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Thank you Stella, for providing this thread. So, posting my first request.
In order to provide a better life for his family, and to have better job security, my son begins a one year program in school in August. He will be working every day full time, only Sunday off, and going to school until 11 every night.
This means little sleep, lots of stress, tight finances, and of course a difficult year of study. With three young children this will be a big struggle.
I ask you to remember him, his wife and children in your prayers, that God will grant them the necessary graces to make it through the upcoming trials and get that training finished successfully.
It’s also going to be very hard on his wife, who will obviously have all the responsiblities for the children (two of them have autism) on her shoulders.
We are going to help as much as possible, but this is going to be so very hard for them.
Thank you, and you guys know I am always praying for all of you!
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You, your son, your daughter-in-law, and their children are on my prayer list. He is doing the right thing for him and for his family, and I know that your family will do whatever you can to help. It’s only one year, and he CAN do this!
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Prayers for all of them and you Menagerie. We worked through this and it was hard but doable. We didn’t have family but we had very strong support from friends, some of them in the same situation as us, so us moms got together often and formed a close bond.
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How are things going for all of you now that this difficult time for your son’s family has (presumably) begun? Blessings…
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He starts school August 27. Thank you Valerie, appreciate your concern.
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Well I guess you all still get to enjoy those “lazy, hazy days of Summer” just a bit longer!
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Kids started school today. That means my daughter in laws get a little break now. They need it.
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Wow. Sad for them to be back to school so soon. Our kids didn’t have to go back until just after Labor Day…though we’re only dealing with a bit of college now (& hunter’s training for Josiah). Well maybe your grandkids & daughter-in-law getting back into the school swing of things will ease that transition when your son begins his whirlwind schedule…
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Prayers continue to pray for my cousin. He is still with us and fighting. Amazing that we have had him this long, August/September will be a year since his diagnosis. Thank you again and again.
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“Please” continue to pray. *sigh*
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I have been praying for both of you a long time. Appreciate the updates you give lovely.
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Thanks Menagerie. It is more appreciated than I can express with words.
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Thank you, Stella, for creating this prayer request thread. A couple times with (relatively) recent medical challenges (& other things) the prayerful community here & at the Treehouse have been ministering to our family & I Greatly Appreciate It!
It’s been almost a year since the online service “carepages” went offline, & it’s been a significant loss for personal & prayerful support for me & my special needs son, Josiah. I jumped into one of their recommended alternatives, “caringbridge”, but the support has not been the same & many people who shared our journey to/through Liver Transplant & beyond are no longer connected to us as tangibly. I guess in some ways I am still grieving this loss (& the loss of other supports)…
A couple of days ago Josiah & I had his last visit with the pediatric departments of Liver Transplant & Nephrology (Kidney doc dealing with his High Blood Pressure & Chronic Kidney Disease) & his care in these arenas will now be managed in adult & young adult clinics, respectively. This is a challenging change as we’d been working with most of these particular providers for about a decade & had been led to believe that they would allow more leeway for these transitions due to the developmental disability aspect to some of his challenges. I had really hoped to “work through” some of the issues (for me) connected to the process of interfacing with “Gift of Life” to express our gratitude to the Donor Family for allowing their loved one’s organs to be used for transplant. I’d wanted these conversations to occur with known team members with whom we had familiarity & (some degree of) rapport.
I ended up speaking with one of the hospital chaplains about this & other matters later that same day & got some interesting insights from her perspective. She works in palliative care with pediatric families whose loved ones are in the process of dying, sometimes even over decades. As such she has interfaced with many families dealing with complex medical needs as well as some who also deal with behavioral &/or developmental issues, like we do with Autism Spectrum.
Anyway, in addition to providing spiritual/emotional/interpersonal support she also provided a form of acceptance & affirmation of where I am being (relatively) “normal” given where we’ve been & what we still face. She brought up the concept of “trauma-informed therapy” & shared that complex situations like we face(d) inflict a form of trauma on the whole family. She basically stated that it’s important to process or manage the trauma & stress in the scenario of healthily coping with one’s existence (my version here, not how she stated things) & strongly encouraged me to seek out appropriate counseling/support.
This is very difficult for me for multiple reasons (excuses). I’ve had key people in my life either lash out or turn away & abandon me/us during significant times of need/stress & I really do have some major trust issues here. Also, I generally “feel” as if few people can really “get it” in regards to the magnitude of what I/we face(d) & it’s like I’m speaking in some type of foreign language whenever I do end up sharing some of this issues with others. I’ve been walking this path in many ways quite alone (apart from the Lord & immediate family) & managing my son’s myriad needs uses up most of my pretty limited energy reserves. The last time I worked with a counselor/psychologist I would be spent for the remainder of that day, the next day, & sometimes longer regrouping from the exhaustion. I’ve spent many years (my lifetime?) stuffing down the “negative” emotions as much as possible so that I can get on with the business of living, for tapping into my own, or others’–& I live w/ a bunch of ADHD people who generally speaking have a lesser grip on their–emotions is extremely draining to me…
Anyway I guess if this is to turn into a prayer request (& I’m sorry for going on so much here) would you please pray for me & my family as we learn, again, to walk some new paths. Please pray that the Lord would guide us in His path, that He would lead us to appropriate (& financially accessible) supports &/or counseling that would be able to meet us where we are, speak or at least “get” our language, would be gentle & Christlike, & that He would heal us of the hurts that still swirl. Please also pray that the issues related to contacting Gift of Life can be sufficiently hashed out so that I can hopefully have that contact with them before the year ends–my original goal was by the 5 year anniversary of the transplant, but that’s just days away now…
If any of you might be interested in following along with Josiah’s (& our family’s to a lesser extent) journey here is where I usually post more detailed updates:
https://www.caringbridge.org/visit/josiahcurren
Well, thanks for providing such a place where we can share from the heart & lift each other’s needs before that Throne of Grace. May the Lord be with Each of You & may He supply All that you need abundantly & according to His Riches in Glory! God Bless You ALL–Valerie
…hopefully you’ll see a lovely picture w/ Psalm 46:1 above…
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Today is the 5th anniversary of my son Josiah’s Liver Transplant & we are so thankful that he is doing well overall! God Bless You ALL!!!
https://specialconnections.wordpress.com/2018/07/30/5-years-going-strong-my-sons-liver-transplant/
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5 years is a good sign, my son’s there also after his.
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Your son is 5 years out? How is he doing? We have been blessed in that Josiah wasn’t “liver sick”, per se, prior to transplant (just had a liver filled with masses/tumors, some of which were pre-cancerous). His post-op course has been pretty smooth sailing, thankfully (though we’ve paid a heavy price in many other arenas in his life).
By the way, Josiah recently went on twitter & proclaimed his love for the Lord & has a decent amount of feedback from that tweet!
