Ultrasound today. My father has probably been ill a total of 2 times in his life time so we are puzzled. I'm going on the internet right now to read up on them. I'll update as I learn more. 3-8-05 update - my father was told he has two blood clots on either side of his brain. They are continuing tests but are puzzled. They say these type of brain clots are usually caused by head trauma, he's had none. Thank you for your continued prayers.

2-23-05 Dawnie's Friend - If we could add Sondra to the list I'd appreciate it. She's flying down to Portland for a bone marrow test to see what her lukemia numbers are looking like after the stem cell harvest of a few months ago. This is her 11th bone marrow draw, and every one of them is quite painful and carry risk. The biggest risk though is that they find bad news instead of good so if ya'll could keep her in your prayers for a couple of days I'd appreciate it! 2-28-05 update - Sondra came home last night and is feeling great. No infection issues, and while they didn't give her final numbers, her initial numbers are looking good. I appreciate your prayer for my dear friend. I'll be praying for those still in need

2-23-05 Jim Bedsole's Brother-in-law - It just keeps piling on. Lynne's sister Debbie has been very close to us, especially during Lynne's recent illness. She has been down here from NC numerous times to cheer Lynne up. Well last Friday we just found out that Debbie's husband has leukemia. He is currently in Duke Medical Center undergoing heavy chemotherapy and some other type of therapy. They are also doing some tests that take up to 10 days to develop. After those tests they'll have a clearer picture of his status and prognosis.

2-28-05 Wacokid - Well, well, well. One of my eyes didn't turn out so good so I will have to have additional eye surgery on March 10th to cut a muscle and stitch it back up shorter. I am feeling fine but would appreciate your continued prayers to help me get thru the month of March.

3-10-05 Boomer's Wife - My wife and I have recently been told she has Lymphoma Cancer and she is undergoing chemo treatments.

3-16-05 - Kiwi's Youngest son has just been diagnosed with RSV. Please keep them in your prayers.

Communal Requests:
All those grieving over the loss of a loved one.
All of those suffering from a chronic illness.
All of our military troops wherever they are serving our country.
All those affected by the 12-26-04 tsunami disaster.
All those who live with violence and poverty, without hope.
Jessica Lunsford, nine years old who is missing and all other children who are missing/kidnapped from their homes.
All of the families of at least 27 elementary school children who diedafter eating a snack during morning recess Wednesday in the southern Philippines consisting of cassava prepared by a street vendor.


Let us know when our prayers are answered so we can remove them from our list. Prayer requests will be removed each Monday as warranted. If you post to this thread, I will update the list periodically.

I've been trying to compile a prayer list of our BOL friends and family who need prayer. Please let me know if I've missed anyone. Thanks!

1-4-05 Jim and Lynne Bedsole - Lynne admitted to the hospital Christmas Day. After a lot of ups and downs they have actually started the preparation process for her going home. 3-16-05 update - Well, I spoke to Lynne this morning and the doctor has seen her today and as of right now everything in on track for her to be discharged to home TOMORROW!!!!!!! After 81 days in the hospital (40 of which were in ICU), she is finally coming home.

For those of you who don't believe in the miraculous power of prayer, let this experience serve as a testimony that God is real and that he does desire a relationship with us. It is our sin that separates us from God, but that separation can be bridged through the person of Jesus Christ. He is faithful to His word in all things. And in all things, He is in control. It was only through an abiding faith in these tenets and the uplifted prayers of all our wonderful friends and family that we were able to make it through this long ordeal. 3-18-05 update - We got home yesterday afternoon! Had a very good first night and morning at home. I think I now need to add a pharmacy degree to my nursing degree.

1-4-05 Natalie Bear and Mom(Becca) - awaiting liver transplant Mom is a match for a living donor transplant to Natalie Bear. Liver transplant took place 2-9-05. 3-21-05 update - Going home today!!! (Again)
We're hoping to be discharged in a few hours, and on our way home!!
We then won't need to come back until Thursday for clinic. WOOHOO!!!

Natalie is doing GREAT! Her labs look awesome, all are in the normal range (like for normal non-transplant kids)! She had a bag attached to her following the cholangiogram that was collecting bile (see previous journals for an article). This was in place for 2 days and it was removed last night. So we'll be going home with the PTC line to flush, the PICC line, and 11 meds (given up to 24 times a day). No problem!!!

The biopsy showed that there was neither rejection nor an infection . This is great news. It appears that the bile back up problem was in part due to the Hepatic artery thrombosis (when she got the clot it) that occured a few days after the transplant.

1-4-05 Go 4 It - diagnosed with lymphoma begins treatment today 1-18-05 She had her first chemo on Monday. She was a bit achy and sore and was heading in again Wednesday for support treatment. She's working when she feels she can and checks her emails and BOL then. Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers. 1-26-05 update - I am in treatment. On Wednesday I will get results to another biopsy that I had on Monday....At times under the weather....but my faith is strong, my husband is wonderful and I have good friends.....
1-31-05 update - So that you can update the prayer list.....

My biopsy was negative.. Treatment is ongoing. The first week was quite rough but after that it appears that I as good as before I was diagnosed. The second treatment is on the 7th and hopefully, it will follow the same pattern....I think I can "hang" pretty good with that.....

1-4-05 David Dickenson - thyroid illness I'm currently on 2 medications to keep my system in balance. They are working wonderfully. On Feb 2nd I take another radio-active pill to try and kill my thyroid again. It will then be 6-8 weeks before I know if it was successful. I would like to remain on your prayer list. Thank you for keeping me in your prayers. 3-18-05 update - It’s DEAD! I barely crawled out of bed this morning. On Wednesday, I had a blood test as I knew that I was slowing down and my 6 weeks was due on Thursday. Today I felt like I was sick, tired or simply sick & tired. I went to the Dr. after lunch. I’m not sick. This is all just symptoms of a dead thyroid (freezing cold, sore muscles, memory loss – huh?, etc.). The bad news is that it takes 6 weeks or more to see any improvement! I’m going to be like this for a while. My doctor had me take 7 pills today (a little unconventional he said) to jump start the system, but he assured me there was no down side to this. Unfortunately, I may not be worth a hoot for a few weeks. After 6 weeks, I will go in to have a blood test and see where I’m at. Then they starting tweaking the synthroid to get it perfect for me. Thanks for all of the prayers! Have a great weekend, everyone.


