The Charles Schulz Philosophy

You don't have to actually answer the questions. Just ponder on them.

Just read straight through, and you'll get the point.

1.   Name the five wealthiest people in the world.

2.   Name the last five Heisman trophy winners.

3.   Name the last five winners of the Miss America pageant.

4.   Name ten people who have won the Nobel or Pulitzer Prize.

5.   Name the last half dozen Academy Award winners for best actor and actress.

6.   Name the last decade's worth of World Series winners.

How did you do?

The point is, a rare few of us remember the headliners of yesterday.

And these champions and leaders…They are not second-rate achievers.  They are the best in their fields.  But the applause dies.  Awards tarnish.  Achievements are forgotten.  Accolades and certificates are buried with their owners.

Here's another quiz. See how you do on this one:

1.   List a few teachers who aided your journey through school.

2.   Name three friends who have helped you through a difficult time.

3.   Name five people who have taught you something worthwhile.

4.   Think of a few people who have made you feel appreciated and special.

5.   Think of five people you enjoy spending time with.

The lesson:

The people who make a difference in our life are not the ones with the most credentials, the most money...or the most awards.  They simply are the ones who care the most.

 ''Be Yourself.  Everyone Else Is Taken!"

Abby Haggerty UPDATE...progress

God continues to fill Abby with strength. Though we haven't seen her open her eyes yet she still amazes us every moment of the day. Several praises today - Abby was taken off the ventilator on a "trial" basis and she is breathing fine on her own. Her vitals continue to remain strong, and after praying over a "broken" pressure drain attached to her head, it began working perfectly!

Our prayers for Abby over the next few days are:

1. No additional bleeding. 

2. She will have an MRI tomorrow to get a current picture of the AVM. Our prayer first and foremost is that the AVM has disappeared and that the MRI shows a dramatic improvement in her recovery. 

3. That Abby will soon open her eyes and make more purposeful movements. 

4. Wisdom for the doctors as they plan for Abby's next surgery and treatment options. 

Once again Deb and I thank each of you for supporting Abby and our family in prayer. We continue to be in awe at how many people God is reaching and are confident Abby will soon be telling even more about her miracles in her own words.

Alex Jankowsky UPDATE St. Patty's Day

Day 13 - St. Patricks Day

44 minutes ago

 Alex is day 13 post transplant and doing well. His WBC is slowly creeping up which means his brothers cells will be about ready to engraph. Continue to pray for those cells to NOT be rejected.  He will go in for another bone marrow biopsy on April 3rd and hope to find out the progress of the transplant and the results within a week or so. Thank you everyone for all your support during this time.

Candle of Life...for Cure for Cancer

Dear God, I pray that You will guide us to find a cure for all cancers...so we can pray thanks to your grace.  Amen

A Candle Loses  Nothing by Lighting Another Candle.

Please Keep This Candle  Going

Sylvia's Requests March 17, 2014

Please pray for Weston, 6 yrs old who underwent heart/lung transplant at CHOP and isn’t doing very well right now - needs lots and lots of prayers - his is one of seven children - cannot even imagine what that poor family is going through.  Bless them.  Lord, hear our prayer.  

Urgent prayers for Jenna, 7 yr old just dx with Moymoya disease.  Request from little Charlotte’s great grandma - she writes “looking into her father’s eyes I see the same desperation we had and it breaks my heart”.  

Dear Prayer Sisters,

We have been praying for Deanna’s friend Daniella whose baby was due June 6.  Daniella gave birth this morning to her daughter Margo who was 2 lbs 10 oz.  She is in NICU.  Although Daniella says she is strong, it certainly wouldn’t hurt to offer up our prayers for this tiny little girl who has come into the world so early. 

Love, Renee

Friday am Wic met with Good Shepherd Rehab Dr.Chen who could not believe his progress.  She prescribed another barium X-ray swallow test for March 25th   We are hoping he will pass and be allowed to drink liquids and eat soft (pureed) food for the first time since Jan 19.  Long time to be fed through a tube.  And Dr. Chen was truly "pleased" with his progress. She prescribed 2-4 more weeks of Physical Therapy. and 1-2 more weeks of Stim Swallow..

Friday 1: 30 pm appt. with neurology from LV Hospital in Allentown was so positive they do not want to see him until the end of July.   