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My son was within days of dying when he got his liver, his kidneys had almost totally quit working and he was huge from accumulated wastes.
It was a miracle that he received a liver as he is a really tall and large guy, but one came in at almost the last minute and he started to clear up almost immediately.
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So thankful for your son’s miraculous recovery & feel for you & czarina’s suffering as you stood/stand by your son throughout the ordeal. What a testimony you must all have!
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What was amazing was the Ochsner Clinic’s care. They had a liver that had been approved for use by the harvesting agency but it didn’t meret Ochsner’s higher standards. The transplant team refused it and it went to another local hospital for use. Doc who led the team said he didn’t think the liver would last in my son even though it was close to the size he needed.
It was about 2 more weeks and he got worse and worse, he ballooned up and was yellow as a lemon when the call came, he needed an ambulance to get to the hospital.
They took him immediately into surgery and that was the beginning of his new life.
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Wow that must have really been intense & overwhelming for all of you during this whole process. We had a call for a liver about a year before J’s actual transplant for Josiah to be NPO & on deck in case the first (obviously very sick) candidate/recipient died during the procedure but the liver was still viable. We gathered in prayer to pray for this other person, likely child, & they apparently pulled through. I would have had a Much Harder time praying for that first recipient to have a successful transplant if my son were as debilitated at the time as your son was before his transplant.
How long has it been since his transplant? So glad he & you all are now blessed with that New Life!
By the way, whenever I run across your comments on random threads you always make me smile & think & your puns are great even if they are occasionally groaners. You & your wife are both a huge blessing at Stella’s & the Treehouse!
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It’s been 5 years and yes, it was hard. We had him in our house in NOLA and except for a week by each of my two other sons and a few weeks by my Ex who stayed with him I had to relocate there to take care of him. We also had to spell each other staying with him in the hospital and with him post-op.
It’s always hard thinking that someone else has to die for the recipient to live but fate seems make those choices. We volunteered chunks of our livers and they tested us but the head doc said as large a guy as he was there was no viable choice but a whole-liver donor and a big one at that. Just fate that an otherwise healthy person with his stature died at just the exact time.
Puns seem to be genetic – my youngest son, my twin, does it too. Not as well but he’s getting there.
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Our son also needed a whole liver so we couldn’t donate lobes to help him either. Since he wasn’t sick the hospital could afford to be especially picky to get the “perfect” liver for him (though his birth liver with a malformed/non-existent portal vein was replaced with one with malformed hepatic arteries!). When we were told he’d be needing a transplant the doctors said that his ideal donor would be a “12 year old gunshot victim”. That loss within another family really haunted me in the lead up to his transplant so that I was in heavy prayer for that other family in anticipation of their pending & eventual heartbreaking loss…
Has anyone from your gang gone through Gift of Life to thank the donor family for their loving gift? I’d hoped to do that before the 5th anniversary, but that journey still pends. I wrote a bit on that concept here:
https://www.caringbridge.org/visit/josiahcurren/journal
I guess one has to scroll down the page to get to the specific journal entry called: Indirect Thankfulness, a Semi-Trial Balloon…
— Nov 15, 2017
If either you or Czarina end up reading that entry I’d really appreciate your thoughts since you’ve both trod that parent of a liver transplant son path too. Making that contact is still a pending goal for me & I’m finding that my metaphorical eyes are bigger than my theoretical plate when it comes to jumping through various hoops (in life)…
How punderful that you have one to carry on your impressive legacy!
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The family who donated didn’t want to be contacted, some people just don’t want to reopen the wound, to some it’s pouring salt on it. For whatever reason they chose not to be though I’m sure that at some level they realize my son’s gratitude.
My sons are all from a previous marriage, Czarina and I were a bit old, in our accounting, for kids – the thought of being looking at retirement and kids still in school wasn’t appealing. There was also at least two UN agencies and the CDC that warned Czarina and I of potential legal actions were we to replicate…some people just have no sense of humor.
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No cross species pollination, hmm? UN, CDC, military…you & ‘rina have had some interesting lives!
As far as dealing with donor families it’s great that you have a clear cut scenario. We don’t & I seem to be the only family member that wrestles with the topic (I guess I think too much–shock!)…it was a topic I’d really wanted to dig through before we had to shift J’s care from Peds to Adult, so it could be with a familiar team…but that didn’t happen so c’est la vie.
Well congrats on 5 years going strong post-transplant for your son…& the rest of you. May whatever lead to his first liver disease not impact his new liver! Blessings
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Nope, first liver issue was a genetic issue which he alone fell prey to, new liver shouldn’t be bothered.
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That is truly awesome!!! Since my son’s issues was based on a structural abnormality we’re hopeful that there will be no further probs in that area.
Is your son on a protocol to theoretically wean off anti-rejection meds (something only possible with liver transplant per previous specialists)? Josiah’s new doctor isn’t supportive of complete weaning but he’s got him on pretty low dose anti-rejection meds: Prograf 1.5 mg in AM & 1mg in PM, I think…so at least the meds are diminished little by little going forward…
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Our best wishes for his continued improvement.
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Thanks–he is doing very well medically on all known fronts currently, for which we truly Thank the Lord! 🙂
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I will be praying for all of you.
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Thanks, Managerie, we really appreciate that!
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Pingback: 5 Years Going Strong–My Son’s Liver Transplant | Special Connections
My grandson Mason who has autism starts kindergarten today, and his younger brother Conner, also autistic, starts pre-k. Mason faces the challenge of his first year in a regular classroom. Conner goes to the excellent school where Mason did so well.
I would appreciate prayers for both of them, and their parents as they face these new challenges.
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You are all in my prayers, Menage.
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Prayers Menagerie. Especially for the right people to be in their lives while they are in school.
Prayers for grandma’s heart to be be able to let go and let God which is the hardest thing (for me) of all.
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How are things going with Kindergarten for Mason? Has your son started his away from home assignment yet? Hope your family is hanging tough with all the potentially challenging (& exciting) changes. Blessings…
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Not going too well. The school, as I feared, has not kept to the agreed upon plans for Mason. He didn’t get the teacher they said he would have, the one his prior teachers and therapists chose for him. Also, he has ABA therapy for three hours twice a week, there are no openings after school yet, and the school had said he could come in after his appointments and pick up the rest of the day. When my DIL took him in as soon as his first appointment was over they refused to let him go to class, said he would be absent everyday after a certain time. So he is going to miss even more school than he already does.
I am thinking of asking my DIL to let me have a role in this, as czar does with his GGS. Perhaps I can start with a phone call explaining that we have intentions of pursuing legal and public options.
My other autistic grandson started school at Mason’s old school, which is an awesome place. However, he isn’t doing well. He hates it and cries when they drive up to the school, and it goes downhill from there. I am praying he will settle in and do well, but he is a hardheaded and forceful child, and his autism is much more severe than Mason’s is.
Their dad starts school the 27th of this month.
