Just a quick post to share the GOOD NEWS!

The retina specialist did a flourene angiogram of Cat's eyes. This is where they shoot dye into your veins and then view the retina under a black light. Any place there is bleeding, will light up like a Christmas tree. We found out that the new histo spots are not bleeders! That is really, really good news. God is so good! We're all very relieved (understatement).

The Doc told Cat that if he didn't quit smoking, he could pretty much count on our worst fears coming true sometime, and probably sooner than later. So I'm asking for prayers so that Cat will be able to quit w/o too much trouble. He's tried many times, but is very dependent on cigarettes. Please pray that God will be his strength and will give us grace to deal w/ him!

Thank you all so much for your prayers and support. I am so blessed to have you as friends.  Remember to also pray for Josy/Sherry, Claire, my nephew, and Missy's cousin Michael (praise the Lord he's home).

Have a great holiday weekend! I'll be looking for Isaac in the parade Monday!

Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. 1 John 3:18

Yes, all expenses were paid because we have good insurance...well, all but $100 bucks is paid, anyway. Praise the Lord!!

Dear little CLW, who has been sick for several weeks now, started going down hill pretty fast Wednesday night, so I took her in to Children's ER early Thursday morning. (This was Yang's birthday, btw...more on that later.) She was admitted at 5pm, made it to her teeny-tiny little room at 7:30 and that is where she stayed, plugged in to two monitors, an IV, and oxygen until this afternoon. Talk about a long couple of days!

It seems she contracted an RSV-like virus. None of my kids ever had that as a baby, but the Children's ER nurse told me that this is the worst year for RSV & viruses like it in her career, and she wasn't a young lady. She said they actually ran out of IV poles Wednesday! She said that had never happened before!

It was pretty scary at first. Her oxygen level was very low when we arrived at the ER, so they put her on the "fast track" I felt bad about all the other people that had waited longer than we had, and whose kids even seemed sicker than CLW, who was running around, waving to people and being cute and ornery, just not as cute and ornery as usual. (I'm usually the only one who can tell when my kids are really sick. Even Cat questioned me when I said we needed to take her in.) So anyway, that place was truly packed. But I'm glad we took her in.

Her response to the oxygen was like day after night. She lit up as soon as they put her on it. I could see it in her eyes. Poor little baby had been oxygen deprived for no telling how long.

So, needless to say, Mommy stayed with her the entire time. Cat came in around lunch time to bring me some real coffee from Starbucks and give me a break to get cleaned up, eat, and stretch my legs. He stayed a few hours each day (he doesn't do hospitals well) plus it was very cramped.

We were in a double room, and had a room -mate about the entire time. It stunk though, because CLW had a little crib, and we were stashed back in the far corner w/ the crib, a chair-bed, and some folding chairs for visitors, while the other 2/3 of the room, which belonged to an older child in a normal bed. had a sofa bed, a chair bed and a few normal chairs for visitors. They even had a bathroom, which we couldn't use. We had to walk to the other wing to even use the bathroom! Quite annoying, especially when Ying and Yang came to visit!

Then, people kept giving us conflicting information. The respiratory therapist would say one thing, the nurse another, and yet another from the doctors. Just small enough variations that we were thoroughly confused about what the criteria were for her to be released. Finally, I just told Cat not to ask anybody who wasn't a doctor, because they're the ones that write the discharge papers.

Then we got our hopes up that she might go home last night. They dialed back her IV drip, and she was still wetting, then they dialed back her oxygen, and she was doing great until she fell asleep. Then her oxygen level would drop again and we'd have to put her back on the O2. So, yeah, a long, frustrating, scary couple of days indeed.

So, we are home now. Homecoming was fun. I took CLW out of her carseat, and Thing1 was at the kitchen window doing dishes. So she opened the window and called out to CLW. CLW was looking all around for her, and when she finally made eye contact, she threw up her hands and said "Eeyuvoo," which is "I love you," in CLW-speak. She was so happy to be home. So was her mommy! The first thing I did, after drinking coffee and playing w/ CLW and her Christmas toys, was to hop in the shower! Boy, did that feel good!

So, now to plan on how to make up for totally missing little Yang's birthday! I told him that we'd have a little party for him on Sunday w/ cake and party hats and everything. Just don't know how I'm gonna pull that off! It'll happen one way or another, God willing.

Oh, please pray for Jolena. She is 6-years old, the same age as Ying. She was CLW's roomie for a few hours. She has Cerebral Palsey. She had just had surgery to cut a wedge of bone out of her leg because her muscles and tendons aren't growing as much as her bones and they had to adjust by removing bone. The recovery is going to be very painful. She was constantly crying. It was heartbreaking. I think I prayed for that little one as much or more than I prayed for my own. She has many more future surgeries to deal with too until she stops growing. Just heartbreaking.

So, yeah, I'm counting my blessings today. Yes, the virus is wicked, and she'll still be fighting it off for a while, but when she recovers, she'll be perfect. She can talk to me, and talk back to me. She can play and fight with her siblings. She can run to me and away from me. Her future is full of bright possibilities and choices. Jolena's is mapped out for her entirely. And the most exciting possibilities she has to look forward to is whether or not she'll learn to talk.

Everyone else is okey-dokey. The Olders are the same, happy and heathy, and the Littles are ornery as ever!

I'm preparing for our first women's Sunday School class tomorrow. Pray that I can get up and get ready in time! I am so bad at running late. Can't do that when you're teaching a class!

Keep CLW in your prayers. They say it could be a while 'til she's over this.

I have some prayer requests before I make my update...which I may or may not make, depending on how the day goes, Lol! Be on the lookout.