Even though he was on the road since 9 am without any naps, Wic was going strong in Pottsville at 4 pm for his Stim Swallow Therapy.

Please pray for Sue R’s aunt Issy who was admitted to ICU at St. Lukes - at this point on ventilator, but stable.

I have followed Abel Tyson’s journey for quite a few years - and was so excited to meet them in person about six months ago when they moved to Villanova from TN - they have four little boys - Abel being the oldest - Rachel just posted tonight that they were so excited to share the news with their four little boys on Valentine’s Day that they would be having a new brother or sister in October…sadly Rachel had a miscarriage.  She is devastated.  I ask you to please lift this amazing family in prayer.  www.caringbridge.org/visit/abeltyson   Thank you. 

Karen S. Kidney Transplant. Complications.

Please pray for Karen S.

Here is her Kidney Transplant story...

Last week or so of status with my wife with a bit more detail.

From: jjs

Sent: Saturday, March 15, 2014 9:32 PM

Subject: Re: Karen past couple of days 3/14/14

Well, today was a good day. Karen's blood tests came back all within normal limits. She is taking a phenomenal amount of Tums per day to get the calcium level back up, but it's working!  Eventually, once the parathyroid figures out that she needs more Calcium, it will kick in, and the Tums will be decreased. She is starting physical and occupational therapy tomorrow, not once, but 2 times a day. She is excited to start the exercise program and is looking forward to gaining enough strength to get out of bed on her own. Having a cast on her left foot really adds a lot of weight to the leg so this will be a challenge. I am hoping that once she starts the exercise, her insulin will be decreased and her appetite will increase. 

Due to the surgery, she is supposed to limit her speech so as not to strain the vocal cords too much. I think for the next day or two, you may want to just email me and I will read your emails to her. I think she would love to hear from everybody…. good thoughts, funny anecdotes, good You Tube videos, family stories, anything that will keep her up to date with the outside world. We skyped Karen 1, and Jen and Jeremy today, and got to see her two favorite grand daughters and she loved it! We looked at Face Book and caught up on all the photos of the new arrival. We read Brianna's blog, and did some ancestry on line. She had a very stimulating day and I think she was ready for me to leave so that she could get some sleep. I will be back tomorrow bright and early to see how much they work her with her therapy. So far, she seems to be making headway. I love her attitude. Such a forward thinker.  I will try to keep you updated.  Julie

On Mar 14, 2014, at 8:34 AM, SS wrote:

The last several days have been much less hectic than the first couple weeks up here.  Karen has been recovering from her surgery on Monday and the doctors have been monitoring her recovery.  Her calcium dropped (like they anticipated) and have upped her supplemental calcium.  They will do this until things normalize out.  Her kidney function is fine.  We will know on the CMV virus level when they test her maybe Saturday.  She has had a couple of episodes of being pretty nauseated but with some Zofran things are better.

Since Julie is coming in to Madison tonight, I will be leaving today to head back to Kansas to take care of some things at the house and try to catch up some at work.  Plan was they were going to move Karen to the rehab floor sometime soon so maybe it will be today.

Next update will probably be from Julie. 

Day by day:

TUES 3/11/14

Rounds were at 8 – creatinine @ 1.2, CMV 100,000, calcium @ 5.4 (normalized).  Dr. Djamali did a good job of summarizing the last several weeks and talking each of the main points of Karen’s treatment – Parathyroid, Kidney dysfunction, and the CMV virus.  Samples for calcium will be done 2 times a day down from 3 times on surgery day.  Dr. Nick from rehab came in to visit and Dr. Sara (surgeon) came by as well in the morning.  At about noon Dr. Nick brought by his manager and introduced him to us.  The infectious disease doctor also stopped by.  Physical therapy was @ 1:45 and a new diabetes educator came by the room at 2:45.  Not much else the rest of the day.

WED 3/12/14

Rounds at 8 – creatinine 1.3, calcium @ 5.0, CMV blood draw next Saturday, Sunday or Monday.  Occupational therapy at 9:45; during this time the orthopedic docs came in and said they would change her cast next Monday; alignment in the cast looked good but the fracture in her fibula is slow healing which is typical for transplant patients.  Dr. Felix (diabetes) stopped by but no new news.  Karen and I spent about an hour talking with one of the social workers.  Late afternoon the transplant PA came by and talked about a potential blood transfusion as Karen’s red blood cell had dropped some more (hematocrit @ 22); since this was fairly new we elected to wait on this and she how Karen was in the morning.