Oh yeah, theplace where they have speech, occupational and physical therapy is closing in a few weeks and now their mom is scrambling to find other arrangements. I really hate that because Mason’s speech therapist is the first person who broke through to him. All his progress began after she was able to work with him.
It’s raining, it’s pouring! Thanks for your prayers Valerie, I really appreciate them.
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Ah, Menagerie, I truly empathize here for you & your daughter-in-law. The best I can say is that it is still very early days for both young guys so there is plenty of time (& hopefully sufficient will & resources) to course correct…
If you go to the CTH prayer request page I just put some links to some Wrightslaw.com resources to another parent of an autistic son…some of this may be helpful in your family’s situation.
More than that right now I don’t want to say for I may stray into my own unresolved “baggage” arena…not a very happy place yet.
Oh, I wish my own mother was as engaged as you are on behalf of her grandkids–what a help & support that could have been, back in the day!
God bless, guide, equip, strengthen, & support you, your daughter-in-law, your son, & your grandsons as each of you does battle in your own arena for the long haul!
In Christ’s Compassion & Love
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So sorry, Menage. Can Mason’s speech therapist offer any advice?
I think it would be a good idea for you to become involved with the school. Young women are often afraid of being confrontational, and older broads like us aren’t.
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I agree. Alex is becoming a little more aggressive with her dealings, but not enough. I, on the other hand, if they would let me get involved, intend to take them down to the mat rather than take no for an answer. As far as I am concerned, they need to make good on each and every commitment made for Mason’s IEP, starting with the proper teacher.
As far as Conner goes, all I know to do is pray, and that’s no sarcasm or joke. He is in the absolute best school he could be in, we were all so thrilled that him getting in at three years old would give him an extra year. But if he doesn’t somehow become teachable it isn’t going to matter. I keep telling myself the teachers are professionals who know what to do about this. But I am terribly concerned.
Also, Conner refuses to eat one bite of food while at school. They don’t allow the kids to bring lunches, but finally tried giving him things he eats at home. He refuses to even take a bite. That’s how bull stubborn this kid is. I have never seen anything like him. His will is, so far as I have seen his whole life long, unbreakable. And not in a good way.
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Regarding Mason’s situation, would it help to send them a letter that details every promise that was made, and how each was broken?
I have often found that putting something in writing (and sometimes sending it “signature requested”) works wonders.
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Great suggestion. I’m waiting for the right moment to approach my son and DIL about this. I have suggested before that they let me intervene, to no avail. I truly don’t want to be a pushy grandmother, but my DIL is not going to be able to be aggressive enough.
Like you said, it’s much easier for us, and on top of that she has a strong aversion to conflict, and that’s simply not a problem for me. Especially when it comes to the grandkids. Also, I do not believe that she and my son have any grasp of how crucial this time, right now while the boys are so young, is to their development. I cannot seem to get through to them on that point.
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Why not draft a letter, and present it to them as a beginning for discussion?
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Another good idea, thanks!
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You are absolutely right. Early development & interventions are key to managing so many of the challenges with autism spectrum. Wrightslaw.com has reams of info on the process of advocating for a child…& you can choose how deep into the rabbit hole to go. I believe that the IEP is a legally binding document & they are required to adhere to every point/promise within it…Hang tough, grandma, & may God grant you the wisdom, words, & timing to approach your son & daughter-in-law. If only they could see that you are trying to Relieve them of some of their burden, not add to it!!!
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So sorry Menagerie, they are blessed to have you in their lives fighting for them. My advice is to find a legal advocate. Have an attorney write a letter, find someone who knows about state codes and laws and the ones that are potentially being broken by the school. Catholic charities may be a first stop in your state, I don’t know, I had a very unpleasant experience with them here, but the upper management (as in the big boys from out of state) did respond in my favor when push came to shove. Anyhow CC may be a place to gather resources that have the knowledge and ability to help.
You have to threaten their government paycheck. Unfortunately that is likely the only language they will respond to.
Money and negative publicity, but since (I’m assuming here) your grandson is not a racial minority negative publicity will only put so much pressure on the school.
Prayers.
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Thanks lovely, also great suggestions. I have a contact I have worked with who is an attorney, and if it comes to that I am going to turn to him. Right now I am giving them a little time because they process things more slowly and really get their back up when I push too hard too soon, and because today is the day my son starts school (in addition to working full time) for a year. I want to let them get over that hump. So, I have to thread the needle between giving them time and not letting things go downhill rapidly for my grandson.
I naively thought that after I raised my kids everything would be gravy! Also, I am never sure whether I really am trying to help or have I fallen into the meddling mother and grandmother role?
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And let’s put a slot for Wolly here in absentia.
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🙏🏼
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Today may be Wooly’s last day in rehab, I believe he said 5 day detox, prayers for him to find people in his community who can help him with the hardest part of sobriety, the journey from a world that surrounds itself around alcohol to a world where life is lived in true freedom.
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It can be very difficult going back to your old life, old job, old friends, and stick to different behavior.
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I agree.
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I’ve been hoping to hear from him. Still praying, of course.
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Thanks Menagerie I am so happy that Wooly has you in his friend and prayer warrior corner.
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Prayers
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Dear Stellarite Prayer Warriors,
I just did a post at one of my blogs that has A Lot of healing scriptures with beautiful images that may be a blessing to you if you might be interested. Blessings to All!
specialconnections.wordpress.com/2018/08/18/complex-ptsd-personal-touchpoints/
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Prayers for dear Wooly.
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Prayers
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HAs anyone heard from Col. Wooly or Joshua ?
Prayers continue for all of them.
🙏🏼❤️
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Wooly and joshua have been absent for quite a while now. The Col. pops in now and then. He had good news on his last tests (MRI?).
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Thank you Stella, I somehow forgot that Col. good news was good results and was thinking that he had a go ahead on the transplant. Prayers for all of them.
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Hoping Tripod & the dachs are taking good care of them. I miss their posts.
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Me too Czarina33 .
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This is a re-post from the CTH Prayer Pages…
I just want to say that prayer really works. About a week ago we thought our dog was dying. He’s been suffering with allergies/skin condition for a while & scratching & chewing constantly. Our son took him to the vet several different times & he’s been on various meds…Well suddenly he got significantly worse, like in a couple days. He started to look emaciated & then fell down a couple of times for no known reason. Last Friday he had to be carried outside to relieve himself & would just lay there (one time our son pressed against his bladder to get him to pee). He was breathing in a distressed kind of way & different kids spent different nights on the floor next to him thinking he would be dead by morning & wanted to comfort him.
Because of my niece’s wedding on Saturday & Brandon’s crazy work schedule he decided that he’d take Shadow to the vet on Monday after work (if he was still alive)…At some point over the weekend my husband & Josiah prayed for the dog…(Josiah prayed for me years ago when we were hiking in Colorado & I had very labored breathing & immediately my breathing issues evaporated!).
