Church Prayer Requests
Members wishing to have prayer requests posted should email David Grabbe.
New Prayer Requests:
07/03/2009 Graham, Lauren (21)
07/02/2009 Graham, Lauren (21)
06/30/2009 Careno, Jackie
06/30/2009 Graham, Lauren (21)
06/30/2009 Pennington, Leah
06/30/2009 Stanwood, Jane (88)
Belanger, Constance
Mackinaw City, Michigan
Complete History26-Jun-09
Constance reports that even though the grandmothers of the orphaned girls are quite ill, one of them has been given custody and the girls will stay with her for now. She will need a lot of help, though, and her friends and neighbors have pledged to do what they can. Thank you for your prayers for Constance's family and for these little ones; please continue to pray that God will watch over them. Thank you.
Bowling, Joan
Rock Hill, South Carolina
Complete History29-Jun-09
Joan is recovering well from the shoulder surgery, and would like to thank everyone for the prayers on her behalf.
Browning, Gary and Lana
Vancouver, Washington
Complete History28-Jun-09
Please pray for God’s intervention on behalf of Gary and Lana Browning (née Dickson) who live in Vancouver, Washington and who attend our Portland, Oregon congregation. Gary and Lana were recently married and are suffering serious financial and legal difficulties due to some complexities from Gary’s previous marriage.
Careno, Jackie
Complete History30-Jun-09
It turns out Jackie was suffering from pneumonia. She is now back at work, and regaining strength. Jackie and Lavada are very appreciative of your prayers.
22-Jun-09
Lavada Williams is asking for your prayers for her sister, Jackie Careno, who was taken to the E.R. on Friday. She was given a shot of morphine and some other medication for pain and nausea, and then released. She has been unable to work since last Tuesday due to fatigue and other symptoms of fibromyalgia. She has a doctor's appointment this afternoon. Your prayers on her behalf would be appreciated.
Dickson, Lana
Complete History29-Jun-09
After treatment at a Florida clinic, Katie was diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder, Dependant Personality Disorder and probably a Bipolar disorder, although the Florida therapist could not say for sure if it is Bipolar, or if it is a combination of symptoms from the other two disorders. There are no known cures for these disorders at this time. There are no effective medicines except for those to alleviate Katie’s depression symptoms when they get serious. According to the specialists at the Florida clinic, Katie’s eating disorder has basically been a secondary problem – a coping mechanism for the other two (or three) primary disorders. She has only had a couple of setbacks since her visit to the Florida clinic, and is now documenting everything she is eating as detailed by the therapist. In order for Katie to get better, at least partially, it will take a great deal of constant effort and right choices on her part. She needs God’s help very much. Please pray for God’s intervention for Katie, and for her mother (Lana Browning) that He will guide her in giving her daughter the most effective and appropriate assistance.
Graham, Lauren (21)
Normal, Illinois
Complete History03-Jul-09
Susan writes:
Dear Family and Friends,
This afternoon we arrived at RIC in downtown Chicago. It is very nice to have Nicole along, since Lauren really appreciates having her sister, and I really appreciate having the help. This way we can work in shifts! Also, please forgive me in advance if this gets lengthy.
There are no words to express our thanks for all of your prayers, love, concern and cards (over 150 now!). We have been overwhelmed by everyone's concern and offers of help. We also apologize to the many of you who mailed cards to the Hospital and received them back because of the privacy flag, since they assured me multiple times that her mail would come through just fine! Then, later, they mentioned that if it didn't say ICU on it as well as the hospital address they had sent it back (whoops!).
Lets start at the beginning this time! Just to give some background, Lauren was born blue because the umbilical chord was around her neck, and the midwife had oxygen on her right away. Lauren was non-verbal until the age of two-and-a-half, due to what they called a "soft neurological dysfunction." It will not surprise us if she remains non-verbal in this situation for a while.
The things that concern us right now are the serious "disconnects" we are seeing. When given a fresh herb leaf, she shakes her head "no" when asked if she smells it, she believes everything put in her hand or in front of her is edible (to an extent), to the point that she ate all her broccoli tonight! (oh wait, that IS food!) There is something wrong with her left side. She squints her left eye when looking at things, and when the dr. asked Lauren to reach out and touch her finger to hers, she missed by about an inch on the left side, though she was right on the money from the front and right sides. Also, when the dr. asked if she could hear her making noise with her hand by her left ear, she shook her head "no." Tonight, when "talking to" dad on the phone, she was given the phone on the left side and moved it to her right (we assume so she could hear him).