THR 3/13/14

Rounds at 8 – creatinine 1.3, hematocrit 22; we talked pros and cons of blood transfusion; Dr. Djamali felt benefit / risk was good so we elected to do this.  2 units of blood were transfused during the day.  Physical therapy was done before the KU/OSU basketball game.  This went pretty much uninterrupted until one of the orthopedic surgeons stopped by to show us a before and after X-ray of her left ankle.  It was a good day as KU won in OT and will play in the semifinals Friday night.  Karen was nauseated and had another dose of Zofran.  She slept well through the night.

FRI 3/14/14

Doctors just came by on their rounds – creatinine 1.3, calcium 4.2 and coming back up, hematocrit @ 27.  Since calcium and red blood cell count coming back up they were OK to approve transfer down to the rehab floor today.

Update Constance Peters

I have been home now for 3 weeks. Going stir crazy. I go to the cancer clinic once a week for labs, my pick line to be cleaned and to see a doctor that is on the transplant team. We got some Good news last Thursday, they are getting closer to finding a donor. This week I will start doing the pre-treatment for bone marrow transplant. I start on Tuesday with getting all my major labs done and meeting with different doctors for echo, EKG, mammogram, full body x-Ray etc.  The doctor wants to make sure that there wasn't any damage done to my heart by all the chemo Ive been on. The pretesting will take 2 days.  Hopefully by the beginning of April the coordination for the bone marrow transplant will be complete. 

The other good news is my doctor ok'd me to go and see my parents in St. Louis, this up coming weekend, before the surgery. My parents still don't know that I am sick. I've decided that I'm not going to tell them the full story as I feel they can't handle the words I have cancer. I have a hard enough time with everything as I know it would be harder on them. So to them I am having a little surgery. 

Currently, Im on an oral chemo pill but 10 days prior to going back in the hospital they will take me off of it. Then when I go back to the hospital I will get a stronger IV chemo for 7-9 days.  After that I will have 1 day off and then they will begin the transplant the next day. I will be in the hospital 4-6 weeks depending on how my body reacts. Then after the transplant is complete  I will go onto a 100 day very close watch.  During those 100 days I will not be able to be left alone, I can't be further than 30 min from hospital and I will be going back for many, many check ups at the cancer center. 

 Thanks for all the cards and calls. It means a lot to me. I pray I will be strong for the surgery. Never thought I would have trouble eating. Actually ate a 1/2 of grilled cheese today. One day at a time!

Hilary Hip Surgery

Please pray for our cousin Hilary to recover without incident from her hip surgery today.

Cara and Amy, postpartum depression

Asking all of you to pray for my niece Cara and her friend/neighbor Amy - they are both psychotherapists - both have suffered postpartum depression after the birth of their first child -  they are using their professional and personal experience to help others - this Sunday evening at 5pm is their first support group meeting.   Because it is a small community and “everyone knows everybody” Cara is afraid they won’t have a response.  Please pray that those who are in need of their kindness and understanding will feel comfortable enough to come - please pray for the local pediatricians to also be open to and aware of this condition, and be open to referring.   I will never forget how heartbreaking it was talking with Cara after she gave birth to Jonah.  She couldn’t wait to be a mom, and wham! - she went in to such a deep depression - I called Lehigh Valley Hospital and they were able to put me in touch with someone closer to Cara - but it was still a distance for Cara to travel to get the help she needed.   So proud of these girls for what they are doing.  

For Janice and chronic lymphocytic leukemia

I found out today I have chronic lymphocytic leukemia.  But the other good news is 

that it is very treatable and has a good prognosis.  I go back in two weeks 

after more tests and find out what stage it is and the prognosis and treatment.  

There is a chance that I don't have to get treatment for some time.  It is kind of a thing where 

you get chemo when it is bad and again when it flares up again to keep it in check.

Janice

Ruthann battling for her life

From Sylvia...

My friend Kim’s coworker’s friend Ruthann - perfectly healthy young woman has been in ICU battling for her life….what was initially thought to be a bout of diverticulitis seems to have turned in to something that they can’t even figure out what what she is battling.  Please pray for her all who are caring for her - that the Holy Spirit will enlighten the minds of her physicians and guide them.  