When we got back from the wedding Shadow greeted us at the door! He was able to go outside on his own power! By Monday during the day he was choosing to go down our basement stairs to hang out with Josiah (3 days before he couldn’t handle the 5 stairs to get outside himself)…Anyway, Brandon still took him to the vet & they did multiple tests on him & discovered a bleeding mass in his liver (& recommended exploratory surgery & possibly followed by chemo). All of this is way out of range price wise. They did prescribe more meds & rechecked him Tuesday & the meds appear to be effective.
Well, the bottom line is that God is sustaining our dog for whatever extended season of life He chooses. Brandon will take “reasonable” but not “heroic” measures to see to the dog’s vet needs. Oh & maybe being near death’s door & not actually scratching for a few days has relieved him of that seeming neurotic behavior. He’s practically back to his old self now in intake, energy, & interactions…& all these changes were well under way before the most recent vet visits!
Blessings to All! Valerie
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I cannot believe I didn’t notice this thread for 2 years.
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That’s because I just created it six weeks or so ago. I dated it 2014 for WordPress reasons.
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I’m drawing a blank for a witty and wry comment, but needless to say it would involve something.
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I’m so glad I started following your blog stella and this page I just found. I’ll pray for you all if you will please pray for me? God’s Blessings can sustain us all, He hears our prayers and will comfort us.
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Of course, we will pray for you! Thanks for being there.
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🙏🏼
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Restless nights sleep last night which I guess is common when we age, but I sometimes remember a child’s prayer I had to look up today.
A Child’s Bedtime Prayer
-Henry Johnstone
Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray the Lord my soul to keep,
If I should die before I wake,
I pray to God my soul to take, (but wait there’s more)
If I should live for other days,
I pray the Lord to guide my ways,
Father, unto thee I pray,
Thou hast guarded me all day;
Safe I am while in thy sight,
Safely let me sleep tonight.
Bless my friends, the whole world bless;
Help me to learn helpfulness;
Keep me every in thy sight;
So to all I day good night.
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Hi Stellarites I wanted to share a brief praise report. One of my 22 year old twins, Brandon, has been being a light shining in the darkness as he’s been working on some co-workers with the gospel. One young lady in particular has been especially on his heart as he has taken her to church numerous times & they just attended a retreat with that college-based church this past weekend. He called home on Friday to let us know that Maddie had accepted the Lord as her savior even before the first gathering had happened!
The darkness is still being beaten back…even if we might not see it based on ubiquitous news coverage. Keep the faith & don’t be discouraged…God is still on His throne!
Blessings to all! In Christ
https://tse3.mm.bing.net/th?id=OIP.THI1kExR0eTlpzd9bUa_aQHaKE&pid=Api
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maybe this image of Psalm 40: 5 will show here
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Bad news from FroggieLeggs. She needs our prayers right now.
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🙏🏼 No words.
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🙏🏽
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Asking for prayers.
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Praise be to God.
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Wonderful, wonderful, thank you for the update !
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Please pray for us.
https://wqth.wordpress.com/2018/11/17/dear-maga-open-topic-20181117/comment-page-1/#comment-5452
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🙏🏼
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Merry & Blessed Christmas Eve to All!
In Jesus’ Abiding Love
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Sorry Valerie! Happy and blessed New Year, I do not get over here to the prayer thread to see if anyone has posted. I hope you and yours are well 🙂 !
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Hope your New Year is going well too. We’re hanging in there. Friday my husband’s boss was taken away from work in an ambulance following a possible heart attack. There hasn’t been “official” confirmation yet but it appears that he didn’t make it.
Both my husband & son Brandon, who also works there, are having a pretty heavy weekend & dreading what is to be learned come Monday. This boss ran the whole location & just a couple days earlier had joked with my husband that he’d probably never retire but just be found dead in his chair–which appears to be practically what actually happened. He was in his late 50’s & has a wife & 2 teen aged daughters so we are praying for them & the company…
God Bless you & it’s always so nice to hear from you…
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Ho Valerie. Somehow I missed your post.
I am sorry about your husband’s boss.
Prayers as always.
How are things going?
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Thanks for your prayers. Michael has good & bad days though they are finally trending upward–Slightly. He basically saw his boss dead at work & that image haunts him. It wasn’t until the memorial service a few weeks later that we learned his boss was a Christian–which was/is a huge relief!
The heaviness around here has been challenging & we’ve had some recent health scares in the extended family that weighed us down & laser focused our prayers. Thankfully my dad is doing well & out of the hospital following a scary bout of septicemia. My brother recently had surgery on a tumor in his neck (that would have eventually paralyzed him) & the procedure went Very Well (it was really bathed in prayer). In fact, my parents are flying to Dallas to spend the week with him now that he’s out of the hospital & on the mend. He’s got certain (temporary?) limitations & some PT to do but God has been very faithful to see him & his wife through this situation.
Josiah is wrapping up his Special Olympics basketball season with District games next weekend. If his team wins their tournament then they’ll get to the State Games in Grand Rapids later in March.
Things are busy with J’s twin Brandon, who is getting very involved at his church on the campus of Wayne State. In fact next month he’s going on a mission trip (his first ever) with a small church team to Guatemala, I believe, so that should be interesting.
Clarissa is in full swing with college classes at one school & InterVarsity leadership at a neighboring campus, her previous school. She is planning to look for a different job, close to home, to facilitate Josiah’s employment opportunities once this semester ends.
I’m trying to gear up to look for work (after I get our taxes done–yuck)…it’s been challenging to get motivated & I don’t have lots of extra energy, especially when needing to expend my limited emotional capital on shoring others up around here…
Hope you don’t mind me being real (& trying to be brief). Thanks for asking…
How are things with you? I don’t get by Stella’s enough to keep up with what’s going on on a regular basis…though your daily “top 10” is a real blessing & a great idea; what was your inspiration?
I really appreciate your heart & how you share from it so passionately. You remain a Lovely gift–that keeps on giving!
Hopefully some scriptural encouragements with a gift flavor will show above. Blessings!
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Morning Valerie! Your family life is full! I am now officially an empty nester since my youngest moved to Chicago. Being alone is very odd.
I’m sorry for all that you and yours have been through.
I followed Josiah on Twitter. His passion for Christ followed only by basketball is evident 🙂 . What a wonderful young man.
Brandon and Clarissa also sound wonderful 🙂 . Good job Momma Bear.
Prayers for Michael and what was clearly a dramatic moment in his life.
We are supposed to get a mix of snow and freezing rain today followed by thunderstorms.
I’m looking forward to the thunderstorms !
The list of 10 just sort of evolved. I can’t say that I had a specific inspiration other than one day I didn’t want to make a bunch of posts but there were lots of good things happening so I just put it in a list of ten.
God is good !
