I have two prayer requests today.
The first request is for a pastor’s wife from our local association. Her name is Heidi and about two and half weeks ago she suffered a brain aneurism. She survived the surgery and is recovering remarkably well. However, as with most brain surgeries, she is having to relearn things and teach her body how to do things that should be second nature. She is working intensely with therapists and is learning how to make the words that she wants to say actually come out. Her family and friends are praising the Lord for this much progress, but she still has a long way to go. She is 30-something and her oldest of four children is around 10 and her youngest is 4. She does remember them and it is clear from their one visit that she has a love for them that cannot be mistaken as anything other than motherly love. This situation is particularly rough on her children since she is in Birmingham at rehab and her children are here in Milton. Please keep her and her family in your prayers. For a more specific list of prayer needs please visit her Caring Bridge site at http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/4heidideguire. Be warned though that it will move you to tears to see what her loving husband and family are going through.
The second prayer request that I have today is for a baby named Sam. He is the son of a girl that Will went to high school with. Sam is 6 months old and has already fought more for his life than most of us will ever even imagine. He was born with symptoms of being a preemie even though he was full term. The doctors have NO answers for what is causing any of the problems. They have ruled out things, ruled them back in, ruled them back out, done more tests, and still have no answers. In Sam’s 6 months of life he has only been able to spend a month (maybe two) at home. His family lives in Fort Walton Beach area, the PICU that he has been in the most is in Pensacola, and for a while he was in Gainesville, FL at Shands Medical Center.
Sam’s biggest problem is that he has episodes where his heart rate drops into the 30’s and he turns blue from not being able to breath. It doesn’t appear that one is the cause of the other.
I guess the thing that has laid them on my heart today is the pain that his mom Amanda is going through. For 6 months, she has watched her son fight and seen him be resuscitated in front of her. She has herself sent her heart beats through the roof in a panic over whether or not Sam’s heart rate will go back up or whether or not he will begin breathing again. And she still has NO answers for what is causing it. And NO clue whether there is an end in sight or if she will live like this forever.
Sam has two older sisters that exactly Isabelle and Anna’s ages. This means that Amanda is missing most of her daughter’s Kindergarten year and so much other stuff at home. Her husband Jason has to work to maintain the insurance and he does all that he can at home. Amanda’s mom has battled cancer for years and this is still an issue with her. The first time Amanda was gone, the girls did okay knowing that Mommy was with their little brother. This time, after having them at home for a month or so, they are not doing as well.
Amanda is exhausted and afraid to sleep for fear that she won’t hear Sam’s alarms going off and that she won’t be able bring him back from an episode if he doesn’t self-correct. I know that when my kids are sick I hear every noise and worry about each breath. But to know that my baby literally was at risk of not being able to breath or that his heart would just quit beating or slow to the point of no return, I don’t think I could manage (especially for an unending amount of time). I think this is one of the reasons they are so heavy on my heart this week.
Please remember Amanda, pray that she will have the strength to survive whatever may come her way. Pray that she will be able to rest. Pray for healing for Sam and that they will receive answers for their questions. Pray that Amanda will not feel guilty for not being at home with her daughters. Pray that the girls will understand why their mommy isn’t there. If you would like to know more about what is going on with Sam and his family please visit Amanda’s blog at http://lightofourlife.blogspot.com/.