The stitches are scheduled to come out of her foot on friday. Her foot is to remain non-weight-bearing for at least 6 weeks. This will be a huge challenge, due to the fact that she is very eager to get going. She is very strong and doesn't want things done for her; she wants to do it herself! Another thing is that she says she feels no pain there (or anywhere), so she wants to walk on it! There are no physical handicaps or disabilities apparent, only mental from her traumatic brain injury.We are assuming she can receive mail, so here is the address:
Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago
345 E. Superior Dr., room 1042
Chicago, IL 60611...
They get things going around 06:30am and she will have therapy most of the day. She is done with therapy around 04:30 each day. So evening visits are best, or a day visit will have to fit in around the days therapy. The therapy schedules for the next day are given out around 08:00 pm
Hope this has been of some help.
We thank you all SO very much for your prayers. God has brought us a long way and will continue to be with us in Lauren's process of healing. God is answering your many many prayers.
with much love and appreciation,
susan and ken
02-Jul-09
Ken writes:
Greetings:
Lauren was released from the hospital today at 11 a.m. and Susan, Nicole and Lauren rode up to Chicago in our van and are checking in at RIC (Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago) about now. I've brought all the coolers and food and stuff home from the hospital and been trying to cram it all into the refrig this afternoon :>)
Our case worker admitted to us today that the hospital team feels like she'll be in Chicago for about 6 weeks. Any areas of the brain damaged must first heal. Then areas damaged (memories, skill sets, knowledge stored, etc.) must be "retrained" or re-educated with various skill sets, knowledge, and replaced memory. This takes time.
An example might be one area where she had severe bruising of the brain is the area that contols smell. I don't know and we can't communicate with her effectively yet to see if she can smell or not. She has not spoken a word yet. Should that area be damaged, she'll have to learn to distinguish different smells all over again. Hopefully the damage is not extensive in any one area and only healing needs to occur without too much memory or skill set retraining.
We have registered her as a senior at ISU (Illinois State University) this fall, which begins in August, perhaps right around the time she's completing the RIC rehab program. I would certainly like to see her able to go to classes if possible. But that may be asking a lot. We'll have to see how well she heals and responds to the rehab treatments.
I'll try to get up to Chicago as often as I can during the next 6 weeks to check on her progress, but will have to rely on Susan's phone calls in the mean time, and in between trips. So updates will not be less frequent, but we certainly do need your prayers for Lauren full and speedy recovery.
Thank you all again for your prayers, and too many cards and emails to even think about responding to!
Best Regards,
Ken
30-Jun-09
Ken Graham writes:
Greetings:
Lauren was up in a chair today, holding herself up and her head up much
better today for several hours this morning. She ate a great lunch.
The speech therapist worked with her. Questioning and helping her.Lauren as a baby was non-verbal from a soft neurological disfunction
until she was 2 and 1/2 years old. Then the words and sentences started
to flow normally. She knew what things were called, but would not say
the word until that age. Presently, she has not yet spoken a word.
This may be a temporary repeat of the slow to recover verbal. They gave
her a card with things on it that she may want to request, with pictures
of a restroom, something to drink, a nurse, doctor paper and pen to
write, food and medications that she can point to in the mean time.The neuro surgeon pulled all the stitches from her head and arms this
afternoon, and she is healing up nicely.At the moment it appears she will be leaving the neuro ward here for
therapy up in Chicago at the RIC (Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago)
on Wednesday this week. She will be up there for somewhere between 3 -
5 weeks depending upon how well and fast she progresses.She seems to be healing rapidly, although she becomes tired very quickly
after being up or undergoing therapy. But she is sleeping well and often.Thank you all for the many cards, emails, visits and of
concern, and especially your prayers for Lauren's recovery.Best Regards,
Ken
27-Jun-09
Here is the latest update from Ken and Susan on their daughter Lauren:
Greetings:
We've now moved upstairs to the 5th floor in the Neuro area and have a wonderfully large private room.
The nurses keep talking about her accident and things related to it and Lauren did not comprehend as she just really became alert this morning. So about 2 a.m. when Lauren became alert and cognitive, Susan explained to her about the car accident. Now she at least understands why she is here.