Very nice catching up a little bit with you, I always enjoy your posts .
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Thank you for sharing Everything you said here. We are very blessed in our kids & thankful & perplexed that God graced us with such great offspring. They were all tempered from a young age in the crucible of life, largely thanks to Josiah.
Josiah & Michael had a Bible study & prayer time this morning & J was weeping before the Lord. He is so incredibly tenderhearted in his faith life–a distinct contrast with his autism. I guess we’re all an enigma!
Because of J’s challenges we’re not sure if we’ll ever actually experience an “empty” nest. Given that our oldest, Nathaniel, bought a house across the street no one’s yet flown very far from the coop.
I lived alone for a while before marrying & was always used to a degree of isolation in my family being the only girl. There are pros & cons for any way we find ourselves living. My life still has a decent amount of chaos because of the others I live with (schedules, emotions, etc) let alone my own challenges. I enjoyed the quiet when I was alone & I definitely usually knew where anything was located in my single life–not true in our full house.
We traveled from Metro Detroit to Port Huron to see some friends this afternoon/evening (Sat) so ran into some of those alleged thunderstorms. For those that hate winter (like my husband) they were probably glad that it was just rain instead of lots of snow. Hope the storms were to your linking too!
God is good & gracious to allow us (all) to meet in cyberspace so that some day in eternity our souls may recognize each other in the land of eternal joy. Blessings!
Here’s a personal spiritual “top 10” in no particular order:
1) the eternal gift of Life in Christ!!!
2) growing up in a godly home
3) being “equally yoked” with a wonderful eclectic Christian man
4) leading each of my kids to Christ when they were young
5) watching my husband assist in baptizing our kids in two separate lake baptisms at summer church camp
6) the heritage of faith that I unearth doing genealogical research
7) singing worship at a former job in a Christian (psych) hospital & later at our church
8) attending a Christian college & grad school & meeting other believers from across the country & around the world
9) choosing to model forgiveness with our kids so that they didn’t hold grudges with the upheaval/trauma of medical & autistic complexity that pummeled our home
10) seeing each of our kids develop spiritually & take ownership of that area as adults:
a. Nathaniel & his wife Tara regularly participate in Bible Studies with T’s childhood church friends (a second family) & N is starting to work Sound at his church
b. Brandon has lead a friend to the Lord, been faithful in various outreach ministries in a couple of churches, is doing Lighting at his church, actively pursues Bible study & fellowship with believers, & is planning to go on that Missions trip soon
c. Josiah has been directly proclaiming his faith at school, in testimonies before church, homeless shelter ministry, & at a couple of my husband’s Christian Band concerts. His online presence in blogging, Facebook, & now Twitter is often about Championing Christ.
d. Clarissa has been singing on the worship team for years at church, she is teaching herself guitar & writing numerous worship songs, has been in leadership in InterVarsity on campus for years & through it has learned & acted in many evangelistic endeavors.
I am blessed beyond measure in things of the Lord & am very thankful for His Grace in my life…
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I guess we’re all an enigma!
Absolutely true.
There are pros & cons for any way we find ourselves living.
Absolutely true. I miss my daughter but this is her time, she is learning to be independent and responsible. Right now she is in Bangkok (soon to be on a flight home).
It is weird living alone, very quiet, no dishes in the sink, everything in its place.
As you said pros and cons.
Our thunderstorm was a bust. Heard zero amount of thunder and the sky only lit up one time with lightening. I love thunderstorms so I was disappointed. But I have all of spring and summer for storms so I’m looking forward to some beautiful sky shows.
The good news is that there was a lot of rain and it did melt a lot of our snow.
God is good & gracious to allow us (all) to meet in cyberspace so that some day in eternity our souls may recognize each other in the land of eternal joy. Blessings!
Amen.
Your family has the two most important (and inseparable) ingredients for success, God and Love. How beautiful.
Have a lovely Sunday Valerie 🙂 !
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Now that you mention it we didn’t hear any thunder last night or see any lightening either–sad. I love those storms too!
Hope your daughter has a safe trip back from Bangkok & that she had a blast! I personally love the story telling that (hopefully) ensues after special adventures!
It’s hard letting go & moving on…& we probably never really let completely go of our kids, but are we even supposed to?
Hope you have a great day too! We ended up skipping church (I rarely go but was willing this time ironically) so we’re having a bit of a low key day–which is a nice way to spend Sunday around here.
Blessings!
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Prayers for a family member of one of my favorite people…Mark has cancer of the sinus area and is headed for surgery on January 9th…
Mark Update / Prayer Request 1-8-19
Dr. Lee Carriker
And a vid from Mark…a fine and fun young man–with darling children and a dear wife–whose life is the Lord’s and he’s placed himself in His hands…
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🙏🏼Prayers 🙏🏼
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Dear Stellarite Prayer Warriors,
Please pray for my son, Brandon (Josiah’s twin), & a small team of mostly college students from Detroit, MI & Columbus, OH that are going on a missions trip to Guatemala for a week. They left in the wee hours this Saturday (today) & return late next Saturday. Brandon has never been on a missions trip before so this will be a new adventure. They plan to be helping to build a house, evangelize, worship, pray, & minister at a local college campus.
Please pray for their safe travels & health, for God’s provision for their needs, for being instant in & out of season with the Gospel, that the Lord would prepare the hearts & minds of those with whom they interface for His Gospel message, for salvation of many, for healings, for the love of God to be shown abroad (no pun intended!) 🙂 , for protection from machinations of the evil one, for God to be glorified in all they say & do, for God’s Will to be done in & through each one of them.
Thanks for your many prayers on behalf of my family. You bless me mightily in this ministry!
…& here’s a report from our homefront:
I just wanted to share with you that we had a really special time of prayer with & for Brandon this past evening. It was initiated by one of Brandon’s long-time friends (they were classmates in a small local Christian school K-8) who came here to specifically pray over Brandon. This friend is a strong Christian but rather left-leaning since (at least) his college days, but these differences thankfully don’t impede our shared journeys to the Throne of Grace! There was a beautiful presence of the Lord with us as we each prayed for B & his upcoming trip. In fact, during these times of prayer there is almost no trace of Josiah’s autism–he truly has No Disabilities in God’s Kingdom. What a blessing to pray with one’s family!!!
I hope this mini-testimonial will encourage you, in Christ. Blessings to All!
May the Lord minister to Each of you in His gracious grace & mercy & provide for All of Your needs, according to His Riches in glory, in Christ Jesus!!!
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Stella.
I have been checking your prayer thread for an update on Mark. The request was posted by Lucille in January.
Do either of you have an update on him? I like to keep up with the prayer requests.
Thank you.
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I haven’t seen an update. Perhaps tag Lucille on one of her other comments and ask. She’s the one who posted the initial request.
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Ok, thanks Stella
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I found a video from Mark from a little over a week ago. He just finished chemo and radiation.