1-5-05 Little Sister's niece - cancer returned

1-5-05 Fraud pup's friend's son, Zakery - almost drowned, still recovering

1-5-05 Skittles' Mom - triple bypass and valve replacement surgery recovering at home now Thanks so much for remembering my mother on the list. It's been just over a month since her surgery. She's recovering, but very slowly. She's still not eating and has lost 10 pounds, so her strength is coming back very slowly. She'll be 80 in 3 weeks, but is still a tough old bird. The visiting nurse thinks her slowness is possibly due to the fact that they had to go back in the next day due to her internal bleeding.

1-5-05 obx nut's Mom - stroke, unable to walk, in nursing home

1-5-05 Deena's Mom and Family - Mom battling lung cancer, family grieving over loss of Dad last October 2-14-05 update - I'd like to ask for your continued prayers for my mother and for our family. She is in the final stages of her illness now and probably doesn't have much time left - maybe a month or two. I met with a nurse from the hospice program last Friday and I believe they will be a great support for us. Please pray that my mother will continue to be comfortable and that, when her time comes, she will pass peacefully and painlessly into a wonderful place where she will no longer be sick. Thank you so much. Your prayers mean more than I can say.

1-6-05 Boomermom's co-worker - diagnosed with cancer/fell and broke her hip - had partial hip replacement 2-3-05 update - Is losing lots of weight. (7 pounds in last 2 weeks and had lost lots since becoming ill.) Doctors do not know why food is not digesting. Goes back to doctor for tests next week. 2-23-05 update - My co-worker came back to work part-time yesterday after her hip surgery. She cannot drive for six months so employees are picking her up and taking her home. She has to use a cane and others are helping her out so she doesn't have to walk any more than necessary. She is still not able to eat and has lost so much weight. Hopefully they will figure something out soon there.

1-7-05 Bear Collector's Dad - Hospitalized with Heart Attack

1-11-05 Princess ene - facing surgury that will result in her inability to bear a child Just wanted to give you an update, my dr finally called this morning and said my University consultation was approved. She is calling me back on Monday to notify me of which University. It will either be Standford or Davis. They said with cancer patients they usually can get in 2-3 weeks, all other appts usually take a month or longer. Because of the pain I'm experiencing and other symptoms she said she'd tried to get me in with the next couple of weeks. So please pray for my strength to accept whatever decision they make. Thanks!
2-11-05 update - You are in my prayers GB - on my side of things, they approved Davis. The waiting game continues though, now I have to wait for a nurse at Davis to contact my Dr to finalize an appt date. In the meantime I've been traveling back and forth to Fl/CA on business so it's been wearing on me. Thank you for your continued prayers 2-21-05 update - Just wanted to give an update - I finally received an appt, March 18 @ UCDavis. I'm both anxious and excited to be moving forward. Thank you for your continued prayers. 3-8-05 update - I was given an appt for 3/18 at UCDavis. Your prayers are coveted

1-12-05 Melissa Ann's Husband - possible skin cancer

1-13-05 Corkygirl's father in law - in hospital with lung cancer and other illnesses. They moved my father-in-law to a nursing home yesterday. I don't think he will ever get back to his own apartment, I just hope my mother-in-law and sister-in-law don't try to keep him alive at all costs. We are too far away to have much say in it and that is hard on my husband. Thanks for your prayers
2-3-05 update - An update on my father-in-law, he will be released in the next few days to go back to his apartment. Not sure that's the best choice but he is better, able to go up a couple flights of stairs and will get home health care. There is nothing that can be done for any of the lung diseases or heart disease so no one knows how long he has but he is better and we are glad for that. Thanks for the prayers. 2-23-05 update - An update on my father-in-law, he was re-admitted to the hospital this week for pneumonia. The dr's are not giving him any treatment for the lung cancer, which tells us bunches, and this is a major setback for him. My mother-in-law is in denial to the seriousness of this situation and we are too far away to do much. We will need to make a trip to Pittsburgh sooner rather than later I think.

1-14-05 LadyLuck's Friend and her husband - he has been diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia and has cancerous cells in his lymph nodes. Undergoing chemotheraphy. 2-17-05 update - UPDATE: He had surgery last week to remove his kidney and a lot of the cancer inside. He is is still in the hospital. Hopefully this will help him on the road to recovery. Please continue to keep him in prayer. Thank you

1-21-05 Pizzaz's niece Channing - I'd like to add my niece to the prayer list. She's 2 and is being tested for autism. We're hoping she's just a slow developer with her social interaction and lack of speech. They're also going to test her hearing. So, please pray for little Channing. Thanks. 2-8-05 update - Update-my niece went for her hearing test and it's fine, she passed. So, now we undergo more therapy, early intervention to find out if she's just behind compared to others her age or whether she may have autism.Thanks for your continued prayers.

1-31-05 - Little Sister's Friend -A good friend of our family developed a virus and it settled around his heart. The sack around his heart has been filling up with fluid. They transported him to Rochester this weekend and yesterday they drew off 2 liters of fluid in the morning and more in the afternoon. This gave him instant relief but today we just found out that there was blood in the second fluid draw and have discovered that he has a hole in his aorta. He's being prepped right now for an 8 hour surgery and is considered very high risk. Please keep him in your prayers!!! Thanks! 2-2-05 update - Update on our friend...his surgery was successful. They also discovered an anurism on his aorta that they were able to repair. He'll be in the hospital for 7 to 10 days and then will be off work for 4 months. Thanks for your prayers and please keep remembering him as he has a long road of recovery.

2-11-05 Corkygirl's son - My oldest son is bipolar with paranoia and a recovering alcoholic and we have had a very, very scary week. His wife is out of town for 10 days and he fell apart Sunday night, missing 2 1/2 days of work and really struggling to get out of it. He did make many positive moves this week to take charge of his condition, he did not drink this time (YEA!!!), called his previous Dr and went back to that Dr. who made a change in his medicine. Those two things all by themselves are an improvement for him and we are grateful for that. I have asked for prayers from many of my friends and co-workers who know the situation and I know that those prayers were spoken and helped. He is back to work, on his way back out of this episode but I also know that this is not the end of these episodes for him. Since I know the power of prayer, I am asking for more please. It's baby steps but at-least it's steps forward instead of backwards and I don't want to lose him.