Today she has returned! Lauren didn't remember the "accident" conversation or even that Nicole her sister has been here. Clearly the brain has been healing and shut down in many ways up until now. However, I suspect this will continue on and off for a while yet.
She is awake, processing, herself, and no fever! Lauren promised my wife Susan that she would NOT pull the feeding tube and Susan has had her mittens off her hands (they were on to prevent her from getting a grip on any of the feeding tubes, catheters or IV's). But while semi-conscious she tried to pull them anyway - Ha. She does not like all those tubes and connections.
Her strength & determination will serve her well in the next stage -- she has been accepted into RIC (Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago).
She has been studying the stitches in her left palm and has explored & scratched at her head stitches. She even tried with her left hand to feed herself some applesauce this morning.
The right hand was injured more as was the right side of her head so it is less active even though she is right-handed. I suspect the right hand will become more active again when the right side of the brain (or left side, I didn't take physiology or anatomy) heals up some more.
I have thanked God repeatedly for every little bit of progress she's made. Thank you all for your prayers too. We've had so many cards and emails and calls I don't know how we'll ever respond to them all.
Much love to you all,
Ken and Susan
26-Jun-09
An update from Ken and Susan Graham concerning their daughter Lauren (dated Monday, June 22):
Great news! We came in and were ushered right into ICU. The Respiratory doctor took her off the breathing machine and pulled the tube this morning! She had good breathing scores and was responsive to commands early this morning so they took her off. She's been off pain killers and sedatives for about 3 hours now, and is beginning to get tired. She is responding to our voices, although too many at once becomes confusing and frustrating. We gave her some drips of water off of a sponge when she nodded her head she wanted water.
Her eyes open and close frequently still. But when open she looks at you and listens and moves her lips trying to talk. The condition of her throat will prohibit that for a day or so. She's coughing up quite a bit of flem, as her lungs and throat clear out. I suspect they will have to give her something to help her sleep in a few more minutes as she can't sustain the excitement much longer without rest.
Thank you all for your prayers. Now we have the therapy road for a while yet to go.
Best regards,
Ken
Another update, dated Thursday, June 25:
Greetings:
We've had three days now of very slow to negative progress. They ran an EEG on her brainwave activity and there apparently is a slowing of activity in the frontal lobe area, which is consistent with her cognitive responses over the last 3 days. Lauren has been a little less responsive in the last 3 days then she was before. The slowing of the frontal area probably indicates some damage there that is now healing, so it has become inactive at the moment. The MRI last week did not indicate physical damage except in one area on the back right hand side of her head. However, we know there were more areas than that less damaged but which had less swelling. There were 4-5 tiny spots of dried blood scattered throughout the brain area, but most swelling was in the back right hand side.
Now it is apparent that is not the only area of damage. I guess I should have guessed the front did receive some damage too, as the area just above her right forehead has many stitches in the scalp. Now we'll have to be patient as this area heals too.
Lauren has been moved to the 5th floor of the hospital now, but because of her high heart rate, we don't want her getting too stimulated while the brain is healing. She was barely O.K.'d to move up here because of the heart rate. So visitors are fine but we won't want to have folks right in her room, until we can get her relaxed enough for the heart rate to go down and a little more healing occur. Those who come to visit we'll probably just visit with you in the 5th floor lounge.
Susan and I would certainly solicit your prayers for the frontal lobe area to heal, and come back "on-line" again.
Thank you all again.
Best Regards,
Ken
Hensell, Carol
Complete History22-Jun-09
Alfred Hensell is asking for your prayers on behalf of his sister, Carol Hensell, who is scheduled to have cataract surgery on July 8. Please pray for God's guidance of the procedure, according to His will. Thank you.
Morse, Emma
Sparta, Georgia
Complete History26-Jun-09
Isaiah had his surgery on Tuesday but he is still in the hospital because he is not eating or drinking and the doctors will not let him go home until he does. But his throat hurts so he will not swallow. The doctors increased his pain medication to relieve his pain (which Emma is not happy about) but even this does not seem to be helping. So for now his only source of nourishment is intravenous fluids. Thank you very much for all your prayers and please continue to pray that God will intervene on Isaiah's behalf.