Jackie Lithgow beaten by punk football players, in coma

Sylvia:

I know it will be very helpful to ask your prayer group to add Jackie Lithgow and his family to your prayers.   You may have heard about the teenager injured trying to break up a fight near Bloomsburg University a few weeks ago.  Four football players from Kutztown crashed a party and would not leave quietly.  Instead, one of the players punched Jackie  in the face completely catching him off-guard and causing him to fall into the street and fracture his skull and cause extreme head injury.  He has not woken from a coma but has started to show signs of awareness.

Jackie is the freshman son of my John's close college friend.   He has known Jackie's mom and dad, Jim and Lisa Lithgow for 30 plus years and they are an amazing family and a gift to their community.  Everyone loves them and Jackie and his sister Lindsay.

There are many on-line articles written about the incident but I hope you will also share the following link to the fundraising page for the family.  They have been staying bedside at a hotel near the hospital since the incident:  http://www.gofundme.com/75frh0

Thanks – Love,

Nicole

Heart Transplant of 1 year old, Michael Mudd

Hi Everyone,

.......................................................................................................................................

Please pray for baby michael mudd, a one yr old, who will be undergoing a heart transplant today. His grandmother is a very good friend of mine. Thank you. Suzy

Lots of prayers needed, all the time.  Love, Marilyn

Richard Bockwinkel fighting Squamous cell carcinoma

Looking for UPDATES?  Click "Rick Bockwinkel Page" button.


I promised an update...it follows.  But first I want to thank the many MANY people who have called, emailed and texted me their support and prayers.  Each of you bring to heart my favorite movie..."It's a Wonderful Life."

Remember, George: No man is a failure who has friends. (It's a Wonderful Life, Clarence's Book Inscription.)

So...where are we today...? 

At this point, the doctor does not know for 100% sure...but it looks like we are going to be in a fight with (click this link for more info) Squamous cell carcinoma.

This particular form of cancer is QUITE CURABLE.

After two CT scans, two scopes down the nasal passage and a PET Scan, Dr. Kiran Kakarala has recommended outpatient surgery to do a biopsy of the small lump on the base of my tongue.  He wants to be 100% sure of what this is, and this test will guide treatment options.

In preparation for this surgery, this afternoon I visited several more experts; pharmacists, RN for Blood Labs and EKG, and an Anesthesiologist.  All this amounts to the Preanesthesia Testing that needs to be done before this biopsy event.  This one-hour base-of-the-tongue biopsy surgery is scheduled for March 11th; no time set yet.

Before that test, they are trying to schedule a Thallium Stress Test to be sure my cardio system is up to this minor surgery/anesthesia.  They hope to cram this test into my Monday morning, on March 10th.  (Have I ever told you how much I crave Thallium Stress Tests?)

This outpatient surgery on Tuesday will provide information to Dr. Kakarala to share with his Tumor Board.  From their review they plan to define with clarity the severity of my condition so that the options that follow can be weighed.

OPTIONS:

1. Surgery/Biopsy determines it is NOT Cancer (low likelihood...But maybe with your  prayers... NOT finding Cancer is the finding!!).  However...If they do find cancer...the next three options come in to consideration...
2. Chemo/Radiation: 7 weeks.  Daily out/patient doses about an hour each visit..maybe gets it done.  If not...surgery.  OR...
3. Micro-Robotic Surgery...followed by Chemo/Radiation; requires less radiation due to the surgery removing all or most of the cancer.  Also would have surgery to remove swollen lymph glands.  OR...
4. Major Surgery...crack open my jaw and go after it...followed by Chemo/Radiation.  This would be ugly and possibly affect my ability to speak clearly...and taste a good Manhattan.  So this option is one that I hope that I am NOT forced to take.

Any of the Options 2-4 will ultimately scar my throat; and the latter two will remove part of my tongue.  So...they have another test for me to do to provide guidelines to potential therapists to help me "learn to swallow again".:  Video Fluoroscopic Swallowing Exam (VFSE).  Click that to read all about it.  This test is scheduled for March 18th.

If you read this far...I hope you had a cocktail in your hand.  It's 5 O'Clock somewhere.