2-17-05 MT-n-Full's Friend - I just now received a call about one of my best friends from my former bank in DC. She was in a head on collision, suffered a stroke,has blot clots in her brain, and a lot more. She is one of the finest bank managers I have known. She is paralyzed also. Please place her on the prayer list asap. Thank you. (I am so upset. ) 3-2-05 update - On 2-17 I posted about my friend who was in an accident just over 2 weeks ago. The human body is so amazing when accompanied by prayers! My friend is now home recuperating. She is expected to fully recover from the stroke and makes progress everyday. The blood clots are better. Although her foot is in a cast, she can get around with a walker now by herself!!! She is having a little problem with math, telling time, searching the phone book - takes a little longer - but with her therapy she has greatly improved --- and she may be ready to return to work in as little as 8 weeks!!! Thank you for the prayers - it has truly been a miracle what she has accomplished so far!

2-21-05 Princess Ene's Father - Please add my father to the list. My mom just sent an email that my father had a TIA (mini stroke) last night. She said his arm and face went numb for about 15 minutes. It was pretty scary for them. They are running an MRI and Ultrasound today. My father has probably been ill a total of 2 times in his life time so we are puzzled. I'm going on the internet right now to read up on them. I'll update as I learn more. 3-8-05 update - my father was told he has two blood clots on either side of his brain. They are continuing tests but are puzzled. They say these type of brain clots are usually caused by head trauma, he's had none. Thank you for your continued prayers.

2-23-05 Dawnie's Friend - If we could add Sondra to the list I'd appreciate it. She's flying down to Portland for a bone marrow test to see what her lukemia numbers are looking like after the stem cell harvest of a few months ago. This is her 11th bone marrow draw, and every one of them is quite painful and carry risk. The biggest risk though is that they find bad news instead of good so if ya'll could keep her in your prayers for a couple of days I'd appreciate it! 2-28-05 update - Sondra came home last night and is feeling great. No infection issues, and while they didn't give her final numbers, her initial numbers are looking good. I appreciate your prayer for my dear friend. I'll be praying for those still in need

2-23-05 Jim Bedsole's Brother-in-law - It just keeps piling on. Lynne's sister Debbie has been very close to us, especially during Lynne's recent illness. She has been down here from NC numerous times to cheer Lynne up. Well last Friday we just found out that Debbie's husband has leukemia. He is currently in Duke Medical Center undergoing heavy chemotherapy and some other type of therapy. They are also doing some tests that take up to 10 days to develop. After those tests they'll have a clearer picture of his status and prognosis.

2-28-05 Wacokid - Well, well, well. One of my eyes didn't turn out so good so I will have to have additional eye surgery on March 10th to cut a muscle and stitch it back up shorter. I am feeling fine but would appreciate your continued prayers to help me get thru the month of March. 3-18-05 update - I got my stitches out today and my eyes look just fine per the Dr. I am doing fine and thank you for your kind thoughts and prayers. Please remember those in our BOL family who have problems far greater than me or yourself. It truly is a great comfort to receive encouragement from all the posters on this forum.


3-10-05 Boomer's Wife - My wife and I have recently been told she has Lymphoma Cancer and she is undergoing chemo treatments.

3-16-05 - Kiwi's Youngest son has just been diagnosed with RSV. Please keep them in your prayers. 3-21-05 update - They spent St Patrick's Day night in the hospital with his RSV. Scary. She said he had a rough time that night - BUT - has gotten much better since then, and they were released the next day. Hopefully he is on the upswing now.

3-18-05 - Anonymous - I've been part of and seen the power of prayer on BOL. I am asking you for your prayers. I am at a point in my marriage where I am trying to determine if possible to save. Please pray that my heart is open to His will and that I make the right decisions moving forward.

Communal Requests:
All those grieving over the loss of a loved one.
All of those suffering from a chronic illness.
All of our military troops wherever they are serving our country.
All those affected by the 12-26-04 tsunami disaster.
All those who live with violence and poverty, without hope.
The Family of Jessica Lunsford, nine years old who was kidnapped an murdered and all other children who are missing/kidnapped from their homes.
All of the families of at least 27 elementary school children who died after eating a snack during morning recess Wednesday in the southern Philippines consisting of cassava prepared by a street vendor.

"Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in Heaven. Again I say unto you, that if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in Heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am in the midst of them."
Matthew 18:18-20

1-4-05 Jim and Lynne Bedsole - Lynne admitted to the hospital Christmas Day. After a lot of ups and downs they have actually started the preparation process for her going home. 3-16-05 update - Well, I spoke to Lynne this morning and the doctor has seen her today and as of right now everything in on track for her to be discharged to home TOMORROW!!!!!!! After 81 days in the hospital (40 of which were in ICU), she is finally coming home.

For those of you who don't believe in the miraculous power of prayer, let this experience serve as a testimony that God is real and that he does desire a relationship with us. It is our sin that separates us from God, but that separation can be bridged through the person of Jesus Christ. He is faithful to His word in all things. And in all things, He is in control. It was only through an abiding faith in these tenets and the uplifted prayers of all our wonderful friends and family that we were able to make it through this long ordeal. 3-18-05 update - We got home yesterday afternoon! Had a very good first night and morning at home. I think I now need to add a pharmacy degree to my nursing degree.

1-4-05 Natalie Bear and Mom(Becca) - awaiting liver transplant Mom is a match for a living donor transplant to Natalie Bear. Liver transplant took place 2-9-05. 3-21-05 update - Going home today!!! (Again)
We're hoping to be discharged in a few hours, and on our way home!!
We then won't need to come back until Thursday for clinic. WOOHOO!!!

Natalie is doing GREAT! Her labs look awesome, all are in the normal range (like for normal non-transplant kids)! She had a bag attached to her following the cholangiogram that was collecting bile (see previous journals for an article). This was in place for 2 days and it was removed last night. So we'll be going home with the PTC line to flush, the PICC line, and 11 meds (given up to 24 times a day). No problem!!!