Nichols, Cindi
Complete History20-Jun-09
Dodie Nichols is asking for prayer for her sister in-law, Cindi Nichols. Cindi has not been feeling well for awhile, and a series of tests showed that she has Lou Gehrig's disease. The doctors have given her 1-2 years to live. Please pray for her healing according to God's will. Thank you.
Pennington, Leah
Hemet, California
Complete History30-Jun-09
Leah appreciates the support and prayers of the brethren. She is happy to report that her speech is back to normal. However, everything else is the same. She is still battling with the insurance (regarding tests) and struggles with debilitating pain all the time. She would also appreciate prayers for favor so that she is allowed to change her 'pain' doctor.
Sakala, Kondwani
Complete History24-Jun-09
Musonda would like to thank all who have been praying for Kondwani. They received the results of the EEG, and are grateful to God that they came back negative for epilepsy. The doctor who saw her said the collapse could have been due to her not having eaten the whole morning (until lunch time, when she collapsed). Thank you all for your prayers.
22-Jun-09
Musonda Sakala is asking for prayers for her daughter, Kondwani, who collapsed while at school and started convulsing. Musonda is taking her to the doctor to be examined, and would appreciate your prayers for God's healing, protection, and strength during this and another very difficult circumstance. Thank you.
Stanwood, Jane (88)
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Complete History30-Jun-09
Jane reports that she had suffered a severe case of vertigo and was very bilious. She at her son's home in Anaheim and taking medication for an inner ear infection. She would like to thank everyone for the prayers. She was released from the hospital still weak and wobbly, but otherwise functioning well.
24-Jun-09
Jane is back at her son's home. She did not have a stroke, but rather was suffering from an inner ear infection and dehydration. Thank you for your prayers!
22-Jun-09
Please pray for Jane Stanwood, 88, of Albequerque, New Mexico. While visiting her son in California, Jane had what appears to have been a stroke. She was taken by ambulance to the hospital, but nothing more is known at this time. Your prayers would be appreciated.
Vaghi, Naomi
South Africa
Complete History21-Jun-09
Luigi Vaghi is asking for prayers on behalf of his wife, Naomi, who has a number of troubling symptoms. She gets out of breath and nauseous after walking even short distances. According to test results, she has white corpuscles in her urine. Naomi has only one kidney, so the doctors have put her on antibiotics to help ward off any kidney infection. Naomi has had a number of blood tests, and has also had an ECG. It has been recommended that she see a specialist, but apparently there are none available until the end of July. In the meantime, she is taking medication and is stable and monitoring herself as best as she can.
The Vaghi's address is:
Luigi & Naomi Vaghi
12 Bernard Road
Lovemore Heights
Eastern Cape 6070
South Africa
Wulf, Matthew (11)
Matthews, North Carolina
Complete History27-Jun-09
Matthew's fever left him after he was anointed and his parents asked for prayers. Last night he had one severe seizure, but after his parents prayed and gave him adrenal hormone and anti-convulsant, he slept peacefully. He seems in good spirits today, but is a little off balance due to the side effects of the anti-convulsant. Brian and Joyce appreciate your prayers and God's intervention so that he did not have to be hospitalized.
26-Jun-09
On Wednesday, Matthew had dental procedures performed while under sedation, and now he is running a fever. This morning he had six major seizures over a span of 3.5 hours, which are most likely related to the failure of his adrenals to respond to the pathogen. Your prayers on his behalf are much appreciated.
Recent Requests (Last 2 Months):
Allen, Quinnten
Barr, Jessie
Belanger, Constance
Bowling, Joan
Boy, Ingrid
Browning, Gary and Lana
Burns, Danny (23)
Careno, Jackie
Carter , Gemma (25)
Dickson, Lana
Egan, Nancy
Finklea, Clyde
Ford, Stephen (5)
Goodchild, Penny
Grabbe, Karen
Grablick, Pearl
Graham, Lauren (21)
Hensell, Carol
Hubbell, Carl and Pat
Leonard, Ramona
Loveless, Matthew
McHugh, Jennifer (21)
McPherson, Dean
Merrow, Jerryjeane (76)
Morse, Emma
Neff, Leroy and Maxine
Nelson, Dale
Nichols, Cindi
Pennington, Leah
Plunkett, John
Preston, Susan
Ruby, Maryann
Sakala, Kondwani
Severny, Victoria
Stanwood, Jane (88)
Vaghi, Naomi
Wulf, Matthew (11)
Wyatt-Mair, Gareth