Thanks for your prayers...they help.

RGB

Constance Peters Fighting Cancer

Please pray for my good friend, Connie...

She maintains a Caring Bridge Account...  Please click -->  Connie at CaringBridge to learn more about a great person that deserves our prayers...

Abby Haggerty...

Family and friends:

We are feeling deeply the prayers of so many this afternoon and want to give an
update on what has transpired today in Abby’s journey through all this. Big day…

After entering into what could have been anywhere from a 2-7 hour surgical
procedure late this morning, Abby was done in just under 2 hours. To use the
doctor’s words, “She was a rock!” After having just met with the chief neurosurgeon,
Dr. Matouk around 3:00, we have learned that the effort to go after the largest of the
three aneurisms was a success and a significant step forward for Abby. Praise the
Lord! Their goal was to place “coils” around the aneurism so as to effectively cut off
its ability to rupture. This was very successful and again, to use the surgeon’s
words, it ended being “textbook” with no complications.

Where does this leave us? Well, in a place of great praise to start. As we look to
what’s next for Abby, you’ll remember that she has two parallel journeys she is on,
walking both simultaneously. The one is a journey of recovery from what has
happened to her thus far, the other a preventative one from future disaster. Phase
one on the preventative journey – a significant one with the prevention of this large
aneurism rupture – has been a success. Though she has, in truth, been “healing” and
recovering since moment one of her AVM rupture, the doctors are going to
concentrate now on the recovery part of her journey from what has happened for
the next week. During this time they will be slowly weaning her off of sedation in
order to assess her neurologically. Approximately a week or so from now, Dr.
Matouk will likely again go back into the effected area through angiogram to assess
the other two smaller aneurisms and determine how he wants to address them.
(This would be back to preventative side of the journey).

Prayer? God has moved his hand in a generous, powerful, and kind way for our
family today and we couldn’t be more in awe. But we are asking for more from Him
and we believe he wants us to. Pray for these next few days in particular as the
assessment of Abby neurologically begins. Pray for open eyes, moving fingers,
independent breathing, even the slightest smile and the ultimate joy of hearing her
say “I love you mom and dad.” These would be Everest-sized steps for her right
now, but we have a Heavenly Father who is capable of them and more… and so we
ask. Pray for no “set-backs” or complications in the areas that we have seen success
in today, and that God would protect her – while she “recovers” – from any bleeding
either from the AVM or the other two aneurisms. Pray boldly for a disappearance of
the other two aneurisms!

We have seen and felt a thousand graces from God these last 5 days. Praise him with
us, while at the same time we humbly ask you to continue on your knees. The
journey continues…

Shawn Haggerty
(Abby’s Uncle)

Courtney...early Labor

Marilyn C...requests your prayer for Courtney, who at this time is in Hospital with EARLY LABOR.  This second baby is not due till May.

Guess this baby wants to do Lent with the rest of us...so let's pray for a healthy result.

What was the first liquid and food consumed on the moon?

Communion on the Moon: July 20, 1969   (This is an article by Eric Metaxas )

Forty+ years ago two human beings changed history by walking on the surface of the moon. But what happened before Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong exited the Lunar Module is perhaps even more amazing, if only because so few people know about it. "I 'm talking about the fact that Buzz Aldrin took communion on the surface of the moon. Some months after his return, he wrote about it in Guideposts magazine.

And a few years ago I had the privilege of meeting him myself.  I asked him about it and he confirmed the story to me, and I wrote about in my book , Everything You Always Wanted to Know About God (But Were Afraid to Ask).

The background to the story is that Aldrin was an elder at his Presbyterian Church in Texas during this period in his life, and knowing that he would soon be doing something unprecedented in human history, he felt he should mark the occasion somehow, and he asked his minister to help him. And so the minister consecrated a communion wafer and a small vial of communion wine. And Buzz Aldrin took them with him out of the Earth 's orbit and on to the surface of the moon. He and Armstrong had only been on the lunar surface for a few minutes when Aldrin made the following public statement:

"This is the LM pilot. I'd like to take this opportunity to ask every person listening in, whoever and wherever they may be, to pause for a moment and contemplate the events of the past few hours and to give thanks in his or her own way." He then ended radio communication and there, on the silent surface of the moon, 250,000 miles from home, he read a verse from the Gospel of John, and he took communion. Here is his own account of what happened: "In the radio blackout, I opened the little plastic packages which contained the bread and the wine. I poured the wine into the chalice our church had given me. In the one-sixth gravity of the moon, the wine slowly curled and gracefully came up the side of the cup. Then I read the scripture,

'I am the vine, you are the branches. Whosoever abides in me will bring forth much fruit ..Apart from me you can do nothing.'