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Thank you so much Stella!
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I would like to request prayers for my niece’s husband who is now in the hospital awaiting a heart transplant. His doctors are trying to have him moved up on the transplant list because of his condition. His father died young of heart failure so I believe it is a genetic thing. They have 3 young children and he is a good husband and father. Please pray he gets a new heart in time and gets his health back.
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I asked for prayers for my niece’s husband who needed a new heart. Good news. He got one last weekend and is doing well. Praise God. Now he needs prayers to heal well and get his strength back. 😀 Thank you.
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Need your prayers for an unusual case. I have a colleague who is a bit of a loose cannon with his work. He has put the company at risk more than once, and let’s say he has not endeared himself to many, including me, with whom we continue to have a frosty relationship. His disdain for what I and my department do (anti-corruption compliance) led me to tell his manager that he needs to fix this colleague’s attitude, or I will escalate and fix it for him.
This colleague was scheduled to present to executive management and I was “loaded for bear” (as my mom would say!). Right before this presentation, I happened to hear from the manager who told me a horrifying story. The colleague and his wife were at a dinner party a few weeks ago and were seated near a physician. Of course, they joked about their aches and pains to him. The doctor became a bit concerned when the colleague’s wife described some odd symptoms that she thought were just “getting a cold” and a “a bit dizzy” and her vision was getting to be “middle aged” which she attributed to getting older, the stress of the approaching holiday season, and raising a family of 3 children.
The doctor asked her to see a specialist he knew immediately because he suspected there was another underlying cause of her ailments. Indeed, the doctor was right. The colleague’s wife (I don’t even know her name!) was diagnosed with a large brain tumor. Good news: it is not malignant. Bad news: it is pressing on nerves responsible for processing sight.
Worse news: surgery has 1/3 chance of success, 1/3 chance of success resulting in partial or full blindness, and 1/3 chance of death. They are reeling — my colleague, his wife, their 3 children . . . . Second opinion and eventual surgery is in January. I am likewise so shocked and saddened by this news.
During my colleague’s presentation (done by video conference — he was not in the room), I said nothing. After the presentation I sent him a message to indicate that I knew of his wife’s situation and that despite our differences he had my full support. I volunteered with his manager to handle the business activity that was so alarming –my colleague has far more important things to worry about.
This diagnosis came right around the time of the feast day of St. Lucy of Syracuse (patron of vision) and is special to me. I also do not have the best vision, and my great-aunt Lucille was named for and consecrated to St. Lucy as a baby because she had eye ailments and yet had almost miraculous “inner vision” of the family. My brother made a miraculous recovery after a severely detached retina was repaired (he is back to 20/20 vision even though statistically the best that most have after such procedures is 20/100).
Please offer a prayer to my colleague Thomas, his wife and children, and for the doctor who luckily made a “dinner table diagnosis” that started what I hope and pray will be a successful (if difficult) operation and recovery. Please pray for a successful surgery:
St. Lucy of Syracuse, join our prayers and protect her vision.
Blessed Mother, pray for this mother of three children.
Holy Family, watch over this family.
Archangel Raphael the Healer, your prayers are sorely needed for her and her surgeons.
Guardian Angels, attend and protect.
We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ.
Amen.
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Prayers being said.
I will stop by church today and light a candle of prayer.
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Thank you. Much appreciated.
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Of course I will pray for this family, Mike.
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I ask for a prayer for my ex-husband whose Lymphoma returned a few days ago. He is in ICU and starts heavy doses of chemo on Christmas Eve. At Thanksgiving he was fine (as one could be who knows the Cancer may return.). Cancer is just horrible. Thank you
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Prayers 🙏🏼
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I will pray for him.
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Being one who never asks for things this is a mite difficult, but need to ask for prayers.
The lady catty-corner from me moved in about a year and a half ago. She is a sweet lady who works very hard, about DIL’s age.
Her adopted daughter has been a real hellion. Her mom told me a few things, but it is certain the girls is worse.
Anyways, her daughter, about Lugubrious GDaughter’s age, now out of school and home alone most of the day, has shown definite signs of drug behavior, recognized by years of observing Little Bro and his daughter (my niece), both now deceased some 5 and 2-1/2 years.
This evening, fire & ambulance came, left, then a single police officer came who stayed quite a while.
Friends and family have arrived at intervals; none have left.
Likewise the mom has not left.
Were the adopted daughter hospitalized, her mom would definitely be at hospital.
Please pray for this lady. I forget her name, but have spoken a few times. She is a good lady, and really loves that girl.
But, having seen this way too many times, i fear the worst.
Thanks.
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Prayers for both of them.
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Prayers of course, jeans.
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Even though the activity at my neighbor’s home was clearly recognizable (funeral), i kept deluding myself that i was not seeing what i knew i was seeing.
Finally checked the obits tonight.
Kaitlyn was 19.
Why, oh why, when i recognized her behavior as drug behavior, did i not talk with her mother?
My heart is breaking for this lady. She loved that girl so much. All the grief from the past few years has returned.
Also saw one of Ma Soeur’s friends there. OD. Carol had been homecoming queen.
Thank you for your prayers. Kaitlyn’s mom adopted her in high school. Her mom is school secretary. Kaitlyn was a throw-away kid, and Kaitlyn’s adopted mom thought she could help this poor girl. They went to church and everything.
“Suffer the little children to come to me”
Kaitlyn is at peace now with Jesus, and i am forever grateful for that.
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Greetings Stellars, or should I say Stellarites or even Stella-Rights! 😉
I’ve missed you quite often but have been very bogged down in other matters elsewhere…so this is a quick drive-by “Hello” without any type of catch up reading. 😦
I’m sharing a copy of a post I did over at the CTH Prayer Request page because the sentiments shared there are still applicable here…Though I Miss You All more than I miss CTH, but don’t let that cat out of the bag please. This is just such a lovely, cozy, friendly, joyful, fierce, loyal, hilarious, & righteous corner of the Treeper blogosphere it remains another home away from home! Hopefully when things calm down a bit (& I’m under MI dictator Whitmer’s jackboot, as likely are some of you) I’ll have more time to stop & smell the roses & shoot the breeze with you guys…
here’s that stuff copied from CTH:
Valerie Curren says:
May 6, 2020 at 2:56 am
Blessings & thoughts from a friend…& a special “Hello” to Joe Blow, who’s ministry of prayer has meant so much to my friend & others who have now gone on to their reward…
“I look back and think, OMG, how in the world did I get through those first few years…LOL…and surviving the onslaughts of the Fabian masters too! 😁
This is why Eagledriver50 over on CTH is prolly my best Marine buddy…and he understands the depths of my military tributes I posted every early 6am Monday morning. He’s a 30 year Marine…so you know, he has paid his price and fights his demons as him and I have discussed.
There are just some wonderful people in the world, stories untold, heartbreak untold, but great love and faithful service untold.
