It’s time again for a prayer update. Let’s get praying!
First of all, I want to start this off with some sad news. Terri has gone to be with Jesus. The cancer finally took her, not too long after the last update. However, to my knowledge she lived many months longer than she was supposed to, and the miracles she experienced should not be discounted. Please pray for her friends and family, that they would be comforted.
On a brighter note, Larry Stefano is doing great. He was told he had four months way over four months ago, and now his next doctor checkup isn’t until mid-September. He still has some pain and discomfort, but overall he is a walking miracle. Let’s continue to pray for a complete remission from cancer for him, and that he continues to baffle medical professionals!
On another high note, Persephone is also doing great! She is quickly approaching her first birthday, and she will be celebrating it out of the hospital! She, too, won’t have a checkup for several more weeks, and when you’ve been as down as she has been that is incredible. Her parents are currently looking for housing and finances, so please be praying for that in addition to Persephone’s continued health.
We have a new addition to the list. Julie Eldridge is battling breast cancer that is somewhere between stage three and four. She recently had a double mastectomy as well as having 22 lymph nodes removed. They are now putting in a port for chemo, and might do radiation therapy as well. She has already been through a lot, so let’s pray that she is radically touched by God!
Speaking of going through a lot, Doug Troyer has finished with the first stage of his treatment. However, he is far from finished. Next he has to have a surgery where they will be removing his rectum and about 1/3 of his large intestine. Following this operation he will have 6 more months of chemotherapy. He’s not sure when the operation will be, but it will probably be sometime in the next month or two. He is mentally and physically fatigued, and needs prayer.
This isn’t all Doug’s family is struggling with, though: his mother, Marian Troyer, is currently in the hospital with a severe bladder infection. However, in addition to this, she is also battling malignant melanoma of the liver, bone, and perhaps lung and brain. She has decided not to take the extremely dangerous and physically devastating treatment that was offered, because it would only extend her life a few additional months. There is no medical cure for this type of cancer, and doctors have now given her 6-12 months to live. Needless to say, she needs a miracle. Let’s pray and believe she’ll get one.
We have one other new addition to the list. Kate is a little girl who has been battling Raynaud’s disease for several years. This is a disease that causes excessively reduced blood flow in the hands and extremities when the person is exposed to cold or stress, and can be a precursor to autoimmune diseases such as scleroderma. Which Kate has now been diagnosed with. Scleroderma is, at its most basic, a hardening of the skin which turns your skin into a tough, immovable cocoon over time (I’m not a medical professional, so that’s definitely not a medical definition.) It can also spread to internal organs in extreme cases, causing all sorts of further issues. But even in mild cases, this means this little girl might not be able to use her hands, feet or other parts of her body in the future. This has obviously put a big strain on Kate and her family (her mother, Becky, has also been diagnosed as at-risk for an autoimmune disease), and they could really use your prayers for a filling of peace and joy, as well as a miracle.
Ashlee Jensen is getting ready to move from Spokane to Seattle for the next 4-8 months of her life. She and her husband will be moving in the middle of September, and then Ashlee will begin her second bone marrow transplant (this time an allogeneic transplant, which means she will be receiving stem cells from another person. These are much, much more intense than the autologous transplants, like the one I had.) Ashlee is (justifiably) scared, and they are not sure how they will make ends meet because her husband will have to quit his job to move with her and be her caregiver for the coming months. They need your prayers. Also, if you feel led to, you can donate to her at http://www.gofundme.com/ashleekickincancer.
Let’s keep praying for Lonny, Isiah, Chris, Doris and Sue as well. You can read about what they’re going through on the prayer list.
Thank you for praying. Thank you for continuing to keep these wonderful people lifted up before God. I believe we are going to see some amazing, miraculous things happen!