The biopsy showed that there was neither rejection nor an infection . This is great news. It appears that the bile back up problem was in part due to the Hepatic artery thrombosis (when she got the clot it) that occured a few days after the transplant.

1-4-05 Go 4 It - diagnosed with lymphoma begins treatment today 1-18-05 She had her first chemo on Monday. She was a bit achy and sore and was heading in again Wednesday for support treatment. She's working when she feels she can and checks her emails and BOL then. Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers. 1-26-05 update - I am in treatment. On Wednesday I will get results to another biopsy that I had on Monday....At times under the weather....but my faith is strong, my husband is wonderful and I have good friends.....
1-31-05 update - So that you can update the prayer list.....

My biopsy was negative.. Treatment is ongoing. The first week was quite rough but after that it appears that I as good as before I was diagnosed. The second treatment is on the 7th and hopefully, it will follow the same pattern....I think I can "hang" pretty good with that.....

1-4-05 David Dickenson - thyroid illness I'm currently on 2 medications to keep my system in balance. They are working wonderfully. On Feb 2nd I take another radio-active pill to try and kill my thyroid again. It will then be 6-8 weeks before I know if it was successful. I would like to remain on your prayer list. Thank you for keeping me in your prayers. 3-18-05 update - It’s DEAD! I barely crawled out of bed this morning. On Wednesday, I had a blood test as I knew that I was slowing down and my 6 weeks was due on Thursday. Today I felt like I was sick, tired or simply sick & tired. I went to the Dr. after lunch. I’m not sick. This is all just symptoms of a dead thyroid (freezing cold, sore muscles, memory loss – huh?, etc.). The bad news is that it takes 6 weeks or more to see any improvement! I’m going to be like this for a while. My doctor had me take 7 pills today (a little unconventional he said) to jump start the system, but he assured me there was no down side to this. Unfortunately, I may not be worth a hoot for a few weeks. After 6 weeks, I will go in to have a blood test and see where I’m at. Then they starting tweaking the synthroid to get it perfect for me. Thanks for all of the prayers! Have a great weekend, everyone.


1-5-05 Little Sister's niece - cancer returned

1-5-05 Fraud pup's friend's son, Zakery - almost drowned, still recovering

1-5-05 Skittles' Mom - triple bypass and valve replacement surgery recovering at home now Thanks so much for remembering my mother on the list. It's been just over a month since her surgery. She's recovering, but very slowly. She's still not eating and has lost 10 pounds, so her strength is coming back very slowly. She'll be 80 in 3 weeks, but is still a tough old bird. The visiting nurse thinks her slowness is possibly due to the fact that they had to go back in the next day due to her internal bleeding.

1-5-05 obx nut's Mom - stroke, unable to walk, in nursing home

1-5-05 Deena's Mom and Family - Mom battling lung cancer, family grieving over loss of Dad last October 2-14-05 update - I'd like to ask for your continued prayers for my mother and for our family. She is in the final stages of her illness now and probably doesn't have much time left - maybe a month or two. I met with a nurse from the hospice program last Friday and I believe they will be a great support for us. Please pray that my mother will continue to be comfortable and that, when her time comes, she will pass peacefully and painlessly into a wonderful place where she will no longer be sick. Thank you so much. Your prayers mean more than I can say.

1-6-05 Boomermom's co-worker - diagnosed with cancer/fell and broke her hip - had partial hip replacement 2-3-05 update - Is losing lots of weight. (7 pounds in last 2 weeks and had lost lots since becoming ill.) Doctors do not know why food is not digesting. Goes back to doctor for tests next week. 2-23-05 update - My co-worker came back to work part-time yesterday after her hip surgery. She cannot drive for six months so employees are picking her up and taking her home. She has to use a cane and others are helping her out so she doesn't have to walk any more than necessary. She is still not able to eat and has lost so much weight. Hopefully they will figure something out soon there.

1-7-05 Bear Collector's Dad - Hospitalized with Heart Attack

1-11-05 Princess ene - facing surgury that will result in her inability to bear a child Just wanted to give you an update, my dr finally called this morning and said my University consultation was approved. She is calling me back on Monday to notify me of which University. It will either be Standford or Davis. They said with cancer patients they usually can get in 2-3 weeks, all other appts usually take a month or longer. Because of the pain I'm experiencing and other symptoms she said she'd tried to get me in with the next couple of weeks. So please pray for my strength to accept whatever decision they make. Thanks!
2-11-05 update - You are in my prayers GB - on my side of things, they approved Davis. The waiting game continues though, now I have to wait for a nurse at Davis to contact my Dr to finalize an appt date. In the meantime I've been traveling back and forth to Fl/CA on business so it's been wearing on me. Thank you for your continued prayers 2-21-05 update - Just wanted to give an update - I finally received an appt, March 18 @ UCDavis. I'm both anxious and excited to be moving forward. Thank you for your continued prayers. 3-8-05 update - I was given an appt for 3/18 at UCDavis. Your prayers are coveted

1-12-05 Melissa Ann's Husband - possible skin cancer

1-13-05 Corkygirl's father in law - in hospital with lung cancer and other illnesses. They moved my father-in-law to a nursing home yesterday. I don't think he will ever get back to his own apartment, I just hope my mother-in-law and sister-in-law don't try to keep him alive at all costs. We are too far away to have much say in it and that is hard on my husband. Thanks for your prayers
2-3-05 update - An update on my father-in-law, he will be released in the next few days to go back to his apartment. Not sure that's the best choice but he is better, able to go up a couple flights of stairs and will get home health care. There is nothing that can be done for any of the lung diseases or heart disease so no one knows how long he has but he is better and we are glad for that. Thanks for the prayers. 2-23-05 update - An update on my father-in-law, he was re-admitted to the hospital this week for pneumonia. The dr's are not giving him any treatment for the lung cancer, which tells us bunches, and this is a major setback for him. My mother-in-law is in denial to the seriousness of this situation and we are too far away to do much. We will need to make a trip to Pittsburgh sooner rather than later I think.