One day, it will all be clear and known in clarity.
Shalom…”
God’s Best Blessings Abound to All Treepers!
Thank you dear Prayer Warriors for your generous prayers on behalf of my family, Josiah in particular. I believe he dropped a note here recently to say “hi”. Please know that God is working mightily in Josiah’s life, in ways we Never could have imagined even one year ago.
He started to do some part-time work in October & got a girlfriend that same month. Even though he’s currently laid off with the plannedemic fiasco, as manifest in Michigan, he still managed to propose to Rose & now they are engaged. This is a miracle from the Lord & a direct answer to so many prayers. Thank you so much for being part of that process.
I haven’t stopped by to check in on people’s needs here in a while & will have to get back to that sometime later. But please let me drop a blanket prayer here now, without my own knowledge of what needs have been shared. This is from my & hopefully God’s heart…
Heavenly Father, I lift up the people reading & posting at the Conservative Treehouse, even right now, but especially those who find hope & refuge in these Prayer Request pages. Be at work in each of our lives in an ongoing ministry of grace, and peace, and strength, and healing, and hope and joy. Bind-up the heartache of the broken-hearted, heal the sick & hurting, restore the relationships of those who are estranged. Grant the ministry of compassion & forgiveness to flow freely among Your people.
We continue to lift up President Trump, his administration, and our warrior heroes in the military & beyond. Grant them favor, protection, wisdom, fortitude, courage, endurance, strength, guidance, strategy, tactics, & ultimately Victory, in Jesus, for Your Glory & our greater good.
May we each surrender to Your Will & Your Ways and be transformed within & without–ever coming closer into conformity with the image and character of Jesus Christ. May He reign! Cleanse us, heal us, set us free from tyranny & oppression in the physical & spiritual worlds. May we seek peace & pursue it. May we desire You above all else. May we seek Your face, Your heart, & Your Will & Your Ways, in addition to Your Hand…
We love You, we praise You, we trust You, we implore You. Turn our hearts & minds & actions & relationships & plans & pathways Back to You. I ask these things in Our Lord’s Precious Name
In Jesus’ Love,
Valerie
I send Love, & Hugs, & Hope your way. May God keep blessing each of you & meeting all your needs according to His riches in Glory in Christ Jesus!
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My friend Kitty in Jacksonville, FL wrote me this morning to ask for prayers. She has been having trouble reading and was told yesterday she has macular degeneation and a hole in her retina. She is hoping to see a retinal specialist today. She is a dear, sweet woman who has kept a positive attitude despite some difficult life experiences. She would appreciate your help.
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Will do. My dear Aunt Verna had that. They have better treatments for macular degeneration these days.
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Dear Stellarites, I’ve got another prayer request regarding Josiah. He tried to post a request at CTH but it wouldn’t go through. I’ve been “banned” over there but J hadn’t been that we knew of, so if anyone is inclined to let them know of his situation there we would appreciate it…
Hope all of you are doing well. I’ll catch up on reading these prayer requests, hopefully later tonight after we get settled in (assuming I can get internet access). God Bless!
I’d appreciate your prayers for a medical situation with my special needs son Josiah. We’ve had some “hiccups” with his anti-rejection meds needed for immunosuppressive therapy due to Liver Transplant. Anyway we got labs yesterday & results today…and the numbers don’t look very good. In fact shortly I’ll be taking him to the hospital where they plan to put him on IV steroids & antibiotics & also do a liver biopsy to see how things look.
We’ve already had one answer to prayer in that we should be getting a private room so I should be able to stay with him the whole time–Praise the Lord!!! Last time he was in-patient was actually when he got the Transplant in 2013 & he had some challenges when I wasn’t there to assist him during the few times I went to the hotel to sleep. Because of his developmental challenges it’s better for someone to be with him to help advocate & assist with his needs…so if he had to share a room on this stay I would have been limited to just visiting hours. I guess given all the CV insanity, which is excessively hyped here in Michigan, I should be thankful I’ll get to be with him in the hospital at all!
Anyway please pray that the treatments will be successful & that the liver will calm down & return to normal functioning. Also pray that the symptoms of jaundice & itchiness will abate quickly.
He’d been doing worse over the weekend with low energy & vomiting & was feeling well enough to go to his job today, which he’d missed on Monday, so I was hopeful that he was enough on the mend now that things could be addressed outpatient, but they really want him at the hospital, so here we are…
~~~~~~~
If anyone’s interested in more details, after we get settled, I’ll be attempting to update his Caring Bridge site here:
https://www.caringbridge.org/visit/josiahcurren
If for some reason the details of our experience on his liver transplant journey would be a blessing to anyone here’s where you can dig in:
Archive of Liver Transplant Journey: https://jazzmanjournal.wordpress.com/about/
Distilled version from above archive: https://specialconnections.wordpress.com/2017/07/30/four-years-ago-today-a-transplant-tale/
Shorter distilled version: https://specialconnections.wordpress.com/2018/07/30/5-years-going-strong-my-sons-liver-transplant/
Even shorter view 😉 : https://specialconnections.wordpress.com/2019/07/30/6th-anniversary-of-my-sons-liver-transplant/
~~~~~~~
Funny, I was planning another “anniversary” post for July 30 & didn’t anticipate to have to weave in the potential rejection issues that appear to be bubbling to the surface now…I guess you just never know what’s coming down the pike. Thankfully we have the Lord to help see us through the rough patches! Well God Bless you guys…
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Here’s a quick update on Josiah. They only let me stay with him the first night so he spent last night alone. He did great on the biopsy yesterday but the results are still pending. By blood work labs the liver is stable but not yet improving so they upped his Prograf, added steroids, & also Magnesium because that was low. At least the itchiness has calmed down.
I should be back at the hospital shortly to see where things are & how he did on “his own” overnight. He’s in good spirits & learning to speak up more for himself, because he has to when I’m not there to back him up…& we’ve both been Very Tired & dozed off several times with fatigue…Anyway thanks for praying & thinking of us. God Bless!
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Josiah’s liver is finally responding to the meds & he may be able to come home tomorrow with a more involved med regimen, like he was first post-transplant, more frequent labs, & a visit to his doctor in like 2 weeks. According to one of today’s doc’s “we almost lost the liver & Josiah could have died”…it’s still a bit of a wild ride. Thanks for praying!
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Technically I wrote that last night so hopefully J is coming home today!
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Josiah’s home now…but we are All super tired. He’s got 28 pills a day, at least for the first week…Thanks for thinking of &/or praying for us. & thanks, Stella, for making a prayer page where we can share each other’s burdens. God Bless you all. In Jesus’ Love
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https://www.caringbridge.org/visit/josiahcurren
Hello Precious, Praying Stellars, I’m finally providing an update about Josiah, but frankly I’m a bit out of gas, so if you want greater/other details, please see my 8-13 update at the Caring Bridge site above…
Last weekend we noticed J had more jaundice symptoms & we interfaced with the University of Michigan Hospital’s On-Call Doctor covering GI/Liver Transplant. He spoke w/ J’s doctor & then got back with us. No med changes until labs. We got labs on Tuesday.