• Please continue to remember BeautifulArt and her health. It's just bad news all the time, and she's so discouraged. Guitarman (not rhythmguitar, as I was gently reminded) and the kids could stand some uplifting on their behalf as well.
• A family who used to go to Bethany, with whom Cat and I were very close, has been through the wringer over the last year or two. Their middle daughter, who has struggled w/ severe scoliosis for quite some time, is having surgery next Thursday morning to fuse her spine. This is supposed to provide relief for the pain she's been in for years now. It is an extremely long surgery, 7-10 hours is what they were told. Please pray for K, that she have a calm spirit, comes through the surgery well, heals quickly and keeps her wonderful faith throughout it all. She also has a heart condition, which her mother didn't mention when she spoke to me, but please pray that her heart remains strong for this lengthy surgery. Pray for her family, as they come together for K, that all goes smoothly, that they are also calm and faithful. Pray for guidance for the surgeon, that his/her hands are guided by the Great Physician, and that s/he might get the opportunity to see the faithful bring God glory, and that it would turn his/her heart toward Him.
• My nephew is dealing w/ some serious issues. God knows. So if you would please pray for the veil to be lifted, for him to see Truth, to understand it clearly, and to act on it and accept the power that comes through relationship with Jesus, I would be very grateful. Also, please pray for his protection until God gets him to that point.
• Our dear friends, RO & SO. They used to go to Bethany too, but fell into some weirded out "sect". I found out RO lost his mother Saturday, and SO lost hers a couple of months ago. We have been out of touch, but I still love them dearly and miss our long talks about biblical and spiritual things, even though they could be so frustrating! Lol! But I don't really have anybody to do that with anymore.

Thanks so much for your prayers!

Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. 1 John 3:18

Please join me in prayer for a very tragic situation that has taken/is taking place. I cannot ever share the details, but my heart bleeds for those involved. I've been asked to take a part in the situation that I am so not comfortable with, but I must, because it's the right thing to do.

I'm begging for prayer and fasting partners especially for tomorrow, but also ongoing for this "unspoken" prayer request.

Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. 1 John 3:18

(For those of you who have read Mac N Cheese's blog, this is a repeat) I just spoke to HBM. It seems that Elvis' (our worship minister) Nana (grandmother) is in the hospital and it's not looking good. She has fluid around her lungs and heart and some blood testing showed a need for platelets to thicken her blood, which they gave her earlier today. That is all HBM knows at this point.

They are driving to TN as I write this. Please pray for Nana's comfort and her healing if it is God's will, safe travel & strength for HBM, Elvis, & Pita Pocket, and for peace among all the family (times like this can be stressfull).

Thanks for your prayers. Much love & blessings!

Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. 1 John 3:18

If you haven't checked their websites lately (the links don't go to the current update, but to the original requests for prayer) you might want to know that Israel and Candace are both doing so much better. They are both back home and on maintenance meds, from what I understand. They both have more tests and are still walking a rough road, but things are looking up. God is so good!

Regarding Emily, she has a surgery scheduled for June 6th, so she can heal a bit more from the last one. Her mother's blog states that out of the 28 lymph nodes that were tested, only two showed cancer, so that is a huge praise, though it does not remove the necessity for prayer.

Please keep these lovelies and their families in your prayers. If you feel led, you might also want to visit the The Suffering Children's Network to pray for those little ones who are in need.

Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. 1 John 3:18

I just got off the phone w/ K-Dog & TT's daughter, have we given her a name yet? Hmmm, how about KK? She's still in the hospital for pneumonia and is retaining
the IV fluids they were giving her for dehydration. They are checking her kidneys to try to find out why. She sounds chipper and even cooed over the phone to CindyLouWho, "her baby". Please continue to pray for wisdom for the docs and comfort for KK, and her mom & dad. They aren't very happy w/ KK's doc on call. TT took KK in to emergency w/ a high fever, even though the on call doc told her to stick it out. I'd be upset too! She's been in the hospital since early Thursday morning, if I understand correctly after seeing the doc on Monday and calling often between times. Chalk up another one for "mother's intuition!" Good job, TT!
                                                                         
I'll update more this evening while I'm at work. You all have a good weekend!!

Mood: tired
Currently Listening: CNN Headline News
Currently Reading:  Checking out the Clean Home Clean Heart Challenge


Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. 1 John 3:18

DandelionSeeds posted this in my comments today:

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Cathy, Candace's mom, has sent out another EMERGENCY Prayer Request for Candace. (She also posted one in the middle of the night that Janne informed some of us of, as things are not going well). Please keep this little girl in fervent prayer.

Please remember the family of Missey who are having her funeral this morning. I will be having a post honoring Missey through "A Mother's T.R.E.K." and will keep you posted on that as well.

In Him,
Amy

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Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. 1 John 3:18

PRAY! PRAY!! PRAY!!!  www.candacejoy.org

My dear prayer warriors,

Please go to the above website and read what this darling little girl has been suffering through. She is scheduled for her 13th surgery tomorrow morning to remove a bacteria that is eating away her body. Her incredible faith and courage are a testiment to God's grace. Please pray for complete healing of this dear child! There is also a prayer calendar, where you can post your prayer for her and send her an encouraging email. www.carecalendar.org/prayer/candacejoy/

Please also leave a comment at DandelionSeeds journal if you feel led to sign up for a specific time of prayer for little Candace.

Blessings,

SebbieDue

Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. 1 John 3:18

Oh, and I forgot! I'm speaking at WSU tomorrow evening to a large group of college students. I'm giving my testimony again. This will be the first time I've not done it in a church (not counting the walk4life), so I'm a little nervous.

Also CLW is getting worse...might have to take her to Children's Hosp. tonight if the vaporizer doesn't help here in the next hour or so.

Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. 1 John 3:18