1-14-05 LadyLuck's Friend and her husband - he has been diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia and has cancerous cells in his lymph nodes. Undergoing chemotheraphy. 2-17-05 update - UPDATE: He had surgery last week to remove his kidney and a lot of the cancer inside. He is is still in the hospital. Hopefully this will help him on the road to recovery. Please continue to keep him in prayer. Thank you

1-21-05 Pizzaz's niece Channing - I'd like to add my niece to the prayer list. She's 2 and is being tested for autism. We're hoping she's just a slow developer with her social interaction and lack of speech. They're also going to test her hearing. So, please pray for little Channing. Thanks. 2-8-05 update - Update-my niece went for her hearing test and it's fine, she passed. So, now we undergo more therapy, early intervention to find out if she's just behind compared to others her age or whether she may have autism.Thanks for your continued prayers.

1-31-05 - Little Sister's Friend -A good friend of our family developed a virus and it settled around his heart. The sack around his heart has been filling up with fluid. They transported him to Rochester this weekend and yesterday they drew off 2 liters of fluid in the morning and more in the afternoon. This gave him instant relief but today we just found out that there was blood in the second fluid draw and have discovered that he has a hole in his aorta. He's being prepped right now for an 8 hour surgery and is considered very high risk. Please keep him in your prayers!!! Thanks! 2-2-05 update - Update on our friend...his surgery was successful. They also discovered an anurism on his aorta that they were able to repair. He'll be in the hospital for 7 to 10 days and then will be off work for 4 months. Thanks for your prayers and please keep remembering him as he has a long road of recovery.

2-11-05 Corkygirl's son - My oldest son is bipolar with paranoia and a recovering alcoholic and we have had a very, very scary week. His wife is out of town for 10 days and he fell apart Sunday night, missing 2 1/2 days of work and really struggling to get out of it. He did make many positive moves this week to take charge of his condition, he did not drink this time (YEA!!!), called his previous Dr and went back to that Dr. who made a change in his medicine. Those two things all by themselves are an improvement for him and we are grateful for that. I have asked for prayers from many of my friends and co-workers who know the situation and I know that those prayers were spoken and helped. He is back to work, on his way back out of this episode but I also know that this is not the end of these episodes for him. Since I know the power of prayer, I am asking for more please. It's baby steps but at-least it's steps forward instead of backwards and I don't want to lose him.

2-17-05 MT-n-Full's Friend - I just now received a call about one of my best friends from my former bank in DC. She was in a head on collision, suffered a stroke,has blot clots in her brain, and a lot more. She is one of the finest bank managers I have known. She is paralyzed also. Please place her on the prayer list asap. Thank you. (I am so upset. ) 3-2-05 update - On 2-17 I posted about my friend who was in an accident just over 2 weeks ago. The human body is so amazing when accompanied by prayers! My friend is now home recuperating. She is expected to fully recover from the stroke and makes progress everyday. The blood clots are better. Although her foot is in a cast, she can get around with a walker now by herself!!! She is having a little problem with math, telling time, searching the phone book - takes a little longer - but with her therapy she has greatly improved --- and she may be ready to return to work in as little as 8 weeks!!! Thank you for the prayers - it has truly been a miracle what she has accomplished so far!

2-21-05 Princess Ene's Father - Please add my father to the list. My mom just sent an email that my father had a TIA (mini stroke) last night. She said his arm and face went numb for about 15 minutes. It was pretty scary for them. They are running an MRI and Ultrasound today. My father has probably been ill a total of 2 times in his life time so we are puzzled. I'm going on the internet right now to read up on them. I'll update as I learn more. 3-8-05 update - my father was told he has two blood clots on either side of his brain. They are continuing tests but are puzzled. They say these type of brain clots are usually caused by head trauma, he's had none. Thank you for your continued prayers.

2-23-05 Dawnie's Friend - If we could add Sondra to the list I'd appreciate it. She's flying down to Portland for a bone marrow test to see what her lukemia numbers are looking like after the stem cell harvest of a few months ago. This is her 11th bone marrow draw, and every one of them is quite painful and carry risk. The biggest risk though is that they find bad news instead of good so if ya'll could keep her in your prayers for a couple of days I'd appreciate it! 2-28-05 update - Sondra came home last night and is feeling great. No infection issues, and while they didn't give her final numbers, her initial numbers are looking good. I appreciate your prayer for my dear friend. I'll be praying for those still in need

2-23-05 Jim Bedsole's Brother-in-law - It just keeps piling on. Lynne's sister Debbie has been very close to us, especially during Lynne's recent illness. She has been down here from NC numerous times to cheer Lynne up. Well last Friday we just found out that Debbie's husband has leukemia. He is currently in Duke Medical Center undergoing heavy chemotherapy and some other type of therapy. They are also doing some tests that take up to 10 days to develop. After those tests they'll have a clearer picture of his status and prognosis.

2-28-05 Wacokid - Well, well, well. One of my eyes didn't turn out so good so I will have to have additional eye surgery on March 10th to cut a muscle and stitch it back up shorter. I am feeling fine but would appreciate your continued prayers to help me get thru the month of March. 3-18-05 update - I got my stitches out today and my eyes look just fine per the Dr. I am doing fine and thank you for your kind thoughts and prayers. Please remember those in our BOL family who have problems far greater than me or yourself. It truly is a great comfort to receive encouragement from all the posters on this forum.


3-10-05 Boomer's Wife - My wife and I have recently been told she has Lymphoma Cancer and she is undergoing chemo treatments.

3-16-05 - Kiwi's Youngest son has just been diagnosed with RSV. Please keep them in your prayers. 3-21-05 update - They spent St Patrick's Day night in the hospital with his RSV. Scary. She said he had a rough time that night - BUT - has gotten much better since then, and they were released the next day. Hopefully he is on the upswing now. 3-23-05 update -Just wanted to thank everyone for the thoughts and prayers. Keaton is doing much better. Thursday was the worst of it, although his oxygen would dip he was able to bring it back up on his own and did not need to be supplemented. He will be on the nebulizer the rest of this week and then we will see how it goes. Thanks again from all of us.

3-18-05 - Anonymous - I've been part of and seen the power of prayer on BOL. I am asking you for your prayers. I am at a point in my marriage where I am trying to determine if possible to save. Please pray that my heart is open to His will and that I make the right decisions moving forward.