"I had intended to read my communion passage back to earth, but at the last minute [they] had requested that I not do this. NASA was already embroiled in a legal battle with Madelyn Murray O'Hare, the celebrated opponent of religion, over the Apollo 8 crew reading from Genesis while orbiting the moon at Christmas. I agreed reluctantly."

"I ate the tiny Host and swallowed the wine. I gave thanks for the intelligence and spirit that had brought two young pilots to the Sea of Tranquility . It was interesting for me to think the very first liquid ever poured on the moon, and the very first food eaten there, were the communion elements."

And of course, it 's interesting to think that some of the first words spoken on the moon were the words of Jesus Christ , who made the Earth and the moon - and Who, in the immortal words of Dante, is Himself the "Love that moves the Sun and other stars."

Jesus said, "If you are ashamed of me, I will be ashamed of you before My Father on Judgment Day."

For Dr. Ignatius Hnleski, Erin, Grace...please pray

Hi Everyone,

My niece Lorraine always comes to us with prayer requests that her friends have now come to know are willingly offered.  One of her best friend's, Janice's father, Dr. Ignatius Hnleski, a pretty well-known eye surgeon in Kennett Square, has been diagnosed with metastatic bone cancer.  He will have surgery - I think on Wed. - to have a rod inserted in his leg.  Please pray for a successful surgery and a cure of his cancer.

Lorraine's daughter, Erin, was told today that her baby in utero is rather tiny, but doc said it's probably not a problem since Erin is tiny and her fiance is not a big man.

Remember that we have been praying Erin through this pregnancy because she had 5th disease in her first trimester.  Continued prayers, please.

My sister, Grace, has had lots of diarrhea from her chemo, nausea, mouth sores, and sore throat.  She seems to think that it's from her injection of Neulasta, which builds up white blood cells.  She needs IV fluids tomorrow (already) and she's only in her second week of treatment.  Please pray that side effects won't be too bad because she has said she will refuse treatment if it makes her feel terrible.  She's not yet resigned to offer her suffering up to God, even as lent begins and we are reminded of the intense suffering Christ endured for us. 

Thanks for always praying.  Love, Marilyn

Lisa and Sjögren's Syndrome

We've been praying for my sister-in-law Lisa who has been recently dx with Sjogrens after ongoing symptoms for over a year and going from doctor to doctor …..

What is Sjögren's Syndrome?

Sjögren's syndrome is a chronic autoimmune disease in which a person’s white blood cells attack their moisture-producing glands. Today, as many as 4 million Americans are living with this disease.

Although the hallmark symptoms are dry eyes and dry mouth, Sjögren’s also causes serious complications throughout the entire body...

please keep her in your prayers - here is her update: 

Date: Tue, 4 Mar 2014 14:09:31 -0500

Subject: Update

Hi Syl,

I have my appointments scheduled for Johns Hopkins Sjogrens Center on June 3^rd and 4^th.  They are extremely organized.  On the first day, I will be seeing an Ophthalmologist (for dry eye test).  Then I will see the Neurologist who will determine if I need the EMG which will be done right after the appt. if necessary.  The next day, I am scheduled to see the Rheumatologist and to have a Salivary Gland test to see how swollen my glands are and how much saliva I produce.  Then they ordered an MRI of the lumbar spine because these doctors like to do them every 6 months and they have a more enhanced machine that sees more for what they are looking for.  I will then have the Skin biopsy if the they feel it is necessary.  I will be finished by 5:30. 

Hopefully I made the right decision.  All I want is to be confirmed with this diagnosis and be on the right medicine. 

Lisa

The Navigators Ministry

Caitlin Kochanasz Ministry

Hello!

I would love your prayers as I travel to Cleveland, OH tomorrow through Sunday.  I've been asked to facilitate a team building workshop on Thursday with The Navigators 20s Mission leadership team.  They are a new team of 7 people who seek to give leadership to staff ministering to 20-somethings in various cities around the country.  Pray God would use the time to help them better understand and appreciate their design and differences.