Yesterday I spoke with the Liver Transplant Nurse & Most of J’s Labs Have NOT Improved, some are stable-ish & at least one is Slightly better. The one measuring bile/jaundice was 12 before the hospital, 7 after at some point, & now is at 10.5, which is not good.
They are adding a new med (which we’re having some challenges getting) Ursodiol to help empty the bile ducts, iirc, though per the pharmacy it’s often used for kidney stones. They want him taking 900 mg/day of it. He got 900 mg last night & has 300 mg for tomorrow morning. The pharmacy was supposed to get more in Wed but it didn’t come but they think it’ll come Thursday, so hopefully he’ll be able to get the full dosage today too.
They want him to get labs again on Friday & go to twice a week labs for some period of time that likely depends on the liver numbers. They’re sending new “standing orders” so we don’t have hassles at the lab…My daughter is currently going on the clock as J’s “staff” & doing this activity with him, since the hospitalization.
Depending on how the liver numbers look they might get another Liver Biopsy. It’s not clear if that is based on Friday’s labs or next week’s 1st labs probably on Tuesday, unless J decides to skip/go late to work & get labs Mon.
At least the theoretical biopsy should be able to be done out-patient. If it turns out to be like what just happened at the hospital, a punch or core biopsy, then we know what to expect & can talk J through it. If it’s like his old liver biopsy, laparoscopic surgery, we can prepare him for that too….
Everything is still relatively in flux. They may decide to pause the weaning down on the Prednisone. He started 40 mg/day this Tuesday & was due to go to 30 mg/day this coming Tuesday. They may also tweak his Prograf dosage depending on the Tacro (tacrolimus, Prograf generic) level, which wasn’t back as of our conversation…
Josiah has been feeling some diminished energy & now wishes he weren’t going in to work this morning. I’m coaching him on making that decision when he wakes up…for when he thought about it last night he thought it was “too late” to call off his morning shift.
He spent some time at his fiancee Rose’s house the other day. The prior time they’d seen him they were quite worried about how low-key he was (they’re used to seeing him in a more hyper state). They also thought he’d lost weight. His appetite has been a little lessor but he’s still eating reasonably well. Rose’s family laid hands on him to pray for him & they are continuing to lift him to the Throne of Grace!
My husband Michael & I are supposed to go out for dinner with Rose’s parents tomorrow night. We’ve not yet met her dad, who is on the autism spectrum, but know her mom a bit from Special Olympics events. We’re supposed to get to know each other & potentially share our visions for our kids’ wedding & marriage.
It is rather interesting times around here. The liver stuff is unsettling though Josiah seems relatively OK overall. The nurse said that people can feel completely fine & have significant liver problems–yikes!
We’d really appreciate your ongoing prayers for Josiah’s complete healing, body, mind, soul, & spirit. Sometimes all the uncertainty is overwhelming to him & it is draining, to some degree, to the rest of us…
Thank you for your prior prayers for Josiah. My special son is a Massive Prayer Magnet & has been since even before he was born! God is good but these challenging times are tough to live through, they’re so much more enjoyable in the rear-view mirror (as we all know)!
God Bless You ALL. In Jesus’ Love
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Asking for prayers for my surgeon tomorrow morning at 8 a.m., when he will cut off my disintegrated (R) knee and replace it with something designed by Man.
For unknown reasons, this surgery – my 14th or 15th, lost track – frightens me. My surgeon, 4 days older than I, will be retiring on the 30th, so he is quite experienced. But prayers would still be greatly appreciated. Knowing Godly Friends, even Imaginary Friends, will be speaking with Our Lord on my behalf, greatly soothes frazzled nerves.
Thanks for all you all do. Be Blessed.
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Praying now, jeans! For your surgeon, and for you. Let us know as soon as you can how you are.
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Prayers going up. Be well and pain free.
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Prayers, Jeans.
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Hi there! Stella here.
Haven’t seen you here recently, but I see that you commented at CTH.
I tried to send you an email, but it was bounced back.
I’ve been thinking about you and wondering how things turned out after your surgery.
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Thank you all for your prayers, thoughts, and kind words. The past 4 months have been a nightmare, but i’m still here.
Left my beloved little house at 5 a.m. on 28 June, and never saw it again. The surgery supposedly went well, but they kept me in hospital an extra day. Was then dumped in a “rehab facility” read nursing home, the place where my surgeon said patients do the worst.
Meanwhile, the first week my beloved little house was sold, packed up, and moved to Archdale NC, pop 12,000. Wicked Son has POA so he was legal in all he did. Was finally taken from nursing home and driven straight to Archdale; been here ever since, mostly alone.
DIL, a nurse, has taken me on as her private patient, and all kinds of nasty things are being uncovered, none good, looking cancerous, but we’ve just begun. Long way to go. Have a local m.d. plus va hospital in salisbury, 40 min away.
My 15 yo cat, my only friend and companion, started having seizures, eventually attacking me, so lost Sonny as well.
Meanwhile, thanks again for the prayers. That’s the best a friend, even Imaginary Friends, can give.
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Dear jeans, I am so sorry to hear of all of your troubles. These are things that can happen to any of us older folks, although we always hope that it won’t.
I am so glad to see you again, and your imaginary friends, although not as good as real friends, are here to listen and help if we can.
Sorry it took so long to answer this, but your comment ended up in spam, and I took my time getting here this morning.
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Prayers, Jeans – that’s so much to take on in such a short time.
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Jeans, I’ll be praying for you, and hoping that you are able to give us good news soon.
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Dear Jeans,
My heart goes out to you for all that has befallen you. May our Lord give you comfort in every way and provide knowledge to your caretakers so that they will do their best for you.
You will be in my prayers this night and for all the nights to come.
Keep looking up!
Love from Lucille
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I’m sorry for being late in noticing the prayer call, but here I am with all sympathy and prayers for you.
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The last thing in the world most would expect from me is prayer request, but…..
I could talk for ever about my youngest son Bryce, as my Aspie he is everything we were told he wouldn’t be, he is now 25 years old and shines like a star. Tonight I have to bring him into Mount Saini Hospital in NYC for open heart surgery tomorrow. I have remained solid for my wife and family but as this draws closer I will take all the help I can get. I have enjoyed the company here for a long time, I thank all of you from the bottom of my heart just for being here. I will update on his condition as he progresses.
Sincerely,
Gary
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You and your son are in my prayers.
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Thank you Stella, my son has made it through and hopefully I will be bringing him home early next week.
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Good news, Gary!
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Hope he is happy and well in the arms of his home!
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