Communal Requests:
All those grieving over the loss of a loved one.
All of those suffering from a chronic illness.
All of our military troops wherever they are serving our country.
All those affected by the 12-26-04 tsunami disaster.
All those who live with violence and poverty, without hope.
The Family of Jessica Lunsford, nine years old who was kidnapped an murdered and all other children who are missing/kidnapped from their homes.
The families of the murdered and wounded children in Minnesota and all other affected by this tragedy.

Bad news on Sondra. She had a significant change in her numbers this week. This could be a temporary change, or more likely a sign that she's rejecting glevac, the only known medication to keep her alive. She's the toughest person I know, but this was a hard blow after having numbers so low the leukemia was undetectable last month. If ya'll would be kind enough to keep her in your prayers I'd appreciate it. I'm not sure I'm ready for the downward slope

Update - went to my appt and walked away with what I came...nothing. It was quite upsetting. The Dr said he didn't agree with my Dr about my condition because my symptoms didn't "sound" right. Additionally he said he didn't think he could help me and was sorry he didn't have better news. I felt like saying, Just because I'm not text book? Anyhow...please continue to pray, I have no idea where to turn to now. Thanks!

"Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in Heaven. Again I say unto you, that if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in Heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am in the midst of them."
Matthew 18:18-20

1-4-05 Jim and Lynne Bedsole - Lynne admitted to the hospital Christmas Day. After a lot of ups and downs they have actually started the preparation process for her going home. 3-16-05 update - Well, I spoke to Lynne this morning and the doctor has seen her today and as of right now everything in on track for her to be discharged to home TOMORROW!!!!!!! After 81 days in the hospital (40 of which were in ICU), she is finally coming home.

For those of you who don't believe in the miraculous power of prayer, let this experience serve as a testimony that God is real and that he does desire a relationship with us. It is our sin that separates us from God, but that separation can be bridged through the person of Jesus Christ. He is faithful to His word in all things. And in all things, He is in control. It was only through an abiding faith in these tenets and the uplifted prayers of all our wonderful friends and family that we were able to make it through this long ordeal. 3-18-05 update - We got home yesterday afternoon! Had a very good first night and morning at home. I think I now need to add a pharmacy degree to my nursing degree.

1-4-05 Natalie Bear and Mom(Becca) - awaiting liver transplant Mom is a match for a living donor transplant to Natalie Bear. Liver transplant took place 2-9-05. 3-21-05 update - Going home today!!! (Again)
We're hoping to be discharged in a few hours, and on our way home!!
We then won't need to come back until Thursday for clinic. WOOHOO!!!

Natalie is doing GREAT! Her labs look awesome, all are in the normal range (like for normal non-transplant kids)! She had a bag attached to her following the cholangiogram that was collecting bile (see previous journals for an article). This was in place for 2 days and it was removed last night. So we'll be going home with the PTC line to flush, the PICC line, and 11 meds (given up to 24 times a day). No problem!!!

The biopsy showed that there was neither rejection nor an infection . This is great news. It appears that the bile back up problem was in part due to the Hepatic artery thrombosis (when she got the clot it) that occured a few days after the transplant. 3-25-05 update - Nothing is ever easy, not that I am complaining too much, since we are home and not in the hospital tonight. Throughout the past year I have learned patience, without realizing it. This week, never once did I lose my cool.

Here are this week's past events...
Monday - Home health nurse comes late (Prograf is due at 9am) it cannot be given until the nurse draws the blood for labs. The nurse came at 9:15. Prograf is given at 9:30 am.

Tuesday - We notice that the site of the biliary drain tube is leaking. We call Children's (our angel) Dave advises us to attach the bag. He then sets up a procedure for 1st case Wednesday morning. During this procedure they are going to look at the tube placement and if it needs to be changed they will fix it.

Wednesday - It is snowing and we are not going to make it for our 6:30 am arrival time at CMH. Traffic was TERRIBLE. We arrive at 7:35, and still we wait (even though we are the 1st case of the day of IR) (Interventional Radiology). We are told that they are only going to inject die to look at the tube placement. They did not plan on re-positioning the catheter (this is contrary to our plans that were set up). Had we known this we would not have come in...since we have a clinic appointment scheduled for Thursday.
We drive home. Dave, (see above) calls apologizing for IR's mistakes. He sets up another procedure for us with them for Thursday following our clinic appointment.

Thursday (today) - We make the trip in again! The home health nurse comes at 8. Prograf is given on time. We arrive for our clinic appointment and get right in. (What's going on here? Things are working in our favor?) Crap, spoke too soon, IR is running behind, we need to wait an hour and a half for them to get to Natalie. The catheter was replaced and repositioned. We are told that they have reserved a room for us. We told them what we thought - and we are home now! And Natalie is doing GREAT!!!!

1-4-05 Go 4 It - diagnosed with lymphoma begins treatment today 1-18-05 She had her first chemo on Monday. She was a bit achy and sore and was heading in again Wednesday for support treatment. She's working when she feels she can and checks her emails and BOL then. Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers. 1-26-05 update - I am in treatment. On Wednesday I will get results to another biopsy that I had on Monday....At times under the weather....but my faith is strong, my husband is wonderful and I have good friends.....
1-31-05 update - So that you can update the prayer list.....

My biopsy was negative.. Treatment is ongoing. The first week was quite rough but after that it appears that I as good as before I was diagnosed. The second treatment is on the 7th and hopefully, it will follow the same pattern....I think I can "hang" pretty good with that.....

1-4-05 David Dickenson - thyroid illness I'm currently on 2 medications to keep my system in balance. They are working wonderfully. On Feb 2nd I take another radio-active pill to try and kill my thyroid again. It will then be 6-8 weeks before I know if it was successful. I would like to remain on your prayer list. Thank you for keeping me in your prayers. 3-18-05 update - It’s DEAD! I barely crawled out of bed this morning. On Wednesday, I had a blood test as I knew that I was slowing down and my 6 weeks was due on Thursday. Today I felt like I was sick, tired or simply sick & tired. I went to the Dr. after lunch. I’m not sick. This is all just symptoms of a dead thyroid (freezing cold, sore muscles, memory loss – huh?, etc.). The bad news is that it takes 6 weeks or more to see any improvement! I’m going to be like this for a while. My doctor had me take 7 pills today (a little unconventional he said) to jump start the system, but he assured me there was no down side to this. Unfortunately, I may not be worth a hoot for a few weeks. After 6 weeks, I will go in to have a blood test and see where I’m at. Then they starting tweaking the synthroid to get it perfect for me. Thanks for all of the prayers! Have a great weekend, everyone.