I'll also stay in Cleveland for the The Navigators African American Congress on Discipleship this weekend.  I’m looking forward to engaging in this conversation about race, reconciliation, and ministry.  Also, I'll be representing our staff care team and be available to meet/pray with people as needs arise.

Thanks so much for your partnership in my ministry!

Caitlin

Alex Jankowsky

Caring Bridge...Alex Jankowsky

Yesterday the cells were collected from brother Josh!  He had a successful collection of many cells! What a blessing! Josh made it through like a trooper- and  he truly was an angel ( look at photos halo)

Today is the day!  Alex will have his ALLO transplant (cells from his bro).  He is a little anxious as there is no turning back after this.  We hope to know soon that his brothers cells will have won the battle and taken over the DNA of Alex's body.  The next 100 days will be very critical and immune suppressed.  Please continue many prayers.

The Oscar Goes To.... GOD

Click this...  The Oscar Goes To.... GOD.  
UPdate...Regrets.

This HAD a Video of the speech but it was pulled after the OSCARS organization cited copyright leverage.  Funny?  The OTHER OSCAR speeches (without reverence to God) are not pulled!

Prayers to Share

Jesus, 

Live in me.

Live, Jesus, live!

So live in me

That all I do

be done by You,

And grant that all

I think or say

May be Your thought

and word today.

Most of you know I had Viral Pneumonia and Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever last month and even though it was a difficult time, I am thinking that fiasco may have been a blessing. That illness called for an x-ray and while checking the x-ray, the Doctors found a nodule on my left lung. That finding suggested a CT Scan and the CT scan indicated the chance for lung cancer.  Dr. Matt Stein had me in for a visit to discuss the results of the CT scan and he said he thought the nodule looked like lung cancer in early stages, however, there was a slight chance it might be an infection caused by RMSF and viral pneumonia. He said that he was consulting with another doctor and if that doctor concurred, we would leave it alone for a couple of weeks and then do a PET scan to see if it lights up.  The PET scan was done and Dr. Stein said it was definitely a small spot of cancer or infection (both cancer and infection light up the same on a PET scan) but he felt there was little chance of it being an infection. They wouldn't know which without going in and getting a sample.  I was referred me to a Dr. Emmanuel Daon with MidAmerica Thoracic & Cardiovascular Surgeons at KU Medical Center who I consulted with yesterday.  Dr. Daon advised that he thought it was lung cancer but said there was still an outside chance the nodule could be an infection. He suggested a left video assisted throacoscopy to find out what it is and what procedure they should use next based on the finding of the biopsy.  Dr. Daon said that if it is cancer, they would be prepared to, hopefully, do a lobectomy which is a minimally invasive surgery to remove the upper lobe of my left lung.  If the lobectomy proved to be a problem they would then have to open me up and go through my ribs to get to the upper lobe. The lobectomy would have a 3 to 4 week recovery and if they had to open me up it would be a 2 to 3 month recovery period. You don't have to guess what I am praying for.

My preference would be the slim chance of them finding the nodule to be an infection and that is what my prayers will be for. The date set for the surgery is September 25. If it is lung cancer, we will just have to deal with it and hope they get it early enough.

Cheers and God Bless,

Reagan 

Pray for Linda Anderson

From Stacee...

Am asking for prayers for my sister in law, Linda Anderson, she has pneumonia & they believe she has lung cancer among some other serious health issues. I know it is such a devasatating thing for both her & my brother in law Drew. I love U both dearly & please, please don't hesitate to ask for ANYTHING. We may be many hours away but know David & I will do anything necessary to help!!!

Clara Peters...bone marrow transplant

Someone else to pray for.  Clara Peters is the five year old granddaughter of my neighbor.  She went into the hospital on Monday for chemo for her bone marrow transplant which will be next Monday. Her sister, luckily, is a perfect match. She was just diagnosed with severe Aplastic Anemia in the beginning of August.  This has happened so fast. 

Linda

http://www.kshb.com/dpp/news/health/5-year-old-to-receive-life-saving-cure-from-sister-after-being-diagnosed-with-bone-marrow-disorder

Paul Voda needs your prayers...