1-5-05 Little Sister's niece - cancer returned

1-5-05 Fraud pup's friend's son, Zakery - almost drowned, still recovering

1-5-05 Skittles' Mom - triple bypass and valve replacement surgery recovering at home now Thanks so much for remembering my mother on the list. It's been just over a month since her surgery. She's recovering, but very slowly. She's still not eating and has lost 10 pounds, so her strength is coming back very slowly. She'll be 80 in 3 weeks, but is still a tough old bird. The visiting nurse thinks her slowness is possibly due to the fact that they had to go back in the next day due to her internal bleeding.

1-5-05 obx nut's Mom - stroke, unable to walk, in nursing home

1-5-05 Deena's Mom and Family - Mom battling lung cancer, family grieving over loss of Dad last October 2-14-05 update - I'd like to ask for your continued prayers for my mother and for our family. She is in the final stages of her illness now and probably doesn't have much time left - maybe a month or two. I met with a nurse from the hospice program last Friday and I believe they will be a great support for us. Please pray that my mother will continue to be comfortable and that, when her time comes, she will pass peacefully and painlessly into a wonderful place where she will no longer be sick. Thank you so much. Your prayers mean more than I can say.

1-6-05 Boomermom's co-worker - diagnosed with cancer/fell and broke her hip - had partial hip replacement 2-3-05 update - Is losing lots of weight. (7 pounds in last 2 weeks and had lost lots since becoming ill.) Doctors do not know why food is not digesting. Goes back to doctor for tests next week. 2-23-05 update - My co-worker came back to work part-time yesterday after her hip surgery. She cannot drive for six months so employees are picking her up and taking her home. She has to use a cane and others are helping her out so she doesn't have to walk any more than necessary. She is still not able to eat and has lost so much weight. Hopefully they will figure something out soon there.

1-7-05 Bear Collector's Dad - Hospitalized with Heart Attack

1-11-05 Princess ene - facing surgury that will result in her inability to bear a child Just wanted to give you an update, my dr finally called this morning and said my University consultation was approved. She is calling me back on Monday to notify me of which University. It will either be Standford or Davis. They said with cancer patients they usually can get in 2-3 weeks, all other appts usually take a month or longer. Because of the pain I'm experiencing and other symptoms she said she'd tried to get me in with the next couple of weeks. So please pray for my strength to accept whatever decision they make. Thanks!
2-11-05 update - You are in my prayers GB - on my side of things, they approved Davis. The waiting game continues though, now I have to wait for a nurse at Davis to contact my Dr to finalize an appt date. In the meantime I've been traveling back and forth to Fl/CA on business so it's been wearing on me. Thank you for your continued prayers 2-21-05 update - Just wanted to give an update - I finally received an appt, March 18 @ UCDavis. I'm both anxious and excited to be moving forward. Thank you for your continued prayers. 3-8-05 update - I was given an appt for 3/18 at UCDavis. Your prayers are coveted 3-25-05 update - Update - went to my appt and walked away with what I came...nothing. It was quite upsetting. The Dr said he didn't agree with my Dr about my condition because my symptoms didn't "sound" right. Additionally he said he didn't think he could help me and was sorry he didn't have better news. I felt like saying, Just because I'm not text book? Anyhow...please continue to pray, I have no idea where to turn to now. Thanks!

1-12-05 Melissa Ann's Husband - possible skin cancer

1-13-05 Corkygirl's father in law - in hospital with lung cancer and other illnesses. They moved my father-in-law to a nursing home yesterday. I don't think he will ever get back to his own apartment, I just hope my mother-in-law and sister-in-law don't try to keep him alive at all costs. We are too far away to have much say in it and that is hard on my husband. Thanks for your prayers
2-3-05 update - An update on my father-in-law, he will be released in the next few days to go back to his apartment. Not sure that's the best choice but he is better, able to go up a couple flights of stairs and will get home health care. There is nothing that can be done for any of the lung diseases or heart disease so no one knows how long he has but he is better and we are glad for that. Thanks for the prayers. 2-23-05 update - An update on my father-in-law, he was re-admitted to the hospital this week for pneumonia. The dr's are not giving him any treatment for the lung cancer, which tells us bunches, and this is a major setback for him. My mother-in-law is in denial to the seriousness of this situation and we are too far away to do much. We will need to make a trip to Pittsburgh sooner rather than later I think.

1-14-05 LadyLuck's Friend and her husband - he has been diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia and has cancerous cells in his lymph nodes. Undergoing chemotheraphy. 2-17-05 update - UPDATE: He had surgery last week to remove his kidney and a lot of the cancer inside. He is is still in the hospital. Hopefully this will help him on the road to recovery. Please continue to keep him in prayer. Thank you

1-21-05 Pizzaz's niece Channing - I'd like to add my niece to the prayer list. She's 2 and is being tested for autism. We're hoping she's just a slow developer with her social interaction and lack of speech. They're also going to test her hearing. So, please pray for little Channing. Thanks. 2-8-05 update - Update-my niece went for her hearing test and it's fine, she passed. So, now we undergo more therapy, early intervention to find out if she's just behind compared to others her age or whether she may have autism.Thanks for your continued prayers.

1-31-05 - Little Sister's Friend -A good friend of our family developed a virus and it settled around his heart. The sack around his heart has been filling up with fluid. They transported him to Rochester this weekend and yesterday they drew off 2 liters of fluid in the morning and more in the afternoon. This gave him instant relief but today we just found out that there was blood in the second fluid draw and have discovered that he has a hole in his aorta. He's being prepped right now for an 8 hour surgery and is considered very high risk. Please keep him in your prayers!!! Thanks! 2-2-05 update - Update on our friend...his surgery was successful. They also discovered an anurism on his aorta that they were able to repair. He'll be in the hospital for 7 to 10 days and then will be off work for 4 months. Thanks for your prayers and please keep remembering him as he has a long road of recovery.

2-11-05 Corkygirl's son - My oldest son is bipolar with paranoia and a recovering alcoholic and we have had a very, very scary week. His wife is out of town for 10 days and he fell apart Sunday night, missing 2 1/2 days of work and really struggling to get out of it. He did make many positive moves this week to take charge of his condition, he did not drink this time (YEA!!!), called his previous Dr and went back to that Dr. who made a change in his medicine. Those two things all by themselves are an improvement for him and we are grateful for that. I have asked for prayers from many of my friends and co-workers who know the situation and I know that those prayers were spoken and helped. He is back to work, on his way back out of this episode but I also know that this is not the end of these episodes for him. Since I know the power of prayer, I am asking for more please. It's baby steps but at-least it's steps forward instead of backwards and I don't want to lose him.

2-17-05 MT-n-Full's Friend - I just now received a call about one of my best friends from my former bank in DC. She was in a head on collision, suffered a stroke,has blot clots in her brain, and a lot more. She is one of the finest bank managers I have known. She is paralyzed also. Please place her on the prayer list asap. Thank you. (I am so upset. ) 3-2-05 update - On 2-17 I posted about my friend who was in an accident just over 2 weeks ago. The human body is so amazing when accompanied by prayers! My friend is now home recuperating. She is expected to fully recover from the stroke and makes progress everyday. The blood clots are better. Although her foot is in a cast, she can get around with a walker now by herself!!! She is having a little problem with math, telling time, searching the phone book - takes a little longer - but with her therapy she has greatly improved --- and she may be ready to return to work in as little as 8 weeks!!! Thank you for the prayers - it has truly been a miracle what she has accomplished so far!

2-21-05 Princess Ene's Father - Please add my father to the list. My mom just sent an email that my father had a TIA (mini stroke) last night. She said his arm and face went numb for about 15 minutes. It was pretty scary for them. They are running an MRI and Ultrasound today. My father has probably been ill a total of 2 times in his life time so we are puzzled. I'm going on the internet right now to read up on them. I'll update as I learn more. 3-8-05 update - my father was told he has two blood clots on either side of his brain. They are continuing tests but are puzzled. They say these type of brain clots are usually caused by head trauma, he's had none. Thank you for your continued prayers.

2-23-05 Dawnie's Friend - If we could add Sondra to the list I'd appreciate it. She's flying down to Portland for a bone marrow test to see what her lukemia numbers are looking like after the stem cell harvest of a few months ago. This is her 11th bone marrow draw, and every one of them is quite painful and carry risk. The biggest risk though is that they find bad news instead of good so if ya'll could keep her in your prayers for a couple of days I'd appreciate it! 2-28-05 update - Sondra came home last night and is feeling great. No infection issues, and while they didn't give her final numbers, her initial numbers are looking good. I appreciate your prayer for my dear friend. I'll be praying for those still in need 3-25-05 update - Bad news on Sondra. She had a significant change in her numbers this week. This could be a temporary change, or more likely a sign that she's rejecting glevac, the only known medication to keep her alive. She's the toughest person I know, but this was a hard blow after having numbers so low the leukemia was undetectable last month. If ya'll would be kind enough to keep her in your prayers I'd appreciate it. I'm not sure I'm ready for the downward slope.


2-23-05 Jim Bedsole's Brother-in-law - It just keeps piling on. Lynne's sister Debbie has been very close to us, especially during Lynne's recent illness. She has been down here from NC numerous times to cheer Lynne up. Well last Friday we just found out that Debbie's husband has leukemia. He is currently in Duke Medical Center undergoing heavy chemotherapy and some other type of therapy. They are also doing some tests that take up to 10 days to develop. After those tests they'll have a clearer picture of his status and prognosis.

2-28-05 Wacokid - Well, well, well. One of my eyes didn't turn out so good so I will have to have additional eye surgery on March 10th to cut a muscle and stitch it back up shorter. I am feeling fine but would appreciate your continued prayers to help me get thru the month of March. 3-18-05 update - I got my stitches out today and my eyes look just fine per the Dr. I am doing fine and thank you for your kind thoughts and prayers. Please remember those in our BOL family who have problems far greater than me or yourself. It truly is a great comfort to receive encouragement from all the posters on this forum.


3-10-05 Boomer's Wife - My wife and I have recently been told she has Lymphoma Cancer and she is undergoing chemo treatments.

3-16-05 - Kiwi's Youngest son has just been diagnosed with RSV. Please keep them in your prayers. 3-21-05 update - They spent St Patrick's Day night in the hospital with his RSV. Scary. She said he had a rough time that night - BUT - has gotten much better since then, and they were released the next day. Hopefully he is on the upswing now. 3-23-05 update -Just wanted to thank everyone for the thoughts and prayers. Keaton is doing much better. Thursday was the worst of it, although his oxygen would dip he was able to bring it back up on his own and did not need to be supplemented. He will be on the nebulizer the rest of this week and then we will see how it goes. Thanks again from all of us.

3-18-05 - Anonymous - I've been part of and seen the power of prayer on BOL. I am asking you for your prayers. I am at a point in my marriage where I am trying to determine if possible to save. Please pray that my heart is open to His will and that I make the right decisions moving forward.

Communal Requests:
All those grieving over the loss of a loved one.
All of those suffering from a chronic illness.
All of our military troops wherever they are serving our country.
All those affected by the 12-26-04 tsunami disaster.
All those who live with violence and poverty, without hope.
The Family of Jessica Lunsford, nine years old who was kidnapped an murdered and all other children who are missing/kidnapped from their homes.
The families of the murdered and wounded children in Minnesota and all other affected by this tragedy.

Thank you waldensouth for your time, trouble, and caring to provide this summary of the BOLers in time of need and prayers.

Ene, don't give up, keep fighting! Be your own advocate and research, research, research!!! We'll pray you find another option for help!

Waldensouth, You're efforts here are highly appreciated by all. Thank you so much!!!